Category: Nigeria

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Politics creating investment risk to Nigeria’s offshore oil potential, report from IHS finds. (UPI/Shutterstock/project1photography) The Independent National Electoral Commission said it plans to hold a nation-wide vote March 28, six weeks later than originally planned. Nigeria’s government postponed the vote in February, arguing the threat from militant group Boko Haram was too great to ensure safety at the polls. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer. A report from IHS finds the future of the nation’s oil sector is at risk from the uncertain political future. Roderick Brice, the author of the report on Nigeria for the analytical group, said elections are a disruptive force in the oil-rich country. Regardless of who wins, investors will face an uncertain future. "That uncertainty has already constrained deepwater exploration and development," he said in a statement Monday. IHS forecasts crude oil production in Nigeria will drop from the 2 million barrels per day […]

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Nigerian stocks fell the most in over a month as political tension rises less than two weeks before a presidential election and as oil slumped to a six-year low.  The Continue Reading

editorial Frequent petrol shortages are not uncommon in the world’s 5th largest oil producer, but the sudden return of queues at service stations nationwide about a fortnight ago, in spite of the glut in world markets, jolted many Nigerians. The ugly sights of vehicles that snaked for kilometres out of filling stations were a reminder of the enduring fragility of the fuel distribution system in the country, and the instability in the petroleum industry generally. As often the case, it was payday for black marketers, who sold at between 150 naira and 250 naira per litre, against the official price of 85 naira per litre. As the shortage bit harder, the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) announced that a billion litres of the commodity would be imported to bridge shortfalls in supply. As usual, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources announced that there was sufficient stock of petrol […]

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(Bloomberg) — Barclays Plc energy analyst Miswin Mahesh sees a “huge risk” of oil production in Nigeria being disrupted by political instability arising from elections scheduled for March 28. The vote is set to be the most closely contested since the end of military rule in 1999. President Goodluck Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party and former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressives Congress are the leading contenders — each won 42 percent support in a survey of 2,400 adults polled by Afrobarometer in December in 33 of the nation’s 36 states and the federal capital territory. “We are not sure how it will play out on the political front,” Mahesh, based in London, said in a March 6 interview in Cape Town. “Nigeria will do whatever it takes to maintain its production. The risks are still there. There is a genuine risk that we might see some disruptions.” Nigeria’s daily […]

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LONDON: Nigeria is suffering from a gasoline shortage as falling oil prices have affected the country’s ability to import and distribute refined fuels. Coming just weeks before elections scheduled for March 28, the shortage could have a big impact on the campaign trail. In Abuja, the lines of cars waiting for gas are growing longer. Acute fuel shortages are gripping towns and cities across the country. Workers reliant on their cars are losing money fast – like taxi driver Bartholomew Ode Akpa. “I work at the airport as a car hire and now I’m supposed to be at the airport and there is no fuel for me to go and look for something to do,” he said. Nigeria is one of the world’s top producers of crude oil, and exports around 2 million barrels per day. But it doesn’t have the refinery capacity to meet fuel demand, so it […]

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Zoology student Samuel Pelumi works on his laptop outside his home alongside the Lagos Lagoon. In a four-day sweep through Nigeria early last year, Aberdeen Asset Management’s Kevin Daly detected trouble. Yes, the country was a rising African power and yes, it had become the world’s fastest-growing major economy, but things weren’t quite right. An Islamic insurgency was heating up in the north and there were early signs that a nasty presidential campaign was brewing. Then financial disaster struck. Oil, the lifeblood of the country, collapsed in a breath-taking free fall. Daly had seen enough. By November, he had sold all of his Nigerian government bonds. Back in Lagos again last month for a fresh look, Daly found a country ravaged by crisis from all sides: the bloody clashes with Boko Haram insurgents had intensified; the violence had spurred authorities to postpone elections the president was in danger of […]

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A man fills in a car at a fuel station (file photo). Photo: Shell The Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said on Wednesday that the Federal Government had agreed to pay 30 billion dollars foreign exchange differentials owed to oil marketers. Ms. Okonjo-Iweala made this known on Wednesday in Abuja while briefing journalists after a meeting with the Central Bank, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, major oil markers and depot owners. "The Federal Government has addressed all contentious issues with the marketers, such as the issue of the foreign exchange rate differentials. "The Federal Government has agreed to pay the 30 billion dollars exchange rate differentials owed the marketers over the last couple of months. "It is already in the process of offsetting the N185 billion debts owed the marketers with the issuance of the Sovereign Debt Note (SDN)," she said. Ms. Okonjo-Iweala added that the Federal Government had […]

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Abuja — THE Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has assured Nigerians that the queues at filling stations across the country will disappear before the end of this week. Group Executive Director Commercial and Investment, Aisha Abdulrahman, who stated this Tuesay in Abuja when the Supervising Minister of Information, Chief Edem Duke led a team of reporters for on-the-spot assessment of the situation in the filling stations, said the glitch that disrupted fuel supply in the last few days had been addressed, adding that the NNPC now had adequate stock that could last between twenty and thirty days. Abdulrahman encouraged filling stations to complement NNPC retail outlets by selling petrol for 24 hours in order to clear the fuel queues across the country. She discouraged speculation, panic buying and hoarding because the NNPC had flooded the country with petroleum products. In his remarks, the Supervising Minister of Information, Chief Edem […]

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Petrol Station in Nigeria Photo: Daily Trust Abuja — As fuel scarcity bites harder nationwide, fresh facts emerged, yesterday, indicating that a combination of policies from Nigeria’s Central Bank and the high level of indebtedness of product marketers to some banks led to the low supply of Premium Motor Spirit PMS (petrol). Because of the high level of indebtedness of marketers to banks, most of the banks have refused to issue Letters of Credit to them. A competent source at the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, disclosed that "the National Consumption level is predicated at 40 million litres daily and this is shared at ratio 50:50 between NNPC and other petroleum products marketers. "Against the foregoing, available record shows that at the moment, NNPC is meeting its allocated ratio while other marketers have blatantly refused to contribute a drop of their own quota". The Federal Government, in a […]

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Abuja — THE ongoing fuel scarcity across Nigeria is a result of the looting of the $12 billion domestic gas fund under President Goodluck Jonathan’s watch and the administration’s failure to the pay fuel subsidy, the main opposition has alleged. The All Progressives Congress (APC), in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the People’s Democratic Party and the Jonathan administration decided to divert attention from those problems by accusing the opposition of being responsible for the scarcity, "a most laughable and irresponsible statement by a sitting government that is always so eager to blame everyone but itself for the nation’s woes." The party said Coordinating Minister of Economy and Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had, in February, promised to pay all subsidies owed to the marketers then in the sum of N264 billion, along with the accrued interest. It added that the failure to meet this […]

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ABUJA/LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) – Oil-rich Nigeria’s main cities are facing acute gasoline shortages as importers feel the pinch of a plummeting local currency, tighter credit lines and unpaid government subsidies, oil traders and local industry sources said. As queues of double-parked cars stretch outside filling stations in the capital Abuja, empty tanks elsewhere are forcing consumers onto the black market just weeks before presidential elections on March 28 in Africa’s biggest economy. "I have spent 12 hours here," taxi driver Bartholomew Odey Akpa told Reuters on Monday. "I work at the airport as a car hire … and there is no fuel for me to go." Nigeria exports around two million barrels per day of crude oil but is almost wholly reliant on imports for the 40 million litres per day of gasoline it consumes. The picture is an unwelcome one for President Goodluck Jonathan, who faces former […]

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Abuja — The fuel crisis in Abuja worsened weekend, as many of the petrol stations across the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, were shut down, leaving motorists stranded. This was in spite of claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, on Friday, that it is injecting about 688 million of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, into the market. Motorists had to resort to the black market‎, where roadside petrol sellers now sell the commodity for as high as N250 per litre. However, the NNPC, Sunday, promised that it is working to ensure that the situation is addressed quickly and assured Nigerians that the fuel supply situation will improve in the coming days. Responding to enquiries from Vanguard, spokesperson for the NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said, "On Friday, we had stated that in 48 hours we will wet the market with 688 million litres of petrol. Distribution of products is by […]

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Lagos (Platts)–2Mar2015/519 am EST/1019 GMT A fresh round of gasoline shortages has hit Nigeria as fuel importers drastically cut imports following the government’s delay in settle over Naira 264 billion ($1.41 billion) on debts owed on subsidies for previous imports. Moreover, Nigerian businesses, hard hit by the fuel shortage, Monday restated their demand that the government completely abolish subsidies on imported fuel, saying it would avoid recurring shortages and free up resources. Motorists formed long queues at gas stations in major cities including the federal capital Abuja and the commercial capital of Lagos, which marketers blamed on low fuel stocks. "Most marketers have run out of stocks over the last two weeks because of the drop in imports," Femi Lawore, spokesman for the main oil marketers group, told Platts. "We have warned the government before about the danger of continuing to delay the outstanding claims on subsidies totaling N264 […]

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Miffed by the uncounted $20 billion, the House of Representatives has Wednesday issued a one week ultimatum to the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to submit the report of the forensic audit. The mandate followed a resolution, passed last week by the House at plenary which directed its Committee on Public Accounts, otherwise called PAC, to investigate the matter. Chairman of the committee, Hon. Solomon Adeola Olamilekan (APC, Lagos) while briefing Journalists on the matter stated that the report "must include the Initial Draft Report, the Executive Summary and Management/Internal Control Letters." Olamilekan noted that the "condensed version" of the report released to the public through a press conference addressed by the Auditor-General of the Federation with the highlight that Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) should remit a minimum of $1.48 billion to the Federation Account had rather prompted the demand for complete […]

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ABUJA, Nigeria—Nigeria on Wednesday cut its forecast for oil prices and the value of its currency this year, an acknowledgment of the pain tumbling energy costs are inflicting on Africa’s top crude producer. The senate voted to cut its benchmark expectation for oil prices this year to $52 a barrel, from $65 in December. Senators also pegged the average value of the local currency, the naira, this year at 190 to the U.S. dollar, well below the previous target of 165 to the greenback. Brent crude traded at about $59 a barrel on Wednesday and one dollar was worth about 200 naira. The currency has plunged to record lows this year as oil prices have lingered at about half their value just six months ago. Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, draws about 70% of government revenue and most of its foreign exchange earnings from its oil output. The plummeting value […]

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(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s government revenue fell 15 percent in January as falling oil prices eroded the income of Africa’s biggest crude producer. Revenue fell to 416.1 billion naira ($2.1 billion) in January compared with 490 billion naira a month earlier, Accountant-General Jonah Otunla said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. The volume of oil exports declined 33 percent in November and December, resulting in $159.88 million of lost revenue, Otunla said. Nigeria has “suffered a substantial loss in revenue as a result of the massive drop in crude oil price at the international oil market,” he said. The continent’s largest economy has been hit by the halving in Brent crude prices since the middle of last year as the West African nation prepares for presidential elections next month. Nigeria relies on export of the commodity for more than 90 percent of foreign exchange income and 70 percent of government revenue. […]

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Abubakar Shekau, leader of Boko Haram. The insurgents distributed leaflets in the town advising residents not to vote in the presidential and legislative elections, which were delayed from Feb. 14. Source: AP Photo (Bloomberg) — The leader of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram vowed in a new video to disrupt Nigeria’s rescheduled general elections starting March 28. “This election will not hold even if we are dead,” Abubakar Shekau said in the video posted on Twitter, which couldn’t be independently verified. “Allah will not even allow it to happen.” Shekau claimed responsibility for a Feb. 14 attack on the northeastern state capital of Gombe, where detained militants were freed. The insurgents distributed leaflets in the town advising residents not to vote in the presidential and legislative elections, which were delayed from Feb. 14. Boko Haram has escalated its six-year-old campaign to impose Islamic law on Nigeria, Africa’s biggest […]

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Despite a recommendation by a government-appointed auditor that it should refund $1.48 billion (about N248.6 billion Naira) to the federation account, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, insisted Wednesday that it was not indicted by the investigations carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The Group Managing Director, GMD, of the NNPC, Joseph Dawha, said the investigations carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers over the alleged missing $20 billion oil money, did not indict the corporation in anyway. Mr. Dawha said the report "has clearly vindicated our long held position that the alleged unremitted crude oil revenue was a farce from day one". He said the $1.48billion the corporation was directed to refund was actually the balance of the book value of the divested assets transferred to NNPC upstream subsidiary, the NPDC, excluding taxes and royalties. "This does not constitute indictment; rather this value is still being reconciled with the Department of Petroleum Resources […]

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Abuja — The Federal Government on Wednesday cried out over the continuing attacks on pipelines supplying gas to power plants across the country, declaring that there are forces undermining its effort to boost power supply to Nigerians. Minister of Power, Cinedu Nebo said in Abuja that pipeline vandals are targeting gas facilities to ensure that power generation do not exceed 4,000mega watt. To check this, Nebo said Government was deploying remote sensing technologies to assist security agents to curb the menace. He, however, stressed that Government efforts would amount to nothing without the collaboration of citizens. Nebo therefore called on Nigerians to join the Government in its fight against the vandals by promptly reporting incidences of vandalism in the areas. To achieve this, Government signed a memorandum of understanding with Charlie Boy, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and other youth groups to sensitize citizens on the activities of […]

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(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s naira fell to a record after the West African nation’s decision to postpone elections increased risks the continent’s worst-performing currency will be devalued. The naira retreated as much as 1.5 percent to 199.10 per dollar before paring losses to trade at 199.01 by 11:12 a.m. in Lagos. The currency is depreciating for a seventh day to the weakest level since Bloomberg started compiling the data in January 1999, extending losses this year to 7.8 percent, the most among 24 currencies tracked by Bloomberg. “Traders are seeing higher uncertainties in the market with the postponement of the election,” Lanre Buluro, head of research at Primera Africa Securities Ltd., said by phone from Lagos. “There is speculation on the naira with many buying dollars in anticipation of imminent devaluation before the election or after.” Investors are delaying decisions to commit money to Nigeria as escalating violence by the […]

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DAKAR, Senegal — Nigeria ’s election agency on Saturday night put off a closely contested presidential election after weeks of pressure to postpone it from the ruling party, which analysts say was facing potential defeat for the first time in more than 15 years. The move is sure to anger the opposition, which has been arguing against a postponement, and inflame its supporters in a volatile electoral environment. The election, originally scheduled for next Saturday, will now be held March 28, the election agency head told a news conference in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, late Saturday night. The elections official, Attahiru Jega, after days of what were reportedly heated meetings with the government, cited “security” concerns for the delay. He said that Nigeria’s top military men — themselves close to the government — refused to ensure that security would be “guaranteed” if the vote went ahead as scheduled. The country’s […]

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ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) – In late 2013, Nigeria’s then central bank governor Lamido Sanusi wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan claiming that the state oil company had failed to remit tens of billions of oil revenues it owed the state. After the letter was leaked to Reuters and a local news site, Jonathan publicly dismissed the claim and replaced Sanusi, saying the banker had mismanaged the central bank’s budget. A Senate committee later found Sanusi’s account lacked substance. Sanusi has since become Emir of Kano, the country’s second highest Islamic authority, and has smoothed over relations with the president. He declined to discuss his earlier assertions. Before he was sacked, though, the central banker submitted to Nigeria’s parliament more than 300 pages of documentation in support of his claim. Reuters has reviewed that dossier, which offers one of the most comprehensive studies of waste, mismanagement and what Sanusi called “leakages” of cash in Nigeria’s oil industry. Detailed here, […]

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Lamido Sansusi (Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s state oil company operates an “unsustainable model” and should refund a minimum $1.48 billion to the government, a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP audit recommends. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. spends 46 percent of domestic oil proceeds on operations and subsidies, according to highlights of an 18-month review between January 2012 and July 2013 released by the office of Nigeria’s Auditor General. The NNPC can’t sustain monthly remittances to government or meet operational costs from crude revenue and incurs third-party liabilities to fund the gap, according to the statement. “PwC therefore recommended that the NNPC model of operation must be urgently reviewed and restructured,” according to Auditor General Ukura Samuel’s statement. “The current model which has been in operation since the creation of the corporation cannot be sustained.” The audit came after the former central bank governor of Africa’s largest oil producer, Lamido Sanusi, wrote to President […]

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(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s Finance Ministry isn’t wedded to an oil benchmark price of $65 per barrel estimated in this year’s budget and has plans on how it will respond if crude drops lower. The government has a “scenario-based approach with accompanying adjustment measures, given the uncertainty as to where the oil price would eventually settle,” Paul Nwabuikwu, spokesman for the ministry, said in an e-mail on Thursday. “The scenarios developed go as low as $45 per barrel.” Crude prices have plunged by more than half since June, cutting revenue in Africa’s biggest oil producer and forcing the government to tighten its budget. The currency has slumped 17 percent against the dollar in the past six months, the most of more than 30 African nations tracked by Bloomberg. The government will introduce additional measures to protect capital expenditure in the budget if oil prices remain below $65 a barrel, Nwabuikwu […]

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Lamido Sanusi Photo: Leadership Abuja — PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan yesterday received the report of the forensic investigation into the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with a pledge to ensuring that all aspects of the reports would be implemented to move the industry forward. The submission of the report is coming barely 24 hours after Sanusi’s predecessor in office, Prof. Charles Soludo, raised fresh allegation against the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that no less than N30 trillion had been mismanaged under her tenure. But receiving the report at the new Banquet Hall Presidential Villa, Abuja, Jonathan admitted that there had been so much of controversy over this NNPC and expressed the hope that with the submission of the reports, all the issues generated would be put to a final stop. Though details of the reports were not made public, the President has […]

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(Bloomberg) — Economic growth in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, is projected to slow to 5.5 percent this year after oil prices plunged, the statistics office said. Gross domestic product growth is set to decelerate from an estimated 6.2 percent last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report on its website. The economy is forecast to expand 5.8 percent in 2016 and 5.8 percent in 2017. “The decline in crude oil prices is a downside to the economy in both the short and medium term,” the agency said. “The crude oil price shocks, the resulting declining government expenditure and its multiplier effects are likely to impact businesses.” Oil prices have plunged more than 50 percent since June, curbing export revenue in Africa’s biggest economy, forcing the government to cut back on spending and prompting the central bank to devalue the naira as foreign-currency reserves slumped. The […]

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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Maiduguri, the major city in Nigeria’s northeast, came under sustained attack from Boko Haram terrorists on Sunday, and officials here called it the group’s most audacious assault on the city to date. By early afternoon, the attackers had been beaten back, but not before dozens of soldiers had been killed, officials said. They said the insurgents had taken a major military base to the north of the city, sending about 1,400 soldiers fleeing into the bush. The attack on this city of more than two million people, a commercial and administrative hub, began late Saturday when the militants from the Islamist insurgency rushed in from at least two directions. Loud explosions could be heard in the center of the city, as well as small-arms fire and artillery in its suburbs. The attack was a significant thrust forward in a creeping campaign that began last summer to […]

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Abuja — The Trans-Forcados pipelines which carries crude oil from production facilities to export terminals in Forcados has been attacked four times by vandals and oil thieves, since the beginning of this year alone. Executive Director, Gas and Power, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. David Ige who disclosed this in Abuja at the weekend noted that besides the loss of thousands of barrels every day, about 1000 million cubic feet per day of gas are lost too. Ige explained that the loss of gas from the pipelines means several power plants are also shut down. "We have had the vandalisation of Trans Forcados Pipeline almost once every week for the last couple of weeks and it is not just a recent outage. From the first of January this year and today, the pipe has been vandalized, we fixed it and it is vandalized again and again and we […]

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KADUNA, Nigeria — Boisterous crowds packed the streets for the retired general, while young men climbed lampposts, walls and billboards to glimpse his gaunt face. Others danced on careening motorcycles, brandishing homemade brooms, symbols of his campaign. With Nigeria ’s presidential election only weeks away, Boko Haram’s unchecked rampaging here in the country’s north is helping to propel the 72-year-old general, Muhammadu Buhari, to the forefront. After ruling Nigeria with an iron hand 30 years ago as the country’s military leader, Mr. Buhari is now a serious threat at the ballot box, analysts say, in large part because of Boko Haram’s blood-soaked successes. “The state is collapsing and everybody is frightened,” Jibrin Ibrahim, a political scientist with the Center for Democracy and Development in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, said of Boko Haram. “They are able to capture more and more territory, but also increase the level of atrocity,” he […]

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By Hamisu Muhammad With Agency Report Nigeria’s crude oil export to Europe and Asia, two of the country’s key markets, declined by 6.6 million barrels in September 2014, further reducing the country’s oil revenue at a time the plunge in global oil prices entered its third month. Report by Ship and Port online reported yesterday that the fall in oil prices, which began in June 2014 when prices peaked at $115 per barrel, had led to a decline in the country’s oil earnings, the major part of government revenue. According to the latest monthly report from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, export to Europe which is Nigeria’s biggest regional market, tumbled to 29.2 million barrels in September from 33.6 million in August last year. The Asian region, which is the major target market for many oil exporters, reduced its import of Nigeria’s crude oil by 4.4 million barrels in […]

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Lagos — The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has said that the nation’s oil and gas sector would suffer 20 percent job losses due to the sliding price of crude oil at the international market. General Secretary of the union, Comrade Bayo Olowoshile, who disclosed this in an interview with our correspondent also said expected investment in oil exploration and production would be in abeyance until there is sure profit margin stability. He also said the energy sector would suffer the chance of easy access to domestic gas requirements, adding that the development would slow down the hope in power generation and distribution despite the tariff review. He spoke on the way forward for the nation’s oil and gas sector and urged the federal government to stimulate local refining of petroleum white products and petrochemical products in 2015. He also advocated the need for […]

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Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) agreed to pay compensation to thousands of residents of the Bodo community in Nigeria’s crude-rich Niger River delta region for two “highly regrettable” oil spills in 2008. Shell will pay a total of 55 million pounds ($83.3 million) with “an individual payment to each claimant who accepts the settlement agreement in compensation for losses arising from the spills,” the Hague-based company said today in a statement. The settlement follows a three-year legal tussle between Shell and 15,600 Nigerians from Ogoniland, mostly fishermen, in a London court. “From the outset, we’ve accepted responsibility for the two deeply regrettable operational spills in Bodo,” Mutiu Sunmonu, managing director of Shell’s Nigerian unit, said in the statement. “We’ve always wanted to compensate the community fairly and we are pleased to have reached agreement.” The compensation is split 35 million pounds for individuals and 20 million pounds for the […]

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Royal Dutch oil giant, the Shell Petroleum Development Company, (SPDC) said it loses on the average some 30,000 barrels of crude oil every day. The company said oil thieves operating in the Niger Delta region are stealing its crude oil and has expressed worries over the increasing rate of oil theft in the area. Pipeline Asset Manager of the company, Mr. Jurgen Jansen, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said recently that some oil thieves tampered with one of the company’s major oil export pipelines, a 24 inch TNP around Okolo lounge, adding that the development resulted in a major loss of barrels of crude oil. According to Shell, a lot of illegal oil refining takes place in the Oloko lounge, a situation the company said had brought about severe pollution of the environment. Jansen added that a total of 243 illegal connections were made on its major pipelines in […]

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By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku And Alike Ejiofor With Agency Report Nigerian crude oil exports in February are set to fall to around 1.87 million barrels per day (bpd) from around 2.03 million bpd in January, shipping lists showed on Tuesday. This is just as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the swing oil producer, has maintained that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will not cut production even if the price of oil drops to $20 a barrel, adding that it will be unfair to expect the cartel to reduce output if non-members do not. According to Reuters, Nigeria’s export levels for February are expected to be lower due to less of the benchmark Qua Iboe grade, traders said, citing expected maintenance by ExxonMobil at its Eket terminal. However, exports levels were still higher than for much of 2014, as there was relatively strong production of other Nigerian grades such […]

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The tumbling oil prices that have slashed Nigeria’s revenue and roiled currency and stock markets in Africa’s biggest economy may have a silver lining: an excuse for the government to scrap fuel subsidies that cost as much as $7 billion a year. It’s an opportunity President Goodluck Jonathan , concerned that such a move would provoke protests before his bid for re-election in February, may not seize, analysts say. “Politics often trumps prudence and there’s an entrenched social expectation for fuel to be subsidized,” Gareth Brickman an analyst at Johannesburg-based ETM Analytic said in a Nov. 28 e-mailed response to questions. “The last time subsidies were reduced there were widespread protests, and given how contentious the political environment is in Nigeria with the elections and on-going ethnic divisions, it is likely this will be the case again.” Nigeria relies on refined fuel imports to meet more than 70 percent […]

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After a protracted meeting with government officials which lasted for 13 hours, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), and the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) suspended their nationwide strike on Friday morning. Their industrial action was in protest against several unresolved issues with the government, among which are unfair labour practices and non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill. The meeting by the labour leaders and the government’s delegation led by the Supervising Labour Minister, Ads by Google Copyright © 2014 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ( allAfrica.com ). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica publishes around 2,000 reports a day from more than 130 news organizations and over 200 other institutions and individuals , representing a […]

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Nigeria’s oil unions are set to start delayed talks with the government as a national strike entered its fourth day in Africa ’s biggest crude producer. The strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, is aimed at curbing local fuel supply and exports. Pengassan represents managers and Nupeng lobbies for manual workers. “If we are unable to get a strong commitment from the government, the strike will continue until we get something positive,” Emmanuel Ojugbana, a spokesman for Pengassan, said by phone yesterday from Warri, a southern oil hub. Union leaders said delayed talks with the authorities would be held today in Abuja, the capital. Workers are protesting the government’s failure to fix refineries, cut gasoline prices in line with the slump in crude, and also to press for the passage of a new oil […]

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THE Federal Government will today meet leaders of striking oil workers and other stakeholders in the petroleum sector in a desperate effort to end the industrial action before it worsens the fuel supply chain and other socio-economic situations. Already, the workers, on the umbrella of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG and its Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN’s counterpart, operating as NUPENGASSAN, have not only stopped loading of products, major installations in both upstream and downstream have also, been shut. Vanguard gathered that the Federal Government through the Federal Ministries of Labour and Productivity as well as Petroleum Resources, slated today’s meeting for 11 am in Abuja. However situations reports across the country yesterday indicated high level of compliance by workers on the first day of the strike. In Lagos, most depots were shut. At Ejigbo Depot, some tankers that […]

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Nigeria ’s two oil unions entered the second day of an indefinite strike that they say will curb exports from the West African nation responsible for pumping more than a quarter of the continent’s crude. “You will soon begin to see shutdowns of our oil flow,” Emmanuel Ojugbana, a spokesman for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, said by phone. Ohi Alegbe, an Abuja-based spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and the Oil Ministry, declined to comment on exports. While talks between union leaders and authorities have been agreed, “the time and date is not yet fixed,” the union official said. “As soon as we confirm the time for talks, we will engage them. But as I speak the strike is continuing.” Any reduction in pumping would coincide with a collapse in the price of Nigeria’s biggest source of revenue. Brent crude oil plunged […]

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Nigeria’s two oil unions began an indefinite strike that they say will curb exports from the West African nation responsible for pumping more than a quarter of the continent’s crude. “You will soon begin to see shutdowns of our oil flow,” Emmanuel Ojugbana, a spokesman of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, said by phone. Ohi Alegbe, an Abuja-based spokesman for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and the Oil Ministry, declined to comment on exports. Any reduction in pumping would coincide with a collapse in the price of Nigeria’s biggest source of revenue. Brent crude oil plunged 44 percent this year. It rose as much as 2.3 percent to $63.25 a barrel in London today. Nigeria needs about twice that to balance its budget, according to estimates in October from Deutsche Bank AG. “We do not expect the strike to have a material impact on […]

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Lagos — NIGERIA Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and its Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, will today begin an indefinite nationwide strike, to protest the inability of the government to carry out Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, of the refineries and reduce pump prices of petroleum products in line with the slump in global prices of crude oil. Other grievances include delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB; non-implementation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD, Act to reflect Nigerians in management positions and expatriate quota law; appalling state of access roads to refineries and oil depots’ facilities and insecurity in the country that has led to the death of members. Other complaints are appointments in government agencies in disregards to succession planning, compulsory deduction from workers’ salaries for the National Housing Fund, NHF; casualisation and […]

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analysis Nigerian piracy is unique for several reasons. It accounts for 71% percent of all incidents in West Africa, and the methods used by Nigerian pirates are highly profitable. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which monitors sea crime, reported eight piracy incidents off Somalia during the first half of 2013. 31 piracy incidents were recorded off the West African coast during the same period, 9 off the coast of Nigeria and 22 outside of Nigeria’s territorial waters. With fewer attacks off Somalia, attention has moved to the Gulf of Guinea, a hot spot for violent piracy and ship hijacking for many years. The region recorded more than 40 piracy attacks in the first three quarters of 2013, with 132 crew taken hostage and seven vessels hijacked – six tankers and an offshore supply vessel. Nigeria, the main source of piracy in the region, accounted for 29 piracy incidents, including […]

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Following the steady decline in oil prices, we deem it fit to revise this report as the arguments herein still remain germane to the need for Nigeria to urgently address its dependence on oil revenues. This report was originally released in December 2010, following the approval for an increase in Nigeria’s minimum wage and its consequences on public sector finances, especially for the federating states. While the arguments for and against Nigeria’s debt profile continue, we believe the assessment, viability and sustainability of the current model of funding Nigeria’s federating states remains largely ignored. In our opinion, this is fundamental to Nigeria’s ability to achieve and sustain economic growth and development in the long run. At present, states receive a substantial portion of their income – average of c. N3.8 billion as of June 2014 – from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), which is the body responsible for […]

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Farm laborers sit on top of sugar cane on a truck in the northeastern state… ENLARGE Farm laborers sit on top of sugar cane on a truck in the northeastern state of Zamfara. Nigeria, whose economy surpassed South Africa in April as the continent’s largest, has striven to generate revenue beyond oil. ? Akintunde Akinleye / Reuters Nigeria’s finance ministry proposed a lower benchmark for the budgeted oil price, suggesting spending cuts after the commodity’s relentless slide in recent weeks. Paul Nwabuikwu, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance, said on Thursday that Africa’s biggest crude producer is now budgeting for an oil price of $65 per barrel, compared with the previous estimate of $73. “In view of the present realities, we have readjusted,” he said. “We hope to cut down extensively on our recurrent expenditure in the 2015 budget.” Oil and natural gas make up almost all of […]

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