Shell works to share the benefits of our activities by creating jobs and helping local economies to develop. During the design of a project we consider how we can increase the use of local suppliers. We also train local companies so that they can tender for contracts, and build skills to develop sustainable businesses for the long term (see opinion below).
For example, one international supplier has agreed to provide locally some of the equipment and services needed for operations off the coast of Brunei, with eventually 90% of staff employed being local. The joint venture Brunei Shell Petroleum (Shell interest 50%) is working with the supplier to support this through training and the development of local facilities. Another joint venture, Brunei LNG (Shell interest 25%), has helped to develop local seafaring skills. In Nigeria, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) agreed with six international suppliers in 2012 to develop local operations to manufacture equipment for oil production. In the Middle East we signed new contracts with international suppliers to set up local facilities for making chemicals used in the production of oil.
In early 2013, we joined a UN Development Programme initiative to create jobs and build skills in Somalia. The collaboration between Shell, BP and several shipping companies is aimed at helping to rebuild Somalia’s economy with the long-term goal of reducing the risk of piracy in the Indian Ocean.
Opinion
Vandrezzer has been a direct beneficiary of Shell Petroleum Development Company’s strategy to promote the use of Nigerian service companies in production operations, projects and well engineering. We were invited to attend a Shell-supported UK trade initiative forum in London soon after becoming a contractor to SPDC in 2008, and I was able to make a speech. We have attended subsequent forums in Aberdeen, Abuja and London. This exposure has not only served to redefine our business concept, but paved the way for the formation of strategic alliances and relationships that have helped us grow and attain a size and standard that enables us to handle turnkey projects in the oil and gas industry. I am grateful to SPDC for the opportunity. The baby Shell nurtured has matured into an indigenous company, with fully developed construction capabilities, which is able to supply a wide range of services for the industry.”
Joe Udofia
Managing Director/CEO, Vandrezzer Energy Services Limited, Lagos, Nigeria