US embassy cable - 03ABUJA1061

C O N F I D E N T I A L ABUJA 001061 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
LONDON FOR POL-C.GURNEY 
 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2013 
TAGS: PREL, EPET, PINS, ASEC, NI 
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: US-DONATED BOATS HELP STEM OIL LOSSES 
 
REF: ABUJA 718 
 
 
Classified by Ambassador Howard F. Jeter for reasons 1.5 (b) 
and (d). 
 
 
1.(C) Post's Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) met June 
10 with Shell's Coordinator for Security Mike Achu to review 
the security situation in and around Warri in the Niger 
Delta. Achu confirmed that Shell continued to lose 127,000 
barrels per day (bpd) of oil production because the company 
has refrained from redeploying its production personnel to 
work in the creeks of Warri North and Southwest local 
government areas.  Achu believed that the Nigerian military 
has not yet attacked the Ijaw militants behind the violence 
begun in March because it lacks adequate intelligence on the 
Warri area. 
 
 
2.(C) Achu recalled a recent conversation with an army flag 
officer  who served in the South-South region -- the general 
said the militant youths had become an insurgent force with 
sophisticated weapons including armor-piercing artillery. 
Despite the continued loss of production and insecurity in 
the area, Achu reiterated Shell's position that it does not 
want to see a military response to the Ijaw threat.  Instead 
an improvement in "law and order" is call for, which he 
explained as involving a vastly greater deployment of police 
in the area.  This, Achu explained, would give local 
residents the confidence to return to their villages and 
would be the prerequisite for full resumption of Shell 
operations in Warri North and Southwest. 
 
 
3.(C) During the meeting, Achu phoned the security manager of 
Shell's Eastern Zone, based in Warri, to get an update. 
During this call, Achu stated that he would be traveling to 
Abuja and would press the Inspector General of Police to 
deploy additional police to the Warri area. (COMMENT: What he 
did not say is how could a modestly armed police force be 
deployed if the heavily armed Ijaw militants remain in the 
area. END COMMENT) 
 
 
THEFT OF OIL DROPS DRAMATICALLY 
------------------------------- 
 
 
4.(C) Remarking on Shell's unprecedented press campaign 
highlighting the problem of oil bunkering (theft of oil 
directly from Shell pipelines), CRO asked Achu if the problem 
had declined since earlier this year. (NOTE: As reported 
reftel, Shell claimed daily losses of 70-100,000 bpd to this 
large-scale theft. END NOTE)  The Shell security chief 
reported that bunkering losses had declined dramatically and 
now stood at 4-6,000 bpd.  During the first week of May, Achu 
noted, this level hit zero for the entire week. 
 
 
5.(C) Achu attributed this success largely to the Nigerian 
Navy's mid-April deployment of USG-donated coastal vessels. 
(NOTE:  These former U.S. Coast Guard buoy tenders were 
donated as excess defense articles through FMS and give the 
Navy its first coastal patrol capacity in many years.  The 
180-foot vessels, donated without weapons, were quickly 
outfitted with weapons by the Navy and deployed to patrol the 
coastline and inland waterways in the Warri area, with a 
specific mandate to interdict oil bunkering vessels. END 
NOTE)  Achu stated that the vessels had already interdicted 
10 barges and two large tankers attempting to smuggled out 
oil siphoned from Shell pipelines. 
 
 
6.(C) Achu's only complaint with the military is that the Air 
Force has still not deployed any of the 17 helicopters he 
claims are stationed  at Port Harcourt.  He has asked the Air 
Force to use the helicopters to conduct aerial surveillance 
of pipelines in the Warri area to improve interdiction 
efforts. 
 
 
7.(C) Comment:  The U.S. provision of the two buoy tenders 
(with a third to arrive shortly) seems to have dramatically 
improved the GON's efforts to stop the theft of up to 5 
percent of Nigeria's oil production.  Some of the proceeds 
from the bunkering had no doubt been used to arm the Ijaw 
militants in the Warri area.  If so, the reduction in 
bunkering will have a positive dual effect, stopping thievery 
and cutting off funds for illicit arms purchases.  If this 
reduction can be sustained the armed Ijaw youth will be 
weakened and hopefully their militancy will also begin to 
fade. 
JETER