(An original story by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima)
Kingdom of Nri
circa 4,000 BCE
The oldest monarchy on the continent of Africa is the Igbo monarchy of Nri Kingdom.
Ọ̀ràézè Ǹrì Kingdom of the Rising Sun
How can you traverse the universe,
When you have chosen not to see beyond your nose?
They called her the ageless woman of the Igbo Ukwu. The Mother of all the Dibias of Afa divination. I came to the peak of hills of Udi where I found her sitting under an Ugiri tree. She was sitting on green palm fronds encircled by gourds. I came before her naked and bowed. "Gini but afa ghi?" She asked in the language of our our kingdom meaning, "What is your name!" "Onyemachi." I replied. She gazed at me. She gazed into my eyes. Her eyeballs were like golden almonds. She gazed at the windows of my soul. Then she nodded her hairless oval head. "Hmm. Indeed Onyemachi. Of course, who knows God?" She shook her head. "Nobody knows God. They call, cry and shout His name every day and night and yet they don't know Him " "Great Mother, I want to know Him. I have come to know Him," I said. She gazed at me again. With the index finger of her thin right hand she scribbled on the ground what I could not read and did not understand. "You want to know Him whom they don't know?" "Yes, Great Mother."
She brought out the bowl of the shell of a tortoise with a short stick of Ofo wood. Then she brought out the four strings of Afa one by one. "Open your right palm," she said. I opened my right palm. She held it and gazed at it. She opened her right palm and gazed at it and gazed at mine again. "The truth is only for the children of the covenant," she said. "Not all the children of Yebu are called. Not all the ones who are called are chosen."
She picked up the first string of the Afa with her right hand and cast it on the ground. Our forefathers and diviners said Yebu came with the Afa when he descended from the midst of the clouds in the sky with flashes of lightning and claps of thunder. Yebu was one of the Sons of God who came down to the Earth
Genesis 6:
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
***
Read another original fiction by Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima in "Camouflage: Best of Contemporary Writing from Nigeria" distributed by Amazon.
Shell Decides to Move Forward With Groundbreaking Floating LNG Shell Announces Final Investment Decision on Prelude Floating LNG Project in Australia
The Hague, May 20 /PRNewswire/ — The Board of Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell) has taken the final investment decision on the Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project in Australia (100% Shell), building the world's first FLNG facility. Moored far out to sea, some 200 kilometres from the nearest land in Australia, the FLNG facility will produce gas from offshore fields, and liquefy it onboard by cooling.
The decision means that Shell is now ready to start detailed design and construction of what will be the world's largest floating offshore facility, in a ship yard in South Korea.
From bow to stern, Shell's FLNG facility will be 488 metres long, and will be the largest floating offshore facility in the world - longer than four soccer fields laid end to end. When fully equipped and with its storage tanks full, it will weigh around 600,000 tonnes - roughly six times as much as the largest aircraft carrier. Some 260,000 tonnes of that weight will consist of steel, around five times more than was used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
"Our innovative FLNG technology will allow us to develop offshore gas fields that otherwise would be too costly to develop," said Malcolm Brinded, Shell's Executive Director, Upstream International. "Our decision to go ahead with this project is a true breakthrough for the LNG industry, giving it a significant boost to help meet the world's growing demand for the cleanest-burning fossil fuel."
Brinded continued "FLNG technology is an exciting innovation, complementary to onshore LNG, which can help accelerate the development of gas resources".
The facility has been designed to withstand the severest cyclones - those of Category 5. Ocean-going LNG carriers will offload liquefied gas, chilled to minus162 Celsius and shrunk in volume by 600 times, and other products, directly from the facility out at sea for delivery to markets worldwide. Until now, the liquefaction of offshore gas has always involved piping the gas to a land-based plant.
Shell has progressed the Prelude FLNG project at a rapid pace, with first production of LNG expected some ten years after the gas was discovered.
The FLNG facility will tap around 3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of resources contained in the Prelude gas field. Shell discovered the Prelude gas field in 2007.
Some 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of expected production from Prelude should underpin at least 5.3 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquids, comprising 3.6 mtpa of LNG, 1.3 mtpa of condensate and 0.4 mtpa of liquefied petroleum gas. The FLNG facility will stay permanently moored at the Prelude gas field for 25 years, and in later development phases should produce from other fields in the area where Shell has an interest.
Ann Pickard, Country Chair of Shell in Australia said "this will be a game changer for the energy industry. We will be deploying this revolutionary technology first in Australian waters, where it will add another dimension to Australia's already vibrant gas industry."
Brinded added "beyond this, our ambition is to develop more FLNG projects globally. Our design can accommodate a range of gas fields, and our strategic partnership with Technip and Samsung should enable us to apply it progressively faster for future projects. We see opportunities around the world to work on other FLNG projects with governments, energy companies and customers."
Shell's decision to make FLNG a reality culminates more than a decade of research and development. It builds on the company's extensive know-how in offshore production, gas liquefaction, LNG shipping, and delivering major projects that integrate the gas value chain-from wellhead to burner.
The Prelude FLNG project will be the first Australian upstream project in which Shell is the operator. Australia is one of Shell's key growth provinces, and Shell's upstream investment in Australia should reach some $30 billion over the next five years, including the Prelude and Gorgon projects, and on-going exploration and feasibility studies in the country.
Prelude FLNG is part of Shell's industry-leading portfolio of medium term growth options, where the company has around 30 new upstream projects under study world-wide, to support long term profitable growth. Notes to Editors
Shell is a global, integrated energy company with operations in more than 90 countries and territories, with businesses including: oil and gas exploration and production; refineries and chemical plants; processing and marketing of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas-to-liquid (GTL) products; marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals; and renewable energy sources, such as biofuels.
Gas resources are found all over the world in remote offshore accumulations. In Australian waters alone there is an estimated 140 trillion cubic feet of such "stranded" gas, according to a 2008 report by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (http://www.solve.csiro.au/0608/article5.htm). Shell FLNG technology will make it feasible to develop such resources, since it reduces both the cost and environmental footprint of their development. Having the gas-processing and gas-liquefaction facility located at the site of an offshore field removes the need for: gas-compression platforms; long subsea pipelines to shore; near-shore works, such as dredging and jetty construction; and onshore construction, including roads, storage yards and accommodation facilities. Another plus is that FLNG can accelerate LNG developments. This is because an FLNG vessel can be ordered at an earlier stage of appraisal of a new gas field, with less guarantee of production longevity than needed to underpin an onshore greenfield investment; if and when the gas resources in the first field are exhausted, the FLNG can be redeployed to another field.
Shell is the operator and 100% equity holder of the WA-371-P permit in the Browse Basin, where the Prelude field is located. The field is approximately 475 kilometres north-northeast of Broome, Western Australia, and over 200 kilometres from the nearest point on the mainland. Shell plans to have initially seven subsea wells at the Prelude field. From these wells, gas will travel through flexible pipes to the FLNG facility.
Shell has been doing business in Australia for 110 years, including participation in major LNG projects such as the North West Shelf and Gorgon. For more information, interview requests or photography, please contact:
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release "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 press release refer to companies in which Royal Dutch Shell either directly or indirectly has control, by having either a majority of the voting rights or the right to exercise a controlling influence. The companies in which Shell has significant influence but not control are referred to as "associated companies" or "associates" and companies in which Shell has joint control are referred to as "jointly controlled entities". In this press release, associates and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as "equity-accounted investments". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for example, through our 24% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This press release 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'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''will'', ''seek'', ''target'', ''risks'', ''goals'', ''should'' 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 press release, 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 press release 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 factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2010 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov ). These factors also should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, 20 May, 2011. Neither Royal Dutch Shell 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 press release.
We may have used certain terms in this press release, such as resources, that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in 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.
“She said the GON [government of Nigeria] had forgotten that Shell had seconded people to all the relevant ministries and that Shell consequently had access to everything that was being done in those ministries,” said Robin Renee, the US ambassador, in October 2009 after meeting with Ann Pickard, then Shell’s vice-president for sub-Saharan Africa.
TheWikiLeakscables have revealed that multinational oil companyShellwasspying on the Nigerian governmentand in fact actually knows everything about our government that most of the citizens do not even know. Shell planted a spy in every government office in Nigeria!
I have ignored the WikiLeaks scandal, because the revelations were not the most prevailing issues affecting Nigeria at the moment and the washing of the dirty linen of US government secrets in public is no longer news. But I have to report this shocking aspect of the cables that Shell was not only drilling and selling our crude oil, but was also spying on us.
The big question is: Who are the spies working for Shell in government offices in Nigeria?
Shell Starts Production at Perdido - World's Deepest Offshore Drilling and Production
Houston, March 31, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Shell today produced its first oil and natural gas from the Perdido Development, the world’s deepest offshore drilling and production facility. Located in an isolated, ultra-deep sector of the Gulf of Mexico, Perdido marks a new era in innovation and safely unlocks domestic sources of energy for US consumers. The facility sits in approximately 2,450 meters (8,000 feet) of water, which is roughly equivalent to six Empire State Buildings stacked one atop the other, and will access reservoirs deep beneath the ocean floor. Perdido smashes the world water depth record for an offshore platform by more than 50%.
“Perdido is an impressive project in a strong Gulf of Mexico portfolio that continues to grow,” said Marvin Odum, Upstream Americas Director, Shell Energy Resources Company. “Perdido presented technical challenges unlike we’ve ever seen in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell’s team used its expertise to open this new frontier and confront complex reservoir characteristics, extreme marine conditions, and record water depth pressures. Perdido demonstrates what companies like Shell can do when US federal lands and waters are opened to responsible energy exploration and production.”
From the first lease purchase to today’s production, the Perdido Development required an industry workforce of approximately 12,000 people, including employees and contractors. Shell designed, and operates, the Perdido host spar, a floating production facility, which is jointly owned by Shell (35%), Chevron (37.5%), and BP (27.5%).
The facility will produce from the Great White, Silvertip, and Tobago offshore fields, requiring perhaps as many as 35 wells over the life of the fields. Tobago sits in more than 2,900 meters (9,600 feet) of water and surpasses the world depth record for a completed subsea well. In addition, all Perdido subsea fields will utilize a unique and innovative subsea separation and boosting system to enable oil and natural gas recovery.
“This is a new frontier in many respects,” said Odum. “Perdido’s floating production facility can be expanded to serve the future potential in the area, and we can apply the technology and expertise utilized at Perdido to other similarly challenging environments in the future.”
The Perdido Development will ramp up to annual peak production of more than 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Also in the Gulf of Mexico, Shell recently announced another deepwater discovery at Appomattox, which is in addition to recent exploration success at West Boreas, Vito, and Stones. These discoveries underpin the potential for four new production hubs.
Perdido fast facts:
* One day’s production from Perdido is equivalent to the energy needed to fuel 500 cars for 15 years * First commercial production from the Lower Tertiary reservoir in the Gulf of Mexico * First Gulf of Mexico full host subsea separation and boosting removes about 2,000 psi of backpressure from the wells * First spar wet tree Direct Vertical Access (DVA) wells * The project achieved 10-million hours without a Lost Time Injury * Located 320 kilometers (200 miles) from the Texas coast in Alaminos Canyon Block 857 * The Great White field represents about 80% of Perdido’s total estimated production * Perdido’s project life is expected to be about 20 years * Construction of the Perdido host spar began in late 2006 * Topsides were mated with the spar in a single lift in early 2009
Royal Dutch Shell plc
Royal Dutch Shell plc is incorporated in England and Wales, has its headquarters in The Hague and is listed on the London, Amsterdam, and New York stock exchanges. Shell companies have operations in more than 100 countries with businesses including oil and gas exploration and production; production and marketing of Liquefied Natural Gas and Gas to Liquids; manufacturing, marketing and shipping of oil products and chemicals and renewable energy projects including wind and solar power. For further information, visit www.shell.com
Contacts: Shell Media Relations: Shell US Media Line · 713-241-4544 International, UK, European Press · +31 70 377 3600 The Netherlands Press · +31 70 377 8750
Shell Investor Relations: The Hague · Tjerk Huysinga · +31 70 377 3996 / +44 207 934 3856 USA · Harold Hatchett · +1 713 241 1019
For additional stories, photographs, a map of the area, video, and animations of the Perdido Development, visit the Perdido Web site.
Cautionary Statement
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this document “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 document refer to companies in which Royal Dutch Shell either directly or indirectly has control, by having either a majority of the voting rights or the right to exercise a controlling influence. The companies in which Shell has significant influence but not control are referred to as “associated companies” or “associates” and companies in which Shell has joint control are referred to as “jointly controlled entities”. In this document, associates and jointly controlled entities are also referred to as “equity-accounted investments”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect (for example, through our 34% shareholding in Woodside Petroleum Ltd.) ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
This document 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'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''plan'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''will'', ''seek'', ''target'', ''risks'', ''goals'', ''should'' 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 document, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for the Group’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserve 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 potential litigation and regulatory effects arising from recategorisation of reserves; (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 document 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 factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s Annual Report and Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2009 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These factors also should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this press release, 31 March, 2010. Neither Royal Dutch Shell 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 document.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions. We use certain terms in this document that SEC's guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in 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.
• MEND is not responsible for the Niger Delta Crisis • The Nigerian Government and Multinational Oil Companies are responsible for the Niger Delta Crisis • The Solution to the Niger Delta Crisis is the Administration of True Federal Democracy as Practiced by the United States of America.
In 2004 as I was aggrieved by the rampant cases of cultism and gangesterism in Rivers state and the destruction of innocent lives and properties, I felt the urgency to address the critical issues and meet with the leading principal actors I could reach and persuade them to end the violence. I informed the international headquarters of Shell of my pacific mission before I left Lagos for Port Harcourt on a night coach.
I arrived Diobu at midnight and was told that the town was a danger zone after the mayhem caused by warring cultists. But I went on to the residence of my elder sister Mrs. P William-West on Nnewi Street in Rumumasi. I discussed my mission with her two sons and daughters and one of my nephews told me that he had to leave a cult when he saw one of his closest friends shot and killed in a violent clash with a rival cult in the oil city of Port Harcourt in 2003. I told him I was glad he had become born-again as he confessed. He gave me the details of the genesis of the cultism ravaging Rivers state since they were affected by the violence from their home town in Buguma to the state capital of Port Harcourt. I stayed for a couple of days and crossed over to Bonny Island to continue my investigation and pre-production of my documentary on the causes and consequences of the Niger Delta crisis aggravated by the recruitment of many members of the cults as political thugs of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
From my safe haven on Bonny Island, I contacted an insider named Felix and told him of my critical mission and we agreed to meet at a popular hotel off Olu Obasanjo Road in Port Harcourt. He told me that Shell and the other multinational oil companies operating in the littoral states of the Niger Delta were not interested in peace, but to fish in the troubled waters, because they had little or nothing to lose. They were breaching the contract of the MOU they signed with the Federal Republic of Nigeria and they did not care about the devastation of the eco-system or the deprivations of the host communities. Their cosmetic social community welfare projects and scholarships were only meant to white-wash their horrible and terrible acts since they began oil exploration in the Niger Delta region. I found out that the hotel was owned by a retired Major in the Nigerian Army and he has been actively engaged in illegal oil bunkering with other retired and active senior military officers, especial those in the Nigerian Navy and their criminal activities were not secret. Those engaged in illegal oil bunkering and those who acquired oil blocks were partners in crime and were well known title-holders in their respective communities. In fact my in-law Asari Dokubo, the leader of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) had a suite in the hotel.
I returned to Bonny Island and called Asari and we discussed on how to put an end to the violence and he told me that he was already now engaged in providing security service for the oil service companies in the region and was no longer engaged in any violent dispute with any rival cult or gang. I was glad to hear that and told Felix that Asari would fare better as a leader by contesting in a democratic election and could in fact be elected as the governor of Rivers state. “He only needs to improve his manner of dressing and public relations,” I said. I was glad that Asari would be willing to participate in my documentary film and commended the website Akumafiete of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force
I was meeting with a top official of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Lagos, because Shell wanted to sponsor my documentary film and in fact the top official asked me if the documentary could be produced in a week, which was not realistic, even though I was working with one of the best filmmakers in Nigeria who has won awards for his documentaries.
I was still making progress when the Nigerian government ordered for the arrest of Asari Dokubo and detained him for outrageous statements of treasonable felony. I warned the government to release him or the situation in the volatile Niger Delta region would become worse. But the government ignored my warning and the SPDC now felt that the government had succeeded in caging the lion of the Niger Delta militants and thought the unconstitutional detention of Asari Dokubo would tame the thousands of members of the Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force and allied groups. But I warned the government there was a greater militant group in the offing and they thought I was joking until the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) shot up from the creeks!
The solution to the protracted Niger Delta crisis is the administration of true Federal Democracy as practiced by the United States of America and this is what both MEND and NDPVF have been demanding for and also the prosecution of all the retired and serving senior military officers found guilty of illegal oil bunkering. The Nigerian Navy can actually stop illegal oil bunkering by asking for the assistance of the US Navy to patrol the territorial waters of Nigeria and to attack all tankers, boats and barges engaged in illegal oil bunkering since they can be easily identified from the authorized tankers and vessels on Nigerian waters. Then the multinational oil companies must be prosecuted for the violations of the MOU they signed with the Federal Republic of Nigeria since 1956 to date.
The Joint Task Force of the Nigerian Armed Forces in the Niger Delta should be withdraw, because it an unconstitutional mission. All licenses of illegal oil blocks must be withdrawn. The local and foreign bank accounts of Nigerians suspected of ill-gotten wealth from misappropriations of revenue allocations for the oil producing states and over-invoicing of government contracts should investigated and those found guilty should be prosecuted in a public trial and not behind closed doors.
