Unrealistic Expectations?

[Leigh Meyers <leighcmeyers@xxxxxxxxx>]

"At the end of the day Nigeria has 124 million people and only pumps so much 
oil and gas. "The value of that oil is about 80 cents for every Nigerian, so the 
expectation is much higher than can ever be delivered." 


[I wonder how much is earned by Royal Dutch Shell's 
corporate officers "At the end of the day "?]
http://www.management-issues.com/display_page.asp?section=research&id=2057&mode=print

BBC NEWS
2006/01/13

Shell's Nigeria output cut by 20% 

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4608702.stm

Shell has cut its Nigeria oil output by 20% after a pipeline 
explosion and the kidnapping of four foreign oil workers. 

It is losing 226,000 barrels a day after shutting its EA platform 
in the southern Delta region and closing the pipeline feeding an 
export terminal. 

Royal Dutch Shell shares fell by 0.9%, or 16p, to £18.35 in morning trading. 

The disruption helped push oil prices to new three-month highs on 
Thursday, but prices have since fallen back, with Brent crude trading 
at $62.50 a barrel. 

Diplomats say the hostages seized from Shell's EA platform 
came from the UK, the US, Honduras and Bulgaria. 

Unrealistic expectations 
Kidnappings and pipeline explosions are common in the Niger Delta region, where 
local groups complain they do not see the benefits of the area's oil wealth. 

According to reports, Shell is in dispute with villages near the field where 
the oil workers were kidnapped. 

They accuse the oil company of reneging on promises to undertake development 
projects. Keith Myers, an expert in African oil and gas exploration at Chatham 
House, told the BBC that Shell is in a difficult position. 

"At the end of the day Nigeria has 124 million people and only pumps so much 
oil and gas. "The value of that oil is about 80 cents for every Nigerian, so the 
expectation is much higher than can ever be delivered." 

Nigeria remains plagued by poverty despite being the world's eighth largest 
oil producer and the largest in Africa. 

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