TheNewsGuru

Tag: Shell

  • Shell donates multi million naira science lab to Abia community

    Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited on Thursday inaugurated a multi-million naira integrated science laboratory it built, equipped and donated to Aggrey Memorial (Model) College, Arochukwu in Abia.

    Speaking at the inauguration, the Managing Director of the company, Mr. Bayo Ojulari, said that the project would promote educational excellence in the sciences.

    “It is also part of our larger educational support programmes to help Nigerian youths and support the government in the task of providing high quality educational facilities in public schools,” he said.

    Ojulari, who was represented by the company’s Manager, Business Opportunities, Mr Segun Owolabi, said that the modern science equipment and laboratory chemicals were sufficient to serve the school for a minimum of two years.

    He explained that the facility would promote teaching and learning of science subjects and provide a conducive learning environment to stimulate students’ interest.

    “Our hope is that this project will help in no small measure to prepare more Nigerian students for the anticipated technological take-off in the nation,” the Shell boss said.

    He listed some of the company’s contribution to the development of education in Nigeria to include the award of the Shell “Cradle-to-Career” scholarship for a six-year secondary education in top-rated schools in Nigeria to 104 primary school pupils in the country.

    Owolabi said that the programme, which was inaugurated in 2014, currently had 267 beneficiaries in different schools in Nigeria.

    The managing director said that the scholarship covered tuition, boarding, education and non-education supplies.

    He said that the company also had a scholarship for 100 university undergraduates in the country.

    He also said that the company had provided Information Communication Technology centres in different parts of the country to improve curriculum development and digitisation in Nigerian universities.

    Owolabi admonished the students of the college to make good use of the facilities.

    According to him, the possibilities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) world are endless.

    In his speech, the Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ikechi Mgboji, expressed gratitude to Shell for the gesture.

    The commissioner said that the company had further demonstrated its support toward the growth and development of the nation’s education sector.

    Mgboji, who was represented by the Director of Scholarships in the ministry, Mrs Christy Ibeji, said that the project would remain memorable to Abia government as well as staff and students of the college.

    He described the complex as a masterpiece and appealed to Shell to extend similar gesture to other public schools in the state.

    Also, the Principal of the college, Mr Peter Ugbuta, said that the laboratory would improve the teaching and learning of sciences in the college and the neighouring schools.

    Ugbuta however, stressed the need for adequate security within and around the college to protect the facility from activities of hoodlums.

    He said that the school needed perimeter fence and a security guard and appealed to the alumni association of the college and the state government for their assistance.

    The principal also said that some of the classroom blocks in the college were in a state of disrepair and needed urgent attention.

    A representative of the alumni association of the college, Mrs Grace Okaro, thanked the company for the project, describing it as a `timely intervention’ for which posterity would forever remember it.

    Okaro decried the deplorable condition of the school’s hitherto popular chapel, called the Abna Hall, and Independence Park, housing the tombs of the founder of the college and legendary educationist, Dr. Alvan Ikoku, and his wife, Goomsu.

    The body, therefore, appealed to the state government to return the hall and park to the school, saying that “without it our history will be incomplete.”

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the two facilities were removed from the college and ceded to its neighboruing Abia State College of Education, (Technical) Arochukwu.

    The two institutions had no clear demarcation.

    The alumni further accepted to take up the responsibility for security in the college and maintenence of the laboratory complex.

    A community leader, Mr Byron Irokanulo, who spoke on behalf of the community, expressed profound thanks to the company but underscored the need to enhance security in the school, especially during holidays.

     

  • Royal Dutch Shell to invest $15 billion in Nigeria

    President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed multinational oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, otherwise known only as Shell, is preparing to invest the sum of $15 billion in Nigeria.

    President Buhari made this known on Wednesday at the Commonwealth Business Forum 2018 when Anthony Okolo quizzed him on what his government is doing to facilitate and ease investments in the Northeastern part of the country.

    “I saw Shell Group. They came and told me they are preparing to invest $15 billion in Nigeria,” he said.

    TheNewsGuru reports President Buhari had had a meeting with Shell, where chief executive officer of the multinational oil firm, Ben van Beurden, confirmed the investment intentions to the President before he set out for the Business Forum.

    The meeting had, amongst others, Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu; Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, and a delegation of executives in attendance.

     

  • Malabu: Swiss government block bank accounts linked to Eni, Shell executives

    Malabu: Swiss government block bank accounts linked to Eni, Shell executives

    The government of Switzerland has blocked several bank accounts in the country linked to the planned bribery trial of Eni and Shell executives in Milan, Italy, as it relates to the infamous Malabu oil scam.

    On Monday, the office of the Swiss Attorney-General confirmed that at the request of public prosecutors from Milan, it has confiscated, assets and shared information with Italian authorities.

    The trial of the executives, including former Eni’s Claudio Descalzi, and his predecessor, Paolo Scaroni, was originally slated for March but was moved to May after it was transferred to Milan.

    Nigerian and Italian investigators accuse officials of both Eni and Shell of shady financial deals to secure a licence for the lucrative OPL 245.

    Three separate bank accounts in Lugano, Basel and Geneva were blocked, according to media reports confirmed by prosecutors but they declined to reveal the value of the seized assets.

    In all, apart from Messrs Descalzi and Scaroni, 11 other people including two former top Shell managers, former Nigerian oil minister, Dan Etete and a series of middlemen and advisers are being probed.

    Eni and Shell were also listed as corporate defendants in the case. Both oil companies have denied wrongdoing and expressed confidence that the trial would exonerate both the companies and individuals.

     

  • OML 42 sales: Shell files criminal complaint against ex-employee

    Royal Dutch Shell has filed a criminal complaint against a former employee over suspected bribes in the sale of a Nigerian onshore oilfield in 2011, shedding more light on the company’s activities in the country.

    The suspected wrongdoing is unrelated to a court case against the Anglo-Dutch company and Eni in Italy over the acquisition of a different Nigerian oilfield, known as OPL 245, a Shell spokesman said on Wednesday.

    “Based on what we know now from an internal investigation, we suspect a crime may have been committed by our
    former employee… against Shell in relation to the sale process for Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 in Nigeria,”
    the spokesman said.

    “We have filed a criminal complaint with the Dutch authorities and are considering other steps we could take.”

    Shell sold its stake in OML 42, an aging onshore field in the Niger Delta, to Nigerian firm Neconde Energy Ltd in
    February 2011.

    Neconde Energy was not immediately available to comment.

    As part of the internal investigation carried out in recent months, Shell discovered that kickbacks may have been
    paid to a Seychelles-listed company owned by the former employee in the sale of OML 42, a source familiar with
    the probe said.

    The source added that offshore company was linked to two Swiss bank accounts under the employee’s name.

    Shell is the largest international oil producer in Nigeria.

     

  • KSM elects former Shell manager, Ovueraye, Knight, head of executive board

    A former senior manager of oil giant, Shell, Diamond Ovueraye, has been elected as the Supreme Knight and Head of the new executive of the Order of the Knights of Saint Mulumba, Nigeria (KSM).

    Ovueraye, who was elected unopposed, will head the new supreme board of 12 members for four years.

    The election took place at a special KSM Supreme Convention held at the Madonna Retreat Centre, Nkpor, near Onitsha.

    In his acceptance speech, Ovueraye, commended the amity that prevailed during and after the conduct of the election.

    He urged the newly elected officers to dedicate themselves to the enabling canons of the Order and pledged to provide purposeful leadership at all times.

    He said the board would pursue and ensure increased spirituality of members, positive impact and growth of membership and sub-councils.

    “We will pursue advocacy, deepening relationship with all organisations in the church, streamlining and fine-tuning of administrative channels, rekindling of true brotherhood, internal charity and maintaining discipline,” he said.

    According to Ovueraye, as knights they must all strive to be change agents in the various families, offices, businesses, communities and the church.

    “ This way, our light will dispel the pervading darkness and then we can really be said to be good soldiers of Christ.”

    Earlier, the Rev. Fr. Francis Nwaiwu, the Supreme Chaplain, urged the delegates to ensure that the interest of the Order was paramount by electing a very competent Supreme Executive board to run its affairs.

    He also told the delegates to eschew base consideration in their choice of candidates and admonished those to be elected to be exemplary.

    Other officers elected were Bro. Charles Mbelede, Deputy Supreme Knight, Bro. Fabian Obi, Supreme Secretary, Bro. Henry Bello, Supreme Advocate, Bro. Francis Ogini, Supreme Chancellor and Bro. Greg Esotu, Supreme Treasurer. Also elected were Bro. Patrick Ekwenta as Supreme Financial Secretary, Bro. Emmanuel Ikpam as Supreme Auditor, Bro. Charles Eregie as Supreme Physician, Bro. Emma Onyejekwe as Supreme Warden, Bro. Dan Egwu as Supreme PRO/Editor and Bro. Moses Iyasere as Supreme Assistant Secretary.

    One of the newly elected officers, Bro Dan Egwu, said, “Knights must live a sacrificial life of service and endeavour to be exemplary, bearing in mind that the measure we give is the measure that will be given to us.”

     

  • Malabu Oil Deal: Accept agreement ceding POL 254 to Shell, Eni – Kachikwu tells Buhari

    The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to cede controversial OPL 245 oil bloc to oil firms, Royal Dutch Shell and Eni.

    According to a report by Premium Times, details of the advice was contained in a leaked memo written by the oil minister in December 2017 asking Mr Buhari to abide by a curious settlement agreement signed by his predecessors ceding the lucrative oil bloc to companies.

    The memo was leaked as it emerged earlier on Thursday that Nigeria’s Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that there may not be enough proof yet to show that fraud was allegedly committed by some former government officials in the $1.1 billion infamous deal.

    Detail of Mr Malami’s memo was revealed during the trial of a former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete, and former Attorney General, Mohammed Adoke, who interestingly had signed one of three agreements collectively referred to the Settlement Agreement, and others.

    Mr Adoke’s lawyer, Kanu Agabi, asked the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court to strike out the charges against his client as they are illegal. He also told the court that the memo was proof of Mr Adoke’s innocence.

    In the leaked Memo, titled: “Re: Forwarding of Case File in Respect of Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/268/17 and FCT/HC/CR/124/2017 – Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd”, Mr Kachikwu told Mr Buhari that he aligned with the advice of Mr Malami that the Federal Government should respect the resolution of the Settlement Agreement as it was consistent with “the consistent role of three (3) predecessor President in the matter, and the potential negative view of Nigeria that may follow should international arbitration ensue from this matter.”

    Mr Kachikwu added that if Mr Buhari decided to go against the Settlement Agreement or “take steps that will undermine its integrity” it may turn out costly for the country.

    The oil minister then explained that instead of abrogating the agreement, the Nigeria government should use it as a means of acquiring a stake in OPL 245 by converting it to a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Shell and Eni.

    “This will not only ensure that Nigeria will bear no funding obligation for the development of the block, but will be a strategic, yet commercial, approach and solution to the OPL 245 issue which will ensure that Nigeria is focused on obtaining an immediate benefit from the OPL 245,” he wrote.

     

    The ‘Settlement Agreement’

    The agreement which was made on April 29, 2011, is made up of three separates resolution agreements. The first, titled “BLOCK 245 MALABU RESOLUTION AGREEMENT” was signed between representatives of the federal government and those of Malabu, which was represented during the discussions by a former petroleum minister, Dan Etete.

    The second agreement, titled “BLOCK 245 RESOLUTION AGREEMENT” was between the Nigerian government and officials of Shell and Eni/AGIP; while the third agreement, titled “BLOCK 245 SNUD RESOLUTION AGREEMENT”, was signed by officials of the Nigerian government and Shell.

    The immediate past attorney general of the federation, Mohammed Adoke, and immediate past petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke signed all the agreements on behalf of the federal government.

    Both are among officials being investigated by Nigeria’s foremost anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, for their roles in the scam.

    According to the agreements, OPL 245 was first transferred to Malabu to the Nigerian government and then from the government to Shell and Eni. It also effectively canceled all previous lawsuits and judgements related to the case.

     

    Cancel the agreement:

    However, the position now taken by the Messrs. Malami and Kachikwu is contrary to the recommendation of a government committee Mr Malami himself set up.

    Describing the agreement as “null and void” and saying it “should not be given any legal effect by the FGN (Federal Government of Nigeria) as doing so would amount to the FGN condoning and perpetuating illegality.”

    The panel argued that the agreement is illegal because the ex-convict, Mr. Etete, had no legal authority to negotiate the agreement on behalf of Malabu as he was not a shareholder of the company nor had the permission of the shareholders to do so.

    It also argued that the oil bloc was awarded to Malabu in furtherance of Nigeria’s policy to encourage local companies and part of the conditions for the award was that “foreign participation interest in the blocks (OPL 245 and 214) shall not exceed 40%, i.e. 60/40 indigenous to foreign;” a fact Shell was aware of but chose to ignore.

    The committee said based on a resolution by the last House of Representatives, which called for the cancellation and demanded that Shell be “censured or reprimanded… for its lack of transparency and full disclosure in its bid to acquire OPL 245.”

    Also, although Shell and Eni claimed they only struck an agreement with the federal government and that they did not know, before the agreement, that the money they paid was going to Malabu, evidence by investigators in Italy and the Nigerian anti-graft agency, EFCC, shows that the oil firms knew the payment was eventually going to Malabu accounts controlled by Mr. Etete, a man once convicted for money laundering in France.

    Finally, the panel added that apart from the cancellation of the agreement, the Federal government should seek full recovery of the money paid by Shell and Eni, describing it as “proceed of crime.”

  • Italian court orders Shell, Eni to face trial over Malabu oil deal

    An Italian federal judge has approved the prosecution of Royal Dutch Shell and Eni in the $1.3 billion controversial sale of OPL 245 oil block, Italian media reports confirmed on Wednesday.

    The judge in Milan also said Eni executive, Claudio Descalzi, and his predecessor, Paolo Scaroni, should be tried for their role in the deal.

    According to the report, the trial is expected to commence on March 5 2018.

    Italian prosecutors had earlier indicted Shell and Agip for their role in the 2011 deal in which Nigeria sold the lucrative oil block to the two oil majors.

    A former petroleum minister, Dan Etete, and a former Attorney-General, Bello Adoke, are amongst several Nigerians indicted in the deal, which was approved by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Shell and Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary, Agip, are among those already being prosecuted in Nigeria.

    In a prompt reaction to the judge’s decision, Shell said it was shocked.

    “We are disappointed by the outcome of the preliminary hearing and the decision to indict Shell and its former employees. We believe the trial judges will conclude that there is no case against Shell or its former employees.

    “Shell attaches the greatest importance to business integrity. It’s one of our core values and is a central tenet of the Business Principles that govern the way we do business. Shell has clear rules on anti-bribery and corruption and these are included in our Code of Conduct for all staff. There is no place for bribery or corruption in our company,” the firm said in a statement.

    Details later…

  • Shell, Facebook, Google, Apple, other 96 best places to work in 2018

    Fastest growing jobs and recruiting website, Glassdoor, has ranked employees choice best places to work in 2018.

    According to Glassdoor, the ranking system is based on “a proprietary awards algorithm”, which is designed to calculate the “quantity, quality, and consistency of company reviews submitted by employees between November 1, 2016, and October 22, 2017”.

    While Facebook has become the best place to work in America, Cupertino-based tech giant Apple tumbled to number 84 from 36th position last year, and Shell ranks at number 95, Glassdoor’s 2018 list of best places to work reveals.

    Apple still remains a highly rated employer – with 4.3 out of 5 rating by Glassdoor – but other tech giants like Google, World Wide Technology, Yahoo, and VMware are way ahead in the listings.

    Global management consulting firm Bain & Company is the second best place to work, followed by Boston Consulting Group, In-N-Out Burger and Google.

    “It’s clear employees love working at Facebook. What we really see them appreciate most is the company’s mission-driven culture, transparent leadership and the fact that their work literally impacts the lives of billions of people worldwide,” Glassdoor CEO Robert Hohman said in a statement.

    When it comes to “cons” for working at Apple, several employees who anonymously reviewed the company on Glassdoor said the iPhone maker is “strapped for resources” and “offers a poor work-life balance”.

    “Office space is very sparse, bring your own tea and snacks kind of a deal. Lunch isn’t free, although dinner is. Nobody is going to pat you on the back for your work, and you’re expected to advance your own career, or find the mentorship you need,” one Apple employee wrote on Glassdoor.

    SAP is at 11th spot, Salesforce at 15th, LinkedIn at 21th, Adobe at 31th, Microsoft at 39th and SpaceX is at 50th place in Glassdoor’s listing.

     

  • Court sets aside $2.5b judgment by Shell, Esso against NNPC

    Court sets aside $2.5b judgment by Shell, Esso against NNPC

    The Court of Appeal in Abuja has set aside a portion of an arbitral award got by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Limited (Shell) and Esso Exploration and production Limited (Esso) against the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    By the portion of the award, made by an arbitration tribunal in Lagos on October 24, 2011, NNPC was ordered among others, to pay Shell and Esso over $2.5billion for abusing a Production Sharing Contract (PSC) between them in relation to the operation of an oil filed identified as Erha Deepwater Project.

    Shell and Esso particularly, accused NNPC of assuming their responsibilities, under the PSC, including determining what should be paid to the Nigerian government as petroleum profit tax (PPT), and that in so doing, NNPC over lifted petroleum products valued at $1,207,500,000 to pay its unilaterally assessed tax on their behalf (Shell and Esso).

    On learning about the Shell and Esso case against NNPC, which will require it to refund the tax paid to it by NNPC on behalf of Shell and Esso, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) went before the Federal High Court in Abuja, in suit No: FHC/AB/CS/764/11, to challenge the aspect of the arbitral proceedings relating to tax issues.

    The arbitration tribunal, at the end of its proceedings on October 24, 211, ordered NNPC to pay Esso and Shell $1,799,000,000, “with simple interest at the rate of 30-day LIBOR plus 4per cent from December 17, 2007 (the date of breach) until April 30, 2011,” estimated at $243,000,000.

    It asked NNPC to pay another “simple interest at the rate of 30-day LIBOR plus 4per cent on the $1,799,000,000 from April 30, 2011 up until the date of payment;” and a further “sum determined by the volume and value of over lifting by the respondent that has taken place since April 30, 2011 and until the date of this final award, plus simple interest at the rate of 30-day LIBOR plus 4per cent from April 30, 2011 up until the date of payment.”

    However, in his judgment on March 9, 2012 on the suit by FIRS, Justice Adamu Bello (now retired) of the Federal High Court, Abuja set aside the October 24, 2011 arbitral award/judgment on the ground that the arbitration tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to have entertained dispute relating to tax, a decision Shell and Esso appealed to the Court of Appeal, Abuja.

    The Court of Appeal, in a unanimous judgment of a three-man panel on March 10 this year, a copy of which The Nation accessed last Friday, set aside the monetary award against NNPC, held that oil companies lacked the power to determine what profit tax to pay and that such responsibilities reside solely with the FIRS under the country’s laws.

  • Shell admits knowing about payments to Malabu

    Shell admits knowing about payments to Malabu

    Royal Dutch Shell has said it knew that some of the payments it made to Nigeria for the rights to an oil field would go to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company associated with a former Minister of Petroleum Resources and convicted money launderer, Dan Etete.

    Shell spokesman, Andy Norman, was quoted as saying that the group had known that the Nigerian government “would compensate Malabu to settle its claim on the block.”

    Shell previously had said that its payments from the 2011 deal went to the Federal Government.

    Reuters quoted Norman as saying in an email that while Shell knew that Etete was “involved” with Malabu, it had not confirmed that he controlled the company.

    Etete was convicted of money laundering in a separate case in France in 2007.

    “Over time, it became clear to us that Etete was involved in Malabu and that the only way to resolve the impasse through a negotiated settlement was to engage with Etete and Malabu, whether we liked it or not,” Norman said.

    He added that the company believed the settlement was a fully legal transaction with the Nigerian government.

    The statement comes amid mounting pressure over the deal, in which Shell and Italy’s Eni paid $1.3bn for the rights to Oil Prospecting Licence 245, which industry estimates say could hold more than nine billion barrels of oil.

    Courts in Nigeria and Italy are investigating the purchase of the block. Italian prosecutors have asked for Eni’s Chief Executive Officer, Claudio Descalzi, to be sent to trial in connection with the case.

    Eni said neither the company nor Descalzi were involved in any allegedly illicit conduct.

    A Nigerian court ordered the asset temporarily seized in January at the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, but the move was overturned.

    The OPL 245, believed to be the largest in Africa, was said to have been fraudulently acquired from the Federal Government by Malabu Oil and Gas Limited in 1998.

    The oil block, which was awarded by Etete to Malabu Oil and Gas, a company in which he was a shareholder, was sold to Shell and Eni in what has been described as a shady transaction.