The Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch oil firm Shell has paid US$44 billion as royalties and taxes to the Nigerian government in the past four years, according to local media reports Thursday.
Apart from taxes, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) and its subsidiaries employed about 4,000 Nigerians, while the oil firm contributed US$32 million to community development projects.
Quoting the company’s annual sustainable report for 2013, which was presented to the public Wednesday, the report said the firm identified crude oil theft and sabotage as some of the factors that affected its operations in the Niger Delta oil region during 2013.
“We are working with our sector, governments, non-governmental organisations and the international community towards ending the theft and sabotage,” it said.
During 2013, production was shut down many times to remove illegal connections to pipelines and make repairs.
Shell is the operator of a joint venture between the government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC 55%), Shell (30%), Total (10 %) and Agip (5%).
It also holds interests in a number of offshore licences, including the Shell-operated Bonga field, where it has 55% equity interest, and a 25.6% interest in Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), which exports LNG around the world.
