Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of the oil rich Delta state has called on Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to re-establish their office in the state.

The governor made the call on Tuesday while speaking with the management of the SPDC, led by its Managing Director, Mr Osagie Okunbor on a visit to the governor in Asaba.

Ifeanyi Okowa: Delta state governor

Okowa assured the company of eventful partnership, adding that peace and security were integral components of his administration.

He said Shell’s decision to close down in Delta was not a good idea, adding that the company’s closure was not in the interest of the state as it still had a lot of business activities going on in the state.

He noted that “SPDC still loads its crude from the Forcados terminal, therefore, it cannot afford to shut down offices in Delta.

“We are glad that you (Shell) are still exporting crude through the Forcados terminal and still have other assets in the state.
Shell cannot wish Delta State away from its business relationship; we have a long shared relationship with Shell as one of its founding areas in the country.

“Your leaving has some economic impact on the state, we will be glad to have your office back in the state.Your visit today is very re-assuring, we will do our best to protect and provide conducive business environment and the best of services for investors in the state.’’

Okowa urged the company and other corporate organisations to partner with the state in order to empower the people, especially the youths.

He said the youth’s empowerment programmes being floated by his administration had provided enough windows for the various organisations to leverage on as part of their social responsibility to the state.

He noted that the government received over 60,000 applications for the empowerment programme that targeted not more than 6,000 persons.

He, however, said the government would take new applications every six months through rigorous selection process.

Earlier, Okunbor had told the governor that the team was in Asaba to reassure the governor that SPDC had not left the state.

He congratulated the governor and his deputy on their emergence and assured them of SPDC’s preparedness to support his administration’s agenda for a prosperous Delta.

According to him, Shell has lots of assets in the state even though it has divested its operations.

In a related development, Okowa lamented the huge revenue loss incurred by the State due to the activities of pipeline vandals when he met members of the Urhobo Traditional Rulers Council when they paid him a visit in his office in Asaba.

He said that the state government lost three million barrels of crude oil as a result of criminals attack on oil pipelines in April alone.

He told the delegation led by its Chairman, HRM Ovie Richard Ogbon, the Ohworode of Olomu Kingdom that the revenue accruing to the state as a result of its oil output would soon reduce.

“As a state, we should be more vigilant against pipeline vandals; they are doing us a lot of disservice. We lost in the month of April alone about three million barrels of oil and this will reflect in this July allocation.

“On the issue of derivation, instead of the 11 million barrels that we are supposed to produce as a state for the month of April, we have about eight million barrels.’’