SHELL Petroleum Development Company is yet to resume operations at its shut facilities in the Niger Delta region.
Our correspondent found on Tuesday that all the production platforms of SPDC,especially, in the western division � Bayelsa and Delta states � were yet to be re-opened as at Tuesday in spite of the advertised restoration of peace in the region.
The closure of the oil platforms had resulted in production shut- in of 477, 000 barrels of crude oil per day since February 2006.
A number of oil rigs and flow stations were shut and abandoned in the wake of the renewed crisis in the restive region in February 2006.
Some of the production equipment were vandalised by the Niger Delta militants in Bayelsa and Delta states when fresh hostilities broke out in the creeks.
Major production equipment and flow lines were also carted away by hoodlums.
However, our correspondent found at SPDC�s western divisional headquarters in Ekurede- Urhobo, Warri on Monday, that spirited efforts by the governments of Bayelsa and Delta states as well as the Federal Government, to create an enabling environment for the oil major to return were futile.
Although the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, initiated some measures to restore the confidence of the management of the oil multinational to return to the fields, it was gathered that the oil firm in ordering the oil workers and equipment back to the offshore locations for security reasons.
It was learnt that the management of the oil firm was hesitant on the premise that its employees and strategic equipment could be subjected to a fresh rounds of attacks by the militants despite the peace initiatives.