Shell shuts Nigeria’s Nembe Creek Trunk oil pipeline due to theft

Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday that it had closed Nigeria’s Nembe Creek Trunk oil pipeline on Saturday to stop leakage caused by theft.

The pipeline pumps the Bonny Light grade of crude oil. Bonny Light exports for April are at about 95,000 barrels per day according to shipping lists compared to 155,000 for March.

Absence of EFCC witnesses stalls Alao, others’ trial

The trial of an oil marketer, Abdullahi Alao and four others, charged with N1.1 billion fuel subsidy fraud, was stalled yesterday in Lagos following the absence of prosecution witnesses at an Ikeja High Court.

Abdullahi, son of a prominent businessman, Alhaji Abdullazeez Arisekola-Alao, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

He was charged alongside two other oil marketers — Olarenwaju Olalusi and Opeyemi Ajuyah, and their companies –Majope Investment Ltd and Axenergy Ltd.
The accused are facing an eight-count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretences, forgery, uttering and use of false documents.

During yesterday’s proceedings, all the accused and their counsel were in court when the case came up for hearing.
Counsel to the EFCC, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, however, informed the court that the witnesses were not in court for the trial to commence.

Oyedepo, who apologised for their absence, asked for a short adjournment to enable the prosecution to produce the witnesses in court to give evidence.
Justice Lateefat Okunnu acceded to Oyedepo’s request and adjourned the case to March 19 for continuation of trial.

Importers move to Ghana, Benin ports as slow processes in Nigeria hurt business

Nigeria stands to lose volumes in maritime-related business and the revenues and jobs that come with it as activity is shifting from the country’s seaports to those of neighbouring Ghana, Togo, Benin and Cameroon on account of long delays in cargo clearance.

Average clearing time for containerised cargo in Nigeria is between 14 and 21 days (two to three weeks), while in Ghana, importers spend two days for the same purpose. Similarly, in Cotonou (Benin) and Togo, importers spend an average of seven days to take delivery of their goods.

Analysts say that slow cargo clearing processes, which result in high demurrage and storage charges, also lead to loss of business to nearby ports where the processes are faster and therefore more cost-effective.

Trader backs NNPC on SWAP deals

Executive Director, Sahara Energy, Wale Ajibade has backed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) conduct of the oil SWAP arrangement, saying the deals conformed to international standard.

Ajibade who addressed the House Committee Upstream currently investigating the alleged connivance of NNPC with Swiss Oil Traders to defraud the government, noted that the deals were transparent and complied with all audit requirements.

Ajibade who represented Trafigura Trading Oil Company based in Switzerland explained that there was nothing untoward between his company’s SWAP arrangements with NNPC/PPMC.

According to him “NNPC in its records noted that Nigerian traders collectively account for 98.2million barrels on 2013. The other international traders, including the Swiss Trading Companies lifted 61.2 million barrels while offshore and the Nigerian refineries took 36.2 and 38.3 million barrels respectively.  The NNPC trading companies account for 83.5 million barrels”.

He said in view of the above, there was no remote possibility that NNPC would lose $6.8 billion from sales below market value to “the companies described by the petitioners as Swiss Trading Companies”.

“The SWAP arrangement referred to by the Bern Declaration was in line with the known practices in the oil industry. The NNPC had to dispose unrefined portion of its 445,000 barrels to meet domestic needs of petroleum products.

“It is to be noted that the NNPC delivers the international market value of the crude oil to the federation on the basis of the general sales agreement and conditions.  There is therefore no value loss to the federation. The claims by the Bernes Declaration are baseless and without material substance and should be set aside in its entirety”, he added.

20 auditors working on NNPC’s account, says AGF

The Auditor General for the Federation (AGF), Mr Samuel Ukura on Thursday said that 20 auditors trained in gas and oil auditing were examining the accounts of the NNPC.

Ukura said this when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts in Abuja to defend the 2013 and 2014 budgets.

The Senate had called for a forensic auditing of the NNPC’s account to unravel the alleged missing 20 billion dollars.“We had a budget of N60 million for training and we were able to train 20 officers who are presently on the field auditing the accounts of the NNPC,” he said.

The AGF also said that his office mopped up about N100 million unspent funds for the purchase of vehicles for his office.Ukura said the contractors, Innoson Motors, failed to supply the vehicles as at Dec. 31, 2013.

He said that the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) had issued his office with a “Letter of No Objection”, directing him to award the said contract for the purchase of vehicles to Innoson Motors.

According to him, since the vehicles were not supplied, no money was paid for them.The Auditor-General said that his office was only able to buy five Toyota Hilux pick-up vans and one Prado jeep.He said this was done at the cost of N49.9 million out of the N180 million initially earmarked for the purchase of vehicles.

On the performance of the 2013 budget, Ukura told the committee that the recurrent budget was implemented 100 per cent while the capital budget was implemented only 57.7 per cent, amounting to N374.157 million.

In a remark, the Chairman of the committee, Rep. Solomon Adeola (APC- Lagos), directed the AGF to submit all payment vouchers and receipts of payments and contracts awarded by his office.He said the AGF should again appear before the committee on Tuesday, March 4 to defend the 2014 budget.The committee also summoned the Director- General of the BPP, Mr Emeka Eze, to appear before it on Tuesday to shed light on the vehicle purchase.

OPEC exports to rise 7 1/2-year high – Oil Movements

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will boost crude exports to near their highest level since 2006 as refiners replenish stockpiles, Oil Movements said.

OPEC, responsible for 40 percent of global oil supplies, will increase shipments by 430,000 barrels a day, or 1.8 percent, to 24.38 million barrels in the four weeks to March 15, the Halifax, England-based firm said in an e-mailed note. Shipments were estimated to have reached 24.74 million in the same period to March 1. The figures exclude two of OPEC’s 12 members, Angola and Ecuador.

“A high proportion of the additional February barrels are moving east and a lot of it going to China,” Oil Movements founder Roy Mason said by phone. “We’re going into the year short of stockpiles” in developed nations also, after a “severe winter” in the U.S. drained inventories, he said.

China will retake the lead from the U.S. in oil demand growth this year as its manufacturing and transportation industries expand, according to the International Energy Agency. Oil inventories in advanced economies tumbled in the fourth quarter by the most since 1999 because of the “surprising robustness” of demand in the U.S. and other developed nations, the agency said on Feb. 13.

Middle Eastern exports will average 17.91 million barrels a day in the month to March 15, compared with 17.49 million in the period to Feb. 15, Oil Movements said. These figures include non-OPEC nations Oman and Yemen.

Crude on board tankers will rise by 4.5 percent to 499.97 million barrels through March 15, from 478.57 million in the previous period, data from Oil Movements show. The researcher calculates volumes by tallying tanker bookings and excludes crude held on vessels for storage.

OPEC’s members are Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. The group will next meet on June 11 at its headquarters in Vienna.

Pejas Solutions Limited Is Recruiting --- Admin Officer

Deadline: 26 February, 2014

Pejas Solutions Limited is recruiting for a competent female admin officer to work in our new Lagos office.

Admin Officer

    Job TypeFull Time
    Min QualificationBA/BSc/HND
    Experience:  2 years
    Location: Lagos
    Job Field: Administration

Responsibilities
        Handle enquiries
        Book appointments
        Handle correspondence and keep the office documents in good condition

Requirements
   Minimum of HND on Secretarial/Management field
        At least 2 years experience in an administrative capacity

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should  send their applications and CVs to: info@pejassolutions.com.ng

Recruitment At Chevron Nigeria Limited

Deadline: 28 February, 2014

Chevron is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide, including Nigeria.

Chevron Nigeria Limited hereby invites applications from qualified candidates for employment. These positions will he initially located in Lagos. The company also provides career opportunities to its workforce in other Chevrons worldwide operations.

Chevron is committed to sound environmental and safety practices and exhibits cultural diversity. Our employees conduct their day-to-day work with the principles outlined in The Chevron Way which expresses our vision to be the global energy company most admired for its people, partnership and performance.

If you are interested in becoming a valued employee of Chevron Nigeria Limited, a company that provides excellent career opportunities and welfare packages, this opportunity awaits you! Will you join us?

Oil and Gas Job - Managing Director/CEO

We are a Power & Energy Company emerging from the diversification scheme of our Group, a prominent corporate leader with international affiliation and strong corporate governance culture and have created a vehicle to optimise Nigeria's power sector reform and oil and gas opportunities. We wish to engage a smart and innovative Managing Director/CEO to drive the take-off and performance of the new company.

Managing Director/CEO

    Job TypeFull Time
    Min Qualification  MBA/MSc/MA
    Experience: 15 years
    Location :    Lagos
    Job Field  :  Oil and Gas

Oil and gas Jobs.

Electricity/ Instrumentation Site Manager

Country: Nigeria                           

Location: FPSO ERHA ESSO  Job description
Rotation: 6 weeks on/6 weeks off
Contract duration: environ 12 mois
Client: Subsea 7
Missions
- Manages E/I supervisors on site;
- Supervises works progress et reports to the project manager;
- Ogranises the team on the site
- Defines the necessery means to achieve the works;
- Validates the technical choices and the quality and deadline
Education
Diploma in electricity or instrumentation with 10 years experience in oill and gas activities

To apply go to  https://www.dietsmann.com/job-vacancies/en/jobs/detail/D6733

We are not selling our oilfield company, says Oando

Oando Plc has denied having any discussion with three investors on selling the Oando Energy Services (OES), its oilfield services division.

There were reports that the company planned to conclude the sale in the next two months to raise $330million for the acquisition of the ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian assets.
But the spokesman of Oando, Dr. Alex Irune, said in a statement Wednesday that the company had no plans to sell its oilfield business.

Irune further stated that Oando Energy Resources (OER) had successfully acquired all funds required to complete the acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ assets, and was awaiting the consent of the Minister of Petroleum Resources.

“OES has not been put up for sale and remains a wholly-owned Oando PLC subsidiary. With a growing demand as a result of the divestment of substantial resource bases to indigenous companies, OES remains a viable business with great future potential,” he said.

He stressed that it was imperative that information released about a publicly quoted company such as Oando Plc or its affiliate OER, is thoroughly verified before it is put in the public domain.

“The company’s securities are traded daily across three exchanges (NSE, JSE and TSX) and to prevent misinformation and confusion among shareholders, investors, employees, and the oil and gas sector at large, we implore all members of the press, as the fourth estate, to take adequate steps to ensure the veracity of reports by fielding all enquiries with Oando Plc’s Corporate Communications department,” he added.

Irune said OES and OER were integral facets of Oando Group’s near to long term upstream strategy and operations, “as we remain firmly committed to optimizing our value across the energy value chain.”

He described the reports that Oando was negotiating with investors for the acquisition of the oilfield company as false, saying the oilfield company is integral to the future of Oando Group.

Oando invested over $450million in the acquisition of five oil drilling rigs, emerging as Nigeria’s largest indigenous swamp rig services provider.

The three rigs, in addition to OES’ drilling fluids unit, were alleged to have been slated for sale, according to reports.

Oando, an integrated Nigerian energy company with assets in upstream, midstream and downs has raised both equity and debt finance for ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian assets.

The company said it had met its financial obligations for the acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian (COP) assets and was only awaiting  the final regulatory approvals to seal the deal.

Oando, through its subsidiary Oando Energy Resources (OER), had in 2012, entered into an agreement with COP to acquire ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian businesses for a total cash consideration of $1.55 billion.

Huge tenders pull global LNG prices down

Asian spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) fell this week as companies injected fresh supplies from Angola and Nigeria into the global market, but traders expected prices to stabilise due to plans for export plants’ summer maintenance.

Cargo prices for April delivery  were around $19.60 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), compared with $20.50 for March delivery last week.

“I can’t see spot prices dropping much lower than this as availability is still tight, and after all these sell tenders are sealed up, there won’t be much left in terms of flexible supply,” a trader said.

A volley of gas cargoes loading from Angola’s Chevron-operated export plant this month surprised traders in light of the project’s poor performance last year.

Angola launched its third sell tender of the month on Thursday, offering a single cargo which will be awarded on February 28. The bidding window closes on February 26, a trade source in possession of the tender document said.

Angola’s first LNG shipment of the year is due to unload at Brazilian energy giant Petrobras’s newly commissioned import terminal on February 24. Its second February export is en route to Asia, probably to a Japanese utility buyer, traders said.

PIB will increase offshore opportunities — Avuru

Austin Avuru, MD/CEO Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, says the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will herald a new vista of opportunity in the offshore industry as the introduction of both “fiscal and non-fiscal enablers in the Petroleum Industry Bill could add significant value to the economics of offshore investments such that PIB only erodes between 10 -15% of the remaining value of existing and new offshore investments in Nigeria.”

Avuru made the declaration during his presentation at the IP Week, London 2014. Avuru, who spoke on the theme, “Petroleum Industry Bill: Increasing Investment Opportunities in the Offshore Nigeria”, noted that the non-passage of the PIB bill is inimical to the progress of the industry.

The PIB is supposed to help the oil industry in terms of restructuring the institutional and fiscal framework to promote transparency, efficiency, exploitation activities and maximize economic rent accruing to the government as it hopes to achieve 40 billion barrels of crude reserves and oil production of 4 MMBOPD by 2020.

The respected industry professional reeled out figures to support his assertion. According to Avuru, FDI to Nigeria dropped from $6 billion in 2009 to $2.3 billion in 2010 even though the “oil sector accounted for over 60% of FDI inflow to Nigeria.”

He also noted that signing the PIB has become an imperative because of the emergence of other oil rich countries in Africa, a situation that has affected FDI inflow to Nigeria. Putting it in perspective Avuru noted that according to UNCTAD “Between 1970 – 1990 Nigeria accounted for 30% of FDI inflow in Africa, but only 16% in 2007 due to emergence of other oil rich countries.”

Nigerian shippers shut down as foreign players control 90% of business

Nigerian ship owners have lost over 90 percent market share of the nation’s estimated N2 trillion shipping business to vessels owned and crewed by foreign players, leaving locals to handle less than 10 percent share of the business, BusinessDay has learnt.

Industry watchers say this results in huge revenue losses to the economy as well the erosion of hundreds jobs that would have fed the sprawling labour market.

Over 50 percent of Nigerian-owned shipping companies have been thrown out  of business such that most of the few remaining companies are trapped in repayment of bank loans worth over $3 billion (N480 billion), according to statistics from the Nigerian Ship owners Association (NISA).

Nigerian crudes for March steady on healthy demand from Europe, India: Sources

Nigerian crudes for March loading have sold well with less than 10 cargoes unsold from the March program, because of healthy demand from Europe and India, although the remaining grades were struggling to sell, sources said Wednesday.

More Nigerian crudes are expected to head to Europe in March compared to February, which was boosting some of the Nigerian light sweets, sources said. West African Suezmax freight rates have fallen sharply in the last months which has made the West Africa-to-Europe arbitrage more economical.

Freight rates for a Suezmax on a West Africa-to-Northwest Europe route were pegged near Worldscale 50-55 Wednesday, a fall of almost w80 points since early January.

According to Platts tracking data, at least 25 cargoes or 36% of the Nigerian cargoes loading in March will be going to Europe, compared with at least 15-17 cargoes or 25% in February.

But sources said spot activity stayed thin with an industry event in London this week, with about five to 10 March cargoes still unsold.

2014 outlook for the Ghanaian oil and gas sector

The year 2013 was very eventful for the Oil and Gas sector in Ghana with the passage of the Legislative Instrument (L.I.) on local content and local participation in petroleum activities being one of the headline occurrences.

The establishment of the Enterprise Development Corporation in Takoradi, the re-submission of the draft Petroleum Exploration and Production Bill to Cabinet for approval, and the progress made on the construction of the gas plant were also notable events of 2013.

Schlumberger introduces new fracturing technique

Schlumberger announced today the introduction of the BroadBand Sequence* fracturing technique, which enables sequential stimulation of perforation clusters in wells drilled in unconventional reservoirs. This new technique sequentially isolates fractures at the wellbore to ensure every cluster in each zone is fractured resulting in greater production and completion efficiency compared to conventional methods.

Developed using a composite fluid comprising a proprietary blend of degradable fibers and multimodal particles, the BroadBand Sequence technique is suited for use in new wells and in recompletions. This technique is particularly suitable for re-fracturing operations, given its ability to promote temporary cluster isolation without the aid of mechanical devices such as bridge plugs.

“Optimizing the stimulation of wellbore perforation clusters in unconventional reservoirs is a significant challenge for our industry,” said Amerino Gatti, president, Well Services, Schlumberger. “The BroadBand Sequence technique addresses this challenge and increases our customers’ well production by enhancing stimulation contact in every zone in the reservoir.”

This fracturing technique has delivered robust and consistent performance in more than 500 operations conducted to date in several unconventional plays including the Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Woodford, Spraberry and Bakken shales.

The BroadBand Sequence fracturing technique has enabled customers in South Texas to increase production from new completions in unconventional reservoirs by more than 20%. It has also reduced well completion time by up to 46% in plug-and-perf operations by stimulating longer intervals compared with conventional methods. In addition, this technology was applied to a well in South Texas for a refracturing operation, which resulted in double the production with a fourfold increase in flowing pressure.

BroadBand Sequence is the first release of a family of BroadBand completion technologies aimed at maximizing well productivity in unconventional reservoirs.

For more information about the BroadBand Sequence fracturing technique, visitwww.slb.com/BroadBand

Why private refineries are not built — Avuru

Unfavourable government policy, harsh economic environment and lack of adequate fund have been identified as some of the impediments to private sector participation in the refinery business.
The Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited, Mr. Austin Avuru, stated this at the just concluded Nigerian Marginal Field workshop, held in Lagos.

According to him, “The reason why the private sector has not been able to invest in refineries is that you cannot go to the bank to borrow $1 billion to build a refinery when the commercial framework is unclear to your bankers. When you are selling the product in the same market as the government-owned refineries that are regulated; when government says you can only sell the product at N97 per litre.

Queues resurface as marketers disagree over fuel supply

Queues by motorists resurfaced in some parts of Lagos on Monday over fears of an impending petrol scarcity.

Though it could not be distinguished on Monday whether the queues were as a result of panic buying or real fuel scarcity, motorists were, however, seen making desperate attempts to get petrol in some filling stations on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi and the Elegushi area of Victoria Island as well as on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

Our correspondent, who monitored the situation, also found out that most of the filling stations had limited product dispensing from one or two pumps in anticipation of a full blown scarcity.

While no one was sure of the state of fuel supply in the country as of press time on Monday, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association and the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria have continued to disagree over the availability or otherwise of petrol in the country.

N1.5bn subsidy scam: Ship in Brazil discharged products in Nigeria – Witness

Justice Lawal Akapo of the Federal High Court in Ikeja, Lagos, was yesterday told how Ifeanyi Anosike and his company, Anosyke Group of Companies, refused to carry out any Ship-to-Ship transfer of 15,000 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) contrary to claims to that effect.

A statement by the spokesman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, yesterday in Abuja said Anosike and his company are being prosecuted by the commission on charges bordering on forgery and conspiracy to obtain by false pretence the sum of N1,537,278,880.82 from the Petroleum Support Fund.

According to the prosecution witness, Oghare Ebunu, who is an operative of the EFCC, investigations revealed that there was no transfer of petroleum product from the mother vessel, MT KLARA, to a first daughter vessel, MT MARITINA, at Offshore Cotonou, where the content was claimed to have been transferred into SP Boston and Emocean by Anosyke.

ISS secures new offshore contracts in Africa

Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS), the world’s leading maritime services provider, has secured a further significant nomination from one of their key accounts to support their operations in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Building on other recent successes in the region, ISS last month startedan offshore logistics and support contract for Norwegian-based Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS).

Under the 5 month contract, ISS will support a seismic survey project to map oil and gas deposits off the East African coast. Coordinated from the company’s Durban office, ISS will provide PGS’s vessels with a range of services including; standard port agency, vessel husbandry, bunker calls, and freight forwarding services. Additionally, ISS will also be assisting with crew changes, arranging visa and work permit formalities, and airport transfers to and from the vessels.

Minexco launches Ghana work program

Minexco Petroleum Inc. launched its work program for the South Deep Water Tano (SDWT) Block offshore Ghana. Through the company’s JV with AGR Energy and AGM Petroleum Ghana, operational and technical teams will begin work to reassess the existing 3D seismic data over 75% of the SDWT area and further develop its work program for future exploration.

Drilling of prospects is expected to commence in 2015.

AGM Petroleum will work with ExploreCo, a division of state company GNPC, to finalize the work program and subsequently explore and develop the SDWT offshore prospect. The block is in the Tano Basin, which is also home to the producing Jubilee Field.

Martin Keeley, CEO of Minexco Petroleum, said: “The launch of this next phase of analysis and planning further solidifies the cooperation between the operational and technical teams of Minexco, AGR Energy and GNPC to bring this exciting prospect to production.

“As Minexco works closely with GNPC to take an increasingly active role in the development of the country’s natural resources through the training of local talent, we will collectively contribute to the development of Ghana as a hub for the fast growing African offshore E&P sector. We view this model of cooperation as a template for future projects on the continent and abroad.”

Oil spill – Niger Delta leaders embark on SOS mission

Last week, an eleven-member leaders’ delegation of 350 communities, cutting across Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states affected by the impact of massive crude oil spillage from the Shell/SNEPCO Bonga Fields of 21st December 2011, paid a save-our-soul (SOS) visit to the Ecological Fund Office -EFO, as part of efforts to draw public attention to the failure of Shell company to pay compensation to the affected communities more than two years after the serious incident that generated both national and international concern.

The visit is coming on the heels of outcry by residents of the Niger Delta and civil society of government’s inability to implement the extensive United Nations Environment Programmes’ (UNEP) report on Ogoniland.

OPEC joins U.S. in predicting stronger 2014 oil demand

World oil demand will rise slightly more than expected in 2014, OPEC said on Wednesday, becoming the second major forecaster this week to predict higher fuel use as economic growth picks up in Europe and the United States.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a monthly report, said global demand will rise by 1.09 million barrels per day (bpd) this year, up about 40,000 bpd from its previous forecast. The group, which pumps a third of the world’s oil, also sees potential for further rises.

“Given the improvement in OECD oil demand, the likelihood for upward adjustments for world oil demand growth in 2014 is currently higher than existing projections,” said the report by economists at OPEC’s Vienna headquarters.

OPEC’s report comes a day after the U.S. government’s Energy Information Administration raised its 2014 world oil demand growth forecast by a similar increment. Oil prices edged higher after it was released, with Brent crude trading near $109 a barrel.

Egypt to explore idea of buying gas from Cyprus

Egypt and Cyprus will look to cooperate in the field of hydrocarbons and the European nation could even export gas to the North African country, reports Cyprus News Agency.

According to the news agency, these issues were discussed between the Cypriot Minister of Energy Yiorgos Lakkotrypis and the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Sherif Ismail in Nicosia on Friday.

“We agreed on the immediate establishment of a joint technical committee, which will look at possible ways of cooperation between the two countries,” said Lakkotrypis after the meeting.

Cyprus is turning to Egypt in an attempt to examine all possible options for the exploitation of hydrocarbon deposits found in its Exclusive Economic Zone, adds Cyprus News Agency.

Lakkotrypis said the since Egypt is facing shortage of natural gas as a result of growing domestic demand, it is finding it hard to meet its export contracts.

Egypt, he said, could probably be a potential buyer of Cyprus’ natural gas, reports Cyprus News Agency.

He added that the Technical Committee between Cyprus and Egypt will examine the technical and economic aspects of this possibility and of closer cooperation in general.

The committee will be set up immediately and the Minister expressed hope that in February it will have its first meeting in Cairo, says the news agency.

Block 12 Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) could hold gas reserves between 3.6tcf and 6tcf with a gross mean resource of 5tcf, according to finding of Noble Energy, which operates the block with 70 percent stake.

Total E&P Cyprus Ltd has been granted a license for seismic exploration for oil and gas in block 10 and in parts of blocks 6, 7 and 11 of Cyprus’ EEZ, reports Cyprus News Agency.

Oil majors sell Nigerian stakes worth $6.5bn in 2013

International oil companies (IOCs) are divesting their stake in Nigerian oil fields. Shell, Total and Chevron are among the companies which have sold their stake in shallow water assets in Nigeria.

The three major companies have sold stakes worth $6.5 billion in 2013. Oando Energy Resources will soon take over ConocoPhillips energy business in the country in 2014. The deal has been estimated at $1.7 billion.

International oil companies are keen on selling their stake in 13 oil blocks in Nigeria. Oil majors have spent nearly $100 billion globally to improve oil and gas output. However, the production has not improved as per expectations.

In January 2014, Shell issued profit warning for upcoming quarters. Shell registered massive decline in profit at $2.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012.

In June 2013, Shell had announced its plan to sell four shallow water or onshore oil blocks in Nigeria.

Nigeria had awarded 24 oil fields to 31 companies in 2003. Till date, only eight companies have managed to start production from the allocated oil fields.

The companies have blamed corporate governance issues for lower investor interest in their projects. Nigerian oil ministry is urging the companies to start production as the economy depends on oil exports to a large extent.

Namibia to sign Kudu gas deal with Zambian Firm

Namibia’s power utility NamPower and and the Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), a private power utility in Zambia are scheduled to sign the Joint Development Agreement (JDA) and the Power Export Agreement Term on the Kudu Power Project in Windhoek today, NamPower announced this week.

NamPower currently holds 100% equity in KuduPower (Pty) Ltd, and it intends farming out 49% to strategic equity investors, of which CEC Africa will take up to 30%.

KuduPower (Pty) Ltd, is a special purpose vehicle that was established in 2005 by NamPower to design, build, own and operate the Kudu Power Station at Uubvlei, 25 KM north of Oranjemund.

NamPower announced this week that CEC will also off take between 200MW to 300MW of power from the Kudu Power Station through a Power Export Agreement with NamPower.

“The JDA and Power Export Agreement negotiations started in 2012 and were successfully concluded in October 2013, with the approval of both agreements by the respective board of directors of NamPower and CEC Africa,” NamPower said in a statement.

Kerosene subsidy: NNPC denies flouting presidential order

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has absolved itself of blame for flouting any presidential directive to discontinue the subsidy on kerosene as alleged by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

THISDAY had exclusively obtained and reported the presidential directive given by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2009, ordering that the subsidy on kerosene should be removed.

But in the same letter signed by his then Principal Secretary, Mr. David Edevbie, he had also ordered that the announcement on the removal of the subsidy should not be made public.

Group Executive Director of Production and Exploration of NNPC, Mr. Abiye Membere, told journalists at the weekend in Abuja that the presidential directive stopping the subsidy on kerosene, which the CBN governor had accused it of disregarding, was actually stayed for execution as a result of its possible repercussions on the masses.

Non-remittance of oil revenue: CNPP urges probe into NNPC accounts

The Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has again asked  President Goodluck Jonathan to, as a matter of urgent national importance, order an independent inquiry into accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from 1999  to 2013.

The group had previously called for an investigation into the discrepancy between the oil revenue accounts of NNPC and that of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, the group said  it was  making the appeal not only to stop the revenue leakages in the corporation, but to save Nigeria.

“It is our considered view that the 2015 general election will be free, fair and more transparent, if President Jonathan can muster the political will to clean the Augean stable in the NNPC, since the inception of our democracy or even his regime,”  it added.

Enforcing Ghana’s local content policy

When in November 2013 Ghana’s lawmakers passed regulations for local content in its nascent oil industry, Afua Amissah must have seen that feat as a cause for celebration as well as a challenge for her.

The regulations are aimed at providing a transparent monitoring system to meet the objectives of the govern¬ment’s local content policy.

As the country’s head of Local Content, Ministry of Energy, the task before

Amissah is clearly cut out and enormous at that.

She is tasked with the responsibility of overseeing the development of policies and practices to ensure that local companies in Ghana have fair access to business opportunities in the oil and gas sectors.

Just two weeks ago, tension was said to have mounted at the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah, operating in the Jubilee oil fields off the coast of Ghana as three Ghanaian workers were reportedly dismissed from the fields and foreigners took over their jobs.

Sao Tome shortlists four companies in oil block licensing round

The government of Sao Tome and Principe has short-listed four companies, including Portugal’s Galp Energia, to bid on two oil blocks in its exclusive economic zone, according to a statement released by the state oil company ANP. The tiny Central African island nation announced its plans to open a new licensing round for its Blocks 1 and 6 last month.

The statement said Petrogal, the former name of Galp, and London AIM-listed New World Oil and Gas will compete for both blocks. Blue Skies World Group is bidding on Block 1, while London Global Energy is seeking to acquire Block 6. ‘The result of the analysis of expressions of interest will be announced shortly,’ the statement said.

Sao Tome began awarding offshore blocks after signing an agreement with Nigeria in 2001 to jointly develop acreage in waters between the two countries. However, it has been slower to attribute blocks in the territorial waters surrounding its two main islands.

Sinoangol, a joint venture between China’s Sinopec and Angolan state oil company Sonangol, acquired Block 2 in the exclusive economic zone last year, promising to invest $154 million to develop the

Senate to probe CBN, NNPC, others for breach of Fiscal Responsibility Act

The Senate is set to order its Joint Committee on Finance, Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to commence a probe into perceived loss of revenue into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation through the breach of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) as well as alleged breach of public procurement laws and regulations by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other government agencies.

The directive is fallout of a motion to be moved by Senator Ita Enang (Akwa-Ibom North-east), alleging breach of Section 80 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulates that all revenues raised or received by the federation shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

The motion is also aimed at determining why the balance of their operating surplus is not paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund and why affected agencies have failed to establish a general reserve fund for the purpose of allocating one-fifth of their operating surplus at the end of the year to the Consolidated Revenue Fund as stipulated in Section 22 (1) and (2) and Section 23 (1) of FRA.

NNPC contains fire outbreak at its Kaduna Refinery

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Thursday said that a fire incident that earlier broke out at the truck park of its  Kaduna Refinery has been brought under control.

It said in a statement in Abuja that the fire which consumed two tankers and also led to injuries for two persons was swiftly controlled, adding that production and distribution of petroleum products from the refinery will not be affected by the development.

The statement was signed by its acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim who also hinted that investigation to determine the cause of the inferno was underway.

Tanzania’s TPDC upbeat on gas pipeline

The over 530-kilometre gas pipeline linking the gas-rich southern region of Mtwara and the port city of Dar es Salaam will start by transporting 210 million standard cubic feet (mmscfd) daily when it is commissioned in December, this year.

In an interview with the ‘Daily News,’ the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) spokesperson, Mr Sebastian Shana, pointed out that since the completion of the work on the laying of the pipeline is scheduled for the beginning of December, the three gas plants would be commissioned at the end of the month.

“The pipeline will first tap from the three wells in Mtwara, with each giving 210mmscfd,” he said. The major domestic gas production and transportation project will likely transform the country’s economy, economists predict.

Uganda to increase power generation

The commissioning of the 250MW Bujagali Hydro Power dam in 2012 gave Uganda a sigh of relief given that the months preceding it, were characterized by widespread load-shedding.

This had grossly affected Uganda’s competitiveness as manufacturers and traders incurred high costs of operation because they resorted to using generators.

Statistics from Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) show that Uganda’s current total installed capacity is 682MW. Registered peak system demand in December 2013 stood at 503MW compared to 506MW in November.

However, the country needs to find additional sources of power given that the demand for electricity is growing at an annual rate of between 10-12%.

Oil market, other factors threaten Nigeria’s 2014 budget

The implementation of the nation’s 2014 budget has not yet started, as stakeholders, especially legislators continue to debate it. Udeme Akpan reports that developments in the global market and other factors constitute serious threat to the key budgetary assumptions and implementation of the budget.

Many nations, including Nigeria have come to over depend on their crude oil as the Egyptians look up their River Nile for agriculture and other purposes. Take the 2014 budget as an example. The Federal Government of Nigeria has already projected to base the implementation of its 2014 N4.77 trillion budget on oil reference price of $77.5 per barrel.

The budget which ordinarily should have been passed for implementation before now is still a subject of discourse at the National Assembly. Many legislators have picked holes on the budget. For instance, the government has been criticised for allocating more funds to some issues, including former Niger Delta militants than others. These and others are expected to be harmonised or resolved before the budget is passed for execution.

GE Africa, Standard Bank sign $350m partnership deal

Efforts to increase access to power infrastructure in Africa has received a boost with a US$350million financing agreement between global infrastructure giant General Electric and one of Africa’s leading financial institutions, Standard Bank.

The partnership seeks to provide affordable access to power infrastructure to augment traditional large scale grid capacity development.

The partnership will target 10 priority countries: Nigeria, Angola, Tanzania, South Africa and Ghana.

Others are Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Financing activity will center on project finance, equipment finance, trade finance and advisory.

The program will be open to independent power producers and non-recourse infrastructure projects, industrials and manufacturers, natural resource companies, food and agricultural processors, small to medium enterprises, and other potential borrowers.

House C’ttee assures of PIB passage by year end

The Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Peterside Dakuku, has revealed that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) currently before the National Assembly would be passed before the end of this year.

Dakuku, who noted that the bill has passed first and second reading in the House of Representatives, made the revelations when he led members of the committee on an oversight function  to the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (Management) Board, (PEF) in Abuja, yesterday.

Meanwhile, the executive secretary of PEF, Mrs Adefunke Kasali, who received the committee, said the Board may begin to pay marketers one week after submission of their bridging claims as the introduction of ‘Project Aquila 2’ was intended to further fast-track payments.  

Calling on agencies in the oil and gas sector to gear up for re-positioning on how to fit into the new regime that PIB passage would usher in, Dakuku said the sector was almost in transition to another phase, which was post-PIB phase.

Marginal oil field bidders uncomfortable with guidelines

Interested bidders who are uncomfortable with the marginal field bid guidelines are piling pressure on the Presidency to prevail on the Department of Petroleum Resources, which is overseeing the exercise on behalf of the government, to review them.

The investors are said to be uncomfortable with portions of the guidelines which reduced the tenure of asset holding, which is now two years, as against five years in the previous exercise.

In the 2003 bid round, investors were allowed to hold the assets for five years. Many of them are still inactive on the assets they won, for want of technical and financial capacity.

One of the most contentious issues agitating the minds of some of  the investors is the statement allegedly made by  George Osahon, the director of  the DPR, to the effect that considerations would be given to new investors that are just coming into the business.

Some of those that already have assets and had thought that the new exercise would give them the opportunity to grow their businesses by getting more to their portfolios, are uncomfortable with this decision. Some of them are said to be pulling strings in the corridors of power, to ensure that they allowed to participate.

IOCs reconsider Niger Delta security, as MEND ups attack on JTF

International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in Nigeria’s multi-billion dollars oil and gas industry, at the weekend, reconsidered the growing insecurity in Niger Delta-base of their operations.

This followed the claim by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) that it was responsible for the attack on the Joint Task Force (JTF) boat along Nembe-Bassanbiri waterways in Bayelsa State.

MEND, which has continued to bomb oil installations and engage government troops stationed in the region in skirmishes, is a splinter militant group that rejected the Federal Government’s amnesty in August 2009.

Libya threatens militants with army intervention

Libya has increased the pressure on militants occupying its eastern oil ports, by stating that the country’s military are standing by to intervene.

Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan told reporters that the Libyan military were gearing up to end the occupation.

Militants are currently occupying 3 key ports on Libya’s Mediterranean coast. The ports at Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Zuetina are crucial to the export of Libyan oil and their occupation is putting a 600,000 barrel per day strangle hold on the economy.

In recent weeks, Zeidan had appeared to favour diplomacy over military intervention as public support for the militants began to wane. His patience appears to be wearing thin though and military intervention looks more and more likely.

“Weeks ago we ordered the minister of defense to give his instructions to the chief of staff to move toward the occupied ports in the east. Now the matter is in the hands of the army command,” he said.

However, with much of Libya’s fledgling army still being trained, questions remain as to how swiftly they will be able to depose the militants. Diplomacy may yet prove to be the best option for both parties.

FG, IPMAN in fresh move to avert fuel crisis

The federal government appeared not to be sleeping over the warning by the Major Oil Marketers Association (MOMAM) that fuel crises was imminent, as it has taken fresh measures to nip the problem in the bud.

Following its determination to make petroleum products available across the country, government has engaged the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association (IPMAN) to bridge products from depots controlled by the Products and Pipeline Marketing Company (PPMC) , a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Confirming this development, the IPMAN has therefore urged its members to ensure that  they accessed products from PPMC depots across the country.

IPMAN has also advised the general public to avoid panic buying of fuel as it said that there was no impending  fuel scarcity in the country.

The national president of the association , Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadri, who gave the assurance in a media briefing in Lagos yesterday said with the latest arrangement, the fear of rumoured scarcity has been allayed. Abdulkadri said that there was stable fuel supply in the country, urging members of the public to avoid panic buying as there would  no longer be  any reason for that.