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Nigeria’s Oil Export Slides to 1.83 Million Barrels Per Day

NIGERIA’S oil export programme may have continued on the downward swing, as indications emerged that the nation would only export 1.83 million barrels per day in October. According to the loading schedules, Nigeria will export about 1.83bpd of crude oil in October, down from 1.94 million bpd exported in September. Traders said some Angolan crude grades have been cleared for October loading, while Nigerian cargoes appeared to be finding buyers more slowly. Nigeria’s Qua Iboe offers to be at dated Brent plus $2.00, unchanged. A trader said cargoes were likely to be sold at dated Brent plus $1 to plus $1.50. Sources however said that, about four Qua cargoes loading in October have traded, leaving as many as eight still looking for buyers. However, Brazil emerged the largest buyer of Nigeria’s crude oil, overtaking India that occupied the position in the first quarter of this year. The development followed […]

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Shell Agrees to Sell Some Nigeria Oil Blocks

LONDON–Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Wednesday it had agreed to sell some of the oil blocks in Nigeria previously earmarked for disposal as the Anglo-Dutch oil group moves forward with its divestment program. Shell said last year it wanted to divest four oil licenses and a pipeline in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, where sabotage and oil theft has dogged oil companies working in the region. "We have signed sales and purchase agreements for some of the oil mining leases but not all that we are seeking to divest," a Shell spokesman said, without providing any details. The sale process "hasn’t yet concluded," the spokesman said. Shell remained committed to Nigeria where it plans to retains offshore production, he said. The divestment, if completed, would be part of $15 billion worth of assets Shell wants to sell by the end of 2015 as it seeks to focus on its more profitable […]

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European refiner squeeze seen in W. African crude changes

HOUSTON, Aug. 27 08/27/2014 European refining is pivotal in “a second wave of structural changes” pummeling West African (WAF) crude oil prices in response to growing production of light oil in North America, notes a report from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, London. “In a way, WAF has become the swing barrel heading into North America,” write Bassam Fattouh, the institute’s director, and Amrita Sen, chief oil analyst at Energy Aspects. Attractiveness in North America of light WAF crudes depends strongly on price differentials between West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude, they point out. In the first wave of structural change for WAF, rising production of light crude from tight-oil plays backed out imports of WAF crude on the US Gulf Coast, which fell from a high above 1.3 million b/d in 2007 to zero at the end of last year, the analysts note. Meanwhile, growth of railroad […]

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Shell-led group close to selling Nigeria oilfields for $5bn

(FILES) This file photo taken on May 18, 2005 shows Shell’s major oil and gas terminal on Bonny Island in southern Nigeria’s Niger Delta. Nigeria has overtaken South Africa as the continent’s largest economy with a GDP of $453 billion in 2012, officials said on April 6, 2014. The figure is based on a long-overdue rebasing of Nigeria’s gross domestic product to reflect changes in the structure of production and consumption, and compares with South Africa’s 2012 result of $384 billion. AFP PHOTO / PIUS UTOMI EKPEI A Royal Dutch Shell -led consortium is close to selling several Nigerian oilfields for about $5bn to domestic buyers, as foreign companies retreat from sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest oil industry. The price tag for the four oilfields and a key pipeline co-owned by Shell, France’s Total and Eni of Italy has doubled since initial estimates towards the end of last year, highlighting the […]

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Angolan oil flow seen above 2 million b/d

HOUSTON, Aug. 20 08/20/2014 Angola will produce 2.1-2.2 million b/d of crude oil by 2016, predicts Moody’s Investors Service. In a credit analysis of the Angolan government, Moody’s cited deepwater projects due on stream soon in the Lower Congo basin and the government’s plans to offer deep and ultradeepwater blocks to international operators next year in the southern Kwanza basin and unexplored Namibe basin. The Kwanza basin, Moody’s points out, has presalt geology similar to that of Brazil’s Campos and Santos basins ( OGJ Online, Dec. 11, 2011 ). Important to the imminent production gain is Total SA’s Kaombo project in 1,400-1,900 m of water in the Lower Congo basin. Total and its partners decided to proceed with the $16-billion development in April ( OGJ Online, Apr. 14, 2014 ). That decision, Moody’s said, boosts Angola’s production prospects. “First, it signals investors’ positive assessment of Angola’s long-term offshore prospects, […]

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Nigeria: Shell Records Massive Oil Spill On Its Nembe Creek

A major oil spill has occurred at a Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, (SPDC), oil pipeline between the Santa-Barbara and Tego Rivers in Owuanga-Toru of Kula Kingdom in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State. The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained as at press time but the company is pushing for investigation and mitigation exercise. Shell has confirmed the spill, which members of the affected communities described as "massive." "On August 6, 2014, the SPDC JV observed a leak on a section of the Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL) at Owangia community, Akuku-Toru LGA in Rivers State. "The impacted section has been shut down, preparatory to investigation into the cause of the leak and repairs. Some tools suspected to have been used for crude theft activities were recovered in the area," Shell Nigeria spokesman, Mr. Precious Okolobor said. Community secretary of Owuanga-Toru Community, Alabo Fiola, […]

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Israeli Billionaire Finds 3B Barrel Oil Reserve In Congo

An oil company owned by Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler said on Thursday it had discovered around 3 billion barrels of oil in the Democratic Republic of Congo, an amount similar to the proven reserves of oil producers Britain and South Sudan. The crude was discovered around Lake Albert on Congo’s eastern border with Uganda, Oil of DRCongo said in a statement. An analysis of seismic survey data "indicates around 3 billion barrels of oil in place", it said, although it was not yet clear what portion was recoverable. "These are very positive results from our extensive seismic campaign," said Giuseppe Ciccarelli, Oil of DRCongo’s CEO. "We continue to believe the project has the potential to provide significant revenues and multiple other benefits to the people of (Congo)." The nearby Ugandan blocks are estimated […]

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Contract let to return Nigerian refinery to nameplate capacity

Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), through a service provider, has let a contract to General Electric Co. to provide gas turbines to be used to generate a reliable, uninterrupted supply of power to NNPC’s refining complex in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, that would enable the complex to return to its full production capacity. GE will deliver three, 25-Mw, trailer-mounted TM2500+ aeroderivative gas turbines to GEL Utility Ltd., a subsidiary of independent power producer Genesis Electricity Ltd., with whom NNPC signed a 20-year power purchase agreement in November 2013 for the Port Harcourt refinery, GE said in an Aug. 4 news release. In addition to delivery of the gas turbines, whichwill provide both the baseload and backup power to support refining operations at Port Harcourt, the recent agreement also includes the future modernization of Nigeria’s other two existing refineries, GE said. The installation of the mobile gas […]

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Shell gets new oil online in Nigeria

Royal Dutch Shell said Wednesday it started oil production from the first well at its deepwater Bonga North West development off the coast of Nigeria. "This is an excellent addition to our deep-water portfolio — a key growth theme for Shell’s world-wide upstream business," Andrew Brown , Shell’s director of international exploration and production, said in a statement . The entire Bonga prospect started oil and gas production in 2005 and was Nigeria’s first development in deep waters. Shell said the new start-up represents a significant step forward for the project. Oil from Bonga North West will be sent through a pipeline to a floating production, storage and offloading export facility near the Nigerian shore. At its peak, the facility is expected to process as much as 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Nigeria, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is the largest oil producer […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple