Chevron Pulling Non-Essential Persons Out Of Nigeria

Here’s a story important to our fellow captains and mates working on drillships or semi’s in Africa. Chevron has decided to evacuate non-essential personnel from its offshore operations in Nigeria. The Wall Street Journal reports:

All told, almost a third of Nigeria’s pumping capacity of some 2.5 million barrels a day has been shut down by the violence. Royal Dutch Shell PLC evacuated staff from one of its big offshore oil fields and its western Niger Delta onshore fields early last year after a series of attacks and threats of more violence there. The move by Shell, Nigeria’s biggest foreign producer, shut down about a fifth of the country’s output in one swoop.

On Friday, Don Campbell, a Chevron spokesman, said the company is pulling out a couple of hundred workers involved in “nonessential” maintenance, drilling and logistical support in the Niger Delta, mostly offshore. He declined to specify how many were Chevron employees and how many were contractors. He said the personnel move will have no further impact on Chevron’s current production and is to “ensure the safety and security of our work force and facilities.” It is a “precautionary measure being taken as a result of recent security incidents.” Read More….

Unfortunately chevron has decided not to pull personnel off any Production Rigs;

The Chevron official said it was unclear exactly how the San Ramon, Calif.-based company would maintain ongoing oil production but that no workers would be taken off production rigs which would allow output to continue.

Workers on several drilling rigs, construction barges, and support vessels will be out on “temporary standby.” The actions come after four recent attacks against Chevron, including two Tuesday. Read more from RigZone…

With the offshore manning crisis we only wonder how long workers will remain in hostile territories before looking for work with new companies.

For more related stories visit our Nigeria tag on discoverer.

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