Nigeria - Basil Omiyi.

Shell Nigeria Chairman Omiyi heads the Oil Producers Trade Section, which represents foreign oil companies operating in the country. This has become a powerful lobby for the IOCs, with Shell being the largest oil producer and investor in Nigeria. Responding to Egbogah's claims, Shell on May 27, 2008, said Abuja risked undermining investor confidence in Nigeria and its authorities.

Shell voiced its concerns shortly after agreeing, in a separate move, to lend the government $3.1bn to help kick-start stalled projects in their Niger Delta JV - the Shell Petroleum Development Co (SPDC). The apparent contradiction between voicing concern over the investment climate while lending the government a large sum reflected Shell's increasingly delicate relationship with Abuja. The government's failure to meet its share of development costs, coupled with militant violence, had sapped SPDC production, weakening Nigeria's grip on its position as Africa's top crude oil exporter.

Weeks earlier, NNPC had borrowed a total of $3bn from ExxonMobil and Total, mainly to provide their JVs with a cash injection. In the midst of the loan negotiations, President Yar'Adua issued a statement demanding that Shell and ExxonMobil pay $1.91bn in overdue taxes and revenues. That followed a review by Egbogah's committee investigating implementation of PSAs for huge offshore fields signed in 1993. Under the PSAs, the companies recoup their investment before splitting with the state revenue from the output. The committee concluded that Shell owed $850m due to the incorrect application of tax breaks and a further $414.6m from gas sales from its Bonga field.

Shell then said: "We would like to reinforce that [review] following recent statements relating to retroactive changes to fiscal terms, we are very concerned about the future potential implications for investor confidence in Nigeria". Shell saw the review as an attempt to change the terms of the 1993 PSAs, rather than correctly enforce existing provisions.

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