The onshore joint venture run by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has been recognized by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) as the industry leader in the implementation of chapter three of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which deals with host community development.
This information was made public by NUPRC in Abuja during the selection of fund administrators for the host community trust funds.
According to Olatokunbo Karimu, assistant director of the NUPRC’s host communities division, of the 61 fully established host community development trusts (HCDTs) in the sector, SPDC and its joint venture partners have 23, Agip has 13, and Newcross Petroleum has seven, placing them in second and third place, respectively.
Karimu provided a detailed breakdown of the HCDT component of the PIA’s development, stating that the commission has received a total of 113 HCDT submissions and has given permission to incorporate 84 of them.
According to him, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has fully incorporated 61 companies in total.
“SPDC, on behalf of the NNPC/SPDC/TotalEnergies/NAOC joint venture has upped the JV’s HCDT to 25 and has unveiled the trusts in three of its states of operations of Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta,” he stated.
Igo Weli, director of the SPDC and head of the country’s corporate relations, stated that the company intends to finish incorporating 33 HCDTs for the joint venture by the end of the year.
Weli stated that the joint venture’s multi-million dollar Assa North/Ohaji South Gas Development Project is located in Imo State, the company’s next port of call for the HCDT reveal.
