US embassy cable - 03ABUJA824

UNCLAS ABUJA 000824 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
CAIRO FOR MAXSTADT 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS, PGOV, EPET, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA:  SHELL'S "SEA EAGLE" ENDANGERED 
 
 
1. April 29 local newspapers reported that Shell's newly 
deployed Floating Production and Storage and Offloading 
Platform (FPSO), the "Sea Eagle," had been threatened by 
unidentified criminal elements in the Delta.  Shell's 
Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company of 
Nigeria (SPDC), reportedly had asked the federal government 
for protection of the giant off-shore facility, which was 
deployed in October 2002 to a position some 15 miles off the 
coast of Delta State.  Two days earlier SPDC ran full-page 
adds in local papers highlighting the threat and appealing to 
"all well-meaning and law-abiding citizens" to prevent 
criminals from attacking the Sea Eagle. 
 
 
2. Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) on May 2 contacted 
SPDC's Lagos-based Security Manager, who confirmed that he 
had received "credible information" that militant youths in 
Delta State were planning to launch a seaborne attack on the 
Sea Eagle.  The youth reportedly were upset at not being 
offered employment or other "concessions" by Shell for the 
deployment of the FPSO off the Delta State coast.  SPDC 
points out in its April 27 public notice that over 100 new 
jobs for nearby communities were created as the result of the 
Sea Eagle's deployment. 
 
 
3. The SPDC Security Manager said he had assurances from the 
Navy Chief of Staff that the two USG-donated coastal patrol 
boats would be used to protect the Sea Eagle from attack. 
The Sea Eagle serves as an off-shore oil terminal, capable of 
processing 170,000 barrels of oil and 100 million cubic feet 
of gas per day.  It also has storage capacity of 1.4 million 
barrels of crude oil. 
JETER