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These Are the African Nations Most Exposed to China’s Slump

China’s slowdown is rippling across Africa and these three nations are the most exposed, relying on demand from the Asian economy for almost half their exports: Republic of Congo, Angola and Mauritania. Oil accounts for the bulk of Angola’s and Congo’s exports, damaging their prospects after crude prices plunged 55 percent since the beginning of June last year to below $50 a barrel. The price of iron ore, which makes up more than 40 percent of Mauritania’s exports, has dropped by almost a third in the past year. The three nations each shipped more than 45 percent of their exports in 2014 to China, data from the International Monetary Fund shows. “For countries like Angola, which basically only has one commodity, there is a huge knock when prices fall and less oil is being exported to China,” Christie Viljoen, an economist at NKC African Economics, said by phone from […]

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Nigerian firms may struggle to repay debt if dollar shortages persist

* Oil price plunge hits Nigerian revenues, currency * Central bank rations dollars to hold naira peg * Yields on some Nigerian Eurobonds near record * Loans, dividends may be more problematic than bonds By Alexis Akwagyiram and Karin Strohecker LAGOS/LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Already feeling the pinch from slumping oil prices and slowing economic growth, Nigerian companies are finding it increasingly hard to get hold of foreign currency due to central bank restrictions and may struggle to repay their debts. Yields on a number of dollar corporate bonds have risen close to record highs this week, reflecting investors’ anxiety despite an assertion by Nigeria’s richest businessman that no borrower will default due to the currency shortage. Since 2007, Nigerian financial and energy firms such as FBN Holdings and Seven Energy have issued more than $5 billion of dollar-denominated debt on international capital markets, including almost $3 billion […]

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Nigeria: Investigation – Jonathan, Alison-Madueke, Tunde Ayeni, Named in Fraudulent Oil Contracts That Cost Nigeria Billions

PREMIUM TIMES has uncovered one of the most fraudulent crude oil deals carried out by the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, which saw cronies of the president pocket billions of naira through a domestic crude oil transportation contract that violated Nigeria’s procurement and economic regulations. Our estimates indicate that the contracts, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has now admitted were unnecessarily exorbitant and inappropriately awarded, cost Nigeria N509.3 billion. How much service the companies offered to pocket that amount remains unclear even to the state oil company, insiders say. The deal, later disguised as security contract and channeled through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, saw two companies belonging to Idahosa Okunbor and Tunde Ayeni, illegally rack up billions of naira to purportedly transport crude oil from Escravos to Warri refinery, and Bonny Island to Port Harcourt refinery, by ship, since 2011. The deal involved the transportation of five millions […]

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Oil production starts from Erha North Phase 2 offshore Nigeria

Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria Ltd. , a subsidiary of ExxonMobil Corp., has started oil production ahead of schedule at the Erha North Phase 2 project 60 miles offshore Nigeria ( OGJ Online, June 23, 2015 ). The deepwater subsea development lies in 3,300 ft of water and 4 miles north of Erha field, which has been producing since 2006 ( OGJ Online, May 2, 2006 ). The project includes seven wells from three drill centers tied back to the existing Erha North floating production, storage, and offloading vessel, reducing additional infrastructure requirements. Phase 2 is estimated to develop an additional 165 million bbl from the currently producing Erha North field. Peak production from the expansion is estimated at 65,000 bo/d, increasing total field production to 90,000 b/d. ExxonMobil expects to increase its global production volumes this year by 2% to 4.1 million boe/d, driven by 7% liquids growth. […]

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Libya’s Internationally Backed Government May Block Exports by Some Oil Companies

MALTA—Libya’s internationally recognized government may block exports via oil companies that won’t deal with its new state oil company, an official said Tuesday. The government has been trying to consolidate power since the United Nations recognized it as Libya’s rightful ruling body in the wake of a civil war that split the country last year. Based in the war-torn North African nation’s eastern city of Baida, the government has formed its own national oil company, among other institutions. But the existing Libya National Oil Co. is based in Tripoli , where a group of militias known as Libya Dawn holds power. International oil companies and traders have maintained their longtime contacts with the established National Oil Co. and shunned the new one in the east, which is also called National Oil Co. Speaking to reporters Tuesday ahead of a meeting with oil companies the next day, the chief of […]

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Crude Below $50 Throws East Africa’s Oil Projects Into Doubt

Kenya and Uganda ended months of debate in August to sign an agreement on an oil pipeline costing almost $4 billion. Finding the money to build it and companies to start pumping crude may be a harder task. The 1,500-kilometer (930-mile) pipeline is key for exporting the region’s crude when production finally begins — 2018 in Uganda’s case. With oil prices languishing below $50 a barrel, there’s little incentive for companies such as Tullow Oil Plc, Africa Oil Corp., China’s CNOOC Ltd. and France’s Total SA to keep investing. “The lower oil price has created a great deal more of uncertainty around future oil production, given that additional capital expenditure will be required to make oil production a reality,” Razia Khan, head of Africa economic research at Standard Chartered Plc in London, said in an e-mailed response to questions. Just before prices collapsed, oil held great promise for both […]

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Egypt will take Cyprus gas

The recent discovery of giant natural gas deposits in Egypt’s Zohr plot does not negate the country’s export deal with Cyprus, newly-accredited ambassador Hussein Mubarak told the Cyprus Weekly. Although Nicosia is looking into different scenarios, Cairo’s offer to import the gas from the Aphrodite plot offshore Cyprus, liquefy it in Egypt and sell it to Europe is there. “The discovery of the new natural gas at plot Zohr will not change the policy of Egypt towards Cyprus, Egypt is a huge country with huge energy needs,” Mubarak said. “Egypt has offered to import Cyprus natural gas for domestic use and also for liquefication at the plant in Egypt and then sell it to Europe, everywhere. “I think, economically, to start a liquefication plant is very costly, we already have a plant to treat it and liquefy it and sell it to Europe,” he added. The ambassador also said […]

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Nigeria: NNPC Bows to Pressure, Lifts Ban on 113 Oil Tankers

(file photo). Photo: Premium Times The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has finally bowed to the pressure mounted by the International Association of Independent Tanker Owners (INTERTANKO) and lifted a ban on 113 foreign vessels, mostly very large crude carriers (VLCCs) into Nigeria’s territorial waters less than two months after the ban was imposed. Acting on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, NNPC imposed the ban shortly after Buhari assumed office over concerns that most of the tankers were complicit in incidents of crude oil theft from Nigerian oil terminals. INTERTANKO, whose members were mostly affected by the ban of the 113 vessels, is one of the largest groups in the shipping industry with 207 full members and 285 associate members, and a registered fleet of over 3,000 tankers of over 270 million DWT (deadweight). In his capacity as the then Group General Manager of NNPC in charge of […]

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Two Main Libyan Militias Are Maintaining a Truce to Battle Islamic State

Two of Libya’s most powerful rival militias have maintained pragmatic truces in a joint effort to beat back the advance of extremist group Islamic State, commanders and political representatives said. The truces have been centered in the country’s west, where armed groups supporting two competing governments have been engaged in fierce conflict for more than a year. The fight has effectively split the country and stirred concerns of a full-blown civil war. The two main militias, originating from the western cities of Misrata and Zintan, agreed to cease-fires that have largely held since June. They are exploring ways to try to halt the march of Islamic State westward out of the central city of Sirte on Libya’s Mediterranean coast. The results of truce talks between rival militias could help determine the fate of the oil-rich nation, beset by infighting since the overthrow and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi […]

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Analysis – Eastern Libya struggles to attract oil buyers in row with Tripoli

Pipes are pictured at the El Sharara oilfield December 3, 2014. Libya’s official government is struggling to woo oil majors in a bid to control oil revenue and force a rival Tripoli government into a U.N. peace deal because foreign clients are wary of breaking with the established state energy firm in the capital. The battle over Libya’s oil resources is at the heart of a conflict between two governments and parliaments allied to a host of armed groups fighting for power four years after an uprising ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi. The internationally recognised government, based in the east since losing Tripoli a year ago, wants oil firms to discuss purchase contracts with its own officials instead of the state oil firm based in the capital, which is held by a rival group. So far foreign oil buyers have sought to ignore the conflict by continuing to pay through […]

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Israeli Officials Concerned About Gas Discovery in Egypt

A worker from the Israeli gas-drilling Tamar platform in July. Israeli officials expressed concern that the discovery of an extensive gas field off the coast of Egypt could upend Israeli development of its energy resources. The Italian energy company Eni E 0.92 % SpA on Sunday announced the discovery of the largest gas field in the Mediterranean, threatening a deal between the Israeli government and developers that was based on expectations of substantial gas exports to Egypt. That deal already was bogged down in disagreements about regulation, pricing and profit-sharing that have delayed the start of production. “The discovery of the Egyptian gas field is a painful reminder that while Israel has been asleep at the wheel and delaying final approval of the gas deal and additional exploration, the world is changing before our very eyes with implications for export possibilities,” Israel’s Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said after Sunday’s […]

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Eni expects to change Egyptian gas dynamics

Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Italian energy company Eni, says latest gas discovery off the Egyptian coast may be a game changer for the country. Photo courtesy of Eni. CAIRO, Aug. 31 (UPI) — The discovery of what may be the world’s largest gas field off the Egyptian coast could be a sea change for the North African country, Italy’s Eni said. Eni announced the discovery of gas in the deepwater Zohr prospect off the Egyptian coast. With an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place, it’s the largest ever made in regional waters and potentially the largest in the world . "This historic discovery will be able to transform the energy scenario of Egypt," Claudio Descalzi, the chief executive officer of Eni, said in a statement. "This exploration success acquires an even greater value as it was made in Egypt which is strategic for Eni, and […]

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Gas discovery offshore Egypt rivals Mediterranean giants

Eni SPA expects accelerated development of what it describes as a “supergiant gas discovery ” at its deepwater Zohr prospect offshore Egypt. The company will immediately appraise its discovery, which it says might hold 30 tcf of lean gas in place in an area covering 100 sq km. The Zohr 1X NFW discovery well was drilled to a total depth of 13,553 ft in 4,757 ft of water on Egypt’s Shorouk Block 9. The well hit a 2,067-ft hydrocarbon column in a carbonate sequence of Miocene age with 400 m of net pay, Eni said. The company has future plans to target a deeper Cretaceous upside with a dedicated well. Zohr is the largest gas discovery made in Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, and if early estimates hold true, could become one of the world’s largest natural gas finds, the company said. As Eni begins to fast track development […]

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Eni Discovers Massive Gas Field in the Mediterranean

Eni SpA discovered a “super giant” natural gas field offshore Egypt in what the Italian oil company said is the largest find in the Mediterranean Sea. The deep-water deposit in the Zohr Prospect in the Shorouk block may hold 30 trillion cubic feet of gas, equivalent to 5.5 billion barrels of oil, Eni said in an e-mailed statement Sunday. Eni, which wholly owns the license for Shorouk, said the discovery validates its strategy of exploring mature areas. Egypt’s petroleum ministry confirmed the discovery in a separate statement. “Egypt has still great potential,” Claudio Descalzi, the company’s chief executive officer, said in the statement. “This historic discovery” will transform the energy industry in Egypt, he said. International oil and gas companies are seeking new deposits as existing fields become depleted. Egypt’s energy demand is rising as the Arab world’s largest population grows, making the country more reliant on imports provided […]

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Kenya Starts Talks With Uganda on Financing for Oil Pipeline

Kenya started talks with neighboring Uganda on the financing and construction of an oil pipeline that will link the two countries and ferry crude produced by companies including Tullow Oil Plc, the Kenyan Energy Ministry said. Discussions that also looked at project time frames and involved officials from both East African countries began this week, Joseph Njoroge, the ministry’s principal secretary, said in a phone interview from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, on Wednesday. The negotiations follow an announcement by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Aug. 10 that the route for the conduit had been agreed after months of debate. “We have started working out the details together with the Ugandans,” Njoroge said. “We will also engage as many stakeholders as we can. We want this project to take off immediately.” Tullow has found oil in both countries, with Uganda estimating finds at 6.5 billion barrels and Kenya at 600 million […]

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Rosneft makes LNG deal with Egypt

Russian energy company Rosneft reaches Egyptian gas deal during bilateral trade talks in Moscow. Photo courtesy of the office of Russian President Vladimir Putin. MOSCOW, Aug. 27 (UPI) — Russian energy company Rosneft said Thursday it was marking its frontier entry into the global liquefied natural gas market through a deal in Egypt. Rosneft signed an LNG supply and purchase agreement with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. Documents were signed between Rosneft board members and their Egyptian counterparts during a visit to Moscow by Egyptian President Abdel Fattal el-Sisi. "Cooperation with EGAS marks Rosneft’s entry into the world LNG trading market," the company said in a statement. "Also, implementation of the provisions of the signed documents will, in the long term, open access for Rosneft to the Egyptian gas market which has a significant growth potential." Egypt is a global leader in terms of natural gas consumption and […]

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Algeria Targets Hidden $40 Billion as Oil-Price Pleas Ignored

Day and night, trucks trundle the 10 miles from Algiers port to the suburb of Semmar, where workers unload and stack goods that will feed into a vast black market. Merchants pack narrow streets to buy canned and dry fruit, grains and vegetables for cash, with the biggest crowds gathering after dark. Bazaars like this drive a $40 billion untaxed parallel economy, one the government says it can no longer tolerate as the oil slump slashes revenue and fellow OPEC members rebuff Algeria’s pleas for steps to prop up prices. Under the terms of an amnesty, Algerians have a year to deposit income from undeclared businesses with banks and pay a 7 percent fee, or face punishment. For President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s administration, alternative measures — such as cutting a soaring bill for subsidies that helped ward off the strife which has swept the region since 2011 — aren’t attractive. […]

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Nigerian Second-Quarter Economic Growth Slows on Oil Plunge

An oil pipeline in Nigeria. Growth in the Nigerian economy, Africa’s largest, slowed in the second quarter due to the slump in oil prices, the country’s statistics office said. Gross domestic product expanded 2.35 percent on an annual basis, compared with 3.96 percent a quarter earlier, the head of the National Bureau of Statistics, Yemi Kale, said on his Twitter account on Tuesday. The oil industry contracted 6.8 percent, Kale said. “This is not a good result for Nigeria,” Alan Cameron, a London-based economist at Exotix Partners LLP, said in e-mailed comments. “Moreover, with policy rates stuck at high levels, and fiscal policy being tightened automatically through lower statutory oil disbursements, it is hard to see any catalyst for improvement.” The central bank raised its key interest rate to a record high of 13 percent in November, since when inflation has accelerated beyond the bank’s target band of 6 […]

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Nigeria: ‘Age-Old Rot’ Shuts Down Warri Refinery

Warri and Port Harcourt — Barely two weeks after it resumed operation, the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) has been shut down. The development is coming on the heels of public excitement that followed news of the nation’s moribund refineries kicking back to life. The Guardian learnt that the refinery was shut down few days ago, as crude oil stored in its receptors ran out. "It goes to show the rot that has been embedded in the system over the years. Now that you have a Buhari government in place, everybody is running helter-skelter to do the needful and in the process they have forgotten to do proper planning. And as they say, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail. "Right now, you have a situation where everybody is in a hurry to do the right thing and they forget that you have to follow a […]

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South Sudan Budgeted $850 Million to Crush Rebellion, UN Says

South Sudan, one of the world’s most corrupt and least developed countries, prepared an $850 million budget to crush a rebellion shortly after the insurgency began almost two years ago, the United Nations said. The supply of Israeli automatic rifles, Chinese missiles, Russian attack helicopters and amphibious vehicles “has been instrumental in prolonging and escalating the war,” now in its 21st month, and enabled large-scale violations of humanitarian law, according to a yet to be published interim report by the UN Panel of Experts on South Sudan. South Sudan’s pursuit of “greater air and riverine capacity” is part of a strategy against a mobile insurgency that relies on small arms, the UN says in the report, obtained by Bloomberg from a person who asked not to be identified because it hasn’t yet been made public. South Sudan army spokesman Philip Aguer said the military needed more weapons, gunships and […]

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Algeria Writes to OPEC Over Falling Oil Prices

Algeria has written to OPEC warning that a new drop in oil prices may warrant fresh discussions over the group’s strategy, people familiar with the matter said, the latest sign of economic stress for some members of the cartel. According to the people, Algerian Oil Minister Salah Khebri last week sent a letter to OPEC’s secretariat complaining oil prices have sharply declined since the group decided to keep its ceiling unchanged at a meeting in June. The international oil benchmark, Brent, now trades around $47 a barrel, compared with $62 a barrel at the time of that meeting. “The letter asked OPEC to consider taking some form of action” though it didn’t specify what measures, one of the people said. Another familiar with the letter said that in conversation with other members, Algeria had pressed for closer cooperation with non-OPEC producers. Economically-fragile countries in the Organization of the Petroleum […]

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Nigeria: Surviving the Crude Oil Crunch

editorial The lingering decline in crude oil prices, which has greatly affected Nigeria’s revenue from crude oil exports, has taken another dimension in recent months. About 35 million barrels of the country’s crude oil remained unsold at the international market as at December 2014. Sales have been low this year as the fortunes of August and September deliveries remain uncertain, even as oil prices continue to hover on the lower band of $50 a barrel. As it stands, the nation is on a financial cliff and can fall off except a miracle happens. The one commodity that provides life support for the economy has not only seen its price at the international market fall to as low as $48 per barrel, the volume sold is shrinking as well. There is no sign that things will get better soon. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has even predicted that crude oil […]

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Nigeria Refineries Low on Petrol Production

Current data on refineries production in Nigeria indicate that more heavy or fuel oils (low and high fuel oil/black oil) are being produced from the four refineries than other high demand products like premium motor spirit, PMS, otherwise known as petrol. The revelation comes despite assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which said last week that two of its refineries were working between 60 and 80 percent of their installed capacities. NNPC had promised that the four refineries would be re-streamed by July end, when the turn around maintenance, TAM, of the hitherto almost comatose refineries would have been rounding up, thus, buoying high hopes for imminent relief from products scarcity in the country. Capacity utilisation However, status of the refineries operations as at July 31, 2015, exclusively obtained by Sweetcrude, indicate that the refineries cannot still meet the daily consumption requirement of between 40 and 42 […]

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Islamic State claims Cairo courthouse bomb which wounded 29

A security official stands guard at the site of a bomb blast at a national security building in Shubra Al-Khaima, on the outskirts of Cairo, August 20, 2015. Islamic State’s Egypt affiliate said it was behind a car bombing that wounded 29 people near a state security building and courthouse in a Cairo suburb early on Thursday. A statement circulated on Twitter by supporters of the group, Sinai Province, said the bomb was a reprisal for the execution of six of its members convicted of carrying out an attack north of the Egyptian capital last year. "Let the apostates of the police and army, the followers of Jews, know we are a people who do not forget our revenge," the statement said. In May, Egypt executed six members of Sinai Province for attacking soldiers near Cairo in 2014. The men were convicted on charges which included carrying out an […]

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Angola to Ship Most Crude in Four Years to Meet Asian Demand

Angola will export the most crude in almost four years in October as the OPEC member satisfies Asian demand and offsets diminished revenue from lower oil prices. Africa’s second-largest producer plans to ship 1.83 million barrels a day in October, the most since November 2011, according to a preliminary loading program obtained by Bloomberg. This compares with 1.77 million barrels a day in September. Angola slashed its budget by a quarter in response to the slump in crude prices, which have lost more than 50 percent in the past year. The African nation’s bid to recapture revenues is supported by demand in China, the world’s second-biggest oil-consumer, which imported near-record levels of crude in July. “Angola continues to profit mainly from Chinese demand, in addition to some demand from India and Indonesia,” said Ehsan Ul-Haq, an analyst at KBC Economics in London. The single biggest increase will be in […]

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ISIL ‘brutally’ quells rebellion in Libya’s Sirte

ISIL fighters crushed the revolt by the rival group and armed residents trying to break its grip on the city of Sirte. [Al Jazeera] The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has brutally quelled a rebellion in the Libyan city of Sirte by citizens who took up arms to try to push back the armed group, residents have said. Witnesses said the group was now calling on residents to pledge allegiance over loudspeakers from its main mosque and desecrating bodies of their adversaries. Sources in the city told Al Jazeera on Monday that clashes broke out five days earlier between ISIL and armed residents in the city’s Number Three neighbourhood, before ISIL besieged it and began shelling it with heavy weaponry. By Monday, the neighbourhood was under the full control of ISIL, the sources said. Cleric Khalid Awad said that ISIL had killed some of their prisoners […]

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Algeria Calls for Non-OPEC Output Cut to Stop Oil Price Slump

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries can do little to halt the oil price decline on its own and needs producers from outside the group to help in reducing global supplies, Algeria’s Energy Minister said. “A supply reduction by OPEC alone cannot really guarantee a return to oil market stability,” Salah Khebri said at an event in Algiers, according to Liberte newspaper. As the 12-member group of crude producing nations accounts for 40 percent of the world’s supply, “there should be steps taken within OPEC and with non-OPECs.” Khebri called earlier this month for an OPEC emergency meeting because of the continued decline in oil prices, which dropped by half from a year ago amid rising production from the U.S. Oil and gas sales account for about 60 percent of Algeria’s budget revenue and 95 percent of its export income, according to the International Monetary Fund. Algeria’s initiative to […]

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Nigeria’s Crude Oil Exploration, Production Hit Record Low

The nation’s crude oil exploration and production activities may have hit a record low, going by the latest report from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Specifically, only Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Addax carried out exploration/drilling activities during the month of March, according to available data from NNPC’s monthly report obtained by The Guardian yesterday. The country has been recording low production activities since November last year, as several oil and gas firms began scaling down production due to the uncertainties surrounding the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the declining crude oil prices. Many oil and gas firms have also been recording losses, which made them to resort to cancelling or deferring projects. According to OPEC in its monthly oil market report, among member countries, Nigeria recorded the second sharpest drop in rig counts in March with production of 1.69mbpd in the month compare to the 2.21mbpd […]

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Libya calls for air strikes against Isis

Sign up for quick access to a wealth of global business news, including: Libya calls for air strikes against Isis Newspaper + Premium online Newspaper + Premium online Premium Full FT.com subscription Premium Full FT.com subscription Standard Full news & archive Standard Full news & archive Trial Try Premium online Trial Try Premium online Price Monthly Annual $66.30 $11.77 per week $53.00 $9.25 per week $36.00 $6.45 per week $1.00 for 4 weeks $1.00 for 4 weeks FT Alphaville plus selected FT blogs yes yes yes yes Unlimited FT.com article access yes yes yes yes Unlimited mobile and tablet access yes yes yes yes Unlimited fast FT yes yes yes yes 5 year company financials archive yes yes yes yes The LEX column yes yes no yes ePaper access yes yes no yes Three exclusive weekly emails yes yes no yes Daily newspaper delivery yes no no For 4 […]

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Angola’s Credit Outlook Cut to Negative by S&P on Oil Price Drop

Angola’s credit-rating outlook was cut to negative by Standard & Poor’s, which predicted the country’s fiscal deficit will widen in the face of lower oil prices. S&P affirmed Angola’s B+ rating, four steps below investment grade, the company said in a statement on Friday. “The negative outlook indicates that we could lower our long-term rating on Angola if the country’s external or fiscal positions continue to deteriorate over the next year,” S&P said. Angola, Africa’s largest crude producer after Nigeria, relies on the fuel to generate about 70 percent of taxes and 95 percent of export income. As the price of oil plunged more than 50 percent in the past 12 months, the government slashed this year’s budget by a quarter, cut fuel subsidies and froze hiring. Government spending accounted for more than a third of Angola’s $129 billion gross domestic product in 2014.

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Kenyan Oil-Pipeline Accord With Uganda Paves Way for Exports

Kenya and neighboring Uganda agreed on the route of a planned oil pipeline, ending months of debate on the link that will export crude from companies including Tullow Oil Plc. The pipeline will pass through the Lokichar basin in northern Kenya, Manoah Esipisu, spokesman for Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, said Monday by phone from the Ugandan capital, Kampala. The countries had also discussed building the link through southern Kenya and the capital, Nairobi. The agreed design will be the cheapest to develop, according to an e-mailed statement from the Ugandan presidency. Tullow has found oil in both countries, with Uganda estimating finds at 6.5 billion barrels and Kenya at 600 million barrels . The planned $4.5 billion pipeline to the Indian Ocean will allow the U.K. company to start exports from joint ventures with Africa Oil Corp. and Total SA. China’s Cnooc Ltd. is also a partner in Uganda. […]

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In Hunt for Missing Billions, Buhari Targets Nigeria Oil Company

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. Photographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images As oil minister during military rule in the 1970s, Muhammadu Buhari oversaw the birth of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. Now, as democratically elected president, he intends to break up the opaque bureaucracy, which manages the oil assets of Africa’s biggest crude producer, to ensure taxpayers get their fair share. History isn’t on his side. “No Nigerian leader, including Buhari himself from the 1980s, has managed to sanitize the oil sector,” said Philippe de Pontet, head of the Africa practice at the Eurasia Group in New York. “Buhari’s challenge is not only to depoliticize NNPC but to disentangle its vested interests and its rogue commercial operations, which won’t be easy.” For all its importance to Nigeria, the NNPC is largely inscrutable Buhari made cleaning up the 24,000-employee colossus — the largest government-owned company — a key plank in the election campaign […]

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Egypt unveils new Suez Canal extension

The first cargo ships passed through Egypt’s New Suez Canal last week in a test-run before it opened on Thursday [Reuters] Egypt has unveiled a major extension of the Suez Canal billed by its President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi as a historic achievement needed to boost the country’s ailing economy after years of unrest. Sisi, wearing his ceremonial military uniform and trademark dark sunglasses on a sweltering August day, flew to the site on Thursday aboard a military helicopter and immediately boarded a monarchy-era yacht that sailed to the venue of the ceremony. A visibly triumphant Sisi stood on the vessel’s upper deck, waving to well-wishers and dance troupes performing on shore. At one point, a young boy in military uniform and holding an Egyptian red, black and white flag joined him on the deck. Historical facts: the Suez Canal Planning for the Suez Canal officially began in 1854 when a […]

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Libya’s New Oil Chief Considering Ending Force Majeure at Ports

Libya’s new head of the state oil company for the eastern region is considering ending force majeure at the North African nation’s two largest ports and will seek to boost crude output. “Among my priorities will be lifting force majeure at Es Sider and Ras Lanuf,” Nagi Elmagrabi , chairman of the National Oil Corp. for the eastern region, said in a phone interview Tuesday. “I will also seek to increase oil production.” Libya produced about 1.6 million barrels a day before the 2011 rebellion that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. It’s today the smallest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, with output of about 400,000 barrels. It has failed to restore production as militias fight for the control of export terminals while tribes and workers block operations at fields and pipelines to seek jobs and better pay. Libya in December stopped crude exports from the two […]

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Nigeria to Lose Billions Without Oil Sales Reforms, Report Says

Nigeria must urgently reform the way it sells oil to prevent Africa’s biggest crude producer losing billions of dollars of revenue, according to a new report. The approach of the national oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., “suffers from high corruption risks and fails to maximize returns for the nation,” the New York-based National Resource Governance Institute said in a 73-page report published on Tuesday. The NNPC should end the practice of allocating about 445,000 barrels of oil a day to Nigeria’s four domestic refineries, which process less than a quarter of that total. The allocation has become the “main nexus of waste and revenue loss from NNPC oil sales,” according to the report. Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said last month the U.S. will help trace and recover funds from the sale of about 250,000 barrels of oil that are stolen each day in the country. The oil industry, […]

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Nigeria: Country Lost Over N6.4 Trillion to Corruption-Ridden NNPC Oil Sales – NRGI Report

Nigerian would have been buoyant enough to finance its 2015 budget of N4.36 trillion and still pay off its external debts of N2.03 trillion if it had not lost more than that amount — $32 billion (N6.4 trillion at N200/$1) — to massive corruption that characterized oil sales by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation during the last administration, a new report has said. An independent investigative analysis by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) has revealed that over $32 billion oil revenue was lost to NNPC’s mismanagement of Domestic Crude Allocation (DCA), opaque revenue retention practices and corruption-ridden oil-for-product swap agreements. The report offered a deep, independent analysis of how NNPC sells its oil, and found that the national oil company’s discretionary spending from domestic crude oil sale revenues has skyrocketed, exceeding $6 billion a year for the 2011 to 2013 period (i.e. over $18 billion in three years). […]

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Rosneft, Exxon Combine in Africa Even Amid Russia Sanctions

OAO Rosneft and Exxon Mobil Corp. bid for licenses in Mozambique, forging ahead with a partnership strategy even as U.S.-Russia relations remain tense. Russia’s largest oil producer and Exxon submitted joint bids in Mozambique’s fifth licensing round to explore the Angoche Basin and Zambezi Delta, according to a statement on Rosneft’s website confirmed by Exxon. “Partnerships with global industry leaders, such as Exxon Mobil, allow the company to minimize the risks in the implementation of frontier exploration projects,” Rosneft said. If the bids succeed, Exxon would operate the project, according to Rosneft. The Russian company and Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil already produce oil together off the coast of Russia’s Sakhalin Island. They also have explored Russia’s arctic seas, an area now subject to U.S. and European Union sanctions on offshore technologies prompted by Russia’s role in Ukraine. Working together elsewhere in the world may be a way for the […]

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BP, Total writing off oil assets in Libya

Libya has become a major headache for European oil companies as a four-year conflict forced BP to join Total in writing off millions of dollars in investments in the North African country. BP on Tuesday said it had taken an impairment of almost $600 million in the second quarter as fighting forced it to suspend an oil exploration campaign. The unexpected charge was the main reason BP’s earnings fell short of analysts’ estimates. “There is significant uncertainty on when drilling operations might be able to proceed,” London-based BP said in a statement. The charge comes three months after Total became the first European oil major to take an impairment in Libya, writing off $755 million from onshore assets. That’s an ominous sign for firms including Eni SpA and Repsol SA, which have yet to mark down the value of their assets in the country. The Libyan oil industry has […]

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Nigeria: Why We Blew-Up NPDC Oil Pipeline – Suspects

Ughelli — The two suspects arrested by security agents in connection with the explosion that rocked an oil pipeline belonging to the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company, NPDC at Ighwrenene community, Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, have stated that they blew up the pipeline in a bid to coax NPDC into awarding them a pipeline surveillance contract. The suspects identified as Dennis Oneya aka ‘General Touch’ and Emmanuel Joseph aka Ajegunle, both of Uduere and Afiesere communities respectively, told newsmen at the 222 Battalion headquarters, Agbarha-Otor that they embarked on the mission having being promised job slots by their sponsors when awarded the contract. Speaking on their modus operandi, while Dennis Oneya admitted digging the spot on the pipeline to be bombed in company of others, Emmanuel Joseph described himself as an expert in handling of dynamites used in the explosion as well as other similar blasts. […]

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Libya Crude Output Drops as Conflict Cuts Power at Oil Fields

Libya’s crude production dropped below 400,000 barrels a day as the conflict in the divided North African country cut electricity supply at oil fields, according to the state-run National Oil Corp. Output in Libya, holder of Africa’s largest crude reserves, has been hampered by a lack of security and maintenance as well as power outages, Mohamed Elharari, an NOC spokesman, said Monday by phone from Tripoli. Crude production was about 411,000 barrels a day in June, according to the most recent OPEC monthly report. “The situation is not very good,” Elharari said. “There is poor maintenance, and there are electricity cuts at the oil fields.” Libya produced about 1.6 million barrels a day before the 2011 rebellion that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. The country is today the smallest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It has failed to restore output as militias fight for the control […]

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Nigeria: How Oil Thieves, Cabal Milk Nigeria Dry

Rampant stealing of petrol, mostly from along the pipes conveying it, costs Nigeria huge losses in financial terms and in impact on the environment Okon Mbom (not his real name) wakes up 4.00am every morning from his house in Ibuluya, Okrika local government area of Rivers State with one thing in mind: nothing and no one will come between him and his take-home package every sunset when he is relieved. Okon receives N10,000 every day from stern looking operatives of an oil pipeline in the deep forest. Okon of course had discovered with time that his paymasters were not government officials. Sometime last year when he was engaged, he was given strict instructions to shoot any stranger at sight. Okon had known that what he was protecting was crude oil, Nigeria’s cash cow, used to be pumped by the same pipes to various oil refineries before now but which, […]

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Nigeria: Delta Lost 3 Million Barrels of Crude to Pipeline Vandals in April – Okowa

Asaba — Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has appealed to communities to be vigilant against pipeline vandalism which he said led to loss of three million barrels of crude oil in the state recently. Addressing a delegation of Ukoko R’Ivie R’Urhobo, the umbrella body of traditional rulers from Delta-Central Senatorial District, said in April, 2015, the state lost three million barrels of crude oil as a result of attacks on oil pipelines. "I want to say to Deltans that we should be more vigilant against pipeline vandals. They are doing us a lot of disservice, because based on the indices that have been sent to us, we are losing a lot and it will reflect in this July allocation that will be sent to us", he said. The governor added that the amendment bill for the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC) which has passed through second […]

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Nigeria: Oil Theft – Axe Dangles On Ex-Ministers, Others

Presidents Obama and Buhari with aides following Oval Office meeting. Whichever documents we are able to get and subsequently trace the sale of the crude or transfer of money from ministries, departments, Central Bank, we will ask the cooperation of those countries to return those monies to federation accounts and we will use those documents to arrest those people and prosecute them. This, I promise Nigerians He said his administration will recover the mind-boggling funds stashed in foreign bank accounts. The President, who made the vow during his meeting with members of Nigerians In Diaspora Organization, NIDO, resident in the United States and Canada at the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC, also expressed difficulty in identifying genuine Boko Haram leaders with whom to negotiate for the release of Chibok girls, disclosing that the sect was plotting to exchange some of their leaders being held by the government with the […]

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Report: Cuba may get oil help from Angola

Cuban energy company reaching out to Middle East counterparts for help with offshore oil development. Photo by GVictoria/Shutterstock HAVANA, July 21 (UPI) — Cuba expects to kick start its deepwater oil exploration activity with assistance from Angola’s state-run energy company Sonangol, a Cuban official said. Cuba is opening its doors more for Western powers after a long Cold War policy of isolation from the United States. The country in the past worked to cut the amount of oil it imports from Venezuela through development of its own offshore reserves. An unnamed official from Cuba’s Cubapetroleo, or Cupet, told energy reporting service Argus the preliminary deal with Sonangol outlines drilling schedules. "The matters to be determined include which of the blocks contracted by Sonangol will be drilled, the sourcing of a rig and the timing of the start of the work," the official said. The U.S. Geological Survey, which reviewed […]

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Eni finds more natural gas in Egypt

Italian energy company Eni said it will get new gas moving in Egypt within two months. File Photo by project1photography/Shutterstock MILAN, Italy, July 20 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni said Monday it made what it considers to be an important discovery of natural gas in the Egyptian Nile Delta. Eni said it made a discovery in the Nooros exploration prospect in the Abu Madi West license area, about 75 miles northeast of Alexandria. "Preliminary estimates of the discovery account for a potential of 530 billion cubic feet of gas in place with upside, plus associated condensates," the company said in a statement. Eni in January signed two new agreements in the deep waters of the Mediterranean Sea following an auction held by the Egyptian government in 2013. In March, the company said it signed a framework agreement to develop Egyptian oil and gas reserves that calls for as […]

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Egypt ISIS Affiliate Claims Destruction of Naval Vessel

Photo An Egyptian naval vessel burned off the coast of the northern Sinai Peninsula on Thursday. A militant group and the military gave conflicting accounts of an attack. Credit Hatem Khaled/European Pressphoto Agency CAIRO — A militant group affiliated with the Islamic State said it destroyed an Egyptian naval vessel on Thursday, posting photographs on social media of a missile exploding in a ball of fire as it slammed into the vessel. An Egyptian military spokesman said that the crew of the unnamed ship “exchanged fire” with militants off the coast of the northern Sinai Peninsula, causing a fire on board that did not result in any fatalities. But the militant group, which calls itself Sinai Province, claimed that the missile was guided and had killed everyone on board. It was at least the fourth unusually bold militant assault since late June, when Egypt’s top prosecutor was killed by […]

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ISIL-affiliate sets Egypt navy vessel ablaze off Sinai

[Reuters] An Egyptian naval vessel has caught fire in the eastern Mediterranean during a clash with fighters affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group in Sinai Peninsula, the military said. Inside Story – Has Sisi’s Egypt failed on security? The patrol boat spotted the fighters from the Sinai Province group on the coast of Rafah on Thursday and engaged them, the military’s spokesman said in a statement. The boat went up in flames during an ensuing firefight. The military said it suffered no casualties, in the attack, which Sinai Province later claimed on Twitter. A series of pictures released by the group, showed a missile approaching and striking the vessel causing a large explosion. A witness in the Palestinian Gaza Strip, just across the border with the Egyptian town of Rafah, said the boat was struck at least three kilometres from the shore. "We […]

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Nigeria: Shell Fixes Trans Forcados Pipeline, Resumes Crude Oil Export

Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, yesterday, lifted its more than two months force majeure on exports of Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil stream, following the repair of the Trans Forcados Pipeline. According to a statement by the company, the Joint Venture had earlier declared force majeure on the evening on May 5 following a series of leaks in the Trans Forcados pipeline that brings the oil to the export terminal. The Trans Forcados pipeline has a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day. Specifically, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, a subsidiary of the NNPC, uses the pipeline to transport around 11,000 barrel per day of crude and 6.5 million cubic feet of gas per day, while Seplat Petroleum uses the pipeline to transport its over 60,000 barrel per day of crude oil output. Despite the fact that the bigger, 28-inch and 48-inch sections of the pipeline are operated by Shell, […]

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Nigeria Military Leaders, Faulted in Fighting Militants, Are Fired

Photo Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, shown reviewing troops last month, was dismissed as leader of the Nigerian Army on Monday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images NIAMEY, Niger — Nigeria ’s new president, Muhammadu Buhari , dismissed all of his country’s top military officials on Monday, his spokesman announced, after weeks of mounting violence in which Boko Haram fighters have killed hundreds of civilians. The Nigerian military’s handling of Boko Haram’s bloody six-year uprising has been widely seen as dismal. It has been faulted not only for failing to stem the extremist group’s murderous rampages, but also for making the situation worse through widespread human rights violations. The country’s news media has been urging Mr. Buhari for weeks to get rid of the architects of what is seen in Nigeria as a failed campaign to stop the Islamist militant group. On Monday, some analysts questioned why Mr. Buhari, who […]

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