NIGERDOCK, HHI COMPLETE CHEVRON’S $30M OIL PLATFORM

The 2,700 ton Sonam Non-Associated Gas Wellhead Platform (Sonam NWP) built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in partnership with Nigerdock in Lagos for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) Joint Venture, has been completed and ready for load out and sail to Sonam field for installation.

Read more @ The Nation

LASSA FEVER: TOTAL SENSITISES RIVERS COMMUNITIES

An oil company, Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, has begun a sensitization campaign against the spread of Lassa fever to communities in Rivers State.

 

The oil firm started the Lassa fever awareness campaign in Nkoro community, Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers State on Saturday.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

FEARS OF MASSIVE JOB LOSS GRIP OIL INDUSTRY

The persistent weakness in the price of crude oil in the international market has raised the prospect of massive job losses in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, our correspondent has gathered.

 

Oil prices have fallen in the last few days to their lowest levels since 2003, trading around $27 per barrel last week, before rallying to about $32.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

GAS FLARING IN NIGERIA TO END BY 2020 – GOVT

The Federal Government has announced plans to end gas flaring in the country in the by 2018.

This was the contention of the Group General Manager, Nigerian Petroleum Investment and Management Services, NAPIMS, Dafe Sajebor and the Managing Director of National Petroleum Development Corporation, NPDC, Sadler Mai-Bornu, when they appeared before a Senate panel investigating the activities of oil and gas agencies in the country.

Read more @ SweetCrude Reports

NIGERIA ON COURSE WITH OIL AUDIT VALIDATION, SAYS NEITI

Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has confirmed that Nigeria may not default afterall, over the December deadline for publishing of its new 2013 Oil, Gas and Solid Minerals audit reports.

Specifically, the NEITI said the two reports are ready and awaiting the approval of the incoming National Stakeholders Working Group expected to be reconstituted soon, before they are formally released and published.

Read more @ Guardian Online

OIL PRICES MAY CRASH FURTHER BY 27% IN 2016, SAYS WORLD BANK

The oil producing countries with higher cost may need to brace up for further cost efficiency, as indications emerged that the crude oil prices may crash further by 27 per cent this year.

The latest report by the World Bank released and obtained by The Guardian yesterday, lowered its 2016 forecast for crude oil prices to $37 per barrel from $51 per barrel in its earlier (October) projections

Read more @ Guardian Online

NUPENG CAUTIONS CHEVRON, SHELL AGAINST PROPOSED SACK OF 18,500 WORKERS

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has expressed concern over reported plans by Chevron and Shell to sack about 18,500 workers worldwide.

The union in a statement described the sack threat as alarming, adding that the development is adduced to the dwindling oil prices in the international market.

Read more @ Guardian Online

OIL PRICES DROP BY 3.5 PER CENT, DEMAND SLIDES TO ONE-YEAR LOW

Oil prices fell by 3.5 per cent yesterday, as exceptionally mild temperatures in the early part of the winter in Japan, Europe and the United States – alongside weak economic sentiment in China, Brazil, Russia and other commodity-dependent economies, continue to affect demand.

Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down by $1.13, or 3.5 per cent, at $31.04 a barrel, losing more than two per cent from its closing price on Friday, when Brent surged by10 per cent.

Read more @ Guardian Online

WE’LL QUIZ KACHIKWU OVER CRUDE SWAP DEALS –REPS

The House of representatives said on Monday that the current Minister of Petroleum Resources would be invited to answer questions on the controversial Refined Product Exchange Agreement contracts executed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiary, the Pipelines Product Marketing Company, between 2011 and 2015.

 

Otherwise known as SWAP, the deals involved the exchange of crude oil for refined petroleum products in which the corporation gave out part of its 445,000 barrels daily share of crude to trading companies.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

LAWMAKERS TO BEGIN DEBATE ON PIB DESPITE EXECUTIVE DELAY

Members of the House of Representatives are set to move on with debates of their own version of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), despite lingering delays by the Executive to transmit its own version to the National Assembly for further legislative action.

Read more @ BusinessDay Online

NIGERIA ’LL STILL MAKE PROFIT ON OIL AT $20, SAYS KACHIKWU

Although the price of oil may at present be as low as $22 per barrel, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, says Nigeria’s case is not hopeless.
 
He says Nigeria would still make profit even if oil drops to $20 as cost of producing a barrel of crude oil has been put at an average of $13 per barrel onshore.
 
 Read more @ Guardian Online

GAS FLARING: SENATE GIVES IOCs ONE-WEEK ULTIMATUM TO SUBMIT REPORT

The Senate has ordered the international oil companies (IOCs) to submit its report on gas flaring and the level of environmental impact assessment of the Niger Delta geographical region within one week.

The Senate also gave the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) oneweek ultimatum to provide evidences of tax payments and dividends since the end of the company’s tax holiday granted to the establishment.

Read more @ New Telegraph

SENATE DEMANDS NNPC, DPR, OTHERS’ AUDITED ACCOUNTS

The Senate Committee on Gas Resources on Wednesday directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries to submit to it their detailed audited accounts for the past three years.

 

Apart from the NNPC, other agencies affected are the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, Nigerian Petroleum Investment and Management Service and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

N470M LOST DAILY TO GAS PIPELINE ATTACKS –FG

Last weekend’s attack on the Nigeria Gas Company’s pipeline connected to Chevron Nigeria Limited’s facility at Escravos in Delta State is costing the economy a daily loss of N470m and has also resulted in the shutdown of two of the country’s refineries.

 

According to the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the vandalism of the gas pipeline would impact negatively on the Olorunsogo National Integrated Power Project plant, which has capacity for 600 megawatts of electricity, and other power plants across the country.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

NNPC LOSES N1.7 BILLION TO CLOSURE OF REFINERIES

There are indications that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has lost about N1.7 billion to the closure of Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries in the last four days.

The national oil company confirmed that the shutdown of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries was owing to crude supply challenges arising from the recent attacks on vital crude oil pipelines in Delta State.

Read more @ Guardian Online

HOW CRASH IN OIL PRICES TEARS OPEC APART

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) may be wading through troubled waters resulting from the low crude oil prices and its curtailing strategies which have divided the interest of the 13-member cartel.

The seemingly uncontrollable fall in oil prices has largely affected the economic status of some members, including Nigeria since 2014, but the test of strength within OPEC appears to have overshadowed the need for urgent and strategic decision that could reduce the tension.

Read more @ Guardian Online

NIGERIA GAVE AWAY $3.3BN THROUGH TAX BREAKS TO SHELL, TOTAL, ENI

A new report has revealed that Nigeria gave away an estimated $3.3 billion to Shell, Total and Eni through generous tax breaks over a seven-year period to compensate for their investments in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company Limited.

This was contained in a new report prepared by British-based ActionAid, titled: “Leaking Revenue, How a Big Tax Break to European Gas Companies Has Cost Nigeria Billions,” which was made available to THISDAY yesterday by ActionAid’s country director, Ms. Ojobo Atuluku.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

WARRI, KADUNA REFINERIES SHUT

As a fallout of the attack on some oil and gas pipelines in Gbaramatu area of Delta State by suspected militants at the weekend, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has shut down the Kaduna and Warri refineries.
The development threatens government’s efforts at reducing fuel importation at a time when the local refining seems to be gaining momentum.

Read more @ Guardian Online

OIL COMPANIES DEFERRED 68 PROJECTS, $380BN INVESTMENT IN 2015, SAYS REPORT

The report, which was an analysis on the impact of continued low oil prices on upstream oil and gas projects, stated that in the last six months of 2015 an additional 22 major projects and seven billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of commercial reserves have been deferred, on top of the 46 developments and 20 billion boe of reserves identified previously.

According to the report, deep water projects have been hit hardest, accounting for over half of the total, as companies are forced to rework projects with high break-evens, large capital requirements and high costs.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

2016 BUDGET UNDER THREAT AS OIL PRICE NEARS PRODUCTION COST

The current dip in oil prices will significantly reduce the Federal Government’s take from the profits of oil and gas companies this year, raising further questions about the viability of the 2016 budget document.

Read more @ BusinessDayNg

NLNG TAKES DELIVERY OF LNG FINIMA 11

The Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) has taken delivery of one the six new ships it procured last year from South Korea.

The vessel christened NLNG Finima 11 was received by a team of NLNG officials led by NLNG Manager Commercial Shipping, Captain Ahmed Hambali Yusuf shortly after the conclusion of its maiden voyage, which terminated in Bonny Island, Rivers State.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

NIGERIA’S OIL FIELDS FACE SHUTDOWN AMID PRICE SLUMP

Industry players say operating some of the fields in the country is becoming uneconomic, with the selling price of oil being driven down close to the production cost level.

With crude oil trading around $30 per barrel in the international market from a peak of $114 in June 2014, production from Nigeria now faces a decline as some fields face an imminent shutdown if the low oil price persists.

Read more @ Punch Online

GAS FLARING: SENATE C’TTEE ENGAGES NNPC, IOCs TOMORROW

In its efforts to address the worsening trend of gas flaring in the country, the Senate Committee on Gas Resources will meet with top officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and its subsidiaries, International Oil Companies, IOCs as well as other oil majors tomorrow.

The meeting, which will be investigative in nature, will guide the committee with insights into its proposed bill seeking amendment of laws on gas flaring in the country.

Read more @ Vanguard Online

PRICE ROUT: IOCs CANCEL $380BN PROJECTS –REPORT

International Oil Companies (IOCs) have been forced to scrap and postpone projects worth $380 billion in Nigeria and other countries since 2014 to survive the oil price crash, which yesterday dipped to $29.73, the weakest since February 2004.

Authoritative voice in global oil and gas dynamics, Wood Mackenzie, declared yesterday that $170 billion of projects planned between 2016 and 2020 had also been cancelled.

Read more @ New Telegraph

OGONI: AGAIN, SHELL FAULTS AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S REPORT

Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited (SPDC) has faulted Amnesty International (AI)’s report on the clean-up of Ogoniland, stating that the report was dotted with dates and data errors. Specifically, AI and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), in a new report published on November 10, 2015, alleged that the multinational oil company was being economical with the truth when it claimed it had cleaned up heavily polluted areas of the Niger Delta. But SPDC, however, faulted the report, insisting that it was wrought with timing and statistical errors.

Read more @ New Telegraph

CRUDE PRICES STILL TRADE BELOW $30 PER BARREL

This is apparently not the best of time Nigeria and other crude oil producers as the commodity’s prices dropped below $30 a barrel for the first time in 10 years.

On a more worrisome note, a recent survey by Market Realist showed that the country is among those with highest cost of production among the 13 member of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with about $31.60 to produce a barrel of crude.

Read more @ Guardian Online

NNPC/CHEVRON JV WINS REUTERS AWARD FOR BEST OIL DEAL

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its Joint Venture (JV) partner, Chevron Nigeria Limited, have clinched the prestigious Thomson Reuters/PFI Magazine “Africa and Middle East Oil Deal of the Year Award 2015.”

NNPC in a statement wednesday stated that the award was in recognition of the novel $1.2 billion multi-year drilling financing package for 36 offshore/onshore oil wells under the NNPC/CNL Joint Venture initiated under the Accelerated Upstream Financing Programme executed at a signing-ceremony in London in September, 2015.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

NIGERIA RULES OUT CUTTING OIL PRODUCTION IN ISOLATION OF OPEC

Nigeria said wednesday it would not cut oil production outside the framework of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), even as nose diving crude prices caused by a global supply glut have ravaged its revenue.

 

US crude oil prices fell below $30 a barrel on Tuesday, prompting Nigeria, an OPEC member country, to call for an emergency meeting to address collapsing prices that have drained the coffers of Africa’s largest economy.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

OIL WORKERS, MARKETERS TANGLING OVER REFINERIES’ SALE

Good news came from the four refineries in Nigeria last Tuesday: the installation gave the country a cumulative fuel supply of 6.76 million litres at a time the Africa’s biggest crude exporter was battling with fuel scarcity.

Before this, the oil workers and independent marketers had bickered over how to sell the refineries. This is not the first time that the proposed sale of refineries would generate controversy between the workers and marketers even as the duo appear set to quash any impediment on the way of their positions.

Read more @ New Telegraph

ENERGY FIRMS OWE NIGERIAN BANKS N4TRN

Energy firms operating in Nigeria owe banks in the country about N3.982 trillion as at September 2015, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

The amount accounted for 30.6 per cent of the total N13.014 trillion owed banks by the private sector in the month under review.

Read more @ Vanguard Online

FG SPENDS N400BN ON REFINERIES

The Federal Government has spent over N400 billion ($2.036 billion) on the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the country’s refineries in the last 13 years. A data compiled by New Telegraph revealed that the money was budgeted for TAM between 2000 and 2013.

The investments were different from about $308 million spent for the same purpose by the military government of the former heads of state, General Abdusalami Abubakar (rtd) and the late General Sani Abacha.

Read more @ New Telegraph

DANGOTE REFINERY’LL FETCH $6BN FOREX YEARLY —CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria has expressed its readiness to support the refinery, fertiliser and petrochemical complex being built by Dangote Industries Limited in Lagos by providing foreign exchange for the importation of equipment.

The central bank said the project, when completed, would fetch the country about $6bn in foreign exchange yearly through the export of products from the plants.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

Q1 ALLOCATIONS: NNPC EARNED IT FROM MARKETERS’ PAST FAILURES, SAYS PPPRA

The Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, at the weekend explained why the agency decided to allocate 78 per cent of the total volume of 3.1 million metric tons of petrol to be imported into the country in the first quarter of 2016 (Q1, 2016) to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Ahmed said in Abuja that because of the inability of some oil marketers to meet previous import allocation quotas that were issued to them, due to the difficulty in accessing the needed foreign exchange, the PPPRA opted to allocate a larger volume of the importation to the NNPC.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

IMF WANTS PRESIDENCY TO PUBLISH NNPC FINANCES MONTHLY

To ensure transparency in the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged the Federal Government to publish its finances monthly.

The corporation’s finances have over the years been shrouded in secrecy, leading to suspicions and allegations of corruption and undercutting of government’s revenue.

Read more @ Guardian Online

OIL PRICES SLIDE BELOW $33 TO NEAR 12-YEAR LOW

Oil prices slid below $33 a barrel yesterday to levels not seen in more than a decade, as a tumble in Chinese equities rattled investors already concerned by near-record production and massive stockpiles of unwanted crude and refined products.

The price of oil has shed around 70 percent since the current downturn began in June 2014, causing pain to oil companies and governments that rely heavily on crude revenues.

Read more @ Guardian Online

TOTAL TO COLLABORATE WITH GOVT, NGOS TO CURB SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS

Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited has expressed its willingness to collaborate with the federal government and non-governmental-organisations (NGOs) to curb the spread of human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) through enlightenment of the public.
Read more @ Thisdaylive

FG INTENSIFIES PLANS TO COMMENCE FREIGHTING OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS BY RAIL

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has reaffirmed federal government’s plan to commence freighting of petroleum products by rail from the nation’s seaports and refineries for onward distribution to consumers in the hinterlands.

The move followed the hitches often encountered in distribution of petroleum products by road transport. The collapse of Nigeria’s un­derground pipeline networks, about 10 years, had resulted in trucking of products by road with its atten­dant problems including gridlock.

Read more @ Thisdaylive

IMF PRESSES FOR END TO SUBSIDY

Nigeria may have almost been brought to its knees by the dwindling oil prices and threats to other sources of revenue. For the country to overcome these challenges, the Federal Government may need to heed the advice of the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde.

Read more @ Guardian Online

NIGERIAN SHIPOWNERS PLAN TO EXPORT CRUDE OIL

The Nigerian Shipowners Association has said that it is making plans to get involved in the exportation of crude oil to international markets. Currently, no Nigerian shipowner is involved in the exportation of the nation’s crude which is being carried on a Free on Board basis by foreign flagged vessels.

 

The Secretary General of the association, Mr. Tunji Brown, in an interview with The PUNCH, said this had become necessary following the persistent fall in global oil prices.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

CRUDE OIL PRICE DROPS BELOW $35 FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2004

The prices of crude oil wednesday fell below $35 per barrel for the first time since 2004, tumbling more than five per cent as the row between Saudi Arabia and Iran made any cooperation between major exporters on cutting crude oil supply to the international market more unlikely.

The collapse in relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran after the Saudi execution of a Shi’ite cleric, Nimr al-Nimr, is believed to have ended speculation that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could agree to cut production to lift the price of oil.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

FG TO ESTABLISH INTER-MINISTERIAL COMMITTEE TO FAST TRACK NNPC’S REFORMS

President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday said his administration would soon establish an inter-ministerial committee to speed up the reorganisation and reformation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Read more @ Businessday Online

REFINERIES TO RAMP UP PRODUCTION TO OVER 10M LITRES MONTH END

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that the nation’s three refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri have attained a combined daily production of over 6.76 million litres of petrol per day. This is projected to increase to over 10 million litres per day by the end of January.

Read more @ Businessday Online

AFRICA’S OIL SUPPLY TO DECLINE BY 30,000BPD IN 2016

There are indications that Africa’s oil supply would decline by 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) to average 2.31million bpd in 2016, going by the projections of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The cartel, in its 2015 World Oil Outlook, said oil production in Congo and Africa is expected to grow, while others are forecast to decline, with the exception of South Africa, which is expected to remain steady.

Read more @ Guardian Online

LOCAL REFINERIES PROCESS SEVEN MILLION BARRELS OF CRUDE

Gas flaring hits 775.1 million scfpd Port Harcourt refinery.[/caption]THE four refineries in the country processed about seven million barrels of crude in 11 months, against 146.8 million barrels for that period based on their combined installed output capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.

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The latest report from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) showed that the combined output from the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna respectively hit five million barrels, while it processed about seven million barrels between January and November 2015.
 
Read more @ Guardian Online

OPEC PREDICTS MORE INVENTORIES IN OIL MARKET

Despite the current excess inventories in the international oil market, which led crude oil prices to drop to almost 11-year-low, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has predicted more inventories in this year and beyond.

The global market is currently battling with the 1.5 million barrels per day excess crude in the market and how to absorb an additional 1.5 million barrels per day that Iran will take to the market in the second quarter of 2016 shortly after the West has lifted sanctions against the country

Read more @ Thisdaylive

MARKETERS BLAME SUPPLY SHORTAGE FOR NON-COMPLIANCE WITH NEW PETROL PRICE

Three days after the Federal Government’s new pump price regime took effect, many petroleum marketers are yet to comply with the N86.50k benchmark due to shortage of petrol in the distribution chain.

The Guardian yesterday observed that the long queues at filling stations have eased off, but many of the retailers still sell above pump price.

Read more @ Guardian Online

NEW PETROL PRICE TEMPLATE NOT TRANSPARENT, SAYS NLC

The Nigeria Labour Congress on Sunday stated that the new petrol template, released by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency on Saturday, was not transparently done.   

The General Secretary of NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, told our correspondent on the telephone that the Federal Government arrived at the figures without adhering to the law guiding the exercise.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

PENGASSAN OPPOSES IPMAN ON SALE OF REFINERIES

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has opposed the sale of the nation’s refineries as suggested by the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.

The National Public Relations Officer, PENGASSAN, Emmanuel Ojugbana, said in a statement on Sunday that the suggestion was a fraudulent way of stripping the country of its national assets.

 

Read more @ Punch Online