Friday 29 April 2016

‘INDIGENOUS FIRMS HAVE CAPACITY FOR ONSHORE OIL REFINING’

Drilling-rigIndigenous oil firms have the capacity to build and operate onshore oil refineries in the country, the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), has said.

Chairman of PETAN, Bank Anthony Okoroafor, stated this in a paper titled: “Exploring Nigerian Content in the Development of Modular Refineries made available to The Guardian on Wednesday.

Read more @ The Guardian

NIGERIA STILL UNSURE AS SAUDI, OTHERS PLAN FOR LIFE AFTER OIL

Nigeria is once again being left behind as Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, and other oil rich nations seek alternative sources of revenue. The sale of five percent of Saudi state-owned oil corporation- Aramco, and raising non-oil revenue are impending steps Saudi Arabia which has 28.8 million people.

Read more @ BusinessDay

GOVERNMENT RECEIVES $33B FROM NLNG

OmotowaThe Federal Government has reaped over $33 billion from the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) initial investment of $2.5 billion.
Managing Director of the company, Babs Omotowa, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja while briefing the House of Representatives Committee on Gas Resources during a public hearing on a bill to amend the NLNG Act.

Read more @ The Guardian

Thursday 28 April 2016

OIL HITS 2016 HIGH DUE TO FALLING OUTPUT, WEAKER DOLLAR

Oil hit its highest level wednesday driven by a falling dollar and evidence of declining United States supply, putting the price on course for its strongest monthly performance since last April, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has said.
 
Brent crude futures were up with $1.03 at $46.77 a barrel in early trading, having risen nearly 20 per cent in April, their largest one-month gain in a year.
 

NNPC RESTRUCTURING ONGOING, SAYS KACHIKWU

NNPC restructuring ongoing, says KachikwuThe restructuring at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has not ended but is ongoing, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the oil firm, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said.
 
According to Kachikwu, the restructuring is not only at the national oil firm, but will also affect other agencies and parastatals under his supervision.
 

Wednesday 27 April 2016

‘NIGERIA NEEDS CHEAPER, SAFER, AFFORDABLE CLEANER ENERGY’

Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) has been considered as one of the relatively clean and efficient cooking fuel options currently available in the country.

But many people have shied away from its use in Nigeria due to perception on safety. Besides, the current packaging needs to be improved upon to achieve affordability.

Read more @ The Guardian

TOTAL, MMF CREATE EMPLOYMENT WITH SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES

Total Nigeria Plc and the Murtala Muhammed Foundation have moved to empower Nigerians in isolated areas leveraging solar technologies.
 
With the initiative, the firm said it was poised to empower women, youth corps members and local small business owners by training them in solar lamps usage and marketing.
 

WORLD BANK RAISES 2016 OIL PRICE FORECAST TO $41 PER BARREL

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Dr. Mamoud Isa-Dutse (left); Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and Managing Director of the World Bank, Sri-Mulyani Indrawati, during the visit of the bank’s boss to the ministry in Abuja …yesterday PHOTO: NAN Fresh hope of a quicker recovery is on the horizon for cash-strapped Nigeria as the World Bank has raised its 2016 oil price forecast up from the previous level of $37 per barrel to a new height of $41.

The crude oil price at the international market according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) data yesterday was between $43 and $44 per barrel.

Read more @ The Guardian

Tuesday 26 April 2016

LAGOS TO HOST $3.5B WORLD’S LARGEST FPSO NEXT YEAR

Ahmadu-Kida MusaBarring any unforeseen circumstance, Lagos Free Trade Zone will play host to the $3.5 billion world largest Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel next year, as part of the integration process that would see the Nigerian components incorporated into the monster ship.

The FPSO is a major platform for oil production at the $16 billion Egina oil field operated by Total E&P Nigeria Limited (TEPNG).

Read more @ The Guradian

NNPC OFFERS TO PAY $10BN DISPUTED ARREARS TO IOCs

NNPC Offers to Pay $10bn Disputed Arrears to IOCsAs Nigeria seeks to ramp up oil production, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has approached its joint venture partners and proposed to pay disputed arrears of between $8 billion and $10 billion, saying that oil production shortfalls “could cripple” the industry if left unaddressed.
 
A letter from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to the Managing Directors of Chevron, Shell and the Nigerian subsidiaries of Exxon and Eni named three “unresolved challenges”: arrears from the joint ventures; the payment structure of the joint ventures; and a dispute related to production-sharing contracts.
 

Monday 25 April 2016

OIL DEPOTS DRY UP AS MARKETERS OWE FOREIGN SUPPLIERS $1.2BN

Half of Nigeria’s sixty-member Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association owe international gasoline suppliers a staggering $1.2 billion due to insufficient foreign-exchange sales by the Central Bank. The indebtedness was disclosed by the group’s executive secretary, Olufemi Adewole in an interview with Bloomberg, opening a new, frightening dimension to Nigeria’s petrol supply quagmire.

Read more @ BusinessDay

PH, WARRI REFINERIES NOW PRODUCING PETROL – KACHIKWU

PH, Warri refineries now producing petrol – KachikwuThe Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has announced that the Port Harcourt Refining Company and the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company are now producing a combined volume of seven million litres of petrol daily.
 
According to him, the PHRC now produces five million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, while the WRPC produces two million litres of the product daily.
 

Friday 22 April 2016

DICKSON WRITES BUHARI, ACCUSES OIL FIRMS OF TAX DEFAULT

The Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari, to intervene in the face-off between his government and the international oil firms operating in the state.
 
Dickson, in the letter, alleged that oil and gas companies operating in the state had defaulted in the payment of taxes and levies for a long period of time.
 

NNPC’S CONTRACTING BOTTLENECKS BLOW UP CASH CALL DEBT

The backlog of joint venture (JV) cash call debt which stands at about $6bn, blamed on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) unwieldy contracting process is taking a heavy toll on the country’s economy.

Read more @ The BusinessDay

CRUDE PRICES HIT $46 A BARREL RECORD-YEAR HIGH

crude oilCrude oil prices hit a year-record high of $46 a barrel yesterday, giving Nigeria a buffer of $8 over its $38 a barrel 2016 budget benchmark, a feat, which it has not attained since January.

Specifically, Brent crude rose by 77 cents from a session low this morning to hit $46 a barrel by 7.50am UK time, while the US, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures were up by 19 cents from $43.62 to $44.37 a barrel.

Read more @ The Guardian

Thursday 21 April 2016

OIL RISES TO 2016 HIGH ON SUPPLY DISRUPTIONS, US GASOLINE DEMAND

Brent oil price shot to a 2016 high of $45.45 a barrel in late trading yesterday in a week that has seen disruptions in Nigeria and Kuwait, according to wire services monitored by BusinessDay. A note by Goldman Sachs late yesterday said the market appeared to have shrugged off negative sentiments.

Read more @ BusinessDay

150,000 JOBS LOST IN NIGERIA’S OIL INDUSTRY – PENGASSAN

The Nigerian oil and gas industry recorded a loss of about 150,000 jobs in 26 months to February 2016, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has said.
 
The National President, PENGASSAN, Mr. Francis Johnson, noted that there had been massive and unprecedented loss of jobs in the oil and gas industry globally and in Nigeria.
 

NIGERIA’S OIL OUTPUT DROPS FURTHER AS AGIP DECLARES FORCE MAJEURE ON BRASS RIVER

The pangs of the several production halts may have continued to assail Nigeria’s economy, as the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) has shut crude oil production from its Brass River facility.
This is coming on the heels of Angola taking over from Nigeria as the highest oil producing nation in Africa

Read more @ The Guardian

NIGERIA LOSES N7.1TN OIL REVENUE TO ILLEGAL WITHDRAWALS, OTHERS


NIGERIA LOSES N7.1TN OIL REVENUE TO ILLEGAL WITHDRAWALS, OTHERS Poor record keeping, illicit payments and withdrawals, absence of coordination by government agencies, outdated laws, among others, have resulted in oil revenue loss of N7.1tn by Nigeria.

A report put together by the Nigerian Natural Resource Charter and the Natural Resource Governance Institute, which was released in Abuja on Wednesday, stated that this was a summary of findings from previous oil sector reports and documents by various committees of government.

Read more @ Punch Online

Wednesday 20 April 2016

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM GREETS NNPC’S PROPOSED PARTNERSHIP FOR REFINERIES

Analysts say NNPC’s move to engage investors as joint venture technical partners for the rehabilitation and operations of its three refineries while a good move, requires proper scrutiny. In tender published in major newspapers, the national oil firm said the partners will fund, rehabilitate and jointly “operate the 210,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt refinery among others.

Read more @ Businessday

WHY CRUDE OIL PRICES ARE RISING, BY OPEC

Akpo FPSO offshore NigeriaThe Organisation of Petroleum Corporation (OPEC) has attributed the increase in crude oil prices to supply disruptions in Nigeria and Iraq, and signs that US shale oil output is shrinking.

OPEC said tht US refiners were providing support, with utilization above 89 per cent, as plants returned from maintenance ready to meet buoyant gasoline demand.

Read more @ The Guardian

Tuesday 19 April 2016

NNPC FIGHTS EXXONMOBIL, SHELL OVER OIL CARGOES

Kachikwu: OPEC to Restrategise on Output Freeze as Oil Slumps 7%The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is in a standoff with energy giants, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, over ownership of physical crude cargoes as the country seeks to shore up the budget.
 
The dispute has delayed some of the country’s monthly oil export programmes and added to confusion over how much crude Nigeria has at its disposal to exchange for petrol, sell to fund the 2016 budget or use as debt collateral.
 

GAS SUPPLY: NNPC, TOTAL INVEST $5.7BN ON OML 58 UPGRADE PROJECTS

Gas flaring PHOTO: daniumenergy.comNigeria’s gas-to-power aspirations may be inching closer to realisation as the Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (TEPNG) declared that its $5.7 billion Oil Mining Licence (OML58) upgrade projects would churn out massive gas supply by July 2016.

Specifically, the multinational oil company is planning to supply about 300 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas into the domestic market when it completed its numerous gas projects this year.

Read more @ The Guardian

TOTAL’S FPSO FOR $16BN EGINA FIELD TO ARRIVE NIGERIA APRIL 2017

The 200,000 barrels per day capacity Floating Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) vessel for Total’s $16 billion Egina deepwater field will arrive Nigeria in March or April 2017, the company has said.

The FPSO is being built by Samsung Heavy Industries of Korea at a cost of $3.3 billion, while the entire Egina field development project, including the FPSO will cost $16 billion.
 

KACHIKWU: OPEC TO RESTRATEGISE ON OUTPUT FREEZE AS OIL SLUMPS 7%

Kachikwu: OPEC to Restrategise on Output Freeze as Oil Slumps 7%As crude oil prices fell as much as seven per cent in early trading monday, before rallying slightly, after attempts by some of the world’s biggest producers to freeze output ended without a deal on Sunday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that member countries of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will go back to the drawing board to work out a best approach to shore up oil prices.
 

Monday 18 April 2016

OIL SECTOR REGULATION CRIMPS OIL MARKETER’S REVENUES

Government‘s stranglehold on the oil and gas sector is taking a continuing toll on the economy, with companies in the downstream sector seeing a hit to their revenues. The major players which include Total Nigeria Plc, Mobil Nigeria Plc, MRS Nigeria Plc and Forte Oil Nigeria Plc had their cumulative revenue falling by 19.16 percent.

Read more @ BusinessDay

OPEC, NON-OPEC DEAL FACES FRESH HURDLE OVER SAUDI, IRAN TENSIONS

OPEC, Non-OPEC Deal Faces Fresh Hurdle over Saudi, Iran TensionsThe global deal between the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers on freezing crude oil output faces fresh hurdles with Saudi Arabia’s demand yesterday that Iran must join the agreement to end the glut in the oil market and stabilise prices.

The meeting between OPEC and non-OPEC producers ran into last-minute hitch in Doha, Quatar, yesterday due to what looked like a new spike in tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

Wednesday 13 April 2016

NIGERIA NEEDS $900 BILLION TO FIX ENERGY SECTOR IN 30 YEARS’

powerFor Nigeria to properly fix the challenges bedevilling its energy sector, the nation requires about $ 900 billion to further develop the sector over the next 30 years.

The statistics revealed by the organisers of the on-going Nigeria Energy Forum at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos, said the nation also needed no fewer than $ 10 billion in the next few years to reinstate its power infrastructure.

Read more @ The Guardian

NON PASSAGE OF PIB SLOW RIG ACTIVITIES, NEW INVESTMENTS – BAKER HUGHES, FDC RESEARCH

Without the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and instituting new fiscal incentives that will attract new investments, Nigeria’s rig count will remain flat in the second quarter, indicating declining investments, according to a new research by Baker Hughes and Financial Derivatives.

Read more @ BusinessDay

NIGERIA LNG PAYS N10.9TR TO GOVERNMENT, JV, SHAREHOLDERS

Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has since inception, paid $55 billion (about N10.9 trillion) to Joint Venture (JV), shareholders and the Federal Government.

Nigeria LNG pays N10.9tr to Government, JV, shareholdersBesides, the company’s assets currently stand at about $15 billion (N2.9 trillion).The company, which made this disclosure in its 2016 facts and figures released yesterday in Lagos, put the payment to JV feedgas suppliers from inception till date at $23 billion, of which 55 to 60 per cent of this amount is payable to the Federal Government via its shareholding in the NNPC.

Read more @ The Guardian

Monday 11 April 2016

NNPC WITHHELD $4.2B PROCEEDS IN SECOND HALF OF 2015, SAYS REPORT

NNPC HeadquartersA new analysis from the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) has shown that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) remitted only $2.1 billion out of the $6.3 billion it made from the sale of oil and gas during the second half of 2015.

Though, the corporation said that it had commenced meeting with some officials of the NRGI toward reviewing the report, the analysis indicates that NNPC withheld $4.2 billion during the period.

Read more @ The Guardian

FG EYES N1TN JV FUNDS TO FINANCE BUDGET DEFICIT

The Federal Government may use money set aside for funding joint venture projects with foreign and local oil firms to make up any shortfall in the 2016 budget if its revenue projections are not met, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has said.
 
The nation has been trying to boost tax revenues and the non-oil income to fund a record N6.06tn 2016 budget aimed at reviving Africa’s biggest economy hit by the slump in oil prices
 

Thursday 7 April 2016

NNPC, CHEVRON SPEND N17BN ON NIGER DELTA PROJECTS

The joint venture of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Chevron Nigeria Limited has spent a sum of N17bn on various developmental projects in the Niger Delta in the last 10 years.
 
The General Manager, Policy Government and Public Affairs of Chevron Nigeria Limited, Mr. Deji Haastrup, disclosed this in Akure, Ondo State.
 

GLOBAL AGREEMENT ON OIL OUTPUT FREEZE IMMINENT, SAYS KUWAIT

The Kuwait Governor of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nawal Al-Fuzaia, has said that there are strong indications that a meeting of oil-producing countries on April 17 will reach an agreement to freeze output.

This is coming as Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) has confirmed that two employees of its contractors died as a result of Tuesday’s fire incident at the company’s container facility in Escravos, Delta State.
 

NIGERIA LOSES 3,100MW TO GAS CONSTRAINTS

The nation’s power generation is significantly being limited by gas constraints, a development that has driven down electricity supply to households and businesses across the country.
 
The nation’s unutilised generation capacity caused by gas supply challenge stood at 3,100.5 megawatts as of Tuesday, April 5, 2016, industry data obtained by our correspondent showed.
 

Tuesday 5 April 2016

NIGERIA’S CRUDE OIL EXPORT TO INDIA SET TO DROP FURTHER

Nigeria’s crude oil export to India set to drop furtherNigeria’s over $13bn annual crude oil export to India may be under threat as the South Asian country plans to tap its $40 billion worth of oil and gas reserve by attracting $25 billion investments into the sector in a policy to reduce dependence on imported energy.

Read more @ Businessday

$3.8BN EGINAPROJECT: FIRM BEGINS COMMITTAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINSTPROMOTERS

Barely one year after Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) Nigeria Limited, and Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics (LADOL) settled out- of- court, the legal dispute over the $3.8 billion Egina Floating Production Storage Offshore (FPSO) project, a legal firm of Enitan and Associates has stated that it had commenced committal proceedings against some of the promoters of the Egina project, THISDAY has learnt.
 
Located 130 kilometres offshore in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 130 in deep offshore Nigeria, the Egina field development is a project to build FPSO for Total Upstream Nigeria Limited and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
 

FG FIXATION ON PETROL PRICE CAUSE OF ACUTE SHORTAGE

Operators of Nigeria’s downstream oil industry have blamed the Federal Government’s fixation on the price at which refined products are delivered to motorists for the lingering fuel shortage that has virtually grounded the economy and brought pain and misery to Nigerians.

Read more @ Businessday

Monday 4 April 2016

FUEL SCARCITY LIKELY TO END IN MAY –MARKETERS

Contrary to the pledge by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, that lingering fuel scarcity in the country would end on or before Thursday, April 7, marketers and depot owners said on Sunday that consumers might have to endure inadequate supply of the product till May.
 
The minister had initially given May as the most likely date for the fuel scarcity to abate but was forced to recant and say the situation should normalise latest by Thursday following criticisms from different segments of the country.
 

GOVERNMENT RULES OUT FUEL PRICE INCREASE, RETURN OF SUBSIDY

NNPC HeadquartersFuel subsidy has not been re-introduced by the Federal Government, according to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). And the government has not increased the prices of petrol.

It remains at the regulated prices of N86 at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) filling stations and N86.50 at order outlets.

Read more @ The Guardian

NNPC STILL WITHHOLDING FEDERATION ACCOUNT FUNDS SAYS REPORT

The revelation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) withheld $4.2 billion from sales of export crude, domestic crude and from the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) oil fields in the second half of 2015 by the Natural Resources Governance Institute (NRGI) report makes a mockery of President’s Muhammadu Buhari’s reform plan.

Read more @ Businessday 

NNPC: IOCs TO SUPPORT OIL MARKETERS’ DEMAND FOR FOREX

The Chief Operating Officer, Downstream Division of the Nigerian National Corporation, Mr. Ikem Obih, has disclosed that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has negotiated a workable solution to address the challenges of accessing foreign exchange for the importation of petrol by oil marketers.
 
This solution, he explained to reporters yesterday, would include international oil companies (IOCs) working in conjunction with the NNPC and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide forex to marketers for the importation of petrol.
 

Friday 1 April 2016

PETROL MAY SELL FOR N88 PER LITRE FROM TODAY

Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum while answering questions from the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream on the lingering fuel scarcity in the country at National Assembly Abuja on Tuesday 29/03/16.Photo Ladidi Lucy Elukpo. Amid the lingering fuel crisis in the country, there were indications yesterday from the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) that the product may be sold for N88 per litre at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) stations and N88.50 in other stations starting from today.

Until this new template, the NNPC’s official price for a litre of fuel was N86 while for others it was N86.50. The new price mechanism that is expected to take effect today is a requirement of price modulation system that is reviewed every quarter.

Read more @ The Guardian

NIGERIA NOMINATES FORMER NNPC BOSS, BARKINDO, AS NEXT OPEC SECRETARY

Nigeria has nominated Mohammed Barkindo, a former head of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as the next secretary general of producer group OPEC, a government official said on Thursday.
 
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to Bloomberg, has been looking for a replacement for Abdullah al-Badri, who was elected acting secretary general in December until the end of July after serving full terms.
 

NNPC TARGETS 650,000BPD REFINING CAPACITY, OPENS BIDS FOR CO-LOCATION OF PLANTS

In its bid to reduce fuel importation in the foreseeable future, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that nine companies have submitted bids for the co-location of new refineries within the complexes of its three existing refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.

This is just at the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has clarified that he never informed the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) last Tuesday that the fuel shortages will end between April 5 and 7, but assured THISDAY in a phone conversation that concrete measures had but put in place to end them soon.