Royal Dutch Shell

However Shell still pressed ahead with its £47-billion ($69-billion, 62 billion-euro) takeover of British company BG Group, in a deal aimed at strengthening Shell's position in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. — However Shell still pressed ahead with its £47-billion ($69-billion, 62 billion-euro) takeover of British company BG Group, in a deal aimed at strengthening Shell’s position in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.

London (AFP) – Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday said it was cutting at least another 2,200 jobs owing to low oil prices and following its takeover of smaller rival BG Group.

“Shell staff have today been informed about the progress being made on integrating BG into the company, and on further measures that are necessary to ensure Shell is competitive in a ‘lower for longer’ oil price environment,” the Anglo-Dutch group said in a statement.

Shell said the latest losses bring to at least 12,500 the number of staff and direct contractor roles being cut from the company between the start of last year and end of 2016.

Jobs are being axed at its operations in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland, as well as in Ireland and elsewhere.

“These are tough times for our industry and we have to take further difficult decisions to ensure Shell remains competitive through the current, prolonged downturn,” said Paul Goodfellow, Shell’s vice president for UK & Ireland.

“In 2016, the number of job reductions in response to low prices and as a result of the BG integration is expected to total at least 5,000 globally.”

Goodfellow added that Shell was seeking to “create a competitive and sustainable business in the North Sea”.

Shell had earlier this month announced an 89-percent drop in net profit for the first quarter of 2016, blamed the slump on low oil prices. It also said that investment would be lower than expected.

The global oil market had nosedived from above $100 in mid-2014 to 13-year lows of around $27 in February, plagued by a stubborn supply glut.

But prices have since rebounded to trade at nearly $50 a barrel.

The slump in prices has caused energy groups worldwide to cut spending, slash jobs and sell assets during the past year.

However Shell still pressed ahead with its £47-billion ($69-billion, 62 billion-euro) takeover of British company BG Group, in a deal aimed at strengthening Shell’s position in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market.

At the end of 2015, Shell employed around 90,000 people globally, while BG had some 4,600 staff.

Nigerian militants wreaked havoc on the country's oil sector in the 2000s (AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei) — Nigerian militants wreaked havoc on the country’s oil sector in the 2000s (AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei)

ABUJA, Nigeria, May 9 (UPI) — Nigerian media reported Monday a group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers forced the evacuation of facilities in the area operated by Royal Dutch Shell.

Nigerian newspaper Vanguard reported subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Corp. evacuated around 100 staff from an oil facility that was producing around 90,000 barrels of oil per day. The newspaper reported that a skeleton crew was left behind, though operations at the Shell facility were suspended.

Vanguard reported the militant group calling itself the Niger Delta Avengers forced the Shell evacuation. The group last week took credit for knocking pipelines controlled by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and Chevron offline. The group said the attacks came after issuing an ultimatum to the Nigerian government about developments in the Niger Delta.

The Nigerian newspaper quoted a source close to the militant group as saying it was determined in its operations against state interests.

“They will cripple oil and gas supply to the country as long as government remains recalcitrant to their demands,” the source said.

There was no official statement from either the Niger Delta Avengers or Shell on the evacuations.

The Niger Delta Avengers in February launched a campaign it called Operation Red Economy. The purpose, it said, was to start a revolution aimed at wrestling the country away from the hands of the “wicked” administration of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

Advocacy group Global Witness in March said Shell and its partners in Nigeria may have exposed shareholders to a high level of risk in a corrupt system. The advocacy group said oil production license 245 was sold in the late 1990s for $20 million to a company “secretly owned” by then Nigerian Oil Minister Dan Etete and later sold to Shell and Italian energy company Eni for $1.1 billion.

In March, Nigerian Petroleum Minister and Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. Emmanuel Kachikwu said the state oil company would be split up into dozens of distinct entities in an effort to address corruption and revenue losses.

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