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).