LONDON: A cable recently released by Wikileaks paints a portrait of the extent to which powerful oil giant, Shell, was involved in the political schemes in Nigeria. The US ambassador routinely contacted Shell to discuss important political and economic developments in Nigeria.
In this cable, Shell executive, Ann Pickard, reveals that Umaru Yar’adua’s wife, Hajia Turai, his economic adviser, Tanimu Kurfi, and the former Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Engr. Abubakar L. Yar’Ádua, were influenced.by Shell.
The Ambassador asked what Shell’s thoughts were on any potential for a coup. Pickard answered that there was little intellectual capital to plan and execute a coup and Shell saw little potential for one. Pickard then went on to say that corruption in the oil sector was worsening by the day. The Ambassador asked for a few examples. Pickard said that Nigerian entities control the lifting of many oil cargoes and there are some “very interesting” people lifting oil (People, she said that were not even in the industry).
As an example she said that oil buyers would pay Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, officials and some people in Yar’Adua government paid millions of dollars per tanker, to lift oil. The IOCs control the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cargos, so GON actors do not have the same opportunity for illicit gain. Pickard also said ex-Attorney General Aondoakaa had told a visitor that he would sign a document only if the visitor paid $2 million immediately and another $18 million the next day.
Pickard reported that Shell, Exxon-Mobil and Chevron all have big license review disputes with the GON. Shell has taken its dispute to court and the court is supporting Shell’s position. According to her, Shell is stepping back for the moment, however, to see how the other two majors negotiation fair, but is not taking its case out of court yet. The IOCs are quite concerned about the “very flawed” new petroleum sector energy bill.
The bill is silent on what fiscal regimes would be applied. Shell says that the bill could reduce the corporation’s overall value in Nigeria. GON discussions around the bill have mentioned the possibility of moving to five-year licences and prohibiting exploring both oil and gas from the same source, which would contradict how oil and gas extraction works in practice. The bill is silent on joint ventures; it just states that NNPC will be incorporated. Pickard said the bill was “likely to sail through.”
