Category:

Egyptian court sentences 185 to death for attack on police

CAIRO (Reuters) – An Egyptian judge sentenced 185 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death on Tuesday over an attack on a police station near Cairo last year in which 12 policemen were killed. The ruling is preliminary and subject to a lengthy appeals process. It also goes to the country’s top religious authority for approval although his opinion is not binding. The sentence comes days after another court dropped charges against Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year rule. The attack on the Kerdasa police station took place on Aug. 14, 2013, the day that Egyptian security forces cleared two Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo, killing hundreds of people in one of the bloodiest episodes in Egypt’s modern history. Of those sentenced, 151 are in custody, with the others being tried in absentia, a judicial source said. Egyptian authorities have rounded up […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Once Terror of Nigerian Oil, Former Militants Back Jonathan

As the Islamist group Boko Haram intensifies attacks in northern Nigeria , former militants in the Niger River delta who once cut oil production by almost a third have become some of the government’s biggest supporters. Militant commanders like Government Ekpemupolo have gone from targeting Nigeria’s oil industry, riding around in speed boats with automatic weapons and explosives, to protecting it. He now runs the Global West Specialist Ltd. security company that has a $115 million contract with the National Maritime Administration and Safety Agency. Ekpemupolo is one of a group of former militants, including Ebikabowei Victor Ben and Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, who are prospering under the rule of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s first leader from the region that’s the heart of Africa ’s biggest oil industry. They form the backbone of support for Jonathan, 57, in the area as he seeks re-election in February, and have vowed to resist […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Busch – Night Is Falling On Nigeria (II)

opinion The problem for Nigeria is that these refineries barely function; refining less than 24 per cent of their capacity if they work at all. They are aged and decrepit and in desperate need of maintenance. Vast sums have been spent on maintaining them but they still do not function although the contracting maintenance companies have done rather well out of these maintenance contracts. It defies belief but the Kaduna Refinery was designed to handle much heavier crude than is produced in Nigeria. For years, the refinery has actually imported large quantities of suitable paraffinic based crude oil from Venezuela, Kuwait, Oman or Saudi Arabia to be refined in Nigeria Periodically, as political pressures increased new refinery tenders were issued. The local Nigerian companies who won the tenders for this could not attract overseas firms willing to co-operate with them, nor have they been able to raise the capital […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Egypt militant group says it killed US oil worker

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian militant organization allied with the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the killing of an American oil worker. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which now refers to itself as the Sinai Province, said on its official Twitter account late Sunday that it killed William Henderson. It published pictures of his passport and two identification cards. It did not say when or how it killed him. The passport said he was a 58-year-old from Texas and his identification cards said he worked for Texas-based energy company Apache Corp. and Qarun Petroleum Co., a joint venture with Egypt. Apache said in August that one of its supervisors had been killed in an apparent carjacking in Egypt’s Western Desert. The company did not identify the man. The Enid News & Eagle in northwestern Oklahoma published an obituary for a man named William Henderson in August, saying he had […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya: Rival Government Wants To Attend Oil Meeting

Both Libya’s internationally recognized government and a rival government want to attend the Nov. 27 OPEC meeting in Vienna, Reuters reported Nov. 26. Libya’s internationally recognized government will send three delegates to the meeting, a spokesman said. The rival government, which operates out of Tripoli, says it will refuse to comply with any production decisions if it is denied access to the meeting. An OPEC representative said the group’s only role is to facilitate the meeting, and it does not send invitations to member countries.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya Producing 700,000 B/D of Oil — Energy Official

By Benoit Faucon Libya is currently producing 700,000 barrels a day of oil, a top energy official said Wednesday. The country’s current production, less than half of its normal level of about 1.5 million barrels a day, has been hit by frequent unrest and strikes. Speaking to reporters, Mohamed Oun, a deputy vice-prime minister for energy, also said his government decided to replace the head of the National Oil Co. Mustafa Sanallah with Almabrouk Abuseif Alahirish. Mr. Sanallah couldn’t be reached for comment. It’s unclear how Libya’s internationally recognized government could enforce the decision. A rival rebel cabinet is in control of NOC’s offices in Tripoli. Mr. Oun is part of a team sent to Vienna by the internationally recognized government for a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Deputy-Prime minister Abdulraman al-Taher Alahirish told reporters he would lead the Libyan delegation at the gathering. Under […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Bonga Oil Spill – House Orders Shell to Pay U.S.$3.6 Billion Fine

Pastor Christian Lekoya Kpandei’s hand covered in oily mud, Bodo Creek, in 2011 (file photo). Photo: Amnesty International Abuja — The House of Representatives has directed Shell Nigerian Exploration Company (SNEPCo) to pay the sum of $3.6 billion or N604.832 billion for the damage caused by oil spill from its equipment failure almost four years ago in Bayelsa State The House Committee on Environment gave the directive during an investigative public hearing on Wednesday, citing the breakdown of an independent value analysis it adopted, which totalled N63.6 billion, payable for direct losses (irreversible damages) the community incurred. According to a breakdown of the damage, N103.192 billion is for loss of income, N85.785 billion is for water provision while N27.399,520,512 is for forestry and NTFP. For the indirect losses, SNEPCO is to pay N14.350 billion for health hazard; N8.089 million is for injurious affection while the sum of N302.416 billion […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

IMF says Egypt’s economy starting to recover

CAIRO (AP) — An International Monetary Fund official says that Egypt’s economy has begun to recover after four years of slow activity. The statement from Chris Jarvis late Tuesday followed an IMF delegation visit to Egypt for a long-delayed assessment of the economy. He says that Egyptian authorities "have set appropriate economic objectives." The IMF says it projects Egypt’s growth to reach 3.8 percent in the fiscal year 2014/15, in line with the government’s own stated goals. Egypt’s growth rate has been hovering at around 2 percent since the country’s 2011 revolt. Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian has said he hopes the resumption of consultations with the IMF will help restore confidence in the economy. The government aims to attract investment by hosting a three-day international economic conference in March.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Morocco emerging as strong oil frontier

Australian energy company Woodside Petroleum maintains commitment to exploring frontier oil and gas territory off the coast of Morocco. (UPI/Shutterstock/num_skyman) PERTH, Australia, Nov. 26 (UPI) — Australian energy company Woodside Petroleum said Wednesday it was stepping further into frontier territory with an exploration deal offshore Morocco. Woodside said it will explore a block known as the Rabat Ultra Deep Offshore area, where waters range in depth from 1 mile to more than 2.5 miles deep. The block is located adjacent to a similar deepwater license area, in which Woodside already holds a 25 percent stake. Under the terms of a 1-year commitment, Woodside said it would conduct a seismic survey of the region to get a better understanding of the reserve potential offshore Morocco. Morocco is one of the West African countries that have drawn interest from international energy companies eager to tap into unexploited reserves. Scottish energy company […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya’s Nafoura oilfield will resume production on Monday-officials

BENGHAZI, Libya Nov 23 (Reuters) – Libya’s Nafoura oilfield will resume production on Monday after protesters demanding jobs ended a protest, officials at the Libyan state operator said on Sunday. The field in volatile eastern Libya used to produce up to 65,000 barrels a day of oil until local protesters forced a shutdown over a month ago to demand to be hired by the state oil firm AGOCO, oil officials said. "The production at Nafoura oilfield will resume tomorrow," AGOCO spokesman Omran Zawie said. Several mostly smaller fields in the east have been closed in the past three months by locals making political or financial demands, part of turmoil in Libya three years after the ouster of former strongman Muammar Gaddafi. Separately, oil officials said the southwestern El Feel field has not yet resumed production after Libya shut it down more than a week ago when clashes forced the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

U.S. not on oil map for Nigeria

Nigerian oil production up, with most exports headed to markets outside North America. (UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr.) ABUJA, Nigeria, Nov. 24 (UPI) — The Nigerian oil export economy relies mainly on consumers outside North America, the state-controlled Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. said Monday. "Four regions, namely Europe, South America, Asia and Africa, remain the major destinations of Nigerian crude and condensate export," the company said. Nigerian crude oil exports to the United States peaked in 2007 and have since steadily decreased to zero since shale oil production increased. The state oil company said exports of 2.26 million barrels per day in August, the last full month for which data are available, were 12.4 percent higher than the previous month . Overall, oil production rose 6.8 percent in August. Nigeria is among the largest African members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. OPEC, in its market report for November, said […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: FG to Cut Petrol Subsidy By Half in 2015

The Federal Government has said it plans to cut subsidies on petroleum products by half next year after sharp falls in global crude prices, spurred a reversal of its 2015 budget downwards. President Goodluck Jonathan submitted the revised budget figures to lawmakers last week, proposing to spend 458.68 billion naira ($2.59 bln) on petrol subsidy in 2015, down from 971.14 billion naira presented for 2014. It also assumed further cuts to petrol subsidies in 2016 to 408.68 billion naira and 371.18 billion naira for 2017. The Minister of finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has proposed lowering the assumed benchmark oil price for the 2015 budget to $73 per barrel from the $78 proposed in September, after global crude prices collapsed. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters last week that declines in the price of oil, which has lost almost 30 percent since July, would impact the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Statoil Takes $350M Hit on Angola Exploration Halt

Norway’s Statoil is halting exploration in Angola after poor drilling results, retreating from an offshore area it had high hopes for and capping a poor year for exploration. OSLO, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Norway’s Statoil said on Friday it was halting exploration in Angola after poor drilling results, retreating from an offshore area it had high hopes for and capping a poor year for exploration. Statoil said it was cancelling a three-year contract with Stena Drilling, handing back a drilling ship two years early and taking a $350 million charge in the fourth quarter related to the contract, the drilling and the value of the Angolan blocks. Statoil had high hopes for Angola’s offshore pre-salt blocks 38 and 39 because the geology is similar to Brazil’s, where major oil discoveries have been made in similar rocks. "Statoil’s first well results from the area have been disappointing and although the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: PENGASSAN Decries Worsening Security Situation

Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the Federal Government and the military to rise up to the task of ending the insurgency and wanton destruction of lives and properties in the country. The oil workers’ union also called on the military to live up to their expectations by duly performing their obligations of defending the country against any attack either internal or external. PENGASSAN, in a statement condemned the level of general insecurity, especially the killings of innocent citizens by the Boko Haram insurgents in the North Eastern part of the country. The body called on President Goodluck Jonathan to step up the political will to deal with the crisis. Condemning the bomb blast that killed 47 school children and injured 79 others in Potiskum, Yobe State recently, PENGASSAN President, Francis Johnson, said the federal government should use all the power within […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria Plans Budget Cuts as Oil Price Drop Erodes Revenue

Nigeria is planning spending cutbacks next year as falling oil prices eat into the government’s revenue, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said. The minister will propose to lower expenditure by 6 percent to 4.66 trillion naira ($27 billion) in the 2015 budget by tightening rules on foreign travel and raising taxes on private jets and luxury cars, Okonjo-Iweala told reporters yesterday in the capital, Abuja. Those plans are based on a benchmark oil price of $73 a barrel, down from $77.5 in this year’s budget, she said. The government of Africa ’s biggest oil producer, which is preparing to hold elections on Feb. 14, earns about 70 percent of its income from crude oil, the price of which has slumped to a four-year low this month. The naira weakened to a record low last week, prompting the central bank to run down reserves in a bid to defend the currency. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Falling Oil Prices – Expect Impact From This Month, Okonjo-Iweala Warns

Abuja–The Federal Government, yesterday, warned that Nigeria, will from this November, begin to feel the impact of the declining price of crude oil in the global market. Speaking at the Institute for International Finance’s 2014 Africa Financial Summit in Lagos, hosted by Access Bank Plc, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy disclosed that event unfolding over the last couple of weeks have cast a shadow over the global economy, especially Nigeria and other African countries. She reiterated the fact that commodity prices are declining globally in the last couple of days, with the Bonny Light, Nigeria’s reference crude, trading at about $83 per barrel. This, she said, is assuming a disturbing dimension, especially as crude oil export accounts for about 83 per cent of Nigeria’s total export, as well as the fact that the country has to grapple with falling quantity. She said, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shell challenges Amnesty International oil spill report

Shell responds to scathing report from Amnesty International on oil spills in the Niger Delta. (File/UPI/Brian Kersey) Responding to an Amnesty International report, a Shell spokesman said Friday the company aims to compensate all Nigerians "genuinely affected" by oil spills. Amnesty in a report published Thursday said there is "irrefutable evidence" that Shell Petroleum Co. of Nigeria underestimated the amount of oil spilled in the Niger Delta in 2008 . Around 11,000 villagers from the Bodo community in the oil-rich Niger Delta filed suit in a London court against Shell last year, saying oil spills in the region devastated the regional fisheries industry . "Amnesty International firmly believes Shell knew the Bodo data were wrong," Amnesty’s director for global issues Audrey Gaughran said in a statement. "If it did not it was scandalously negligent — we repeatedly gave them evidence showing they had dramatically underestimated the spills." Shell had […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Car Bombs Explode Near Egyptian and U.A.E. Embassies in Libya

BAGHDAD — Car bombs exploded outside the embassies of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in Tripoli, Libya , early on Thursday, apparently in a backlash against the two countries for their role in a regional proxy war playing out in Libya. No one was wounded in the blasts, according to officials. The embassies were closed months ago, and the bombs exploded early in the morning. A day earlier, bombs in the eastern Libyan cities of Tobruk and Baida killed at least five people and wounded at least 20. All four blasts appeared to be part of the same civil conflict and regional tug of war. Three years after the ouster of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi , Libya has collapsed into a violent struggle for power between two rival coalitions of militias and tribes. The side that controls Tripoli includes hard-line and more moderate Islamists, as well as non-Islamist regional […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

BP Egypt, partners to invest $240 million in Egyptian blocks

By OGJ editors BP Egypt and its partners have committed to investing $240 million in two exploration blocks awarded by Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (Egas) in its 2013 bid round ( OGJ Online, Sept. 25, 2014 ). Block 3, North El Mataria, which marks BP’s entry into the onshore Nile Delta, lies in the northeastern section of the Nile Delta cone, 57 km west of Port Said. BP will operate the block with 50% equity and Dana Gas of Abu Dhabi will hold the remainder ( OGJ Online, Sept. 30, 2014 ). BP holds 50% interest in the Denise-Karawan (Deka) natural gas development offshore the Nile Delta, which started production in August ( OGJ Online, Aug. 22, 2014 ). Block 8, Karawan Offshore, lies in the Mediterranean Sea on the northeastern part of Egypt’s economic waters. The block is 220 km northeast and 170 km the northwest of […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

How Oil’s Tumble Continues to Hurt Nigeria

ByJosie Cox The Naira is being hit but it’s not alone, with the currencies of other major oil economies including Norway and Russia feeling the pain. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Here’s one oil economy that’s having a particularly rough ride. Nigeria, which is dependent on oil and natural gas for 96% of export revenues and 80% of government revenues, has been slammed hard by a slump prices over the last weeks and on Thursday hit yet another all-time low against the dollar – a veritable kick in the teeth for the central bank after it just last week intervened by selling dollars and buying the Naira after the dollar soared above 172 naira. The intervention initially triggered some respite, but today the dollar climbed above the previous peak, to above 173, traders said. The Naira’s drop puts Nigeria among the worst hit of the word’s oil producers, but the ruble, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: How Shell Short-Changed Nigerian Oil Communities By Underestimating Oil Spills

Abuja — Court documents presented by Amnesty International (AI) have exposed the fact that Shell repeatedly made false claims about the size and impact of two major oil spills at Bodo in the Niger Delta, allegedly in an attempt to minimise its compensation payments. AI said in a report yesterday that evidence that Shell underestimated the Bodo spills emerged in a United Kingdom (UK) legal action brought by 15,000 people whose livelihoods were devastated by oil pollution in 2008. The court action has forced Shell to finally admit the company had underplayed the true magnitude of at least two spills and the extent of damage caused. According to AI, the documents also showed that Shell had known for years that its pipelines in the Niger Delta were old and faulty. "The potential repercussions are that hundreds of thousands of people may have been denied or underpaid compensation based on […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya Plans to Resume Output at Biggest Oil Field Today

Libya , holder of Africa ’s largest crude reserves, is resuming output at its biggest oil field even as operations at some export terminals are disrupted. The Sharara and Elephant fields in southwestern Libya will restart production by today after gunmen returned equipment they had stolen from the sites, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp., said by telephone yesterday from Tripoli. Crude shipments from the eastern Hariga terminal remain halted, said Ihab Said, an inspector at the facility. Two other export ports, Es Sider and Mellitah, were shut last week because of bad weather, three traders with knowledge of the matter said Nov. 7. Loadings at Hariga were affected by worker strikes, according to two traders. Es Sider, Libya’s largest port, has capacity for 340,000 barrels a day of crude, while Mellitah can handle 160,000 barrels and Hariga can ship 110,000 barrels. Libya is seeking to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

BP commits to big Egyptian investments

BP commits to spending lavishly on exploration and production in Egypt. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian BP said it committed to invest $240 million on developing two new exploration blocks near the Nile Delta and in the northwestern Egyptian waters of the Mediterranean Sea through a partnership with Emirati energy company Dana Gas. "Exploring the two blocks will require substantial investments to unlock their potential, and will be done as part of our commitment to meeting Egypt’s energy needs," Hesham Mekawi, regional president for BP, said in a statement. BP said it will spend at least six years on exploration and production in the area. BP’s announcement follows a downgrade from rival BG group , which said last month it expects its Egyptian gas production to decline. BG Group said its activities in Egypt accounted for 10 percent of its production and around 3 percent of its earnings during the third quarter. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Militant Group in Egypt Vows Loyalty to ISIS

CAIRO — They have slaughtered hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police officers, recruited experienced fighters and staged increasingly sophisticated raids from the Western desert to the Sinai Peninsula. They have beheaded informants and killed an American in a carjacking, say Western officials familiar with intelligence reports. On Monday, Egypt ’s most dangerous militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, also pledged obedience to the organization that calls itself the Islamic State, becoming its first significant international affiliate in the bet that the link will provide new money, weapons and recruits to battle the government in Cairo. The affiliation could pull the militant group away from its current, almost exclusive focus on attacking Egyptian military and security forces toward the Islamic State’s indiscriminate mass killings of civilians. The pledge alone could undermine the government’s efforts to win the trust of Western tourists, a vital source of hard currency. The decision injects the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Namibia Expects Explorers to Drill Up to Five Oil Wells in 2016

Namibia sees as many as five oil exploration wells being drilled in 2016 as companies searching for deposits off the southwest African coast are undeterred by 19 dry wells. Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) and Royal Dutch Shell, which has two exploration blocks in the Orange River Basin, will probably sink wells in 2016, Namibia’s Petroleum Commissioner Immanuel Mulunga said. Murphy Oil Corp. (MUR) may drill toward the end of 2015 or early 2016, he said. “In 2016 we might have three to five wells being drilled,” Mulunga said in a phone interview in Windhoek yesterday. “There could be some other players which might also drill during that same time,” he said, citing HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA (HRTP3) , Serica Energy and Chariot Oil & Gas. (CHAR) Basins off Namibia have attracted attention from the world’s biggest oil explorers on a bet the nation’s coastal shelf may mirror that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya Plans to Resume Output at Biggest Oil Field Today

Libya , holder of Africa ’s largest crude reserves, is resuming output at its biggest oil field even as operations at some export terminals are disrupted. The Sharara and Elephant fields in southwestern Libya will restart production by today after gunmen returned equipment they had stolen from the sites, Mohamed Elharari, a spokesman for state-run National Oil Corp., said by telephone yesterday from Tripoli. Crude shipments from the eastern Hariga terminal remain halted, said Ihab Said, an inspector at the facility. Two other export ports, Es Sider and Mellitah, were shut last week because of bad weather, three traders with knowledge of the matter said Nov. 7. Loadings at Hariga were affected by worker strikes, according to two traders. Es Sider, Libya’s largest port, has capacity for 340,000 barrels a day of crude, while Mellitah can handle 160,000 barrels and Hariga can ship 110,000 barrels. Libya is seeking to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Egyptian Militant Group Pledges Loyalty to ISIS

CAIRO — An Egyptian militant group that has waged a deadly campaign mostly against local security forces released an audio statement early Monday pledging its allegiance to the Islamic State, the extremist group fighting in Iraq and Syria. The statement, released on a Twitter account associated with the Egyptian group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, demonstrated the growing clout of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. The group has recruited jihadists from dozens of countries, including thousands of fighters from North Africa and the Persian Gulf. In the recording, which was said to come from Ansar Beit al-Maqdis’s information department, a man said the group promised to “obey” the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (News reports from Iraq said Mr. Baghdadi was wounded in airstrikes over the weekend, but there was no definitive word on his status.) The confrontation between insurgents and the Egyptian government […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Report: East Africa new energy ‘hot spot’

East Africa emerging as "hot spot" for energy activity, analysis from IHS finds. (UPI/A.J. Sisco) LAS VEGAS, Nov. 7 (UPI) — East Africa is the new "hot spot" for the energy market, with natural gas positioning the region as the new premier player, analysis from IHS finds. Analysis released from Nevada finds East Africa is expected to add another 1 million barrels per day in production by 2025, led by Mozambique and Tanzania. More recently, the region is home to more than 25 percent of the natural gas discoveries made worldwide between 2010-13. "East Africa is the new hot spot," Stanislas Drochon, director Africa oil and gas at IHS Energy, said in a Thursday statement. Drochon said the region is going through a transformative phase and could emerge as a crucial player in the global energy sector, though a lack of infrastructure and a weak regulatory framework could drag […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya Plans for Biggest Oil Field to Resume Output Soon

Libya will resume pumping crude “soon” at Sharara, its biggest oil field, after an attack that halted output, reducing the North African nation’s production by almost a third, an official said. Sharara was shut as a precaution after gunmen stormed the on-site production compound, Mansur Abdallah, director of oil movement at the Zawiya refinery and oil port, said in a telephone interview. “The armed group left after stealing the cars, and production should resume soon,” he said. The oil field is 720 kilometers (450 miles) south of Zawiya, and the two sites are connected by a pipeline. While it has a similar capacity to the Waha field in central Libya, Sharara is the nation’s largest producer, with an output of 290,000 barrels a day before the latest shutdown, Abdallah said. Libya, which is trying to restore output after more than a year of political unrest and violence, produced 850,000 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya, low oil prices, pull reins for OMV

Libyan conflict and lower oil prices forces Austrian energy company OMV to reconsider pace of investments. UPITarek Alhuony. VIENNA, Nov. 6 (UPI) — A slowdown in Libyan output, coupled with declining oil prices, means it’s time to review the pace of investments, the head Austria’s OMV said Thursday. The oil and gas company said it would focus more on exploration and production moving forward, while streamlining some of its refinery operations. The decline in oil prices, in addition to less-than-ideal production growth from Libya, gave Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Roiss something to consider . "In order to reflect a more challenging operating environment, especially the softness in the oil price together with the unpredictability of our Libyan production, which is adversely impacting the Group’s cash flow, we have decided to review the pace of our investment program for the next two to three years," he said in a statement. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Protest Is Muted as Egypt Levels Border Area in Sinai

CAIRO — Egyptian officials faced little popular backlash on Thursday after the military demolished dwellings and displaced thousands of people in a town bordering the Gaza Strip , suggesting the government still enjoyed wide latitude from the public to pursue a muscular anti-insurgency campaign, though it has delivered mixed results at best. The demolitions, which began on Wednesday, are part of a government plan to create a buffer zone on the border that the authorities assert will curb the flow of weapons and militants. The plan had been discussed for more than a year, and was finally implemented after a militant attack last week that killed at least 31 Egyptian soldiers. Residents of Rafah, the border town, said they were surprised by the speed with which they were ordered to abandon their homes. On Thursday, though, even as the evacuations continued, many of the displaced residents appeared to be […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria’s N13.4 Trillion 2014 Oil Earning at Risk Over Price Decline

Decline in the global price of oil is eroding Nigeria’s external reserves and increasing pressure on the country’s currency. THE Federal Government is at risk of losing part of its 2014 crude oil earnings of over $84 billion (N13.4 trillion) to the continuous decline in the prices of crude oil. Nigeria realized about $40 billion (N6.4 trillion) from crude oil export between January and June 2014, having earned N13.4 trillion in 2013. According to the United State Energy Information Administration (EIA), This revenue positioned Nigeria as the fourth highest earner among oil producing countries, after Saudi Arabia ($274 billion), Kuwait ($45 billion), and Iraq ($45 billion), during the same period. Already, members of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had its revenue slashed in the first half of this year due to the decline in the price of crude oil during the period. As at Monday this week, the cost […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigerian Bank Debt Taps Turned Off by Oil-Price Slump

Central bank rules to curb foreign-currency borrowing by Nigerian lenders threaten to halt Eurobond sales by banks in Africa ’s biggest oil producer as lower crude prices heighten risks to the naira. Banks will probably turn to rights offers and naira debt rather than selling dollar bonds, according to FBN Capital, the investment-banking unit of Nigeria ’s largest bank by assets, Lagos-based FBN Holdings Plc. (FBNH) Nigerian dollar notes lost 0.4 percent this month, compared with a 2.2 percent average return among 57 emerging markets tracked by Bloomberg indexes . Slumping oil prices are weighing on the outlook for Africa’s biggest economy, weakening the naira and eroding foreign-currency earnings. The central bank in a statement dated Oct. 24 capped the amount of borrowing banks can do in foreign currencies as percentages of shareholders’ funds. “The central bank rule will slow the issuance of dollar bonds,” Bunmi Asaolu, a banking […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Algeria Bucks OPEC-Discount Trend With Venezuela Oil Sale

Algeria raised its oil price for November to the highest in five months after adding fellow OPEC member Venezuela , holder of the world’s largest crude reserves, to the list of its mostly European customers. The North African country will sell its Saharan Blend crude at a premium of 70 cents a barrel to Dated Brent, the North Sea benchmark, according to a price list obtained by Bloomberg. That’s the highest level since June and an increase from 20 cents in October. The first supertanker of Algerian crude arrived in Venezuela on Oct. 25, according to ship tracking data. “It’s primarily due to its sales to Venezuela” that Algeria has been able to raise premiums, Amrita Sen, chief oil market analyst at Energy Aspects in London , said by e-mail today. “Otherwise demand for light crudes has been super weak.” The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ biggest producers, including […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Govt Insists On Fuel Subsidy Removal

Related Topics Nigeria Nigeria: Synagogue Victims Died of Crush Inju… Petroleum Nigeria: NASS, FG Disagree Over N1.2 Trillion… Ads by Google WORRIED about the slow growth of the downstream oil and gas sector due to what it considered as a result of the regulated regime in the industry, the Federal Government yesterday stressed the need to eliminate price subsidy and stimulate competition. Besides, the country’s downstream sector requires investments of about $20 billion (N3.2 trillion) yearly to support the sector. This came as the House of Representatives assured stakeholders that the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would be passed into law before May 2015. The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who spoke at the ongoing eighth oil trading expo in Lagos, said that to provide a competitive market environment and sustain supply, the downstream sector should be fully deregulated. According to her, more investments in the sector will […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libyan strife highlights the perils of even-handedness

By their unseemly alliances with jihadis, Libya’s Islamists are courting disaster Retired general Khalifa Haftar ©EPA F or months the international community has been acting as if both sides in Libya’s multi-faceted civil war  are equally to blame for the unfolding tragedy, in effect justifying standing back and doing nothing, much like in Syria. Such even-handedness is symptomatic of the failings of international policy with regard to Libya, reflecting an exasperation with the complexity of the conflict that could potentially lead to further disastrous results. More On this topic Allure of Isis attracts Libya’s jihadis Fighting erupts between Libyan factions Libyan Islamists push hardline agenda Shared heritage helps drive Turkish business despite Libyan risk Global Insight Synod setback shows Pope’s limitations US experts fear Russia sanctions blowback India’s Congress party stares into the abyss Turkey struggles with Isis reverberations Governments of the UK, US, France, Germany and Italy issued […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria At Risk Over Falling Oil Price–FG

The Federal Government, yesterday, raised an alarm over the decline in the global crude oil prices, saying that it is already putting in place stricter measures to cushion the effect of the drop on the Nigerian economy. "Nigeria has two to three months of rainy day savings to cushion it while contingencies are put in place should world oil prices continue to fall," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Co-ordinating Minister for Economy told the Financial Times. Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that should oil price dip below $78, the country would have to draw down on the Excess Crude Account (ECA). She said, "Our intention is not to run in there and raid it, but even if prices continue to go down we can survive sufficiently for two to three months. That is the time needed to get other measures in place. What you don’t want is a hard landing." "Our buffers are slimmer this […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria: Pirates Seize Police Gunboat, Abduct Four Police Officers, Six Oil Workers in Bayelsa

The rising spate of insecurity in Bayelsa state heightened Friday as gunmen, suspected to be sea pirates, carried out attacks on barges and boats along the Nembe waterways in Bayelsa, abducting six oil workers and four policemen. The pirates also dispossessed the policemen of a gunboat and made away with the arms onboard. The attacks, according to witnesses, occurred separately on Friday causing fear and tension amongst coastal communities and boat operators as the security operatives appeared helpless and defeated. When contacted for comments, the spokesperson for Bayelsa police command, Alex Akhigbe, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said he was on official duty in Abuja and unaware of developments in Bayelsa. The state Police Commissioner, Valentine Ntomchukwu, claimed he was busy in a meeting. Witnesses however said the Police gunboat was escorting a barge operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) when it was attacked. The sea pirates, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Islamists kill 31 Egyptian soldiers in Sinai

Islamist militants killed 31 Egyptian soldiers on Friday in two separate attacks in the northern Sinai Peninsula, the deadliest day in months in the volatile desert region. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi summoned ministers and officials to an emergency meeting of his National Defence Council after the attacks. Egypt ’s armed forces were reportedly preparing for reprisals in response to the attacks. More On this topic Investors eye Egypt energy opportunities US seeks Egypt’s help to counter Isis Blast in central Cairo kills at least two Egypt swelters in nationwide power cut IN Middle Eastern Politics & Society Tunisia police kill six ahead of poll Tunisia poll takes place amid disillusionment Houthi expansion threatens Yemeni strait Turkey allows Kurds to relieve Kobani The first, a massive car bomb explosion at a checkpoint protected by armoured vehicles northwest of the town of Arish, killed 28 soldiers. The second, a drive-by shooting […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Shell finds gas off the coast of Gabon

Shell, Chinese partners, declare natural gas find off the coast of Gabon. UPI/Maryam Rahmanian THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 22 (UPI) — Shell announced Wednesday it made a substantial discovery of natural gas in the deep waters off the coast of the West African nation of Gabon. The company said it ran into a 656-net foot column of natural gas in its Leapord-1 frontier exploration well off the Gabonese coast. The well was drilled in water more than a mile deep into a basin trapped beneath a deep layer of submarine salt. "Shell and partners [at China National Offshore Oil Corp.] are planning to undertake an appraisal program to further determine the resource volumes," the company said in a statement. Gabon’s geological similarities to Brazil raised hopes for oil production among energy explorers, but so far the region has turned up mostly natural gas. Italian energy company Eni and Australian […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

China reviewing oil relationships with Sudan, South Sudan, researcher says

WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 21 10/21/2014 By Nick Snow OGJ Washington Editor The Chinese government and China National Petroleum Corp. are reviewing their relationships with Sudan and South Sudan following years of growth that changed both sides, a researcher said at Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies . “Sudan was a launching pad for CNPC to become a global corporation through financial and resource benefits,” said Luke Patey, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies and author of “ The New Kings of Crude: China, Oil, and Civil War in Sudan and South Sudan .” “For much of the 2000s, CNPC took 40% of its oil from Sudan through subsidiaries as well as through the main subsidiary,” Patey said during an Oct. 20 event hosted by the SAIS China-Africa Research Initiative. “Things started to go bad for CNPC when the two Sudans signed a comprehensive […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Libya’s Rival Regimes Keep Oil Flowing From Split Nation

Libya’s warring factions have pledged to keep the North African country’s crude flowing, putting pressure on other OPEC nations to curb output when the group supplying 40 percent of the world’s oil meets next month. Libya’s production has risen even as violence and political disputes have left the country under the rule of two competing administrations: the internationally recognized government of Abdulla al-Theni and the Islamist-led cabinet of Omar al-Hassi. Both authorities are seeking to keep oil output stable as various militias battle for influence. “It is almost beyond me that the Libyans managed to maintain production, considering that there is no government, and with all these militias,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank A/S, said in an interview Oct. 20 in Dubai. “It is almost a miracle that they managed to get back production to where they have managed to get it back to.” Libya, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria Can’t Cope With Drop in Crude Oil Price – NECA

Lagos — The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has berated the federal government over what it described as its lackluster plan on how the country will deal with the fall in international price of crude oil. The Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had recently said the federal government has put in place contingency plans to deal with the dwindling price of crude oil. But speaking at a press conference in Lagos, Director-General of NECA, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, said government ought to flesh out such plans as well as explain the implications of the fall in the price of crude oil to Nigerians and how the nation would cope with the development. He warned that the country is prone to serious economic crisis if there are no concrete plans to deal with the situation and advised Nigerians to cut down on their skyrocketing expenses. He reasoned that […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Egypt slated to get Israeli natural gas

Partners in control of one of Israel’s largest offshore gas fields announce export plans for Egypt. (UPI/Shutterstock/James Jones Jr.) The partnership in control of one of the largest natural gas basins off the coast of Israel announced their intention to sign an export deal with Egypt. The consortium in charge of the Tamar natural gas field, led by Texas company Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Group, said Sunday they’re negotiating the sale of at least 175 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year over the next three years with Egyptian buyer Dolphinus Holdings Ltd. The partners managing Tamar estimate the field holds as much as 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Gas from Tamar would run through a pipeline system managed by Israel Gas lines to Ashkelon and then through a system managed by East Mediterranean Gas Ltd. for marketing to customers in Egypt. Delek said gas […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

OMV’s production lifted by Libya

Austrian energy company OMV says production from Libya on the rebound. UPI/Mohamaad Hosam "Production levels in the third quarter of 2014 increased by 5 percent versus the second quarter as production in Libya partially resumed," the company said in its report. In its report for the second quarter, OMV said much of its Libyan assets were shut in by violence and the security situation there remained difficult. OMV’s statement follows a condemnation of the latest violence from the governments of France, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. "Libya’s hard fought freedom is at risk if Libyan and international terrorist groups are allowed to use Libya as a safe haven," their Saturday statement read. Forces loyal to former Gen. Khalifa Haftar last week tried to reclaim the restive city of Benghazi from Islamist militias. At least 12 people died as a result of the violence . In […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

South Sudan’s Nov Dar Blend crude oil exports to fall 8.6% on month: sources

Home | News & Analysis | Latest News Headlines | South Sudan’s Nov Dar Blend crude oil exports to fall 8.6% on month: sources Singapore (Platts)–20Oct2014/538 am EDT/938 GMT An estimated 4.2 million barrels or 140,000 b/d of South Sudan’s Dar Blend crude oil is expected to be exported in November, down 8.7% from 4.6 million barrels due to be exported in October, trade sources said Monday. A total of five cargoes — two of 600,000 barrels and three of 1 million barrels — are scheduled for lifting in November, the sources said. Dar Blend is a heavy, acidic crude produced at the Block 3 and Block 7 oil fields in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State. Malaysia’s Petronas, which holds a 40% interest in Dar Petroleum Operating Company, on Monday issued a tender offering 1 million barrels of Dar Blend crude for loading over November 25-26. The tender will […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Egypt: Ethiopian Water Minister Hails Egypt Decision to Resume Dam Talks

Ethiopian Water and Energy Minister Alemayehu Tegenu hailed Egypt’s decision to resume the three-way dialogue with Sudan and Ethiopia on the Renaissance Dam last August. He also applauded the positive atmosphere which prevailed in the two meetings, which were held in Khartoum in August and Addis Ababa in September. In statements on the sidelines of the second round of the tripartite national committee of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, currently in session in Cairo, Tegenu said that the outcome of the two studies recommended by the international experts committee should be based on authenticated and variable information and data in order to come up with unbiased recommendations and results. The project has been a source of concern for the Egyptian government since May 2013, when images of the dam’s construction stirred public anxiety about the possible effect on Egypt’s water supply from the Nile River. However, Ethiopia maintains that Egypt’s […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria agrees ceasefire with Boko Haram

A person holds up a sign as local clergy, activists and and community leaders protest for the safe return of the 276 abducted schoolgirls outside the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the UN Nigeria has reached a ceasefire agreement with Boko Haram and secured a deal for the release of 219 schoolgirls held by the extremist group for more than six months, military and presidency officials claimed on Friday. No details of the agreement, announced in the capital Abuja, have emerged and Boko Haram has yet to confirm the deal. However, Nigerian newspapers and websites have been reporting that fresh negotiations between presidency and military officials and representatives of the terrorist group have been taking place in recent days. The talks allegedly also involved neighbouring Chad and Cameroon. More On this topic Buhari enters Nigerian presidency race Nigeria claims success against Boko Haram Boko Haram targets Nigerian forces More […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
Category:

Nigeria proposes $78/b oil price benchmark for 2015 budget

Home | News & Analysis | Latest News Headlines | Nigeria proposes $78/b oil price benchmark for 2015 budget Lagos (Platts)–16Oct2014/747 am EDT/1147 GMT Nigeria is proposing an oil price benchmark of $78/barrel for the purposes of revenue calculations in its 2015 budget, according to a government paper seen Thursday, amid concerns over falling oil prices in the international market. The 2015 oil price benchmark, which is slightly higher than the $77.50/b price for the current 2014 budget, was contained in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework sent by President Goodluck Jonathan to parliament. The oil production target was set at 2.278 million b/d, lower than the 2.38 million b/d of oil output assumed for 2014, as the government admitted that crude oil theft still posed a major threat to aims to increase oil production. "Our [oil price] proposal is also driven by the need to be cautious in our […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple