NEW GAS POLICY CREATES $51BN INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN SECTOR

Nigeria’s latest gas policy encapsulated in Ibe Kachikwu’s 7Big Wins has created $51 billion worth of investment opportunities in gas processing, transmission and general infrastructure in midstream and downstream operations of the sector. Nigeria’s epileptic power supply has created opportunities to build more power plants, as the current 22 have not assuaged energy needs.

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EXXONMOBIL DISCOVERS ONE BILLION BARRELS OF OIL IN NIGERIA

Barely a week after it sold its downstream subsidiary in Nigeria, United States’ oil giant, ExxonMobil Corporation, has announced the discovery of up to one billion barrels of oil reserves in the Owowo field, offshore Nigeria.

The development is a boost to Nigeria’s efforts to increase her crude oil reserves from the current 36 billion barrels to 40 billion barrels target, which was set for 2010 but could not be achieved as a result of lack of investment in exploratory activities

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ANALYSTS PREDICT MIXED FORTUNES AS NIGERIAN DOWNSTREAM SECTOR DIVESTMENT INCREASES

Analysts are adducing different reasons for the recent divestments in the downstream sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. Shortly after details filtered in that Nipco Investments Limited is buying 60 percent stake in ExxonMobil’s downstream operations, industry operators confirm a media report that Total Nigeria has already received over a dozen interests for its downstream assets. Analysts say possible reasons for these divestments could be due to harsh operating environment in the downstream sector compounded by slump in crude oil prices.

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FUEL IMPORTS’LL REDUCE BY 60% IN 2018 – KACHIKWU

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that the reforms embarked upon by the government are targeted at cutting petroleum products’ importation by at least 60 per cent by 2018 and thereafter position the country for net export by 2019.

 

The minister, who said this in Lagos on Monday at the 10th Oil Trading and Logistics Africa Downstream Expo, stressed the need to fully liberalise and deregulate the midstream and downstream sub-sectors such that the open market prices of petroleum products would be cost-reflective and market-driven.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

OIL MARKETERS WANT PAYMENT OF $800M FOREX DIFFERENTIALS

As banks and other lenders have begun a recovery programme to recoup loans and debt from the downstream sector of the oil industry, the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has appealed to the Federal Government to ensure payment of two years accumulated claims on interest and foreign exchange differentials of over $800 to allow for free flow of Premium Motor Spirit in Nigeria (PMS) in the country.

Read more @ Today

KACHIKWU IN CHINA, SHOPS FOR $50BN INVESTMENT FOR OIL AND GAS SECTOR

Nigeria is looking toward China to raise about $50 billion to upgrade and build new oil and gas infrastructure, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who is currently in the Asian country to hold an investment roadshow, has said.

 

Kachikwu, in an interview he granted to Bloomberg yesterday, said he was in the country to attract investments that would help Nigeria bridge the infrastructure gap in her upstream; midstream and downstream petroleum sectors

 

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MARKETERS EYE REFINERY INVESTMENT, SEEK FULL DEREGULATION

Major oil marketers are considering investment in refineries, describing the recent hike in petrol price as the boldest attempt at the deregulation of the nation’s downstream sector.

 

The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the pump price of petrol would drop if the new policy is allowed to stay.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

FUEL SUBSIDY, HEAVY YOKE THAT COULDN’T CONTINUE —TINUBU

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has urged Nigerians not to lament the removal of fuel subsidy, which he described as a heavy yoke that the government could not allow to linger.

 

The former Governor of Lagos State said for almost three decades, the country had entertained distortions in the downstream oil sector by operating an opaque system susceptible to manipulations and structured in a way that allowed a few people to gain mightily from the system and feed fat on the misery and frustration of millions of Nigerians.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

FUEL PRICE HIKE PROTEST: REPS DECLARE SUPPORT FOR FG, BEG NLC

The House of Representatives on Wednesday made a formal declaration of support for the decision of the Federal Government to remove the subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, better known as petrol.

 

A litre of petrol now sells for N145 instead of N86.50k. However, the government claimed that what it did was price increase and not the removal of subsidy or deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

 

Read more @ pUNCH oNLINE

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

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.

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PRESIDENT APPROVES NNPC’S RESTRUCTURING INTO SEVEN UNITS, 20 COMPANIES

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into seven new divisions, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, announced on Tuesday at a press briefing in Abuja.

He explained that under the new structure, NNPC will have five core new divisions comprising the upstream, downstream, refining group, gas and power, as well as the ventures’ groups. The other two, he said, are finance and services groups.

 

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PPPRA ALLOTS 1.5MMT TO MRS, TOTAL, FORTE OIL, 16 OTHERS FOR PETROL IMPORTATION IN Q4

The federal government has granted approval for the importation of 1.5 million metric tonnes of petrol to 19 companies for the fourth quarter of 2015.

This is coming as the co-founder and chief executive officer of Geneva-based Mercuria Energy Group, Mr. Marco Dunand, met with President Muhammadu Buhari on November 11, during which he indicated interest in investing $1.5 billion in Nigeria’s downstream and upstream oil sector.
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DOWNSTREAM OPERATORS WANT CRUDE REFINING POLICY

Stakeholders in the downstream subsector of Nigeria’s petroleum industry have stressed the need for a national refining policy, which defines the framework for encouraging investment in petroleum refining in Nigeria.

 

The stakeholders at the Ninth Oil Trading Logistics Africa Downstream Week 2015 held in Lagos, said the move would facilitate increased national revenue and infrastructure development

 

Read more @ Punch Online

BUHARI'S SILENCE AFFECTING PETROLEUM DOWNSTREAM

Stakeholders in the downstream sub-sector of Nigeria’s petroleum industry say the silence of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government on policy direction is causing more harm than good for the segment and the nation’s economy at large.

They said the President’s muteness over critical issues like the subsidy arrears owed oil marketers, the future of the subsidy regime for Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), the Petroleum Industry Bill and other matters bordering on the general regulation of the downstream petroleum business, was unhealthy for the country.

Read more @ Punchonline

OIL AND GAS FUNDING HINGED ON STRONG CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Following the dwindling investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector as a result of the plummeting crude oil prices, an expert has said that strong corporate governance structures are critical to attracting funding for the development of the sector.

Head of Energy and Natural Resources at FBN Capital Limited, Rolake Akinkugbe, made this known during the eighth edition of the annual sub-Saharan African Oil and Gas Conference 2015 themed: 'Optimising Innovation and Investment Opportunities in the Upstream, Downstream and Service Sectors’ organised by Energy and Corporate Africa, which took place in Houston, Texas United States.

 

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HIGH COST MARGIN, FINANCE CHARGES DAMPEN TOTAL’S Q3 PERFORMANCE

Huge cost margin, combined with spiralling finance charges peculiar to firms operating in the downstream oil and gas industry, has dampened Total Nigeria Plc’s third quarter (Q3) performance, analysis of the company’s financial statement shows.

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STAKEHOLDERS DEMAND SEPARATE CRUDE OIL PRICE BENCHMARK FOR AFRICA

Stakeholders in Af­rica’s downstream petroleum sector have demanded a separate Af­rican pricing benchmark for crude oil and petroleum products.

The position was made in a communiqué issued at the end of the annual Oil Trading and Logistics (OTL) Africa Downstream Expo held in La­gos recently. The annual OTL Africa Downstream Expo is the continent’s leading busi­ness forum for unique insights on markets and emerging opportunities in addition to knowledge development, products showcase and rec­ognition of excellence in the downstream petroleum value-chain. 

Read more @ The Sun

CRISIS LOOMS AS NNPC, DPR WORKERS BEGIN STRIKE OVER PENSION ISSUES

Nigeria’s oil and gas industry may face unprecedented disruptions of both its downstream and upstream activities as workers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday embarked on industrial action to protest the demand by the National Pension Commission (PenCom) for the two organisations to stop in-house pension fund management system and adopt the open pension system.


Other demands include immediate steps to carry out turn around maintenance (TAM) on the four refineries as agreed between government and the two unions and  restore crude supply to the refineries.

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STEMMING THE TIDE OF INFLUX OF SUBSTANDARD LUBRICANTS IN NIGERIA

The lubricants sub-sector is the salient but core area of the downstream industry and lifeblood of all oil-dependent machinery. With so much at stake, Chika Amanze-Nwachuku posits that ensuring that the right lubricant is used at the right time is extremely critical

As blood is essential for good health and survival of living organisms, so lubricant oils are lifeblood of engines and all oil dependent machinery.

Also, as the transfusion of the wrong blood destroys the body system, so using the wrong lubricants can damage oil wetted machinery. It is estimated that more than 60 percent of all mechanical failures are due to inadequate or improper lubrication practices.

Read more on Thisday Live