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Nigeria's leader under fire over missing $50B in oil money

President Goodluck Jonathan is under growing pressure from top-level corruption in Nigeria’s oil industry, with the central bank asking what happened to $50 billion in missing oil revenues and his political mentor, former president Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo complaining about massive fraud in the industry. Meantime, massive oil theft in the Niger Delta, the southern region where Nigeria’s oil production is centered, is rising amid reports of growing politicization of militants who have been blamed for much of the theft in recent years. They have threatened to bring oil production to a halt by 2015 unless the government and foreign oil companies compensate impoverished villagers for massive environmental damage in the region and introduce more equitable sharing of oil revenue. The multifaceted oil issue is becoming a major problem for Jonathan, who hails from the Christian south himself, and is currently grappling with a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nigeria’s leader under fire over missing $50B in oil money

President Goodluck Jonathan is under growing pressure from top-level corruption in Nigeria’s oil industry, with the central bank asking what happened to $50 billion in missing oil revenues and his political mentor, former president Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo complaining about massive fraud in the industry. Meantime, massive oil theft in the Niger Delta, the southern region where Nigeria’s oil production is centered, is rising amid reports of growing politicization of militants who have been blamed for much of the theft in recent years. They have threatened to bring oil production to a halt by 2015 unless the government and foreign oil companies compensate impoverished villagers for massive environmental damage in the region and introduce more equitable sharing of oil revenue. The multifaceted oil issue is becoming a major problem for Jonathan, who hails from the Christian south himself, and is currently grappling with a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Mexico Congress Passes Historic Energy Bill

Mexico’s Congress voted amid fistfights and shouts of "treason" to end the 75-year monopoly of the state-owned oil firm Petróleos Mexicanos. The landmark bill aims to open the door for foreign oil giants to return to one of the world’s biggest energy markets for the first time since 1938. The bill passed the lower house 354-134 just minutes before midnight Wednesday, a day after it passed the Senate, and on Thursday Congress cleared the remaining related articles. Proponents say the initiative will attract tens of billions of dollars in foreign investment, lift Mexico’s sluggish economic growth, and add to a North American energy boom that could lower costs for manufacturers across the region. The vote itself was high drama. Opponents from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) tried to prevent discussion by blockading the entrances to the lower house’s main voting hall. Lawmakers from the ruling […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Mexican oil future uncertain beyond 2015

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 12 (UPI) — A move in the Mexican Senate to review the privatization of the nation’s oil sector could create unease among potential investors, an energy consultant said. The Mexican Senate approved a measure Tuesday to open the energy sector up to private investors, ending a monopoly for state oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, known also as Pemex. A measure introduced in the lower house, however, calls for a national vote on the privatization measure in 2015. Jorge Chavez , a former Mexican government official now serving as an energy consultant in Mexico City, told the Wall Street Journal the new referendum adds a layer of uncertainty to Mexico’s energy future. "From here to 2015, are companies going to want to invest?" he was quoted as asking Wednesday. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto outlined his privatization proposal in August to revive the oil and natural gas sector […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Mexico’s Pride, Oil, May Be Opened to Outsiders

Every gas station in Mexico is stamped with the green-and-white logo of the state-owned oil monopoly, the economic lifeblood of the government. Oil Expropriation Day, commemorating the day Mexico seized control of the industry from foreign companies in 1938, is celebrated with speeches and even parades in some towns. An old song, “The Oil Worker Hymn,” credits oil with “saving our fatherland.” But now, in what could be the biggest economic change in two decades, President Enrique Peña Nieto is on the verge of rewriting the Constitution to open Mexico’s oil, gas and electricity industry to private investment — a provocative move expected to lure international oil companies and expand North America’s energy supply while testing the grip oil has on Mexico’s soul. “We must defend our oil,” Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, a three-time presidential candidate and son of the president who nationalized the oil industry, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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In China, Western Companies Cut Jobs as Growth Ebbs

After years of rapid expansion in China, some Western companies are shedding jobs as the world’s second-largest economy grows at its lowest rate in more than 20 years. Hewlett-Packard Co. says it is laying off a small percentage of its workforce in China, which the company calls one of its most important markets. Johnson & Johnson is cutting its pharmaceutical sales force by an undisclosed amount, people close to the company say. Software-services provider Bsquare Corp. BSQR -1.21% BSQUARE Corp. U.S.: Nasdaq $ 3.26 -0.04 -1.21% Dec. 12, 2013 3:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 11,225 P/E Ratio N/A Market Cap $37.07 Million Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $382,303 More quote details and news » BSQR in Your Value Your Change Short position is shutting its Beijing office, the Bellevue, Wash., company said in October, two months after telling analysts that "sales productivity was not up to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Another cost blowout for Chevron's Gorgon LNG in Australia

Oil and gas giant Chevron Corporation has revealed the cost of its massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas project on Western Australia’s Barrow Island has increased to $54 billion. The cost blowout comes a year after the cost estimate for Gorgon, the world’s largest LNG development, was raised from $37 billion to $52 billion. Chevron said the project, under construction for four years, is nearly 75 percent complete. The company said Gorgon’s plant start-up and first gas is planned for mid-2015, a year later than initially planned. In a release Wednesday announcing the company’s 2014 overall capital and exploration budget, Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland said lessons learned from Gorgon’s complex construction were being applied to the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project, also in Western Australia, which he said remains on schedule and on budget and is nearly 25 percent complete. The economics of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Another cost blowout for Chevron’s Gorgon LNG in Australia

Oil and gas giant Chevron Corporation has revealed the cost of its massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas project on Western Australia’s Barrow Island has increased to $54 billion. The cost blowout comes a year after the cost estimate for Gorgon, the world’s largest LNG development, was raised from $37 billion to $52 billion. Chevron said the project, under construction for four years, is nearly 75 percent complete. The company said Gorgon’s plant start-up and first gas is planned for mid-2015, a year later than initially planned. In a release Wednesday announcing the company’s 2014 overall capital and exploration budget, Chevron Vice Chairman George Kirkland said lessons learned from Gorgon’s complex construction were being applied to the $29 billion Wheatstone LNG project, also in Western Australia, which he said remains on schedule and on budget and is nearly 25 percent complete. The economics of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US crude export ban may be outdated, but SPR won't change: Moniz

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Thursday said with the US awash in domestically produced oil, it may be time to review the country’s ban on crude exports. But the Department of Energy has no immediate plans to change the composition of or sell off any part of the key Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he said. "There certainly is a need for a reserve," Moniz told reporters in a briefing at the Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum in New York. "In general terms, I do think that a relook at how the reserve is managed could be relevant, [but] going forward, nothing imminent." Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation and financial reports Supply and demand trends, government […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US crude export ban may be outdated, but SPR won’t change: Moniz

US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz Thursday said with the US awash in domestically produced oil, it may be time to review the country’s ban on crude exports. But the Department of Energy has no immediate plans to change the composition of or sell off any part of the key Strategic Petroleum Reserve, he said. "There certainly is a need for a reserve," Moniz told reporters in a briefing at the Platts Global Energy Outlook Forum in New York. "In general terms, I do think that a relook at how the reserve is managed could be relevant, [but] going forward, nothing imminent." Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry players, upstream and downstream markets, refineries, midstream transportation and financial reports Supply and demand trends, government […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple