Shell, UBA sign $200m contractor support fund
Mar 24, 2019
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has upped its contractor support fund with $200 million in a latest effort to boost the financial capacity of vendors and suppliers in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. This latest move brings the fund size to $2.4 billion.
SPDC’h s Director and General Manager, Government and Business Relations, Bashir Bello who signed the $200 million Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Bank for Africa (UBA) in Abuja on Friday described the initiative as a product of the continuous effort by SPDC and its joint venture partners – NNPC, Total and Agip – to enhance Nigerian content and local participation in the nation’s oil and gas value chain.
The fund provides support for contractors to finance projects executed for Shell companies in Nigeria in line with the aspirations of the Nigerian Content Act. To access the fund, the contractors must have a valid purchase order and meet the bank’s risk assessment criteria.
“Findings indicate that lack of access to capital hinders many Nigerian companies from competing for and executing contracts effectively” said Bello who signed the deal on behalf of SPDC. “ This funding will enable us to achieve our community content ambition of increasing participation of host communities in the SPDC value chain.”
The General Manager Energy Bank of UBA, Ebele Ogbue, said the bank was committed to providing support to Nigerian companies through its partnership with SPDC JV. Ogbue, who signed the MoU for UBA, commended the Nigeria and community content efforts of Shell companies in Nigeria, noting that UBA was ready to provide the needed financial backing that would empower Nigerian companies to play more active role in the country’s energy sector and beyond.
The Shell Contractor Funding Scheme started in 2011 with the Shell Kobo Fund, which gave rise to the Shell Contractor Support Fund in 2012. The scheme has been redesigned to address the current economic exigencies and to align it with stakeholder needs by merging the two initial initiatives. In 2016, Shell signed a $2.2 billion MoU with seven Nigerian banks that have since then disbursed around $1.5 billion loans to about 372 small- and medium-sized Nigerian suppliers and vendors in the oil and gas industry.
Media Relations Manager
March 24, 2019
Softphone: +234 807 022 8045
Cautionary note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this announcement “Shell” , “Shell group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “ our” are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this announcement refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Companies over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to “joint ventures” and companies over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. In this announcement, joint ventures and associates may also be referred to as “equity-accounted investments”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’ , ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘ outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “ schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2017 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, March 24, 2019. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.
Director and General Manager, Business and Government Relations (SPDC), Bashir Bello (left) exchanging a signed $200 million Shell Contractor Support Fund Memorandum of Understanding with the General Manager Energy Bank of the United Bank for Africa, Ebele Ogbue in Abuja.
L-R: Senior Government Relations Adviser (SPDC), Onyekachi Igwe; Manager, Government Relations, Abubakar Ahmed; Community Content Development Manager, Sarah Ajose-Adeogun; Director and General Manager, Business and Government Relations; Bashir Bello; Relationship Director for Oil and Gas, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Morenike Akinrimisi; and UBA’s General Manager Energy Bank, Ebele Ogbue, at the signing of $200 million Shell Contractor Support Fund Memorandum of Understanding the in Abuja.