----- forwarded message ----- Date: Thu, 10 May 2001 23:01:43 +0200 From: "Groenendijk.C." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Fw: Reuters report of PAKISTAN Greens say Shell bows to Thursday, May 10, 2001 12:23 PM Subject: Reuters report of PAKISTAN > UPDATE - Greens say Shell bows to > park campaign in Pakistan > > UK: May 10, 2001 > > LONDON - Environmentalists welcomed yesterday a > decision by Shell to pull out of a joint venture with > Premier Oil to explore for gas within a Pakistani > national park, saying Shell had bowed to public > pressure. > > Premier said earlier it had reached agreement in principle > with Royal Dutch Shell to acquire Shell's 49.9 percent > holding in the venture, Premier and Shell Pakistan BV > (PSP), in return for a proportion of its holding in the Bhit > natural gas field. > > Premier already holds 50.1 percent in PSP. > > "This sends a signal to Premier Oil that this is not a safe > project to invest in because there is so much pressure from > civil society," Sarjan Anwar, executive memeber of > Karachi-based environmental group Shehri, told Reuters. > "We feel that it is this pressure that has caused Shell to > pull out." > > Shell denied the asset swap was related to Shehri's > campaign to stop PSP's exploration in the Kirthar National > Park, a 3,000-square-km (1,160-square-mile) protected area > of mountain desert in the southern Sindh province. > > "This is about portfolio management," Shell International > spokesman Dave Stuart told Reuters. > > "Since the middle of last year, we've been changing the > emphasis on the concessions we have there. We're moving > out of exploratory concession in this national park into > something which is a bit nearer fruition, the Bhit project, > which is coming up to production." > > International green lobby group Friends of the Earth, which > is pursuing a legal case against PDP and Pakistani local > and national governments in the Pakistani courts to prevent > environmental impact assessment in Kirthar park, said it > had greeted the news of the asset swap "with delight." > > "Friends of the Earth International (FOEI) was concerned > that Shell was seeking to avoid respecting the wildlife law," > it said in a statement, adding the park was protected under > the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance, which had been > amended without reference to Pakistan's parliament. > > FOEI spokesman Craig Bennett said the court case would > continue as long as PSP continued its activites in Kirthar. > > "Until Premier tells us otherwise we have to assume it's full > steam ahead on their proposals to explore for gas in this > park and therefore we will push full steam ahead with our > campaign and with the court case," he said. > > Shell said in an earlier statement the proposed asset swap > with Premier Oil remained subject to Islamabad government > approval and final agreement of the parties involved, which it > expects by the third quarter of this year. > > Shell's stake in the Bhit gas development project - also in > Sindh province but not within a national park - will increase > to 28 percent from 20 percent, taking Premier's current 20 > percent stake down to 12 percent. > > Pakistan has in recent years discovered gas reserves of up > to six trillion cubic feet (170 billion cu metres) that would > add more than one billion cubic feet a day of output over the > next seven years. > > Pakistan's current gas output, which has a 39 percent > share of total energy supply against 43 percent for oil, is > estimated at 2.4 billion cubic feet (67.96 million cu metres) > a day, which falls short of domestic demand of 3.4 billion > cubic feet a day. > > Story by Duncan Shiels > > REUTERS NEWS SERVICE > > > > > > ----- LINK UP!----- > > > Subscription details for LINK, FoEI's quarterly magazine, > available by e-mailing [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- REPLY TO: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- > > | ann doherty, information officer > | friends of the earth international > | po box 19199, 1000 gd amsterdam, the netherlands > | tel 31 20 6221369 fax 31 20 6392181 www: www.foei.org
