Page 11 - MEOG Week 21

MEOG ProJeCts & ComPanIes MEOG
Shell evacuates foreign staff from Basra
IraQ
AN early sign of the challenges facing the new Iraqi prime minister, Shell executives reported the evacuations of foreign staff working at Basra Gas Co in response to worker protests to demand payment of delayed salaries.
Royal dutch Shell evacuated 60 foreign staff from Iraq’s Basra Gas Co. (BGC) as a security measure following a protest over delayed pay, company officials said on Thursday, adding pro- duction was unaffected.
The staff were flown out of the country on Wednesday after workers protested at the headquarters of BGC, a joint venture between state-owned South Gas Company, Shell and Mitsubishi, to demand payment of their delayed salaries, officials said.
“Shell confirms that as result of a security breach at the accommodation camp of Basra Gas Co. (BGC), we have temporarily relocated Shell secondees,” Shell said in emailed comments.
“All staff and contractors are safe and BGC production is not impacted,” Shell said.
It said the staff, evacuated for security rea- sons, would work remotely and it did not antici- pate any short-term impact on production from BGC, which project officials say is approximately 900 million standard cubic feet per day.
Shell said it was working with its Iraqi state partner to solve the pay issue and hoped the evacuated staff could resume work onsite as soon as possible.
Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of ano- nymity, also said they were seeking a quick solu- tion to pay the delayed salaries and that the gas project, overseen by Iraqi engineers, was func- tioning normally.
“Shell’s evacuation is a precautionary and temporary measure and its foreign staff will pro- vide advice and perform their duties remotely for now,” a senior BGC official said.
Iraqi officials providing security at the BGC said Wednesday’s protest, which was also close to a Shell compound, was limited and under control.
Most energy companies in Iraq’s south cut wages or laid off workers to cut costs after oil prices fell because of the coronavirus crisis. In April, benchmark Brent crude fell to its lowest levels in 20 years.
okaz gas agreement
Meanwhile, in a glimmer of good news, Iraq’s deputy Prime Minister Fuad Hussein said that Iraq has reached an agreement with Saudi com- panies to invest in the Okaz gas fields on Sat- urday, while also showing appreciation to the kingdom for refilling the position of its ambas- sador to Iraq.
“We appreciate the Saudi decision to return the Kingdom’s ambassador to Baghdad,” Hussein said and commented that the Saudi Commercial Attaché will start soon in Baghdad.
The move has been announced on the direc- tives of Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and following a meeting between Foreign Minister Prince Faisal Bin Farhan Prince Faisal with Ali Allawi, Iraq deputy premier and acting minister of finance and oil, who was in the King- dom on an official visit.
“This comes in order to reflect the Kingdom’s desire to strengthen relations between the two countries,” Prince Faisal said.
Prince Faisal expressed the Kingdom’s sup- port to Iraq in order to achieve its security and stability and to counter terrorism, noting that the Kingdom respects the sovereignty of Iraq from foreign interference.
The foreign minister pointed out to the importance of the Saudi-Iraqi Coordination Council as a mechanism for developing relations between the two countries to broader coopera- tion in the political, economic, security, com- mercial and investment fields.
Saudi Arabia and Iraq also agreed to coordi- nate with all oil producing countries to restore balance to the oil market, according to the offi- cial Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The two sides, during the meeting, expressed satisfaction for improvement of “basic factors in the petroleum market with start of implement- ing the OPEC-plus accord and agreed on the necessity to pursue action with all producers to speed up restoration of markets’ balance, affirm- ing their countries’ firm commitment to imple- menting the agreement,” SPA said.
The official Saudi news agency also quoted Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan as affirming the kingdom’s keenness on the unity of the Iraqi people and indicated the Saudi lead- ership’s desire to reinstate the Saudi ambassador to Iraq as soon as possible.
SPA added that Allawi discussed with Saudi Minister of Commerce dr. Majed Al-Qasabi and Minister of Finance Mohammad Al Jadaan, dur- ing the meeting, means of boosting financial and business cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides touched on a host of other issues related to land border checkpoints, cus- toms and partnership between the private and public sectors.™
Week 21 27•May•2020 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P11