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Nigeria No Longer Has Tangible Oil Trade With U.S. – Petroleum Minister

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has stated that Nigeria no longer has any tangible trade in crude oil with the United States of America, following the shale oil boom in the country. Alison-Madueke said this yesterday at an interactive forum on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which is awaiting passage at the National Assembly. She warned that the development should spur Nigerians to impress it on the legislature to pass the PIB as soon as possible. The minister said this just as the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Dakuku Peterside, also disclosed that the National Assembly would in its consideration of the bill expunge a certain provision that allows ministerial discretion in granting extension to the three-year deadline to end gas flaring after the PIB is passed. Represented by the Group Coordinator, Corporate Strategy and Planning of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), […]

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Militias in Libya Hard to Tame as Renegade General Steps In

Against the backdrop of a rising sun and an imposing lion, renegade Libyan general Khalifa Haftar strides over rugged terrain in combat fatigues and black boots. The propaganda imagery on Haftar’s Facebook page is part of his bid to rally the nation against Islamist militias in Libya’s east and their political allies in the capital, Tripoli. It borrows from that employed by Egypt ’s soldier-turned-president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who overthrew an elected Islamist leader before securing power at the ballot box. If Haftar harbors similar ambitions, his will be a far harder task. Three of his guards were killed in an assassination attempt in the eastern town of Abiyar, SkyNews Arabia TV channel reported today, giving no further details. Successive Libyan governments have failed to unify the forces that removed Muammar Qaddafi from power three years ago, with the chaos halting the recovery of crude output in the North […]

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Nigeria: Confab – Delegates in Heated Debate Over Fuel Subsidy

Delegates at the on-going National Conference yesterday debated the desirability and otherwise of the much-touted Fuel Subsidy as they spoke either in support or against the complete removal of the subsidy as recommended by the Standing Committee on Public Finance and Revenue. The debate on the committee’s report kicked off after delegates had resumed for the week following the death of the wife of the conference chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, on Wednesday last week. A total number of 147 delegates indicated interest to comment on the report and as at close of session yesterday evening only about 50 had spoken prompting adjournment and continuation of the debate today. Each delegate spoke with passion on why the Federal Government should either keep subsidising petroleum products for the public or why it should be removed. According to the report, as presented by the committee chairman Senator Adamu Aliero, subsidy on petroleum […]

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Algeria talks shale with U.S. energy secretary

The Algerian government views shale oil and natural gas as a way to add diversity to its energy sector, Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi said. Yousfi met with visiting U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz in Algiers to discuss energy developments in the country, more than a year after terrorists stormed the In Amenas gas facility in the country’s eastern desert. "Algeria is currently evaluating the potential for shale oil and gas, attempting to determine the quality of the rock while studying all potential environmental impact," he said Sunday. "It is absolutely vital for us to use all possible resources to achieve energy security." Moniz, for his part, said U.S. companies experiencing success in the shale sector were interested in tapping into the Algerian energy market. Algeria has the tenth-largest natural gas deposits in the world and is the third-largest gas supplier to Europe. Its exports have […]

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Rogue Libyan general’s troops clash with militias

Libyan security officials say heavy fighting has broken out in the eastern city of Benghazi between forces loyal to a rogue general and Islamic militias. The officials say gunbattles started early Monday when a group of militants attacked Benghazi’s security headquarters where some of Gen. Khalifa Hifter’s forces are based. The officials are also saying that helicopter gunships flown by pilots loyal to the general have been bombing the base of the February 17 militia, as well as positions of another militia, the militant Ansar al-Shariah group, on the city’s western outskirts. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. The Benghazi-based Hifter is leading a military campaign against Islamists dominating Libya’s political scene. He has vowed to crush them.

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Rogue Libyan general's troops clash with militias

Libyan security officials say heavy fighting has broken out in the eastern city of Benghazi between forces loyal to a rogue general and Islamic militias. The officials say gunbattles started early Monday when a group of militants attacked Benghazi’s security headquarters where some of Gen. Khalifa Hifter’s forces are based. The officials are also saying that helicopter gunships flown by pilots loyal to the general have been bombing the base of the February 17 militia, as well as positions of another militia, the militant Ansar al-Shariah group, on the city’s western outskirts. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. The Benghazi-based Hifter is leading a military campaign against Islamists dominating Libya’s political scene. He has vowed to crush them.

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Heavy fighting reported in Libya's Benghazi

Heavy fighting is ongoing in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, apparently between the armed group Ansar al-Shariah and irregular forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a former army general. Witnesses said on Monday that gunfire, which began the day before, could be heard across the city, particularly coming from a special forces army base in a western suburb of Benghazi. News agencies reported that at least seven people have died and about a dozen have been wounded in the fighting. Haftar is campaigning  to rid Libya of fighters that he says the government has failed to control. Suleiman El Dressi, a Benghazi resident in the area of the clashes, told Al Jazeera that two people had been killed as a result of explosions there. "Residents are at home and they are very scared, waiting for the clashes to be over," he said. "Central government cannot control anything happening here, […]

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Heavy fighting reported in Libya’s Benghazi

Heavy fighting is ongoing in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, apparently between the armed group Ansar al-Shariah and irregular forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a former army general. Witnesses said on Monday that gunfire, which began the day before, could be heard across the city, particularly coming from a special forces army base in a western suburb of Benghazi. News agencies reported that at least seven people have died and about a dozen have been wounded in the fighting. Haftar is campaigning  to rid Libya of fighters that he says the government has failed to control. Suleiman El Dressi, a Benghazi resident in the area of the clashes, told Al Jazeera that two people had been killed as a result of explosions there. "Residents are at home and they are very scared, waiting for the clashes to be over," he said. "Central government cannot control anything happening here, […]

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South Sudan receives $3.5 bil from oil sales over June 2013-May 2014: oil minister

South Sudan has received over $3.5 billion from the sale of crude oil between June 2013 and May 2014, the country’s oil minister Stephen Dhieu Dau said in a statement made available to Platts in the capital Juba on Sunday. "As from June 2013 to May 2014, South Sudan sold a total of 35.5 million barrels (97,260 b/d) from both Nile and Dar Blends," Dau said in the statement released on Friday but distributed to journalists later. Of the total sales, South Sudan paid Sudan $857 million for both tariffs and Transitional Financial Arrangements, or TFA, Dau said. South Sudan’s crude oil passes through the two cross-border pipelines in Sudan to facilities near Port Sudan on the Red Sea for export. Dau said the net amount realized by South Sudan — determined after all payments were made to Sudan, and $788 million made for payments or settlement of loans […]

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Egypt opens tender to import fuel in July-Sept 2014 -official

* Government hoping to avoid summer blackouts * Tender to supplement energy products donated by SaudiArabia * Raising energy prices could cause unrest CAIRO, May 31 (Reuters) – Egypt has launched a tender toimport hundreds of thousands of tonnes of petroleum products inthe third quarter of 2014, an energy official said on Saturday,as the country tries to stave off a summer energy crisis. Egypt’s government wants to avoid major power blackoutsduring the months of increased consumption in the summer, whenoutages are worsened by a dilapidated grid and a wastefulsubsidies system. The tender comes in addition to supplies from Saudi Arabia,which will deliver energy products to Egypt in July and Augustas part of an aid package announced after the Egyptian armyoverthrew Egypt’s first freely elected president, the IslamistMohamed Mursi. An official from the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp (EGPC)told Reuters that Egypt launched a tender on Thursday to import90,000 tonnes of […]

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Libya hopeful about its oil sector

The chairman of the Libyan National Oil Corp. said the government aims to hold an auction for new oil licenses once political hurdles are cleared. Companies interested in investing in Libya, once a premier North African oil producer, have said the nation’s troubled security sector and tough contractual terms are keeping them at bay. NOC Chairman Mustafa Sanallah told potential investors at an energy conference in London another bidding round is expected once a permanent government is formed and new draft oil laws are ready. "Hopefully by next year the situation will be very clear," he said Thursday. The latest monthly market report from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, of which Libya is a member, says the North African nation produced 238,000 barrels of oil per day in April, down from the first quarter average of 364,000 bpd and well below its 2012 level of 1.4 million bpd. […]

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Prolonged Libyan Oil Closures Delay Return to Normal Output

LONDON—Prolonged closures in Libya’s oil fields are set to delay a return to normal output, a senior official said Friday—even after production at the country’s largest oil field is restarted. Speaking at the third New Libya Oil and Gas Forum in London, Anwar Agil, head of production management at Libya’s National Oil Corporation, said a return to normal production at the country’s largest oil field could be delayed by four months because more than 20 underground pumps needed to be replaced. The Sharara field, in western Libya, which is operated by Spain’s Repsol SA, is currently shut after being occupied by local protesters seeking better redistribution of oil revenue. Underground pumps there have been repeatedly switched on and off amid false starts. The field has the capacity to produce 340,000 barrels a day—more than a fifth of Libya’s normal output of about 1.5 million barrels a day. But even […]

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Egypt: El-Sissi wins election by landslide

With nearly all votes counted, Egypt’s former military chief has won a crushing victory over his sole opponent with more than 92 percent of the votes, according to results announced by his campaign early Thursday. The campaign of retired field marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said he won 23.38 million votes, with left-wing politician Hamdeen Sabahi taking 735,285. Invalid votes were 1.07 million, or nearly 350,000 more than the number of votes for the 59-year-old Sabahi. El-Sissi’s win was never in doubt, but the career infantry officer, also 59, had hoped for a strong turnout to bestow legitimacy on his ouster last July of Egypt’s first freely elected president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi. According to el-Sissi’s campaign, the turnout nationwide was around 44 percent, even after voting was extended for a third day Wednesday – well below the nearly 52 percent turnout in the June 2012 election won […]

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US tells its nationals to leave Libya

The US State Department has recommended that Americans leave Libya immediately in its latest travel warning amid worsening unrest in the North African country. The department said on Tuesday that the security situation in Libya "remains unpredictable and unstable", with crime levels high in many parts of the country. The advisory came amid reports newly elected Libyan Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteg had escaped unharmed after his residence was . The State Department added that various groups also had called for attacks against US citizens and US interests in Libya. "Due to security concerns, the Department of State has limited staffing at Embassy Tripoli and is only able to offer very limited emergency services to US citizens in Libya," the travel warning said. "Because of the presumption that foreigners, especially US citizens, in Libya may be associated with the US government or US NGOs, travellers should be aware that they […]

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Libya’s new PM unharmed after attack

Libya’s prime minister, who was recently approved in a contested parliamentary vote, was unharmed in an attack on his home that set off a gun battle with guards, a government official said. The official said four attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at the house of Ahmed Maiteg early on Tuesday, sparking clashes with security guards. One of the assailants was killed and another was arrested while the rest fled, the official said, speaking to the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity. Maiteg was named prime minister in a vote deemed illegitimate by religious hardline lawmakers. The appointment escalated a political crisis pitting lawmakers and fighters against forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, who has launched an armed campaign to try to restore order, three years after the revolt that toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi. Thousands of Libyans have held demonstrations in recent days demanding the elected assembly halt sessions and accusing […]

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Libya's new PM unharmed after attack

Libya’s prime minister, who was recently approved in a contested parliamentary vote, was unharmed in an attack on his home that set off a gun battle with guards, a government official said. The official said four attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at the house of Ahmed Maiteg early on Tuesday, sparking clashes with security guards. One of the assailants was killed and another was arrested while the rest fled, the official said, speaking to the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity. Maiteg was named prime minister in a vote deemed illegitimate by religious hardline lawmakers. The appointment escalated a political crisis pitting lawmakers and fighters against forces loyal to General Khalifa Haftar, who has launched an armed campaign to try to restore order, three years after the revolt that toppled and killed Muammar Gaddafi. Thousands of Libyans have held demonstrations in recent days demanding the elected assembly halt sessions and accusing […]

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Libya Oil Disruption Worsens Amid Anti-Government Protest

The disruption of Libyan crude exports worsened as rebels shut down a recently re-opened oil port after protesting over the appointment of the country’s new prime minister. Petroleum Facilities Guards members aligned with federalist rebels stopped loadings at the Hariga oil port in eastern Libya , Oil Ministry Director of Measurement Ibrahim Al Awami said by telephone from Tripoli. The guard has also banned flights operated by state-run National Oil Corp. to Zueitina, another oil port in the east, he said. The eastern rebels’ leader Ibrahim Al-Jedran “seems to have given instructions for this protest to happen because he’s unhappy with the new government,” Awami said. The loss of Libyan oil production, down about 90 percent from its pre-conflict level, has boosted the price of Brent, the benchmark for half the world’s traded crude. On May 21, Citigroup raised its 2014 Brent price forecast to $109 a barrel, from […]

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Libyan Oil May Suffer More Disruption, General Says

Libyan crude exports may be disrupted further by a dispute over the appointment of a new prime minister or attacks against oil infrastructure by Islamists, a retired general leading the fight against militant groups said. Separatist rebels objecting to Ahmed Maiteg’s appointment as prime minister may reoccupy Zueitina and Hariga, two oil export terminals returned to government control last month, Colonel Mohammad Hijazi, a spokesman for General Khalifa Haftar’s self-proclaimed National Army, said today. Haftar respects the rebels’ demand for more autonomy for ’s regions, Hijazi said. “The crisis is worsening and it’s a possibility that the two oil ports that have re-opened close again,” Hijazi said by phone from Tripoli. Extremist groups Haftar is fighting in the east “could attack anything, including the oil facilities,” he said. The loss of Libyan oil production, down about 90 percent from its pre-conflict level, has boosted the price of Brent, the […]

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Egypt Scrambles to Raise Turnout in Presidential Vote

After Egypt’s revolution three years ago, so many voters eager for democracy turned out for elections that officials had to scramble to accommodate the throngs. On Tuesday, the military-backed government confronted the opposite problem. Officials extended a scheduled two-day vote for a third day not because of long lines, but because so few people had shown up. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former army field marshal who deposed Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s first freely elected president, is still universally expected to win by a landslide. Yet the disappointing turnout has upended his supporters’ hopes that the vote would grant him new legitimacy after the ouster. When polling places around the nation remained largely empty on the second day of voting, signs of panic swept the government. Officials initially extended voting hours on Tuesday by an hour, to 10 p.m. Then, a holiday was declared for […]

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South Sudan: Government Admits Conflict Has Hampered Oil Production

Juba — South Sudan government admitted on Sunday that the ongoing conflict has affected the country’s oil production, with production now at just 165,000 barrels per day. Petroleum minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau, told Sudan Tribune that the country continues receiving revenues from oil produced in Upper Nile state, where production rate is reportedly on the decline since no additional explorations takes place in the area. "The oil production is continuing in Upper Nile. The current output is not bad, but there is a drop. At the moment the level of output stands at 165,000 barrel per day from 245,000 barrels per day before the current crisis erupted last year", said Dau. "This [oil] is produced in Paloch", added the petroleum minister. He commended government troops for providing protection and defense to the only remaining oil wells in the country, despite several attempts by rebels to control it. "There is […]

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Kenya: Oil Exploitation Contradicts Kenya’s Climate Goals, Legislator Warns

Kenya is in the final stage of enacting a new climate change law, expected to be approved in the coming months. At the same time, the private sector is preparing to tap significant oil reserves in the north. Will the hunt for fossil fuels thwart Kenya’s efforts to go green and curb its carbon emissions? After a 2007 study forecast how climate change would impact Kenya, a National Climate Change Response Strategy was launched at the 2009 U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. The government then developed a Climate Change Action Plan to implement the strategy, which was completed in March 2013. The action plan spells out how to tackle climate change at local, county and national levels. The next step is to enshrine that in law. "We realised we had collected enough information to start preparing climate change legislation, because it cuts across all sectors – hence the need […]

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Kenya: Oil Exploitation Contradicts Kenya's Climate Goals, Legislator Warns

Kenya is in the final stage of enacting a new climate change law, expected to be approved in the coming months. At the same time, the private sector is preparing to tap significant oil reserves in the north. Will the hunt for fossil fuels thwart Kenya’s efforts to go green and curb its carbon emissions? After a 2007 study forecast how climate change would impact Kenya, a National Climate Change Response Strategy was launched at the 2009 U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen. The government then developed a Climate Change Action Plan to implement the strategy, which was completed in March 2013. The action plan spells out how to tackle climate change at local, county and national levels. The next step is to enshrine that in law. "We realised we had collected enough information to start preparing climate change legislation, because it cuts across all sectors – hence the need […]

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Sisi on brink of presidency as Egyptians vote

Egyptians voted on Monday in a presidential election expected to sweep former army chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi into office, with supporters brushing aside concerns about human rights and hailing him as the strong leader the country needs. Three years after the historic uprising against Hosni Mubarak, the vote is set to restore a pattern of rule by men from the military after Sisi toppled Egypt’s first freely elected leader, Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Voters lined up to cast ballots at heavily guarded polling stations from 9.00 a.m. (2.00 a.m. ET). Sisi faces only one challenger in the two-day vote: the leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi. "We see Sisi as a real man. Egypt likes a strong man," said Saber Habib, clenching his fist to illustrate his point as he waited to vote in the city of Suez, east of Cairo. "We want the country to […]

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Oil Companies Pull Some Staff From Libya on Security Concerns

Repsol SA and SA are among the western oil companies pulling out some expatriate employees from Libya amid escalating violence there, posing the latest challenge to the Libyan oil industry’s fragile recovery. "We have reduced our presence in Tripoli, which was already limited, to the minimum," a Total spokesman said Wednesday, adding the French company isn’t pulling out of Libya. Spain’s Repsol is also withdrawing some expatriate staff, according to people at the company. Repsol wouldn’t discuss the details of personnel movements for security reasons. Last week, renegade Libyan general Khalifa Hifter launched an armed campaign against Islamist-backed militia in Libya. Mr. Hifter says the offensive is aimed at imposing stability after three years of chaos since the ouster and death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. Strikes and armed occupation of oil terminals have already reduced the Libya’s oil output to less than a fifth of […]

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Prominent Libyans Vow Support for General

A Libyan general who has led a violent campaign against Islamist militias and lawmakers drew prominent new supporters to his cause on Wednesday, including the country’s air force commander and its ambassador to the United Nations. Libya’s largest non-Islamist political alliance also said in a statement that it was supporting the general, Khalifa Hifter, who began his campaign on Friday by leading an assault on Islamist militias in Benghazi. What began as a fairly isolated attack against Islamist bases in one corner of the country appears to be growing into a national political movement. General Hifter has won support from a disparate band of allies, including some Libyans angered by the outsize influence of militias, which have been accused of assassinations and other political violence. The fledgling government has been powerless to exert its authority over the militias or other influential figures, including regional leaders and […]

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Haftar Vows to Crush Libyan Islamists, Seeks GNC Shutdown

Libyan ex-general Khalifa Haftar vowed to pursue his campaign against Islamist militias, emboldened by growing support for the offensive, and said the country’s parliament should be suspended until new elections. In a statement broadcast on national television late yesterday, Haftar promised to “to eradicate terrorism and extremist groups,” which he blames for the growing chaos in the oil-rich North African country three years after the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi . The ex-general’s military initiative against Islamist forces, which he launched without approval from Libya’s chain of command, is broadening its support. Air Force chief Colonel Gomaa al-Abbani has pledged to back Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army, and it also won the loyalty of at least one other senior military official, some soldiers and militias in cities including Zintan in the west, and others who have controlled eastern ports and blocked oil exports since July. Haftar’s forces have mostly attacked […]

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Algeria authorizes shale gas exploitation

Algeria’s Cabinet has announced it will move forward with the exploitation of the country’s large shale gas reserves. The statement carried by the state news agency Wednesday night gave the green light to finding foreign partners to exploit the reserves. According to a 2013 report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Algeria is third globally after China and Argentina in technically recoverable shale gas reserves with 707 trillion cubic feet (20 trillion cubic meters) of reserves. It has yet to be determined if the reserves are commercially viable. The state said 11 wells will be drilled over the next seven to 13 years. Algeria’s once rich oil and natural gas reserves have been declining in recent years.

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Pipeline attack adds to Egyptian gas woes

Egyptian media said Tuesday militants in the Sinai Peninsula bombed a natural gas pipeline in a regional industrial zone, though no injuries were reported. Ahram Online reported unknown assailants blew up the pipeline that supplies regional industries in the city of Arish. The blast was described as powerful, though no other details were provided. Militants in the restive peninsula have targeted the region’s gas infrastructure repeatedly since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The latest attack follows a push by the Egyptian government to address a lingering gas shortage. The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum expects domestic gas production will increase 1.7 percent this year, though consumption is expected to increase by 12.5 percent. More than a dozen new natural gas wells are expected to be tied into the national grid this year in an effort to increased gas production. A country report from […]

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Top Libyan air force official backs rebel general

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — The top official in Libya’s air forces has announced he’ll back an offensive by a renegade general against Islamic extremists and militias blamed for wave of killings since the downfall of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Col. Gomaa al-Abbani’s announcement late Tuesday is among a series of loyalty pledges made by military units and commanders to Gen. Khalifa Hifter. Militias allied to Hifter launched an attack Sunday against parliament after an offensive his forces led on Friday in the eastern city of Benghazi. Hours after al-Abbani’s announcement, witnesses said rockets targeted military camps in the capital, Tripoli. On Tuesday, Libya’s election commission announced parliamentary elections will be held June 25, a top demand among most Libyans.

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Libya: Election set for June in bid to ease crisis

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya’s election commission set new parliamentary elections for next month, trying on Tuesday to find a peaceful resolution to a crisis triggered by a renegade general’s efforts to crush Islamist militias and his demand that the Islamist-led legislature disband for allegedly supporting extremism. The announcement of a nationwide June 25 vote came after the parliament met in what lawmakers had hoped would be a secret location. A missile was fired at the hotel where the session was taking place, causing panic but no injuries. The general, Khalifa Hifter, has launched an armed campaign he says is aimed at imposing stability after three years of chaos since the ouster and death of dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. He says he wants to break the power of Islamists, whom he accuses opening the door to Islamic radicals. Hifter denies seeking power but indicated Tuesday that he would […]

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2 Explosions Kill Scores at Central Nigeria Market

Aftermath of Car Bombings in Nigeria People combed through the debris at the site of back-to-back explosions that killed at least 46 people in a crowded business district in the central city of Jos. ABUJA, Nigeria — Two powerful explosions killed scores of people, many of them female vendors, in the central Nigerian city of Jos on Tuesday afternoon, officials and witnesses said. While no one claimed responsibility for the bombing, it occurred as international attention has focused on the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram following the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls last month and may have been a bloody act of defiance. The blasts shattered a bustling market area as working people were doing afternoon grocery shopping. With rescue operations still underway in a chaotic, smoky tangle of blasted stalls and body parts, the police commissioner confirmed that at least 46 were killed and 45 wounded in the […]

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Libyans Begin Taking Sides After General Wages Attacks

Towns, tribes and armed groups across Libya chose sides on Monday in response to a renegade general’s assault on the country’s Islamist militias and lawmakers. The general, Khalifa Heftar, has threatened to start something like a coup or even a civil war, though it is far from clear he has the power to do so. He has faulted the large Islamist blocs in the transitional Parliament for ineffectiveness and accused them of condoning the militias. In an apparent concession aimed at averting conflict, the interim government on Monday proposed selecting a new prime minister and suspending Parliament until the next election, which has not yet been scheduled. But it was unclear how Parliament might respond, and the proposal did not appear to have much chance of defusing the standoff. Mr. Heftar, 65, is a retired army officer who turned against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi decades ago and […]

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Libya’s Oil Rebels Side With General Attacking Islamists

A rogue general in who’s confronting Islamist militias and seeking to shut down the country’s parliament gained support in the east of the country among both soldiers and some separatist groups. Rebels who hold ports in eastern Libya, where they’ve been blocking oil exports since July, expressed support for Khalifa Haftar, the retired military leader who heads a self-proclaimed National Army. Haftar’s stated goal of crushing armed Islamist groups also won backing from a key army commander in the east. As Libya’s government accuses Haftar of attempting a coup, his forces put on a show of strength at both ends of the country, attacking Islamist groups in Benghazi and storming the parliament in Tripoli. The fighting is the latest evidence of the breakdown of authority in the oil-rich north African nation three years after the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi . Conflicts in Libya, where oil production has slid to […]

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Algeria oil company to withdraw workers from Libya

An official close to Algeria’s state oil giant Sonatrach says authorities have decided to evacuate the company’s employees from Libya due to the deteriorating security situation. The decision follows the evacuation of Algerian diplomats from Libya Friday in response to what the Foreign Ministry said was a "clear and present" threat. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement had yet to be made, said Tuesday it was feared that with Algerian diplomats gone, terrorists would target oil workers. Sonatrach is working oil fields in the Ghadames basin in southern Libya, near the Algerian border. A renegade general has taken up arms against the Islamists dominating Libya’s fractured government sparking fighting in major cities. Libya is also home to al-Qaida-linked groups battling the Algerian government.

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Food Crisis Worsens in South Sudan as Civil War Is Displacing Millions

At the beginning of the rainy season every year, Nyaaker Onwar, 34, would plant the sorghum and vegetables, while her husband and eldest son herded the cows and caught fish from the White Nile. They ate what they produced, and when the harvest was bountiful, they sold the rest in a nearby market town. In February, armed men looted their cows, burned their fishing boat and kidnapped some of their relatives. Ms. Onwar fled with her husband and seven children to this village through rain and deep mud. She has been here for weeks with thousands of people displaced by South Sudan’s civil war. When she arrived, she was hungry, with no money and few options. “We had to sell our clothes to buy food,” she said. Five months of war in South Sudan has led to the deaths of thousands and the displacement […]

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Nigeria: MEND Claims Responsibility for NNPC Jetty Explosion

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s explosion at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) jetty, Okrika, Rivers State, which left an unspecified number of people dead and scores injured. This came as the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) called for urgent probe of the incident. In a statement posted online Monday afternoon, MEND said the explosion was part of its Operation ‘Hurricane Exodus" aimed at sabotaging oil installations in the Niger Delta region. The statement signed by its spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, read, "The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) takes responsibility for the sabotage on Sunday, 18 May, 2014 , on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Refinery Jetty pipelines in Okrika, Rivers State of Nigeria" .

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Nigeria: Pipeline Fire Kills Scores in Port Harcourt

AN unconfirmed number of people have been killed in a pipeline fire that erupted at one of the local pipelines belonging to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Residents said vandals who were siphoning fuel from one of the corporations damaged pipeline caused the fire explosion. The Chairman of Okrika local government area, where the incident took place, Tamuno Williams, confirmed the incident. “The fire incident is as a result of oil thieves who were siphoning oil from NNPC pipelines. As you can see, there is no management staff of the NNPC or persons you can say are in-charge of the corporations operations here. "The gates of the NNPC remain closed to visitors, so, we have not seen anybody that we can officially lay our complaints.” He berated the NNPC management for allegedly covering up accidents in their facilities. “Those who survived […]

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Gunmen Storm Libya Parliament as Violence Grips Oil-Producer

A Libyan military police chief said he disbanded parliament after a militia group he backs stormed it yesterday, spreading violence in the energy-rich nation to its capital and sending world oil prices higher. In a televised speech late yesterday preceded by clashes, Mukhtar Fernana said parliament will be replaced by a 60-member group. Nuri Abu Sahmain, the head of the General National Congress, denied that it had been suspended and said yesterday he was running it from a “safe place,” the state-run Libyan News Agency reported. Fernana said he won’t allow Libya to become a safe-haven for extremists or a “home for terrorists.” The assault, he said, was not a coup and reflects the “freedom that Libyans wanted and fought for.” Brent for July settlement increased as much as 49 cents to $110.24 a barrel on the London-based ICE Europe Futures exchange and was at $110.14 at 3:55 p.m. […]

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Militant group vows to fight Libyan general

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — An al-Qaida-inspired group in Libya said Monday it will fight troops loyal to a renegade general behind an attack on the country’s parliament the day before and join forces with Islamic militias who were targeted by the general’s secular followers. The announcement by the influential Lions of Monotheism Group further adds to the quagmire in Libya, three years after the overthrow of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. On Sunday, forces loyal to Gen. Khalifa Hifter, a former rebel in the fight against Gadhafi, stormed the parliament in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, saying they were suspending the house in a struggle against Islamist lawmakers and officials whom they blame for allowing extremists to hold the country ransom. The attack saw militia members backed by truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns, mortars and rocket fire raid the parliament building in the heart of Tripoli, sending lawmakers fleeing for their lives as gunmen […]

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Ex-General Claims Responsibility for Libyan Parliament Attack

TRIPOLI, Libya — A retired Libyan general claimed responsibility for an attack on the Parliament building here on Sunday, two days after his irregular force launched an attack aimed at eradicating powerful Islamist militias from the eastern city of Benghazi. Militia members using antiaircraft weapons, rocket-propelled grenades and light arms engaged Sunday in some of the heaviest clashes in months here in the capital, killing two people and wounding 60, according to hospital officials cited by The Associated Press. The fighters’ affiliation was unclear, but militias from Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, claimed responsibility on social media, calling Parliament “the main backer of terrorism in Libya.” Mohamed el-Hejazi, a spokesman for Khalifa Heftar, the retired general, claimed in an interview that the fighters from Zintan had been acting on the general’s orders. He said: “They are not militias. They are units loyal to the Libyan National Army,” referring to a […]

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Sisi keeps policy vague and democracy off the agenda in Egypt

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi , the army chief acclaimed by Egyptians as saving them from the self-destructively partisan and secretive rule of former president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood government in last July’s coup, is coasting towards his coronation in presidential elections next week. Yet, for all the adulation heaped on him, his admirers have had little chance to find out who exactly their putative saviour is and what he stands for – until now. It is not that the former military intelligence chief has been out among his 85m people pressing the flesh. He has not been out campaigning at all. He receives delegations from around the country and grants interviews to selected media outlets, from the penumbra of a well-protected hotel owned by the army, after revealing there have already been two attempts on his life. He emits exhortations, vague pledges and the occasional threatening aside, rather […]

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Nigeria: Oil Majors Fleece Nigeria With Inflated Project Costs

There is no better demonstration of how Nigerians suffer unduly on account of the padding of project costs by the International Oil Companies, IOCs, operating in the country than in the sudden request by the Nigerian unit of French oil giant, Total for a review of its Ofon 2 project. Total Exploration & Production Nigeria, TEPN, Financial Vanguard reliably gathered, is seeking additional $3.78billion to an existing $2.85billion originally proposed for the project. If approved, this will bring total costs for the project to $6.63billion, representing a whopping 132.6 per cent increase, a development that is giving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, a majority partner in the Joint Venture, JV, grave concerns. While cost padding is not peculiar to Total, as it cuts across all the multinational operators, this particular review stands out as the price of crude per barrel is being estimated above the $77.5per barrel being […]

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Key Figure in Libya’s Revolution Leads Attack on Islamists

A former general who was a central figure in Libya ’s revolution led a full-scale ground and air assault on several Islamist militia bases in and around the city of Benghazi on Friday, declaring war against the groups that have been accused of conducting a campaign of lawlessness and assassinations. Two dozen people were reported killed in the fighting and dozens more wounded, according to news agencies. The former general, Khalifa Heftar , seemed to be acting on his own initiative, but gained support from members of the army in eastern Libya. A column of personnel and armored vehicles moved against three militia bases around the city early Friday. Jet fighters from the Benghazi air base flew low over the city and helicopters fired on at least one militia position. Libya’s caretaker prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, went on television to deny that the attack had been […]

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Libya closes Benghazi airport due to fighting – director

Libyan authorities closed the airport in the eastern city of Benghazi on Friday because of fighting between irregular forces of the self-declared Libyan National Army and Islamist militants, the airport’s director said. "We have closed the airport for the safety of passengers as there were clashes in the city. The airport will be reopened depending on the security situation," Ibrahim Farkash, director of Benghazi’s Benina airport, told Reuters. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli; Editing by Mark Trevelyan )

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Nigeria April oil revenue down 9% month-on-month on Forcados outage

Nigeria’s oil revenue fell about 9% month-on-month to Naira 474.88 billion ($2.9 billion) in April, due to disruption to oil production and exports at the Shell operated Forcados oil terminal and ExxonMobil’s export terminals, Nigeria’s finance ministry said Friday. "Oil revenue fell to about Naira 474.88 billion in April compared to about Naira 519.99 billion in March. The decline in revenue is due to production shut-in at the Qua Iboe and Yoho terminals as well as the shut down of Forcados," the ministry said in a statement. Consequently, Nigerian government revenue dropped to Naira 584.15 billion in April from Naira 614.35 billion in March. Oil accounts for more than 80% of Nigerian government revenue. But Nigeria’s crude production and exports have declined steadily over the last 12 months because of pipeline problems, production shut-ins and large-scale oil theft. Nigeria’s central bank estimated that the country’s oil production averaged 1.86 […]

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Libya's El Feel Oilfield Restarts, El Sharara Closed

Libya’s El Feel oilfield has restarted production, National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday, as it moves slowly to restore some output following protests that closed fields and ports. The government said on Monday it had reached an agreement with protesters to reopen the western El Sharara, El Feel and Wafa oilfields and the pipelines connecting them to the Zawiya port. Expectations and doubts about the return of the oilfields have driven global oil prices this week. The El Sharara oilfield, the largest at 340,000 barrels per day (bpd), was still closed on Wednesday, because protesters had not yet opened the pipeline valve to the port, field manager Hassan Sadiq said. "They (protesters) reopened the valves for the Wafa and El-Feel oil fields but not for Sharara," he said. "We are ready to resume work once the valves are reopened." NOC spokesman Mohammed El […]

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Libya’s El Feel Oilfield Restarts, El Sharara Closed

Libya’s El Feel oilfield has restarted production, National Oil Corp (NOC) said on Wednesday, as it moves slowly to restore some output following protests that closed fields and ports. The government said on Monday it had reached an agreement with protesters to reopen the western El Sharara, El Feel and Wafa oilfields and the pipelines connecting them to the Zawiya port. Expectations and doubts about the return of the oilfields have driven global oil prices this week. The El Sharara oilfield, the largest at 340,000 barrels per day (bpd), was still closed on Wednesday, because protesters had not yet opened the pipeline valve to the port, field manager Hassan Sadiq said. "They (protesters) reopened the valves for the Wafa and El-Feel oil fields but not for Sharara," he said. "We are ready to resume work once the valves are reopened." NOC spokesman Mohammed El […]

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Cairo: BP to invest big in Egypt

British energy company BP aims to invest about $1.5 billion in the Egyptian oil and gas sector, the Egyptian government said. State-run media in Egypt said Monday representatives from BP met Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and Oil Minister Sherif Ismal in Cairo to discuss work in the Egyptian energy sector. The government said the delegation welcomed Egyptian efforts to overcome "obstacles facing companies working on the Egyptian market." BP’s counterpart, BG Group, expressed concern about its future operations in Egypt, citing continued diversions of natural gas to the domestic market. No cargoes of liquefied natural gas left Egypt during the first quarter of 2014 and the company said it produced 66,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Egypt, down 35 percent from fourth quarter 2013. The Egyptian government said BP is investing $1.5 billion in the oil and gas sector during the second half […]

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Libyan oil operations closed since March, OMV says

Operations in Libya for Austrian energy company OMV were curtailed sharply by security issues, CEO Gerhard Roiss said Tuesday. OMV said its production for first quarter 2014 was 311,000 barrels oil equivalent higher year-on-year. Roiss said in a statement production from his company’s portfolio in Norway helped offset losses from North Africa. "Libyan operations … were again impacted by security issues and production has been shut in since mid-March," he said in a statement . "We took several steps to further strengthen our upstream portfolio." OMV said the situation in Libya remains "very difficult to predict." Optimism over a rebound in the Libyan oil sector increased last month when the Libyan National Oil Company announced it lifted an emergency declaration on oil operations at its Zueitina terminal in the east of the country. OMV, however, said production from its operations in Libya has been shut […]

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