Nigeria: Angry Community Shuts Down Oil Wells in Bayelsa
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Africa Oil State Hooked on U.S. Fuel: Chart of the Day
First the U.S. shale-oil boom took away Nigeria ’s biggest crude-export market. Now Africa ’s biggest economy is depending on American fuel to power its vehicles and planes. The CHART OF THE DAY shows how U.S. imports of Nigerian crude have almost converged with American sales of refined-petroleum cargoes like gasoline and kerosene shipped in the opposite direction. The U.S. gets less than 2 percent of its oil from Nigeria, compared with 7 percent in 2011, Energy Department data show. Nigeria imported more than half of its fuels from America at times in 2013, from less than a fifth three years ago, according to IHS Inc., a consulting firm. Surging oil output in the U.S., most of it banned from export under decades-old laws, hands refiners on the Gulf Coast inexpensive feedstock to process into cargoes such as gasoline for sale overseas. Nigeria’s growing dependence highlights its […]
Nigeria Loses N342 Million Daily As Eni Shuts Down Pipeline
Nigeria will be losing about N342.4 million ($2.14 million) daily, as Italian oil firm, Eni, yesterday, shut down its 20,000 barrels per day crude oil pipeline in Nigeria. The shut down, according to the company, is due to sabotage on the pipeline, which had led to the interruption of 4,000 barrels a day it gets from its 20 per cent share in Nigerian Agip Oil Company. Wall Street Journal reported that Eni’s disclosure confirmed information from a local activist, who stated that pipeline had been blown up late Sunday. The activist had previously said Eni’s local operation is in a dispute with former security contractors on the project, a claim Eni spokesman failed to confirm or deny. "Uncertainty coming from places like Libya and Iraq has been offset by the fact. Physical cargoes of oil in the Atlantic Basin, Nigeria for one, remain well supplied," Dominick Chirichella, analyst at […]
Eni Says Some Oil Production Shut in Nigeria After Sabotage
LONDON—Italian oil giant Eni SpA said on Wednesday it had shut off some crude production following sabotage on a Nigerian pipeline, in a reminder oil- supply disruption risks continue beyond hot spots such as Libya and Iraq. An Eni spokesman said a pipeline it operates in the central part of Nigeria’s Niger Delta had been shut, leading to the interruption of 4,000 barrels a day it gets from its 20% share in Nigerian Agip Oil Co. That implies an overall disruption of 20,000 barrels a day form the affected part of the whole venture. Eni’s disclosure confirmed information from a local activist, who said the pipeline had been blown up late Sunday. The activist has previously said Eni’s local operation is in a dispute with former security contractors on the project. The Eni spokesman didn’t confirm or deny the dispute. Though the disruption is small, it comes at a […]
Nigeria LNG says global market share slips as Bonny expansion stalls
Nigeria LNG Ltd Wednesday said it was gradually losing global LNG market share due to a delay in the expansion of the six train Bonny LNG plant in the Niger Delta. The Bonny plant produces 22 million mt/year of LNG, but plans to build a seventh train and increase output to 30 million mt/year, initially from 2010, have failed to materialize. "NLNG used to be the 10th-largest supplier but it is gradually losing the market to international competitors who have continued to expand their businesses. It is therefore imperative that NLNG increases its production in order not to lose more market share," the company’s general manager in charge of production, Chima Isilebo, said in a statement. NNPC holds a 49% interest in the Bonny plant alongside Shell (25.6%), Total (15%) and Eni (10.4%). The delay in building the seventh train has cost Nigeria $2.5 billion/year in potential revenue, as […]
Shell holds crisis talks with Niger Delta community over threat to operations
Shell has opened talks with leaders of the Nembe community in the Niger Delta to stave off potential unrest that could disrupt the company’s operations, a Shell spokesman said Thursday. The talks come after the Nembe community in Brass Local Government Area of southern Bayelsa State Wednesday issued a 30-day ultimatum to Shell to shut down its operations for failing to abide by the terms of a General Memorandum of Understanding reached between the two parties last year. "We held discussions with the board [of the Nembe city development foundation] at Yenagoa on July 22 and are continuing to jointly explore ways of resolving the issues at stake," Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo said. He said Shell is committed to the development of host communities in the Niger Delta. The Nembe community is host to Shell-operated Nembe Creek pipeline, which can carry 150,000 b/d of crude feeding directly into the […]
Angola’s Goal to Rival Nigerian Oil Output Aided by Eni
Eni SpA (ENI) crews in Angola, Africa ’s second-largest crude oil producer, upgraded a production vessel for new pumping this year as the southwest African country targets output rivaling its bigger competitor, Nigeria. Eni plans to start production within five months as operator of Block 15-06’s West Hub fields, estimated to hold reserves of 200 million barrels, and boost flows to 80,000 barrels a day, documents on the Rome-based company’s website show. The block’s East Hub development is due to pump about 49,000 barrels a day after starting in 2016, the documents say. The block, 350 kilometers (217 miles) northwest of Luanda, the capital, is one of eight offshore projects Petroleum Minister Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos is counting on to help raise production to 2 million barrels a day by next year from 1.66 million last month. That compares with Nigeria’s 2.15 million barrels daily. One of the […]
Nigeria: Aviation Fuel Scarcity Paralyse Scheduled Operations at Nation’s Airports
Visit This Day (Lagos) Scarcity of aviation fuel known as Jet A1, has paralysed flight operations in Nigeria, leading to delays and cancellation of flights. The non-availability of the product which started few days ago, is forcing passengers to wait as long as seven hours before being airlifted, while flights to some destinations were cancelled due to the inability of the airlines to source the product. This had given rise to increase in fares, which might double by weekend if the scarcity continues as the largest Nigerian operator, Arik Air, has started merging its flights in order to ensure that passengers are taken to their destinations. A source from one of the domestic airlines said although the scarcity had started biting hard, the airline’s management has good relationship with its vendors so the scarcity would not disrupted its flights. But that depends on the size of the fleet because […]
Nigeria: Aviation Fuel Scarcity Paralyse Scheduled Operations at Nation's Airports
Visit This Day (Lagos) Scarcity of aviation fuel known as Jet A1, has paralysed flight operations in Nigeria, leading to delays and cancellation of flights. The non-availability of the product which started few days ago, is forcing passengers to wait as long as seven hours before being airlifted, while flights to some destinations were cancelled due to the inability of the airlines to source the product. This had given rise to increase in fares, which might double by weekend if the scarcity continues as the largest Nigerian operator, Arik Air, has started merging its flights in order to ensure that passengers are taken to their destinations. A source from one of the domestic airlines said although the scarcity had started biting hard, the airline’s management has good relationship with its vendors so the scarcity would not disrupted its flights. But that depends on the size of the fleet because […]
Nigeria Comes Tops in Global Crude Theft
Nigeria has been listed as the country with the highest incidents of crude oil theft in the world, according to data released by Oilprice.com. According to the website, with as much as 400,000 barrels of crude oil stolen daily, Nigeria is ranked worse than Mexico, Iraq, Russia and Indonesia on the top five countries most plagued by oil theft. The report put Nigeria’s losses to crude theft at $1.7 billion, about N272 billion per month, representing 7.7 percent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP. The report said: “This represents 7.7 percent of Nigeria’s GDP vanishing, or more than the country spends on education and healthcare. “These numbers paint a harsh picture about the inability of the Nigerian government and the multinational oil companies in Niger Delta, to do anything about this rampant theft. “With oil theft hitting record levels in 2013, the G8 has been reminded of its 2000 […]