荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)的一份内部备忘录警告称，由于尼日利亚政府未能拿出足够资金，作为壳牌最重要的业务之一，其尼日利亚业务前景岌岌可危。

The future of one of Royal Dutch Shell’s most important businesses is at risk because the Nigerian government has not funded it properly, an internal company memo¹ has warned.

壳牌尼日利亚公司负责人巴兹尔?奥米依(Basil Omiyi)撰写的备忘录称，尼日利亚政府未能拿出资金，为其在壳牌石油开发公司(Shell Petroleum² Development Company)的多数股权认缴资本，从而给这家公司的存在带来了“巨大风险”。壳牌石油开发公司负责壳牌在尼日利亚的全部陆上油气业务。

The government’s failure to finance its majority share in the Shell Petroleum Development Company, which is responsible for Shell’s onshore business throughout Nigeria, posed a “big risk” to its existence, according to a memo by Basil Omiyi, Shell’s country chair in Nigeria.

根据可以找到的距今最近的数据显示，2006年，尼日利亚是壳牌在石油生产方面第二重要的国家，仅次于美国。壳牌石油开发公司一度是壳牌在尼日利亚显赫地位的象征，尼日利亚国家石油公司(Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation)拥有其55%的股权。但是，据奥米依给员工的备忘录称，该公司目前“面临严重的融资问题”。这份备忘录是去年11月14日通过电子邮件传达的，英国《金融时报》看到了备忘录的内容。

Nigeria was Shell’s second most important country for oil production in 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, exceeded only by the US. The SPDC, 55 per cent owned by the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, was once a symbol of Shell’s pre-eminent position in Nigeria. But according to Mr Omiyi’s memo to staff, circulated in a November 14 e-mail and seen by the Financial Times, it now “faces a severe under funding problem”.

这份备忘录指出，今年的产量仍将低于产能，打消了人们对这家公司实现先前诺言的希望。这家公司曾保证，将迅速恢复2006年以来因尼日尔三角洲武装暴力冲突而导致的减产。当壳牌和所有西方大型石油公司一样，在提高产量方面无计可施时，武装袭击更是让壳牌在尼日利亚的油气生产减少了三分之一左右。

The memo also dashed hopes the company would keep previous pledges to quickly restore production lost through militant³ violence in the Niger Delta⁴ since 2006, saying output would remain below capacity this year. Militant attacks have cost Shell about a third of its oil and gas production in Nigeria, adding to its problems when, like all large western oil companies, it is struggling to increase output.

壳牌昨日拒绝对这份备忘录置评。这份备忘录是要向员工解释，公司打算重组在尼日利亚的三家主要的开采与生产分公司，以削减成本。备忘录警告称，裁员不可避免，壳牌石油开发公司2008年的预算可能会“大幅减少”，以后年份也有这种可能。

Shell yesterday declined to comment on the memo, which was circulated to staff to explain plans to cut costs through a restructuring of its three main Nigerian exploration and production businesses. The memo warned job losses were inevitable⁵ and that SPDC was likely to face a “much-reduced” budget for 2008 and possibly beyond.