OIL giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company, said on Thursday that it would not rush to resume production in the Niger-Delta.
�We are committed to ensuring that peace returns to the Niger-Delta, but we will not rush to resume operation in the area until normalcy returns,� a senior official in the Human Resources Development, Mr. Kayode Soremekun, told our correspondent in Lagos.
Although the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Edmond Daukoru, had said on Monday that Shell would resume production from its abandoned oilfields in the Niger Delta �within days�, the company has not confirmed this.
Soremekun, who had earlier presented a keynote address at a conference, with the theme �Impact of conflict on social and economic development,� organised by Development Support Institute, said the company was interested in the socio-economic development of the Niger- Delta region.
He said poverty, lack of basic infrastructure, breach of agreements with host communities and unemployment were some of the issues that had degenerated to hostilities in the oil rich delta.
�The Federal Government must give us an assurance that the threat no longer exists and we must also hear from the militants� side that that is correct,� an oil industry source said.
�Anything short of that would be taking an uncalculated risk with our staff,� he added, noting that, only last week, militants engaged government troops in a gun battle in the delta.
Hostage taking and attacks on oil installations have led to oil production output cuts by about 550,000 barrels per day.
Violent attacks on the country�s oil industry – Africa�s largest and the fifth-biggest source of United States oil imports � have led to bloodletting that has killed more than 1 000 people in the Niger Delta.
Executive Director, DSI, Mrs. Jacqueline Odiadi, said women and children remained the worst affected by gun battles between the militants and government forces in the 70,000-square kilometre swathe of swampland and mangrove forest that is home to Africa�s biggest oil industry.
She said the conference was timely as it would roll out recommendations that would shape and redefine ways and means of preventing, solving and managing conflict, not only in the oil industry, but Nigeria as a whole.
Atser Godwin, The Punch