Chevron Corp. is defending its hands-on approach in working toward a dialogue with communities about the violence in oil-rich Nigeria, where the international energy firm has invested millions of dollars.
Last month, Chevron officials in the West African nation announced they were planning talks with disgruntled citizens about their concern over the country's oil industry and the distribution of oil wealth among Nigerians.
Chevron said in June that it was hoping to speak with community leaders in efforts to quell the recent violence that has disrupted oil extraction in the troubled West African country.
Nigeria's oil-rich delta region has been the scene of numerous attacks on oil companies in recent months at both on-shore and off-shore sites. Several oil workers have been taken hostage and a handful killed.
In response to the unrest, the Nigerian government has sent thousands of additional troops to the region; but the violence there continues.
According to Michael Barrett, a media relations official with Chevron, the company has implemented what it calls its "Global Memorandum of Understanding," or GMOU, a loosely defined strategy for improving the "transparency and accountability" of Chevron Nigeria Limited and stakeholders in the company as well as continuing its "sustainable development" programs with the community.
Inquiries by United Press International for clarification of the Chevron initiative were not answered by company officials.
The energy firm's strategy is familiar to international companies doing business in developing nations where the majority of the people are poor and enjoy few benefits from the natural wealth.
Nigeria is no exception. A recent report by a Nigerian oil expert showed that the bulk of the country's poor do not benefit from the wealth of the nation's oil reserves, considered the eighth-largest in the world.
The disparity has wrought contempt for the oil industry among Nigerians and given birth to the militant movement intent on disrupting production so as to bring attention to the economic divide there.
Some experts say Nigeria's oil-production capacity has been depleted by 20 percent due to the recent violence against foreign and state oil. However, others like Nigerian official Deji Ariyibi maintains the losses would amount to 50 percent of full production capacity.
Despite generating an estimated $300 billion in oil revenue since the 1970s, most Nigerians remain in poverty, a condition that has given rise to the violence that has affected production in Nigeria for both state oil and foreign firms like Chevron, which was forced to shut down one of its operations in 2003 due to militant attacks.
Hoping to reverse that trend, Barrett said that over the last five years Chevron has given $143 million to the Niger Delta Development Commission, a government program to improve the country's rural areas.
A satisfied Nigerian population is likely to make business more profitable and pave the way for future projects like the new Liquefied Natural Gas plant Chevron plans to build for operation by 2009.
But some analysts said that Chevron cannot make a real difference in Nigeria unless it influences the government to make policy changes regarding the distribution of oil revenue.
"I don't think the situation in Nigeria has to do with Chevron or other foreign oil companies operating there -- it has to do with the distribution of wealth," said Fara Emerson, an expert with Energy Security Analysis Inc., in a recent interview with UPI.
"They [militants] are not mad at Chevron, they are upset with their government' and the way it has not distributed the country's oil revenue."
--
(Comments to [email protected])
