Shell reiterates commitment to Nigeria, contributes $29bn in four years

Shell Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) said it contributed about $29 billion to the Nigerian purse between 2012 and 2016 through its operated Joint Venture alone.

The Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, who disclosed this while presenting the 2017 Shell Nigeria Briefing Notes to energy editors in Lagos said in 2016, the royalties and corporate taxes paid by Shell Companies in Nigeria to the Federal Government came to $1.4 billion (SPDC $1.0 billion and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) $0.4 billion).

“This is besides the energy which Shell Companies contribute to the Nigerian economy, with Shell-operated ventures in Nigeria recording an output of some 572,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2016.”

Mr. Okunbor, who is also the Managing Director of SPDC, said Shell have remained deeply committed to the development of Nigeria, her people and her economy by efficiently and responsibly producing oil and gas in onshore and offshore as well as distributing gas to industries and producing liquefied natural gas for export.

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He said the determination of Shell to support the monetisation of the nation’s huge gas resources led it to establish Shell Nigeria Gas in 1998, which now supplies gas to about 90 industrial customers in Ogun, Rivers and Abia states.

”The gas is used for power generation and processing by industries for the manufacture of domestic products ranging from household consumables, to household utensils and hardware,” he explained.

Aside from producing energy, Shell companies in Nigeria, he said also paid special attention to the welfare of host communities, making Nigeria the second largest recipient of social investment spending in the Shell Group after the United States.

“In a bid to involve more Nigerian contractors in their operations, the Shell Contractor Funding initiative was expanded with eight participating banks committing about $2.2 billion to fund contract execution by Nigerian companies working for Shell Companies in Nigeria. Since the programme’s creation in 2011, loans worth approximately $1 billion have been awarded to 220 small and medium-sized Nigerian enterprises with no recorded defaults on repayment.”