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Nigeria: ‘Missing’ U.S.$20 Billion Oil Money: Our Audit Report Not Reliable -PricewaterhouseCoopers

The much anticipated report of the forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, operations on the missing $20 billion oil money may not amount to much after all, as PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited, the audit firm that conducted the probe, has said it cannot vouch for the integrity of its findings. In a startling introductory letter addressed to Nigeria’s Auditor General, the audit firm said findings in its 199-page report were limited to available information and did not constitute a review in accordance with generally accepted standards. "The procedures we performed did not constitute an examination or a review in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards or attestation standards," the firm said. "Accordingly, we provide no opinion, attestation or other form of assurance with respect to our work or the information upon which our work was based," it added. The report and all accompanying deliverables, the company pointed out, […]

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Nigerian Oil-Revenue Audit Report Published

An audit ordered by Nigeria’s outgoing president was published on Monday, seeking to explain why $19 billion in oil revenue never made it into the government’s bank accounts. The report caps a year-long political debate over how Africa’s top oil exporter manages its revenue, a debate that help lead to President Goodluck Jonathan’s ouster last month. PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd., which conducted the audit, said Nigeria’s state-owned oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., deposited $19 billion less than expected from January 2012 to July 2013. According to the report, $10 billion went to kerosene and motor fuel subsidies. The remainder went to operations itemized by the audit, such as $2 billion spent financing the growing debt of the company. The oil company spends so much money on fuel subsidies and other operations that it may operate close to a loss this year, barring an overhaul or a rise in oil prices, […]

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Libya closes El Feel oilfield due to strike by security guards

TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) – A strike by Libyan security guards over salary payments has forced the closure of the western El Feel oilfield, a spokesman for state oil firm NOC said on Sunday. On Saturday, a field engineer told Reuters the OPEC producer had closed the field, without citing a reason. El Feel is operated by a joint venture owned by NOC and Italy’s Eni. "The field’s security guards are on strike because they complain about a delay of their salary payments," said Mohamed El Harari, a spokesman for NOC. "NOC paid the salaries to the security forces, but they haven’t paid the guards yet," he said. Libya this year had managed to restart El Feel, which analysts say produced about 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Libya had to shut the field late last year when a group in the Zintan region, which opposes a self-declared government in Tripoli, […]

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Nigeria: Buhari Vows to Probe ‘Missing’ NNPC $20 Billion

Nigeria’s President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has stated that his administration will probe the $20 billion alleged to be missing from the coffers of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. The immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido, had alleged that the $20 billion made from the sale of Nigeria’s crude oil by the NNPC could not be accounted for. President Goodluck Jonathan sacked Mr. Sanusi from the CBN after he made the allegation. The former bank chief was later crowned the Emir of Kano after the death of Ado Bayero, the former emir. Speaking Sunday when he played host to a delegation from Adamawa State led by the state’s governor-elect, Bindow Jibrilla, in his campaign secretariat, Mr. Buhari said although he received information that some persons already started returning money to government coffers, he would only believe it when he "sees it". "I heard that […]

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Billions at risk for Ghana, oil firms from ocean boundary ruling

DAKAR/ACCRA (Reuters) – Ghana’s decision to seek arbitration in a dispute with Ivory Coast over an oil-rich basin in the Atlantic could prove costly for the country and a consortium led by Tullow if a court halts development there. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea will rule on Saturday on Ivory Coast’s February request for a moratorium on activity in the basin. The decision is part of legal proceedings on a maritime border dispute sought by Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama in September. Although many expect the dispute to be ultimately settled in Ghana’s favor, analysts say a ruling that prevented the $4.9 billion offshore TEN oil and gas field opening in mid-2016 would be a further blow to the battered Ghanaian economy. "Even if Ghana wins on the boundary eventually, as most people expect, they stand to lose two years of revenues from TEN which […]

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Nigeria: Petroleum Minister, Alison-Madueke, Denies Seeking Asylum

Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has denied planning to flee the country to escape alleged corruption charges under the incoming Buhari government. Mrs. Alison-Madueke struck a defiant tone Wednesday, dismissing allegations that six countries had denied her requests for asylum. The minister said she had no plan to escape as she was not indicted for any offence. Following her recent meeting with former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, the minister said speculations have been rife that she is looking for a “soft landing” from the in-coming administration. “I have not sought such assistance because I am not aware that I have been indicted of any crime that I will need a soft landing,” Mrs. Alison-Madueke told journalists at the presidential villa in Abuja Wednesday. “Over the last four years, I have been severally and unfortunately accused and labeled in so many malicious and vindictive ways. “I have […]

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Uganda not yet ready for oil prime time

Bank of Uganda says oil prices are too low to realize nation’s full oil potential and production targets. Photo courtesy Tullow Oil KAMPALA, Uganda, April 22 (UPI) — A weakened crude oil market means investments might not materialize in time to finance Uganda’s fledgling oil sector, the Bank of Uganda said. The Bank of Uganda said in a monetary policy report for April there are lingering questions over the nation’s oil development given the low price of oil and the investments needed to exploit the type of crude oil found in the country. "Whereas oil production had been projected to start in 2018, this date could now be pushed out even further, given that the profitability of oil investments could remain depressed in the foreseeable future," the report said. Crude oil prices are trading at around 40 percent below their June 2014 highs, forcing energy companies to spend less […]

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Libya’s official government has no luck selling oil bypassing Tripoli: sources

CAIRO/BENGHAZI (Reuters) – Libya’s official government has so far failed to sell oil on its own via an account and middlemen in Dubai, as customers continue to buy crude directly from a state oil firm under the control of a rival government, oil sources said. Libya’s internationally recognised Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni said this month that oil sales would be routed though a Dubai bank account belonging to a new state oil company reporting to his government in the east. His government wants to get hold of vital oil revenue as it fights the rival government controlling the capital Tripoli, in the west, for power and territory four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. The United Arab Emirates is one of the biggest political allies of Thinni. Several oil shipments from the eastern Hariga and Zueitina ports controlled by forces loyal to Thinni have left since his announcement, […]

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Eni brags of oil production in Egypt

With investment confidence rising, Italian energy company Eni said its oil production in Egypt has doubled in just three years. Photo courtesy of Egyptian Presidency Office MILAN, Italy, April 20 (UPI) — Italian energy company Eni said Monday its oil production in the Western Desert of Egypt has reached a record level, doubling its rate in just three years. Eni said it’s producing around 70,000 barrels of oil per day in the region. The company said that’s twice the rate from three years ago and comes in large part from the Melehia development west of Alexandria, which is producing about 54,000 bpd. "In January this year, Eni signed a new concession agreement to operate in the Melehia southwest block, where exploration activities on the same deep plays will start within the year," the company said in a statement. "Eni deems this concession a key element for the sustainability of […]

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Algerian gas discovery made near Libya

Spanish energy company Repsol announces natural gas discovery in area along the border of war-torn Libya. Map courtesy of Repsol. MADRID, April 20 (UPI) — Spanish energy company Repsol announced Monday it’s made a natural gas discovery in Algeria, its third in an area bordering war-torn Libya. The company is the operator in a consortium that includes French energy company GDF Suez and Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach. The company said gas flowed from a discovery at the so-called TESO exploration well in the Sud-Est Illizi block, where it’s already had a "very successful exploration campaign." The discovery is the third in the same region. The Spanish energy company said gas flowed at a test rate of 6.1 million cubic feet per day. "Repsol aims to drill at least four more additional wells in order to appraise the previous discoveries within the Sud-Est Illizi block," it said in its statement on […]

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Nigeria Without Oil is Now a Reality

opinion "Unsold Nigeria crude grows as buyer interest falls". PUNCH, Thursday, April 9, 2015, p 41. The story by Femi Asu, went on to state that "Weak buying from Asia and other regular buyers of Nigerian crude oil has left a large overhang of March, April and May cargoes, it was learnt". For those who might not fully understand the implications of that report, it is necessary to spell them out. The first casualty, and it has been in that position since last year, is the 2015 budget which is now nothing more than an academic exercise. With crude oil prices hovering between US$45 and US$60 per barrel, the budget which out-going Finance Minister first based on $78 per barrel crude oil price, had by February been dropped in the dust bin. Now, with volume supplied imperiled by weak demand from our traditional customers, it is obvious that the […]

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As Libya Crumbles, Calls Grow for Feuding Factions to Meet Halfway

Photo Pro-government forces during clashes with  rebels in Benghazi, Libya, this month. Credit Reuters MISURATA, Libya — Libyans have puzzled for four years over what might arrest their country’s disintegration. Feuding factions have consistently reached for guns instead of compromises in their battle to fill the vacuum left by the fall of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi , ultimately breaking the country into two warring coalitions of militias and city-states. Leaders on both sides vowed that Libya ’s only hope was their own military victory. But now a growing number of politicians on both sides of the conflict say that the dual threats from colonies of the Islamic State and a looming collapse of the economy may finally jolt Libya out of that spiral. In a series of interviews in five Libyan cities on both sides of the fight, political leaders were for the first time trying in earnest to reverse […]

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Sub-Saharan Africa’s Economic Growth Rate to Stall in 2015

ENLARGE A partial view of the commercial center in downtown Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. The fall in global oil prices has taken its toll on the Nigerian economy. Photo: European Pressphoto Agency NAIROBI—Plunging oil prices, sluggish growth in the developed world and a slowdown in China’s pace of industrialization will bring down sub-Saharan Africa’s growth rate this year to its lowest in two decades, the World Bank said Monday. Economic output is expected to grow by 4% across the region in 2015, the World Bank said in its biannual economy report “Africa Pulse,” significantly below the historic average of 4.4%. While that is still well above the global economy average, seen by the World Bank at 2.9% for 2015, the decline highlights how vulnerable the world’s second-fastest growing region is, both from trouble at home and abroad. Growth will pick up in sub-Saharan Africa in 2016 to reach 4.5%, but […]

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Libya violence: Bomb explodes outside Moroccan embassy

Gunmen shot at the South Korean embassy from a passing car A bomb has exploded at the gates of the Moroccan embassy in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, security officials say, hours after two people were shot dead outside South Korea’s embassy. There was some damage to cars nearby, but no reports of injuries. The embassy is not currently operational. On Sunday, gunmen opened fire from a passing car on a security post at the South Korean embassy. The militant group Islamic State said it carried out that attack. The device at the Moroccan embassy in the Bin Ashour area of Tripoli was left in a bag at the gate. The blast in the early hours on Monday morning was "very strong, and the house was shaking for few seconds," a witness told the AFP news agency. It was unclear whether there was anyone in the embassy at the time […]

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Nigeria: Crude Oil Production to Rise By Less Than 0.1MBPD in 2015

OPEC non-crude liquids production, which averaged 6.4 million bpd in 2014, is expected to increase by less than 0.1 million bpd in both 2015 and 2016, led by increases in Qatar and Kuwait. In February 2015, unplanned crude oil supply disruptions among OPEC producers averaged 2.7 million bpd, an increase of 0.1 million bpd compared with the previous month. According to U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA), this increase was mainly attributable to rising outages in Iraq, Nigeria, and Libya. It noted that unplanned OPEC crude supply disruptions averaged 2.4 million bpd in 2014, 0.5 million bpd higher than in the previous year. The high level of OPEC disruptions contributed to higher crude oil prices during the first half of 2014. It stated that unplanned supply disruptions could still affect crude oil prices, but the threshold that the market can bear has risen in light of robust global production and […]

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Libya’s War Rages but Eni Keeps Pumping Oil

ENLARGE Fighters from the Libya Dawn militia group after securing the perimeter of the Mellitah Oil & Gas terminal on the outskirts of Zwara in western Libya on Jan. 6. Photo: MAHMUD TURKIA/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES Italian energy giant Eni SpA has emerged in recent weeks as the only international oil company still pumping near capacity in war-torn Libya, helped by protection from militias and tribes secured by its local partners. Libya’s security risks have crippled the efforts of rival oil companies such as Total SA of France, Repsol SA of Spain and Marathon Oil of the U.S., which have said they have suspended production onshore in the North African country. The dangers have intensified in the past month with the rise of terrorist network Islamic State in Libya, a new risk in a nation that fractured after the 2011 ouster and death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Some of the […]

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Libya Fight Over Oil Money Complicates Efforts to Boost Exports

Libya’s elected government said it is opening an overseas bank account for crude revenue to bypass rival Islamist authorities in the capital, adding uncertainty to the North African country’s efforts to boost exports. “This measure is meant to ensure liquidity for the government without going through the central bank in Tripoli,” Fathallah Al-Suhaiti, chairman of the elected parliament’s national security and defense committee, said Tuesday by phone from Tobruk in eastern Libya. Libya, holder of Africa’s largest oil reserves, has been split since last year when a coalition of Islamist militias captured Tripoli, forcing the elected government to move to the eastern region. The conflict has damaged or shut oil fields, pipelines and ports, reducing the nation’s crude output to no more than 600,000 barrels a day. Libya pumped almost 1.6 million barrels before the 2011 rebellion that ended Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule. The elected and internationally recognized government […]

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Libya expects more oil production soon, report

Libyan media report says oil production from a field shuttered since 2013 may be on the verge of restarting. File Photo By Dona_Bozzi/Shutterstock. TRIPOLI, Libya, April 6 (UPI) — Libyan media reports, an oil field shuttered since the middle of 2013, may be on the cusp of resuming operations after the resolution of labor disputes. The Libya Herald reported Sunday operations of the Abu Attifel oil field, last producing around 70,000 barrels of oil per day, may restart soon. The report said Italian energy company Eni stopped operations at the field "in August 2013 following the occupation and closure of oil export terminals by secessionist protestors." More than 1,000 demonstrators descended on the facility in late 2013 demanding jobs . "It is not yet clear what deal, if any, has been reached between the locals and the Libyan National Oil Co., which will allow Abu Attifel to restart production," […]

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Nigeria: Militants Blow Up Pipelines in Delta

Fire incident on the pipeline network of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Ijegun area of Lagos State. An Urhobo militant group, Urhobo Gbagbako, on Friday claimed responsibility for Thursday night’s bombing of the NPDC Oil pipelines at Ighrenene, Afiesere and Ekiugbo communities in Delta State. The group, which made the claims in an email sent to some reporters, said it is also planning to shut down all the oil fields in Urhobo and Isoko areas. The email signed by the group’s s spokesperson, Priest Omodjuvwu, said the bombing of the Ekiugbo/Ighrenene/Afiesere was to draw attention to the neglect of ex-militants of Urhobo extraction. It said the Urhobo had been sidelined in the pipelines protection contracts offered to ex-militants from other ethnic groups and they now want to show that they too had the capacity to cause trouble if ignored. The group said it had sent warning signals […]

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One of Libya’s Rival Governments Moves to Control Oil Revenue

CAIRO — One of the two factions battling for control of Libya took steps on Sunday to divert incoming oil revenue away from the central bank and into its own new account, a steep escalation in the contest over the country’s vast wealth. Libya’s oil and money are the prizes that have driven much of the competition among militias and factions in the nearly four years since the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, and as the fighting on the ground has slashed oil revenues, the legal and political battle for control of Libya’s assets has become overt and intense. Over the past nine months, the many local militias that sprang up around Colonel Qaddafi have now broken into two warring coalitions, each with its own provisional government. Officials of the Central Bank of Libya, which holds the country’s roughly $90 billion in foreign reserves and receives the income of […]

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Libya’s Biggest Oil Port May Reopen as Groups Vie for Buyers

Al-Thinni’s administration is preparing for the reopening of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf oil ports, even if the emergence of a militant armed group affiliated with Islamic State derails operations at the terminals, Al-Thinni said at a news conference in Al-Bayda on Saturday. Photographer: Gianluigi Guercia/AFP/Getty Images Libya’s biggest oil port may reopen in two weeks as fighting in the area recedes amid increasing competition between the divided North African nation’s rival governments for the control of crude exports. Al Mabrook Bu Seif, the chairman of state-run National Oil Corp. appointed by the elected government in the east of the country, said his team will start contacting existing clients to coordinate crude loadings at oil ports, replacing the company’s rival management in the capital, Tripoli, where a cabinet backed by Islamist militias is ruling over most of the western region. “Our management and marketing team are ready to deal […]

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African Oil Producers Seeks Production Cut, Start Initiative

The African Petroleum Producers Association, which represents oil and gas producers from Algeria to South Africa, called for a cut in oil output globally. The group also includes the continent’s biggest producers, Nigeria and Angola. It’s starting an initiative, led by Angola and Algeria, to seek collaboration between members of OPEC and other oil producers to reduce output and stabilize oil prices, which have halved since the end of June. APPA wants “to set up a platform of commitment at the international level from the producing countries,” said Ousmane Doukoure, director of exploration and production at Ivory Coast’s oil ministry, as he read out a statement on Friday at the end of an APPA meeting in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s commercial capital. African countries from Angola to Nigeria to Equatorial Guinea have had to cut their budgets in recent months after the plunge in oil prices affected the amount of […]

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Nigeria: What Oil Industry Expects From Buhari’s Presidency

THE incoming government of Major General Mohammadu Buhari (rtd) should ensure speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), revival of ailing refineries, adoption of zero tolerance on corruption, business friendly electricity tariff and deregulation of the down stream sector of the oil and gas industry. These were the demand list of stakeholders in the oil industry such as the former President of Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) and the President/Managing Director of Danvic Petroleum International, Dr. Mayowa Afe; President, Nigeria-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Prince Oye Akinsemoyin, and the Executive-Secretary of the Lubricant Producers Association of Nigeria (LUPAN), Emeka Obidike. Speaking with The Guardian yesterday, Afe commended the just concluded 2015 elections, saying that the latest development has already started opening doors for investment in the oil and gas sector. According to Afe, what has happened has opened up a lot of enthusiasms among foreign partners […]

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‘Change’ unseated Nigeria’s president, but may be slow in coming

ABUJA, Nigeria — Muhammadu Buhari won an upset victory over Nigeria president Goodluck Jonathan this week using a catchphrase that’s familiar to anyone who’s paid attention to American politics over the past eight years: “change.” Buhari leveraged the same slogan used to much success by Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign to unseat Jonathan and his ruling People’s Democratic Party, which has had its candidates occupy the presidency since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999. The change Buhari promised was an end to the Boko Haram insurgency that has killed thousands of Nigerians and forced over a million to flee. He campaigned on a reputation as an anti-corruption crusader, and made populist pledges such as stipends for poor people and health care for all. Jonathan campaigned on the motto of continuity for his “Transformation Agenda,” saying the growth Nigeria enjoyed during his first elected term — during which the country […]

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Nigeria: Shell Is Rumored To Have Shut Down Flow Stations

According to unnamed community sources, Shell Petroleum Development Company has closed its flow stations in Nigeria’s Delta and Bayelsa states because of threats from militants, The Nation Online reported April 3. Shell has denied operation interference, but not commented on reports of threat, saying it does not discuss security issues. Militants are suspected to have threatened to attack flow stations following Goodluck Jonathan’s loss in the 2015 presidential election . Stratfor provides global awareness and guidance to individuals, governments and businesses around the world. We use a unique, intel-based approach to analyze world affairs. Copyright © 2015 Stratfor Global Intelligence, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 221 West 6th Street Suite 400 – Austin, TX 78701, USA unsubscribe from this list     update subscription preferences | forward email

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Nigerian President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari Sets Out His Agenda

Photo In Kano on Wednesday, the victory of Muhammadu Buhari made for news and commerce. It was Nigeria’s first peaceful transition at the ballot box. Credit Samuel Aranda for The New York Times KANO, Nigeria — Nigeria ’s president-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, did not smile while making his acceptance speech on Wednesday — understandably, as terrorism and corruption were his main talking points. A day after piling up substantial vote totals against the incumbent president, Mr. Buhari, a former general who once rose to power in a military coup, further consolidated something extraordinary for Nigeria: the peaceful passing of power from one political party to another through the ballot box. The country is now a democratic nation like others, Mr. Buhari suggested Wednesday, both in his words and in the fact that the democratic process had worked well enough that he could give the speech at all. But in his […]

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Nigeria: Oil Revenue Drops to U.S.$32.3 Billion, Says IMF

Revenue received by the federation from crude oil sales, Petroleum Products Taxes (PPT), and royalties (after subsidies provided by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and cash calls) has decreased from $45 billion in 2011 to $32.3 billion in 2014, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) Country Report on Nigeria. Besides, between 2011 and 2014, oil lifting fell from 2.38 to 2.19 mbpd (71⁄2 per cent decline), largely due to stoppages associated with pipeline vandalism. The report, which was released on Monday, stated that the drop in oil revenue over 2011 to 2014, was larger than expected from the evolution of oil prices and production. The IMF said that in 2015, oil exports are projected to decline by six percentage points (ppts) of Gross Domestic Product and oil revenue by 2.4 ppts of GDP from 2014 levels, with a reduction in the current account balance and loss in international reserves. […]

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Muhammadu Buhari, a Familiar, and Now Less Divisive, Choice in Nigerian Election

Photo Muhammadu Buhari spent 30 years out of power before winning election as president. Credit Ben Curtis/Associated Press KANO, Nigeria — The 72-year-old former general elected as Nigeria ’s new president this week is not exactly new to the democratic process: He spent much of the past decade campaigning for the office in three successive elections — and failing each time. But then, as detractors insist and many supporters acknowledge, the former general, Muhammadu Buhari, had a long way to go to prove that he had left the military barracks behind. He first came to power in a coup over 30 years ago and became one of his country’s harshest military rulers, waging a “war against indiscipline” that prescribed humiliating punishment for tardy civil servants. He publicly executed young drug dealers on the beach, jailed journalists and expelled thousands of immigrants. He arrested 475 politicians and businessmen on corruption […]

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Nigeria’s Buhari praises Jonathan for peaceful handover

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigerian election winner Muhammadu Buhari congratulated outgoing president Goodluck Jonathan for peacefully relinquishing power on Wednesday, a day after becoming the first Nigerian politician to unseat a sitting leader at the ballot box. In an unprecedented step, Jonathan phoned Buhari to concede defeat and issued a statement urging his supporters to accept the result, a signal of deepening democracy in Africa’s most populous nation that few had expected. "President Jonathan was a worthy opponent and I extend the hand of fellowship to him," Buhari told journalists and supporters to loud applause, wearing a black cap and kaftan. "We have proven to the world that we are people who have embraced democracy. We have put one-party state behind us." The 72-year-old general, who first came to power three decades ago via a military coup, campaigned as a born-again democrat intent on cleaning up the corrupt politics of […]

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Genuine democracy? Nigeria has chance to rewrite script

LONDON (Reuters) – The victory of opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari in Nigeria’s presidential election could mark a turning point toward genuine democracy for the country, improving the image and moral standing of Africa’s troubled giant. The defeat of President Goodluck Jonathan, whose People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has run Africa’s most populous nation since it returned to civilian rule in 1999, was the first time a Nigerian head of state lost power to an opposition challenger through the ballot box. "It’s not the result that we wanted but it’s a good day for Nigeria if we show the world we can run a credible election," said a minister in Jonathan’s government, who did not wish to be named because others in the PDP were angry about the result. Jonathan telephoned Buhari on Tuesday to congratulate him on winning this weekend’s election, a spokesman for Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) said. […]

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Nigeria’s Buhari closes in on historic election victory

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigerian opposition contender Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-general who first won power three decades ago in a military coup, closed in on a historic election victory on Tuesday, maintaining a hefty lead in the vote count in Africa’s most populous nation. According to a Reuters tally collated from 33 of Nigeria’s 36 states, the 72-year-old Buhari had more than 14 million votes, testament to the faith Nigerians have put in him as a born-again democrat intent on cleaning up Nigeria’s corrupt politics. Buhari’s support compared to 11 million for President Goodluck Jonathan, whose five years at the helm of the richest country in Africa have been plagued by corruption scandals and an insurgency by Islamist Boko Haram militants. One of Jonathan’s big support bases in the oil-producing Niger Delta is yet to report but the gap is so large that most analysts said it was impossible to […]

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Nigeria: Oil Giant Total Sells Nigerian Oil Field Stake for $569 Mn

French oil giant Total said Monday that it has sold its stake in a Nigerian oil field to a local company for $569 million (523 million euros). Total’s sale of its share in the onshore Oil Mining Lease 29 to Aiteo Eastern E&P comes after the French group made two similar divestments in Nigeria. The three transactions reached a sum of $1 billion. "These transactions … reduce our exposure to non-operated blocks onshore Nigeria, and allow us to focus on our core, operated developments," said Patrick de La Chevardiere, Total’s Chief Financial Officer. The group added that the divestment is "in line with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s aim of developing Nigerian companies in the sector". Energy groups have been slashing their investments in a bid to shore up earnings, as crude prices have collapsed by about 60 percent since June.

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Statoil finds more gas offshore Tanzania

Norway’s Statoil announced new gas discovery offshore Tanzania. The company said it will catch its breath now to peruse next steps. File Photo by UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr. STAVANGER, Norway, March 30 (UPI) — Tanzania may be ripe for future offshore natural gas development, though time is needed for appraisal after the latest find, Norway’s Statoil said Monday. Statoil announced the discovery of roughly 1 trillion and 1.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Mdalasini-1 well off the Tanzanian coast. Marking the end of the first phase of operations there, the company said its eight discoveries to date combine for approximately 22 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves. Nick Maden, a regional vice president for the company, said in a statement the company views Tanzania as a high prospect gas opportunity, "but there will be a pause in the drilling to evaluate the next steps and to mature […]

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Libyan oil output at 564,000 bpd, expected to rise in coming days: NOC

CAIRO (Reuters) – Libya’s oil production is currently 564,000 barrels per day, a spokesman for the National Oil Corp (NOC) of Libya said. "We expect oil output to rise in the coming days," Mohamed El Harari said, adding that Libya’s natural gas production stood at more than 2 billion cubic feet. (Reporting by Feras Bosalum, writing by Ulf Laessing; editing by Jason Neely )

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Nigeria Votes in Sharply Contested Presidential Election

KANO, Nigeria — The most sharply contested election in Nigeria ’s post-independence history wound down to a tense conclusion on Saturday amid fears that a polarized electorate would clash regardless of the outcome in a country split on religious, ethnic and sectional lines. There appeared to be little middle ground between partisans of the incumbent president, Goodluck Jonathan , a Christian from the south hated in the north for mismanaging a bloody Islamist insurgency at steep cost, and his challenger, Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler, a northerner and a belated democratic convert whose Muslim faith and authoritarian past are feared in the south. Voters on Saturday morning crowded around registration stations here in the north’s largest city, a packed metropolis of more than five million, as hitches in the process added to the tension. Election officials were more than two hours late in some places, and malfunctioning electronic […]

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Nigeria’s External Reserves Fall Below U.S.$30 Billion

The value of Nigeria’s external reserves, which has been on the downswing in the past few weeks, fell below the $30 billion mark to $29.865 billion as at March 25, 2015, according to latest Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) figures. THISDAY’s findings show that the current level of the foreign reserves, which is derived mainly from the proceeds of crude oil earnings, has fallen by 13.4 per cent or $4.628 billion this year, compared with the $34.493 billion it stood at the beginning of the year. This has been attributed to the significant reduction in forex inflow into the country occasioned by the sustained low crude oil prices. Oil prices however rallied for a second straight day on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began air strikes in Yemen, sparking fears of a bigger Middle East battle that could disrupt world crude supplies. Brent crude was […]

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Shell takes further steps away from Nigeria

Royal Dutch Shell unloads more assets in the Niger Delta region to national energy companies in Nigeria. File Photo UPI/Maryam Rahmanian. The Nigerian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell said it made further progress in its divestment strategy by selling Niger Delta assets from $1.7 billion. Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria said it completed the sale of oil mining lease 29 and the 62-mile long Nembe Creek pipeline to Aiteo Eastern E&P Co., a Nigerian company. "This divestment is part of the strategic review of SPDC’s onshore portfolio and is in line with the federal government of Nigeria’s aim of developing Nigerian companies in the country’s upstream oil and gas business," the Dutch supermajor said in a Wednesday statement. Shell last week sold its stake in oil mining lease 30 to a separate rival for $737 million. Divested fields produced around 43,000 barrels of oil per day for Shell […]

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Shell completes $1.7 billion lease, trunk line sale in Nigeria

Shell Petroleum Development Co. of Nigeria Ltd. (SPDC) has completed its assignment of interest in oil mining lease 29 (OML 29) and the Nembe Creek trunk line (NCTL) and related facilities in the Eastern Niger Delta to Aiteo Eastern E&P Co. Ltd. for $1.7 billion. OML 29 covers 983 sq km and includes Nembe, Santa Barbara, and Okoroba fields and related facilities. NCTL, which was commissioned in 2010, is a 100-km, 600,000-b/d system that transports oil to the Bonny crude oil terminal (BCOT). BCOT is not part of the transaction and will remain owned and operated by the SPDC joint venture. Among the divested assets are flow stations, associated gas systems, and oil and gas pipelines within the OML. The divested fields produced 43,000 boe/d during 2014. Total E&P Nigeria Ltd. and Nigerian Agip Oil Co. Ltd. also have assigned their respective 10% and 5% interests in the lease, […]

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Nigeria’s Daily Oil Exports Hit 2.05 Million Barrels in 2014

Despite United States’ refusal to import crude oil from Nigeria due to its shale boom, the country exported 2.05 million bpd of crude oil and condensate to Europe and India in 2014. The United States traditionally had been the largest importer of Nigerian oil until the last few years. It changed from being the largest importer of Nigerian oil in 2012 to the 10th largest in 2014. India is now the largest importer of Nigeria’s oil, purchasing about 370,000 bpd or 18 per cent of Nigeria’s total crude exports in 2014. The International Energy Information Administration (IEA), in its 2015 report on Nigeria oil and gas sector, stated that Europe continued to be the largest-regional importer of Nigerian oil, importing slightly more than 900,000 bblpd or 45 per cent of the exports in 2014. According to the report, the United States typically imported between nine per cent and 11 […]

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In Nigeria, Oil Price’s Slide Deters Theft

ENLARGE Fuel drums in Lagos, Nigeria, in an area where illegally refined oil is traded, seen in a 2013 photo. Photo: Benoit Faucon/The Wall Street Journal THE NIGER DELTA, Nigeria—Oil is so cheap these days that for people around here, it isn’t even worth stealing anymore. Just months ago, villagers regularly took hacksaws to pipelines, transforming their homeland of rivulets winding through bayou forests into a calamity for global oil giants and environmentalists. Hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude spurted daily into buckets, jerrycans and drums that were loaded into canoes. Some got cooked in makeshift refineries fashioned from metal cylinders built along riverbanks. But now, with prices low, the risk of getting busted by Nigeria’s navy now outweighs the get-rich rewards of sabotaging pipelines, stealing oil and smuggling vast quantities of it onto international markets. Indeed, some of these thieves have reverted to plunking fish traps in […]

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Eight killed in air strike as Libya government aims to recapture capital

TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI (Reuters) – Eight civilians were killed in an air strike near Tripoli on Monday, the U.S. ambassador said, as Libya’s internationally recognized government pressed on with an assault to recapture the capital it abandoned to a rival faction last year. Four years after NATO warplanes helped dislodge dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has descended into chaos, with two rival governments fighting for control, both fielding armies of former rebel fighters and air forces that bomb rival territory. The internationally recognized government has been based in the country’s east since being driven out of the capital last August by an alliance of armed groups called Libya’s Dawn, which has set up its own rival government and parliament. On Friday, the eastern-based government announced an assault to recapture Tripoli, even as the sides are both attending U.N.-hosted peace talks in Morocco. Western countries fear a total collapse of central authority in […]

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East’s bid to control Libya oil wealth likely to fail

CAIRO (Reuters) – Libya’s official government, operating out of hotels in the east after being driven from the capital, is unlikely to succeed in plans announced last week to divert the country’s oil export income away from Tripoli. Control over oil is at the heart of a struggle between two rival governments who are fighting for territory in the North African OPEC state four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi. Both sides field armies of fighters whose salaries are paid with export revenues collected by the National Oil Company (NOC), which continues to operate out of Tripoli and sell oil abroad even though the capital is in the hands of a faction whose legitimacy is not recognized by the international buyers. Last week, the internationally recognized government, which runs an eastern rump state since fleeing the capital last year, said it wanted all oil exports to be paid […]

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Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan Sign Nile Dam Declaration

ENLARGE Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, right, next to his Sudanese counterpart Omar Bashir during a welcoming ceremony in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Monday. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia took a step Monday to defuse tensions around Ethiopia’s construction of a massive dam on the Blue Nile, which has threatened to upset the geopolitical balance in the region over how to share water from the River Nile. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Ethiopian Prime Minister Halemariam Desalegn signed a declaration in Sudan’s capital Khartoum, pledging to better share the Nile’s waters, an Egyptian presidency official familiar with the matter said. Ethiopia has said the project is necessary to produce much-needed electricity, but the building of the dam has been controversial, with some scientists predicting it could disrupt the flow of the river into Egypt, where it provides much […]

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Smuggled Libya Gas Fuels Conflict

ENLARGE Fighters from Libya Dawn, an alliance of Islamist-backed militias, take cover during clashes last week with an opposing militia in Bir al-Ghanam, around 30 miles from the capital of Tripoli. Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Smugglers selling Libya’s heavily subsidized gasoline and diesel abroad at jacked-up prices are likely using at least some of the profit to finance fighting between the country’s rival governments, according to a U.N. report. With recurring violence hampering attempts to resolve Libya’s division, U.N. officials now are considering action that could target at least some of the illegal trade. The sales add up: About $12 million of petroleum products are being smuggled out of the country each month on average, a Libyan oil official said. ENLARGE Officials at Libya’s National Oil Co. say smugglers are diverting some of the fuel to Mediterranean countries such as Tunisia and Malta, where a gallon of diesel costs […]

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Nigeria’s Rating Lowered by S&P as Oil, Politics Hit Economy

(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s credit rating was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s on Friday because of falling oil prices and rising political risks before delayed elections due next week in the West African country. The foreign and local currency long-term rating was cut one level to B+, four levels below investment grade. The outlook was changed to stable. “The decline in oil prices in the last seven months has significantly affected Nigeria’s external position and external vulnerability,” S&P said in a statement. “The tightly contested general elections may pose risks to Nigeria’s external position and the implementation of what we view as the government’s ambitious fiscal consolidation plans, while the Boko Haram group continues to disrupt the northeast.” Africa’s largest economy, which derives 90 percent of export earnings and 70 percent of government revenue from oil, is struggling with Brent crude prices having halved since June. The International Monetary Fund […]

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Libyan Investment Authority remains upbeat

Libyan investment chief upbeat about future despite threats to oil, one of the main sources of government revenue. UPI/Tariq aL-Hun. Though Libya’s short-term oil potential is waning, officials at a Malta summit said they were confident economic prosperity would come to the nation’s people. The board of directors at the Libyan Investment Authority met in Malta for their first annual meeting this week as violence lingers in the North African country. LIA Chairman Hassan Bouhadi said the investment authority is independent from political issues in a dividing country. "LIA’s assets are protected and the fund aims to develop these investments to establish economic prosperity for the Libyan people," he was quoted Thursday by the Libya Herald as saying. U.S. Ambassador to Libya Deborah K. Jones wrote in a February piece in the Libyan newspaper the country may go broke if oil continues to get caught in the cross fire. […]

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Shell unloads Nigeria assets

Shell unloads assets in Nigeria as part of a strategic review, one day after critical oil spill report from Amnesty International. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian Royal Dutch Shell said Friday it completed the sale of its stake in a Nigerian oil field for $737 million as part of a strategic review of onshore assets there. The company sold its 30 percent stake in oil mining lease 30 to Eroton Exploration & Production Co. Eroton took on an additional stake in the area from subsidiaries of Total and Eni. "This divestment is part of the strategic review of Shell Petroleum Development Co.’s onshore portfolio and is in line with the federal government of Nigeria’s aim of developing Nigerian companies in the country’s upstream oil and gas business," the Anglo-Dutch company said in a statement. The oil mining lease was producing an average 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day last year. Amnesty […]

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Libya’s State Oil Firm Operating Independently Of Rival Governments

TRIPOLI, March 19 (Reuters) – Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) is working independently without taking orders from either of the country’s rival governments, the Tripoli-based group said on Thursday. The internationally-recognised government said on Tuesday it wanted to route oil exports through an eastern NOC entity under its leadership rather than via Tripoli, which has traditionally handled oil exports. "The NOC board of directors confirms that NOC’s position is neutral and (that it) receives no directives from either the Tripoli- or Bayda-based governments," it said. Bayda is the seat of the recognised government in the east. "(It) operates in complete independence from both sets of authorities," NOC said. "All revenue proceeds are directly deposited into a Central Bank of Libya designated account." The two governments and parliaments are allied to armed factions fighting for territory and control of oil facilities. The eastern-based government has appointed a new head for […]

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Shell, Eni Making No Progress on Nigeria Oil Spills: Amnesty

A man tries to separate crude oil from water in a boat at the Bodo waterways polluted by oil spills attributed to a Royal Dutch Shell Plc equipment failure, August 11, 2011. Photographer: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc is making no progress curbing oil spills in Nigeria and Eni SpA’s operations in the West African country are out of control, according to Amnesty International. The two companies reported more than 550 spills in the southern oil-rich Niger River delta last year, compared with an average of 10 spills a year in Europe between 1971 and 2011, said Amnesty. “These figures are seriously alarming,” Audrey Gaughran, Amnesty’s global issues director, said in a statement on Thursday. “In any other country, this would be a national emergency. In Nigeria it appears to be standard operating procedure for the oil industry.” Nigeria produces about 2 […]

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Libya’s recognized government says oil sales must go through eastern firm

BENGHAZI/CAIRO, Libya (Reuters) – Libya’s internationally recognized government said on Tuesday that any sales of the country’s oil should be arranged through a state firm based in Benghazi under its leadership to prevent fraud. If implemented, the decision would escalate a battle for control that is raging, four years after the ousting of Muammar Gaddafi, between the official government based in the east and a rival administration in Tripoli. Oil markets have been wondering who is owning Africa’s largest oil reserves. But so far customers have continued paying for exports worth hundreds of millions of dollars each month through state National Oil Corp (NOC) based in Tripoli, which is under effective control of the rival government. "The government confirms that any contracting or sale outside the legal framework represented by National Oil Corp headed by Mabrouk Bou Seif and based in Benghazi is considered a violation," the official government […]

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