On 1st March 2008, The Shell Representative Office Oman changed to being a limited liability company called Shell Development Oman LLC.

Shell’s partnership with the people of Oman dates back almost 70 years and together with partners in Petroleum Development Oman, Oman LNG, Qalhat LNG and Shell Oman Marketing, the company has built world-class ventures, creating wealth and prosperity for the nation.

The dedicated Shell office, opened in 2002, provides a central point for the co-ordination of all Shell’s activities and interests in the Sultanate of Oman. The broad range of activities undertaken by the office, from social investment to learning and technology sharing, now exceeds the remit of a representative office.

Furthermore, Shell Development Oman signed an agreement for the construction of a new office in Oman. Scheduled to be completed in 2009, it will be located close to PDO’s Learning & Development Centre. Custom-designed to minimise energy requirements, it will also be equipped with state-of-the art communication and IT infrastructure and will replace Shell’s current office on Fahud Street.

For the time being, the office will remain in the same location and Shell’s stakeholders can contact the same people through the same telephone numbers and email addresses as before.

PDO signs record number of Social Investment MOUs

Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) – a Government-owned company in which Shell is a 34 per cent shareholder - recently signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with 13 government ministries and local NGOs (non-Government organisations) covering 17 separate Social Investment (SI) projects. This is the biggest single batch of SI projects ever signed at one time and highlights PDO’s widening efforts to support Omani society. The MOUs were signed at the Ministry of Oil & Gas under the auspices of H. E. Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas and Chairman of the PDO Board of Directors.

In one major project, PDO will pay for the construction of a water treatment plant at Awaifiyah in Wilayat Bahla which will provide clean water supplies to local inhabitants. Another water treatment unit will be installed at the Government centre in Al Furja in Wilayat Ibri. In south Oman, communities will benefit from a new health centre in Al Gubrah Al Janubiyah in Wilayat Al Jazaer and a maternity ward at the Thumrait Health Centre.

Children throughout Oman will gain from a range of measures supported by PDO. A total of 12 schools throughout the Sultanate will be equipped with ‘smart’ classrooms, while four mobile laboratories will be supplied to areas in south Oman. A further 12 schools in north and south Oman will get sunshades, securing children’s ability to have outside recreation during the summer heat. PDO will also support Al Noor Association for the Blind in a major project to restore sight to blind Omani children, while the Early Intervention Association will help to buy 24 special seats for children.

Improving communities’ self-sufficiency is the focus of two training programmes in north and south Oman. PDO will support the Ministry of Manpower in supplying training for employment programmes as well as partnering with the Ministry of Social Development to provide special training in the production and marketing of milk products in the Dhofar region. In collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries, beaching areas for fishing boats will be improved in the Mutrah area. The nation’s golfers will also benefit; PDO will drill a water supply well at the Ghala golf course.

In order to improve communities’ lifestyle and safety, PDO will pay for the installation of street lighting at Buthayla in Wilayat Adam, as well as supporting the second stage of the Central Oman Palaeolithic survey and helping a project to minimise litter along the Muscat coastline. H. E. Dr Mohammed bin Hamad al Rumhy said, “These MOUs represent a good example of how companies should work with the Government on projects above and beyond their business remit.”