OIL COMPANIES EVACUATE DEPENDENTS IN WAKE OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L LAGOS 001441 SIPDIS SIPDIS DOE FOR GPERSON, CGAY TREASURY FOR ASEVERENS, SRENENDER, DFIELDS COMMERCE FOR KBURRESS STATE PASS USTR FOR ASST USTR SLISER STATE PASS TRANSPORTATION FOR MARAD STATE PASS OPIC FOR ZHAN AND MSTUCKART STATE PASS TDA FOR NCABOT STATE PASS EXIM FOR JRICHTER STATE PASS USAID FOR GWEYNAND AND SLAWAETZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/21/2016 TAGS: EPET ENERG ASEC PTER NI SUBJECT: OIL COMPANIES EVACUATE DEPENDENTS IN WAKE OF BOMBINGS REF: LAGOS 1432 Classified By: Consul Alan Latimer for Reasons 1.4 (B,D) ¶1. (C) Summary: In the wake of two car bombs, one that exploded outside a club on the Shell residential compound and a second that exploded along a perimeter fence ringing the Agip compound in Port Harcourt, some international oil companies and oil service companies, including Shell, Eni, Total, Schlumberger and Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Company, are moving the dependents of expatriate employees out of the area. Of the companies polled, only Agip has chosen to close its Port Harcourt office through January 2, a move which affects expatriate and Nigerian employees alike. The company will also move Port Harcourt office expatriate employees to Lagos through January 2. End Summary. ¶2. (C) In the wake of two car bombings, one that exploded outside a club on Shell's Port Harcourt residential compound and a second that exploded along a perimeter fence ringing the Agip compound in Port Harcourt, some international oil companies and oil service companies have decided to evacuate expatriate employees' dependents from their Niger Delta facilities. Shell's MD Ann Pickard told Emboffs and others that the company will evacuate dependents from the company's Warri, Port Harcourt, and Bonny Island facilities. Many of the 700 dependents living at the three Shell Oil Company facilities had already departed on holiday travel, leaving 180 dependents to be evacuated, according to the company's security officer. Dependents will not be allowed to return until August 2007. (Note: Press reports indicated a total of 400 Shell dependents in the Delta area. End Note.) ¶3. (C) The Italian firm Agip, which currently has four expatriate employees in captivity following a December 7 attack on its residential facility near its Brass tank farm, has chosen to close its Port Harcourt office until January 2, a move which affects both expatriate and Nigerian employees. Agip's expatriate staff are being moved to Lagos through January 2. The company's Managing Director for Public Affairs Fidelis Anju indicated that the office closure affects 100-150 persons. The company's oil field operations are not affected and will continue to be staffed. Eni has evacuated dependents of expatriate employees. ¶4. (C) Total's Public Affairs representative Michael Anju said that, at the present time, the company is evacuating only the families of expatriate employees working in Port Harcourt and Warri, where the majority of the company's expatriate workers are located. ¶5. (C) The Managing Director of oil services company Schlumberger Steve Fulgham said that the company is conducting an orderly, phased departure of expatriate employees' dependents over the next two weeks. The company is not requiring dependents to depart, and in a few cases, spouses have chosen to remain behind with the employee. ¶6. (C) The Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas company, of which Shell is a 25.6 percent owner, has also decided to evacuate dependents of expatriate employees. NLNG has facilities on Bonny Island in Rivers State. ¶7. (C) Chevron has only one expatriate employee in Port Harcourt, with the bulk of its employees in Escravos, according to Femi Odumabo, General Manager for Public Affairs. The company is monitoring the situation and beefing up security, but currently has no plans to evacuate dependents of expatriate employees. BROWNE