- Title: IRAQ: Hundreds protest against Shell and foreign employment in Basra oilfield
- Date: 16th February 2012
- Summary: NEAR MAJNOON OILFIELD, BASRA PROVINCE, IRAQ (FEBRUARY 14, 2012) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS GATHERED NEAR THE MAIN GATE OF MAJNOON OILFIELD IN THE NORTHERN REGION OF BASRA PROVINCE/ CARRYING BANNERS AND THE IRAQI FLAG PROTESTERS CHANTING (Arabic): "NO... NO TO FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT, NO... NO TO CORRUPTERS." MORE OF PROTESTERS CHANTING (Arabic) "YES...YES TO LOCAL EMPLOYMENT" PROTESTERS CARRYING BANNER READING (Arabic) "NO...NO TO FOREIGN EMPLOYMENT AND NEPOTISM" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROTESTER HUSSEIN OWAYID SAYING: "Shell and companies working with it promised to employ jobless people from the al-Nashwa district. Now, the companies have started operating and they did not employ the jobless and those people (MEANS PROTESTERS)." ANOTHER BANNER READING (Arabic): "SHELL COMPANY! WHERE ARE THE PROMISES!!?!!" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROTESTER, FADHIL ABBAS, SAYING: "We call on the local council and Shell company to fulfil their promises and if they do not do so, we will do other things. REPORTER ASKS: What would you do? "We will follow another plan like sealing off the road and prevent them from entering the area or Majnoon oilfield." PROTESTERS CHANTING (Arabic): "YES...YES TO GOOD PEOPLE" /WAVE IRAQI FLAG GROUP OF PROTESTERS / VEHICLES OF SHELL COMPANY CAN BE SEEN DRIVING PAST /DEMONSTRATORS ARE ATTEMPTING TO PREVENT THEM FROM ENTERING MAJNOON OILFIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROTESTER, JASSIM MAHAL, SAYING: "The companies in Majnoon oilfield mostly depend on foreigners from Pakistan, India and countries from outside Iraq but they did not employ locals from the area. They did not give any opportunity to people from the al-Nashwa district." MORE OF DEMONSTRATORS WITH FLAME OF MAJNOON OILFIELD RISING IN THE BACKGROUND OIL FLAME BILLOWING IN TO THE SKY / POSITIONED NEAR WATCHTOWER PROTESTERS CARRYING FLAGS AND BANNERS WHILE SEALING OFF ROAD MORE OF PROTESTERS SEALING OFF ROAD LEADING TO MAJNOON OILFIELD PROTESTERS CHANTING (Arabic): "NO...NO TO THIEVES." PROTESTERS CARRYING BANNER READING (Arabic): "NASHWA YOUTH ASSOCIATION DEMANDS FOR THE EMPLOYMENT OF JOBLESS PEOPLE AND PUT AN END TO UNEMPLOYMENT."
- Embargoed: 2nd March 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq, Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: Business,Employment,Politics,Energy
- Reuters ID: LVA6K22R7WCTWCIQW0NXXICYCZZ1
- Story Text: Nearly four hundred protesters gathered before the main gate of the Majnoon oilfield, near the southern oil hub of Basra, on Tuesday (February 14), calling for Royal Dutch Shell, the field's operator, to offer job opportunities for local Iraqis.
The protesters from Basra province's al-Nashwa district near the Majnoon oilfield carried banners and Iraqi flags as they sealed off the main gate of the oilfield, hindering access to members of Royal Dutch Shell.
Hussein Owayid, a protester, said Shell and the local council had failed to keep their promise of offering job opportunities to locals.
"Shell and companies working with it have promised to employ jobless people from the al-Nashwa district. Now, the companies have started operating and they did not employ the jobless and those people," he said, referring to demonstrators.
Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, and Malaysia's Petronas signed a final contract in January 2010 to develop Iraq's Majnoon oilfield, one of the world's biggest.
Shell and Petronas won the rights in an auction held in Baghdad in December for the 12.6 billion barrel field in southern Iraq.
Demonstrators on Tuesday said they would seal off the road leading to the Majnoon oilfield if local applicants were not employed.
"We call on the local council and Shell company to fulfil their promises and if they do not do so, we will do other things," said protester Fadhil Abbas, adding:
"We will follow another plan like sealing off the road and prevent them from entering the area or Majnoon oilfield."
Jassim Fahal, who graduated from the college of Agriculture in 2009, says Shell has overlooked local Iraqis and instead taken on foreign workers.
"The companies in Majnoon oilfield mostly depend on foreigners from Pakistan, India and countries from outside Iraq but they did not employ locals from the area. They did not give any opportunity to people from the al-Nashwa district."
The Majnoon deal is key to Iraq's ambitious plans to revive its stagnant oil sector after years of war and economic sanctions that allowed infrastructure to fall into disrepair.
Iraq hopes to boost output capacity to 12 million barrels per day (bpd) -- rivalling Saudi Arabia and Russia -- from around 2.5 million bpd now. Majnoon is one of the world's biggest largely untapped fields.
Royal Dutch Shell owns 60 percent of the venture, with Malaysia's state-run Petronas holding the rest. The companies proposed a remuneration fee of 1.39 U.S. dollars per barrel and a plateau production target of 1.8 million bpd compared with current output of just under 50,000 bpd.
Since taking over operations in March 2010, Shell has spent 1 billion U.S. dollars on the field and is due to invest another 1 billion this year. Shell officials have said the companies would invest "tens of billions" of dollars over the life of the deal and that work would start immediately once the final contract was signed. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
