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First flow imminent from new bigger-than-North-Sea W African oil prospect, explorer reports
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first flow from a large new geopolitically-favourable West African oil prospect was imminent, Baraka Petroleum MD Max de Vietri said on Friday.
De Vietri told the Africa Downunder conference in Perth that the oil-and-gas prospects his company was exploring in Mali and Mauritania were enormous.
They were larger than the North Sea, would be able to cover the entire Gulf of Mexico acreage and were a third the size of Texas.
The whopping exploration acreage, totalling 272 300 km2, was an extension of the high-yielding geology of Algeria and Libya and were strategically positioned for increasing European demand and US demand.
“Our acreage's footprint is so large it could be seen from space,” De Vietri said.
It held out the prospect of increasing gas exports to Europe and could help to meet US diversification ambitions, which stipulated that 25% of imports should come from Africa by 2015.
Envisaged were exports to Europe from Algiers and exports to North America from Mauritania's west coast, said De Vietri, who began his West African hydrocarbon search in Mauritania in 1994.
First flow from Baraka's offshore Block 20 concession was anticipated in four weeks. This was being operated by the Chinese National Petroleum Company, which was ready to fast-track the operation.
“The Chinese are very hungry for success,” De Vietri said.
Baraka was simultaneouly exploring eight blocks in Mali and Mauritania, which were a continuation of the offshore geology, where Block 20 was about to produce.
Five of the blocks were in Mali and two in Mauritania, as part of the Taoudeni area, which was a virtually unexplored extension of successful Algerian and Libyan hydrocarbon fields.
The tenement was bigger than seven-billion-barrel-equivalent geology.
Majors were now being attracted to partner Baraka in Mauritania and negotiations were under way for the prospects in Mali.
“We have created a good old Texas stampede,” De Vietri said.
A million square kilometres of new concessions were now being taken up.
The region had become the most-talked-about oil frontier in the world and the available onshore acreage could not be replicated anywhere in the world today.
“The old saying that you go to Africa if you want elephants has proved correct,” De Vietri said.
The ASX-listed Baraka was now the seventh-largest petroleum explorer in West Africa and the seventeenth-largest worldwide.
Thanks Oilphant. EOM.
Really big ships extend reach of Chevron drills
Published: September 10. 2006 3:00AM
Nation/World
Really big ships extend reach of Chevron drills
September 10, 2006
Email this Print this BY KEVIN G. HALL
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- If someone had suggested a decade ago that oil could be pumped from beneath 29,000 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, the notion would've been dismissed as a tale rivaling Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea."
So when Chevron Corp. and its partners announced Tuesday they'd pumped oil from 5.3 miles below the gulf's surface, it spoke volumes about the pace of technological advance.
Ships more than seven football fields long have drilling platforms and derricks in their centers. They rely on electric motors beneath their hulls to maintain their positions over the drill sites or wells. That's no easy task given that the ships work as far as 200 miles offshore in heavy seas.
Their electric motors work with computers that keep the vessels above the drill sites or wells by using satellite positioning technology and sensors on drilling templates.
The drilling itself is done with heavy, massive diamond bits. Giant pumps circulate the drilling mud as layers of drill pipe are forced down via top drives that rotate the pipes as more and more pipe is added.
Think of the pipes as giant drinking straws connected in a chain. Those that stretch almost 6 miles apply more than a million pounds of pressure.
Going even deeper
The next generation of ultra-deep-water drill ships -- Chevron ordered two this year for use in 2010 -- will be able to drill below 12,000 feet of water to a depth of about 7.6 miles from the ocean's surface to the bottom of the well.
Coming at the same time as the new ships and rigs are advances in computer modeling and seismic imaging that allow geologists to estimate what lies miles below the ocean floor.
In the 1950s, deep-water drilling was defined as about 100 feet of water. Today, ultra-deep water is defined as 5,000 feet or more.
When oil companies began to explore the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, they dragged a long cable measuring almost 3,300 feet to shoot sound waves along the ocean floor. The acoustic data received were analyzed by computer to create a two-dimensional seismic image.
Today, tow vessels can drag up to nine cables, each as long as 33,000 feet. Computers with better processing capabilities generate three-dimensional images for geologists and engineers to examine.
Getting past the salt
What had long stymied ultra-deep exploration were thick layers of salt below the ocean floor that distorted the sound waves geologists use to gauge density. That made it difficult to assess the rock formations below the salt layers to determine whether they held trapped hydrocarbons.
To date, oil companies have drilled at a record water-depth of 10,011 feet and a record total depth of 34,189 feet.
Making this possible are larger and larger drill ships able to withstand greater weight, or deck load.
Vessels being built in South Korea for Houston-based Transocean Inc., the world's largest offshore driller, will have a deck-load capacity of 22,000 short tons, allowing more weight to push drill bits deeper below the ocean floor.
"The process is simple, but the equipment you use is pretty complex," said Guy Cantwell, a spokesman for Transocean.
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Nigeria's NNPC doubles crude exports to China's Sinopec
PrintE-mailDisable live quotesRSSDigg itDel.icio.usLast Update: 5:49 AM ET Sep 8, 2006
BEIJING (MarketWatch) -- Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. signed an agreement with China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group, to double its crude oil exports to 100,000 barrels a day, said a Sinopec executive Friday.
The year-long agreement, signed in August between Nigeria's state-owned oil company and its counterpart in China will take effect from October, the executive said.
NNPC also renewed its crude oil exports agreement with China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC.YY), which is China's largest oil producer by output, for shipments of 30,000 b/d, said an executive from CNPC.
The combined crude cargo exports from Nigeria to China's two biggest oil companies will be 130,000 b/d - up from last year's 80,000 b/d. Neither of the executives disclosed the value of the contracts.
The deals come as China seeks a closer relationship with resource-rich African nations including Nigeria and Angola, to reduce its dependence on oil imports from the instability-prone Middle East.
Chinese oil titans have been purchasing crude cargoes and acquiring assets from Nigeria in past years. CNPC secured four oil blocks in Nigeria earlier this year in a deal that also saw it agree to invest $2 billion in the NNPC-owned Kaduna refinery there.
Sinopec has stakes in three oil blocks in Nigeria. Two blocks haven't started production, while one of the blocks has been producing 4,000 barrels of crude a day.
China National Offshore Oil Corp. or CNOOC, the country's third-largest oil producer, is also active in exploration and production in Nigeria.
In March, CNOOC bought a 35% working interest in a license to explore for oil offshore Nigeria for $60 million. It is also in talks to secure right of first refusal on at least two more oil blocks to be offered in an international tender by Nigeria and an agreement is expected to be signed in November.
Nigerian crude is a high-quality light, low sulfur grade referred to as sweet, and is highly prized by oil consuming nations because of its high gasoline content and relatively cheap processing costs.
-Edited by Jarrett Banks
-Contact: 201-938-5400
Brazil's Petrobras eyes partnerships with Chinese oil firms
09.10.2006, 10:49 AM
BEIJING (AFX) - Petrobras chief financial officer Almir Guilherme Barbassa said the Brazilian oil major has talked with China's Sinopec, CNOOC and PetroChina about possible partnerships in deepwater oil exploration.
Barbassa told XFN-Asia on the sidelines of a business conference in Beijing that Petrobras not only wants to sell oil to China but it also hopes for joint exploration.
'(The aim is) to cooperate with the Chinese oil companies especially in deep water, so we have already had talks with some of them,' he said.
Barbassa said that talks had taken place with CNOOC and PetroChina as well as its existing partner Sinopec.
Sinopec and Petrobras are working together in oil concessions in Angola and Nigeria. The Chinese oil producer and refiner is also working with Petrobras to build a pipeline in Brazil, Barbassa said.
'What's important is that we have a rare cooperation from this point. How many new (projects) will come depends on the opportunities that will arise,' he said.
Barbassa said that the deepwater projects could be undertaken in Brazil or elsewhere, including China if a deal can be reached with one of the Chinese companies.
Petrobras is Brazil's biggest oil producer, with about 300,000 of its 2.4 mln barrels per day of oil equivalent exported, according to Barbassa.
sr/wk
Sao Tome President praises cooperation with Angola
Sao Tome President Fradique de Menezes emphasized, during his swearing-in function on Sunday, the progress made by his country in area of defense and security, thanks to the support of Angola and other states.
As a result of this co-operation, Sao Tome and Principe has created a Riot Police that has reinforced the readiness of the National Police in maintenance security and internal order, he said.
Angolan Prime Minister, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, who represents President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to the swearing-in of Fradique,had returned home on Monday, according to a local report.
The Sunday's ceremony in Sao Tome was also witnessed by Gabon President Omar Bongo, Republic of Congo's President Dennis Sassoun Nguesso, and Chad's Premier Pascal Yoadimnadji.
Fradique, born in 1942,was re-elected this August for a second term.
Source: Xinhua
Sao Tome President praises cooperation with Angola
Sao Tome President Fradique de Menezes emphasized, during his swearing-in function on Sunday, the progress made by his country in area of defense and security, thanks to the support of Angola and other states.
As a result of this co-operation, Sao Tome and Principe has created a Riot Police that has reinforced the readiness of the National Police in maintenance security and internal order, he said.
Angolan Prime Minister, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, who represents President Jose Eduardo dos Santos to the swearing-in of Fradique,had returned home on Monday, according to a local report.
The Sunday's ceremony in Sao Tome was also witnessed by Gabon President Omar Bongo, Republic of Congo's President Dennis Sassoun Nguesso, and Chad's Premier Pascal Yoadimnadji.
Fradique, born in 1942,was re-elected this August for a second term.
Source: Xinhua
China blamed for killing Nigerian economy
September 1, 2006, 3 days, 13 hours and 56 minutes ago.
By ANDnetwork .com
Lagos (AND) Nigerian commerce minister has attacked Chinese companies for faking his country's textile products saying the malpractice has made it difficult for their genuine materials to get the desired attention in the world markets.
Aliyu Modibo said China is listed among the world's biggest in counterfeit products.
“China is big in counterfeiting products. It’s not only in Nigeria that complaints are coming from. But it takes two to tango,” he said.
Modibo made this known in Abuja when a seven-member Senate Committee on Commerce led by its chairman, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun.
According to Nigerian newspapers the disgruntled minister displayed the original Nigerian Wax materials and faked Chinese samples presented to him by the leadership of the Association of Textile Manufacturers who had earlier visited him.
Modibo informed the senators that textile manufacturers had complained that some unscrupulous Nigerians scanned their designs soon after they were released.
The Tides said Modibo said the perpetrators dispatched the designs to their Chinese counterparts who faked them and sold it at rock bottom prices thus destroying the Nigerian economy.
Modibo is said to have expressed disappointment that Nigerians connived with foreigners to undermine indigenous companies and the economy in general.
He said his administration would approach commerce “creatively” by reviewing trade policy through focusing the emerging markets like China and India thereby addressing the inherent gaps in the document.
Nigeria Bureau, AND
China blamed for killing Nigerian economy
September 1, 2006, 3 days, 13 hours and 56 minutes ago.
By ANDnetwork .com
Lagos (AND) Nigerian commerce minister has attacked Chinese companies for faking his country's textile products saying the malpractice has made it difficult for their genuine materials to get the desired attention in the world markets.
Aliyu Modibo said China is listed among the world's biggest in counterfeit products.
“China is big in counterfeiting products. It’s not only in Nigeria that complaints are coming from. But it takes two to tango,” he said.
Modibo made this known in Abuja when a seven-member Senate Committee on Commerce led by its chairman, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun.
According to Nigerian newspapers the disgruntled minister displayed the original Nigerian Wax materials and faked Chinese samples presented to him by the leadership of the Association of Textile Manufacturers who had earlier visited him.
Modibo informed the senators that textile manufacturers had complained that some unscrupulous Nigerians scanned their designs soon after they were released.
The Tides said Modibo said the perpetrators dispatched the designs to their Chinese counterparts who faked them and sold it at rock bottom prices thus destroying the Nigerian economy.
Modibo is said to have expressed disappointment that Nigerians connived with foreigners to undermine indigenous companies and the economy in general.
He said his administration would approach commerce “creatively” by reviewing trade policy through focusing the emerging markets like China and India thereby addressing the inherent gaps in the document.
Nigeria Bureau, AND
Total strike will halt all Nigerian oil exports, threaten unions
Lagos (Platts)--1Sep2006
Nigerian oil unions said Friday oil liftings from the West African
country will be affected during the three-day strike planned for September 13.
"The warning strike will affect downstream and upstream activities,
onshore and offshore. There will be no oil exports during the period as we
intend to make it total," Peter Esele, president of the white collar union
Pengassan told Platts.
The union, along with its junior counterpart Nupeng, resolved at an
emergency meeting on Wednesday to stage the warning strike, to protest against
the government's failure and "lack of political will" to deal with the
increasing violence and attacks on oil workers and installations in the Niger
Delta.
Esele said the unions would begin mobilization of oil workers for the
strike next week, adding that they would resist any moves by the government to
halt the strike.
Nigeria, OPEC?s sixth largest oil exporter, has been struggling to
curtail violence that erupted in the oil-rich Niger Delta since last January,
which has cut over 25% of its oil production.
For similar stories, take a trial to Platts Oilgram News at
http://www.platts.com/Request%20More%20Information/
Angolan Premier Already In Sao Tome For President`s Swearing-In
Sao Tome, 09/03 - The Angolan Prime Minister, Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, is since Saturday evening in Sao Tome and Principe to attend this Sunday the swearing-in ceremony of Fradique de Menezes, who was re-elected last August to a second and last five-year presidential term.
The Angolan Premier, who was welcomed at the airport by his Sao Tomean counterpart, Tomé Vera Cruz, will attend this ceremony in representation of President José Eduardo dos Santos.
The heads of State of Congo-Brazzaville, Dennis Sassou Nguesso, and Gabon, Omar Bongo, are already in this country too, as well as Chad`s Prime Minister, Pascal Yoadimnadji.
The presidents of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, and Equatorial-Guinea, Theodoro Obiang Nguema, are also expected in Sao Tome and Principe to attend the ceremony.
Portugal and the rest of the Portuguese speaking countries will be represented by their respective ambassadors to this African nation, as well as by special envoys.
The swearing-in ceremony, which is to take place in the National Assembly, will last roughly two and a half hours, and is scheduled to start in the morning by 09.00 O`clock.
The act will be opened by the Sao Tomean National Assembly Speaker, Francisco da Silva.
The ceremony will culminate in the evening with an official dinner that will take place at the Presidential Palace.
Son of a Sao Tomean mother and a Portuguese father, Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes was born on 21 March 1942, in this African country`s locality of Água Telha, Madalena.
He is widow since the late 1990´s and has no children. He came to power in 2001, a first term that was tainted with permanent political and institutional conflicts with the party in charge of the government, the MLSTP/PSD.
He dismissed, in seven different occasions, the prime ministers that were appointed by the party that won the legislative elections.
Local political analysts say that in this second term, Fradique de Menezes will not have a solid parliamentary support base to change, for instance, the constitution to his favour, since he now has relatively less powers than in the first term.
The constituition doe not allow him, anymore, to convene and preside the Cabinet Council meetings, and much less dismiss the Prime Minister, without a just cause
China negotiating with STP for oil & gas exploration
Taiwan Quick Take: Report sees souring relations
AGENCIES
Sunday, Sep 03, 2006,Page 3
The situation across the Taiwan Strait deteriorated last month as Taiwan and China stepped up their diplomatic war of attrition, according to the latest issue of CrisisWatch released on Friday by the private think tank International Crisis Group (ICG). While Beijing lured Chad into re-establishing diplomatic relations with China last month, China also continued pursuing negotiations with three of Taiwan's diplomatic allies -- Guatemala, Paraguay and Sao Tome and Principe -- for oil or gas exploration, the report noted. Meanwhile, Taiwan rallied support in Central America and the Solomon Islands for its 14th attempt to gain UN membership, with several states writing to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Aug. 10 requesting that the issue be raised at the UN General Assembly this month, the report said.
Balance - Thank you - end of message.
Balance, I definitely agree with you on this. I've always wondered if Addax will just drill some holes and sell out. The cost of deep water drilling is staggering and I'm not sure a small company like Addax can do it. Not to mention the technical challenges. Sinopec doesn't have this experience either..........
Just my opinion. Long and strong on ERHC.
ND9
Balance - "the placement of Jeff" - where do you get that from? I thought the article just said Addax hired a former Chevron employee........
I appreciate all your posts and I hope you're right but...... again, I think the article just said that Addax hired him - that's it........ everything else is just your opinion.... or was there an article published that said Chevron and Addax are working together?
I keep questioning this because I have friends who have deep water exploration and drilling experience and they have switched companies. It happens all the time. Especially small growing oil companies. They hire people from Exxon and Chevron because they have experience, and the small companies will pay more than the super-majors. That's all there is to it.
thanks,
ND9
OT - Electick, I've had Etrade for about 6 years. No problems, easy to navigate, quick transactions, and you can place orders in many different ways. They also continue to expand their services and now have a bank, they do CDs, credit cards, loans, etc, etc.
Balance, Addax has never drilled in water this deep. Maybe they just needed somebody who has this type of experience. Personnel change companies all the time...... I know of folks working in the Gulf of Guinea who have worked for multiple oil companies....
Recently, and as you well know, Addax expanded and has been buying other companies. Doesn't sound like somebody who wants to be bought out. If Chevron buys Addax, Chevron would now then own those other companies along with along with all the Nigerian based work Addax presently has...... Could be some assets and work Chevron may not want...... not to mention all the terrorism in the Nigerian region.
1.) How can Addax hiring one person make you so sure that Chevron wants to buy Addax?
2.) Why don't they just buy ERHC?
thanks,
ND9
Gulf of Guinea Commission set up to mediate regional disputes
UPDATED: 14:53, August 26, 2006
Gulf of Guinea Commission set up to mediate regional disputes
A new commission was set up Friday at the end of a summit of leaders of Guinean Gulf countries here to handle and mediate disputes in the region over oil exploration and aquatic resources.
The Gulf of Guinea Commission (CGG), with its headquarters based in Angola, comprises Angola, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sao Tome and Principe.
The Gulf of Guinea, which stretches from Nigeria's southern shores as far south as Angola, is rich in oil and aquatic resources. However, with oil exploration and fishing activities on the rise, conflicts and disputes over ownership of the territory and exploration of resources have also increased among the region's countries.
The establishment of the CGG, which aims to monitor peace agreements on preventing conflicts and resolving disputes, provides a good framework for consultation and coordination among the countries.
Attending the half-day meeting were heads of state from Gabon, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe, Cameroon's prime minister, the Republic of Congo's foreign minister and the DRC's ambassador to Gabon.
Source: Xinhua
CHAD President Orders Chevron Out of country
Aug. 26, 2006, 11:28AM
Chad Orders Chevron, Petronas Out
By MADJIASRA NAKO Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
N'DJAMENA, Chad — The president of Chad said Saturday that oil companies Chevron Corp. and Petronas must leave the country, adding that neither had paid taxes.
In remarks on state-run radio, President Idriss Derby gave the companies, which have been part of the African country's oil production consortium that is led by Exxon Mobil, a deadline of just 24 hours to start making plans to leave.
"Chad has decided that as of tomorrow (Sunday) Chevron and Petronas must leave Chad because they have refused to pay their taxes," Derby said in a message broadcast on state-run radio.
Derby said that the country, which is in the midst of setting up a national oil company, would take responsibility for the oil fields that the American and Malaysian companies have overseen, which accounts for some 60 percent of the country's oil production.
Neither Kuala Lumpur-based Petroliam Nasional Berhad or San Ramon, California-based Chevron immediately commented on Derby's declaration.
The production and export of petroleum in Chad are overseen by the Exxon Mobil-led consortium. Under the mechanism, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp. is responsible for 40 percent of the country's production, while Chevron and Petronas each have 30 percent.
The decision came a day after Derby ordered his government to take a greater role in the production of oil, which is viewed as a way to improve the country's ailing economy.
On Friday Chad government spokesman Hourmadji Moussa Doumgor told reporters that Derby wanted greater profits from oil production.
Derby has stressed that the country "should fully enjoy its oil, mining and other resources," Doumgor said.
Chad is one of Africa's newest oil producers.
From October 2003 to December 2005, the consortium exported some 133 million barrels of oil from Chad, according to information compiled by the World Bank.
Chad itself earned US$307 million, or about 12.5 percent on each barrel exported.
Chad, which is not an OPEC member, has struggled with discontent over its poor economy, and unhappiness has intensified over the failure of an immediate boost from its oil field, which went online for development in 2003.
Unrest also has spilled over from Darfur, where Sudan's Arab-dominated government is accused of encouraging a campaign of destruction aimed at civilians in African farming villages that are the base for a three-year-old rebellion. Sudan charges that Chad supports the Darfur rebels. Chad, in turn, accuses Sudan of backing eastern Chad rebels.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4143086.html
Umbra, comparing VP Cheney, who ran Halliburton, a company with 85,000 employees and operations in more than 100 countries, to the VP of Nigeria, who didn't run ERHC, a company with ~ 3 employees and no operations, is just ridiculous.
Now, let's see how many of your loyal defenders will jump in and tell me I'm wrong. Each weekend, when you post nonsense and I respond, one of them usually jumps in...... Let's see who wins the prize this week.
Long and strong on ERHC.
ND9
China's Sinopec confirms it will launch state share sale plan UPDATE
08.20.2006, 06:14 AM
AFX News Limited
BEIJING (AFX) - China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SHA 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) said it will launch its state share sale plan, confirming a media report.
In a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today, Sinopec said trading of the company's A-shares will be suspended from the day when its state share sale announcement is declared.
Details of the state share sale will be announced in the near future, it said.
The official Securities Times reported yesterday that Sinopec decided on Friday to launch its state share sale plan, to make tradable its currently non-tradable shares listed in the domestic A-share markets.
The decision puts to an end long-running market talk that Sinopec will first complete privatization of its domestically listed units before any state share sale plan is rolled out, the newspaper said.
China's mainland listed companies have undertaken or are planning their state share sale programs by offering a variety of compensation to their tradable shareholders in exchange for the right to float the non-tradable shares usually held by their major equity holders.
The newspaper said it is highly likely that each of Sinopec's listed units will first complete their own state share sale before they are privatized by their parent Sinopec.
Sinopec announced in February this year the privatization of Sinopec Shengli Oil Field Dynamic Group Co Ltd (SZA 000406), Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co Ltd (SZA 000866), Sinopec Zhongyuan Petroleum Co Ltd (SZA 000956) and Sinopec Qilu Co Ltd (SHA 600002) for a total of 14.3 bln yuan.
ljl/rc
China's Sinopec confirms it will launch state share sale plan UPDATE
08.20.2006, 06:14 AM
AFX News Limited
BEIJING (AFX) - China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) (SHA 600028; HK 0386; NYSE SNP) said it will launch its state share sale plan, confirming a media report.
In a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today, Sinopec said trading of the company's A-shares will be suspended from the day when its state share sale announcement is declared.
Details of the state share sale will be announced in the near future, it said.
The official Securities Times reported yesterday that Sinopec decided on Friday to launch its state share sale plan, to make tradable its currently non-tradable shares listed in the domestic A-share markets.
The decision puts to an end long-running market talk that Sinopec will first complete privatization of its domestically listed units before any state share sale plan is rolled out, the newspaper said.
China's mainland listed companies have undertaken or are planning their state share sale programs by offering a variety of compensation to their tradable shareholders in exchange for the right to float the non-tradable shares usually held by their major equity holders.
The newspaper said it is highly likely that each of Sinopec's listed units will first complete their own state share sale before they are privatized by their parent Sinopec.
Sinopec announced in February this year the privatization of Sinopec Shengli Oil Field Dynamic Group Co Ltd (SZA 000406), Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co Ltd (SZA 000866), Sinopec Zhongyuan Petroleum Co Ltd (SZA 000956) and Sinopec Qilu Co Ltd (SHA 600002) for a total of 14.3 bln yuan.
ljl/rc
Umbra, another attack on USA, again you're wrong.
You might want to do some research before you post. President Bush has said many times the USA will defend Taiwan. In fact, it's one of the first things he said after he took office. Read the article below. You might learn something.
Speaking of learning something, I've learned that over the months, the number of your posts has gone up, but the quality has really gone down. So much for your promise to Homeport to try and do better..........
ND9
*****************************************************
Bush on One-China Policy, April 25, 2001
(Interviews with the President on his First 100 Days) (640)
Bush Reviews First 100 Days and U.S.-China Relations
The United States has an obligation to protect Taiwan from attack by
China, and will do so if necessary, President Bush said in a series of
interviews with news organizations to mark his 100th day in office,
which falls on Sunday, April 29.
"What I'm saying is that China must know that if circumstances
warrant, that we will uphold the spirit of the Taiwan Relations Act
and that they just have got to understand that. Clearly. They just
need to understand that we will do so. ... The Chinese have got to
understand that (military force) is clearly an option," Bush told the
Associated Press (AP) April 25.
In an April 24 interview with ABC News, broadcast April 25, Bush said
he would do "whatever it took" to defend Taiwan from an attack by
China.
In an April 25 interview with John King of the Cable News Network
(CNN), broadcast live from the White House, Bush was asked by King if
this were not a dramatic break with past policy. For the past 20
years, King said, U.S. Presidents have been deliberately ambiguous
about what they would do to defend Taiwan.
Bush responded: "I think the Chinese must hear that ours is an
administration, like other administrations, that is willing to uphold
the spirit of the Taiwan Relations Act and I will do so. However, I
think it's important for people to also note that mine is an
administration that strongly supports the one China policy, that we
expect any dispute to be resolved peacefully and that's the message I
really want people to hear.... Nothing has really changed in policy as
far as I am concerned. This is what other Presidents have said and I
will continue to say so."
"I certainly hope Taiwan adheres to the one-China policy," Bush said.
"And a declaration of independence is not the one-China policy and we
will work with Taiwan to make sure that that doesn't happen - we need
a peaceful resolution of this issue."
"Our nation will help Taiwan defend herself at the same time that we
support the one China policy where we expect, and hope, and believe
there will be a peaceful resolution in any differences of opinion," he
said.
Bush said relations with China are "difficult" and "complex" but a
relationship that his administration "takes very seriously. We'll find
areas where we can agree and we'll find areas where we don't agree but
we will do so in a respectful way. And there's going to be some times
where we are going to have to draw some lines and I'll be willing to
do so."
In an April 24 interview with the Washington Post, published in its
entirety April 25, Bush said he plans to drop the U.S. government's
annual review of weapons sales to Taiwan.
"We have made it clear to the Taiwanese that we will not have this
so-called annual review - that we will meet on an as-needed basis,"
Bush said. "Obviously, we reserve the right to continue to provide
defensive weapons to the Taiwanese," he said.
The President told the Washington Post that his proposed sale to
Taiwan of four naval destroyers, 12 anti-submarine aircraft and eight
diesel-electric submarines, is the "right package for the moment."
On other matters, Bush in his interviews said he is pleased with his
performance so far as President, and is optimistic that he can win a
big tax cut for Americans while improving education. He also defended
his environmental record.
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
"if SINOPEC gets go ahead from Sao Tome to explore"
This next paragraph is interesting.... "Taiwan officials worry that China will suggest diplomatic relations if its government-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp. gets the go-aheads it wants from three Taiwan allies -- Guatemala, Paraguay and Sao Tome and Principe -- to explore for oil or gas, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu."
Entire article below:
ND9
*******************************************************
Taiwan Steps Up Push to Retain Foreign Allies
2006-08-18
Taiwan leaders will meet several foreign allies this month and the next to stop rival China from severing more of Taipei's overseas ties through buyouts and oil-exploration diplomacy, officials and analysts said.
Meetings involving two African nations, three Latin American countries and two allies in the South Pacific will focus on strengthening diplomatic relationships as more countries switch allegiance to China.
The number of countries with diplomatic ties with Taiwan has dropped to 24 from 30 since 2000.
"Diplomatic pressure on Taiwan is going to increase," said Emile Sheng, a political science professor at Soochow University in Taipei.
"A lot of these diplomatic relations are built on monetary favors, and China is getting more resources on its side. Taiwan is facing a huge challenge with decreasing political and economic influence."
Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province run by a rival government and asks its more than 100 diplomatic allies to sign agreements recognizing Taiwan only as a part of China.
If Taiwan loses too many allies, analysts say, it will also lose chances to join international agencies.
The latest official visits, which the government calls routine diplomatic work, come after the oil-producing African nation of Chad severed ties with Taiwan this month.
Taiwan officials worry that China will suggest diplomatic relations if its government-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp. gets the go-aheads it wants from three Taiwan allies -- Guatemala, Paraguay and Sao Tome and Principe -- to explore for oil or gas, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu. "This is their strategy with oil for sure," Lu said. "Of course we know they're doing this."
This week, the Malawi minister of energy, mining and natural resources is meeting counterparts in the Taiwan government. The communications, news and technology minister from Gambia was in Taiwan last week for research and travel.
Foreign Minister James Huang began a visit to Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama from Sunday, and on Monday, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang met visiting Solomon Islands Premier Manaseh Sogavare.
President Chen Shui-bian plans to visit the South Pacific nations of Nauru and Palau next month.
Rival diplomacy has destabilized some South-Pacific nations such as Solomon Islands where Parliament elected Sogavare in May to replace Snyder Rinci, whose election sparked rioting after rumors that aid money from Taiwan was used to help elect him.
Taiwan should focus on Africa, where allegiances are unstable, said Hsu Yung-ming, assistant research fellow with Academia Sinica in Taipei. He said Central American allies are urged by the United States to stick with Taiwan.
Other analysts say Taiwan should rely less on maintaining ties with third-world allies and instead build on informal relations with powerful developed nations or make a name in the world by giving more development aid or health research funds.
Source
Reuters
"if SINOPEC gets go ahead from Sao Tome to explore"
This next paragraph is interesting.... "Taiwan officials worry that China will suggest diplomatic relations if its government-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp. gets the go-aheads it wants from three Taiwan allies -- Guatemala, Paraguay and Sao Tome and Principe -- to explore for oil or gas, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu."
Entire article below:
ND9
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Taiwan Steps Up Push to Retain Foreign Allies
2006-08-18
Taiwan leaders will meet several foreign allies this month and the next to stop rival China from severing more of Taipei's overseas ties through buyouts and oil-exploration diplomacy, officials and analysts said.
Meetings involving two African nations, three Latin American countries and two allies in the South Pacific will focus on strengthening diplomatic relationships as more countries switch allegiance to China.
The number of countries with diplomatic ties with Taiwan has dropped to 24 from 30 since 2000.
"Diplomatic pressure on Taiwan is going to increase," said Emile Sheng, a political science professor at Soochow University in Taipei.
"A lot of these diplomatic relations are built on monetary favors, and China is getting more resources on its side. Taiwan is facing a huge challenge with decreasing political and economic influence."
Beijing sees Taiwan as a breakaway province run by a rival government and asks its more than 100 diplomatic allies to sign agreements recognizing Taiwan only as a part of China.
If Taiwan loses too many allies, analysts say, it will also lose chances to join international agencies.
The latest official visits, which the government calls routine diplomatic work, come after the oil-producing African nation of Chad severed ties with Taiwan this month.
Taiwan officials worry that China will suggest diplomatic relations if its government-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp. gets the go-aheads it wants from three Taiwan allies -- Guatemala, Paraguay and Sao Tome and Principe -- to explore for oil or gas, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu. "This is their strategy with oil for sure," Lu said. "Of course we know they're doing this."
This week, the Malawi minister of energy, mining and natural resources is meeting counterparts in the Taiwan government. The communications, news and technology minister from Gambia was in Taiwan last week for research and travel.
Foreign Minister James Huang began a visit to Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama from Sunday, and on Monday, Taiwan Premier Su Tseng-chang met visiting Solomon Islands Premier Manaseh Sogavare.
President Chen Shui-bian plans to visit the South Pacific nations of Nauru and Palau next month.
Rival diplomacy has destabilized some South-Pacific nations such as Solomon Islands where Parliament elected Sogavare in May to replace Snyder Rinci, whose election sparked rioting after rumors that aid money from Taiwan was used to help elect him.
Taiwan should focus on Africa, where allegiances are unstable, said Hsu Yung-ming, assistant research fellow with Academia Sinica in Taipei. He said Central American allies are urged by the United States to stick with Taiwan.
Other analysts say Taiwan should rely less on maintaining ties with third-world allies and instead build on informal relations with powerful developed nations or make a name in the world by giving more development aid or health research funds.
Source
Reuters
IMF Executive Board Completes Second Review Under São Tomé and Príncipe's Three-Year PRGF Arrangement and Approves US$600,000 Disbursement
Fuente: © International Monetary Fund (IMF)
http://www.imf.org/
/noticias.info/ The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed on August 2 the second review of São Tomé and Príncipe's economic performance under a three-year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement. The completion of the review, which was undertaken on a lapse of time basis1, enabled the release of an amount equivalent to SDR 0.4 million (about US$600,000), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 1.27 million (about US$1.9 million).
The Executive Board approved the three-year arrangement on August 1, 2005 (see Press Release No. 05/187), for a total amount of SDR 2.96 million (about US$4.4 million) to support the government's economic program for 2005-2007.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse of time procedure when the Board agrees that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.
Umbra - there you go again making more negative comments about the United States. You sure like to criticize others for posting negative comments but you do it all the time.
ND9
Umbra - before you question the merit of other's posts, why don't you go back and reread your last 10 or 20 posts. I find little significance or merit in them.
I did appreciate that one post you had, last March 06 or so. You know, the one where you predicted we'd be rich by Easter 06.
So give us a break and stop acting like you're all knowing, all seeing, and all mighty. I think in reality, you know very little.
ND9
Chief Emeka Offor mentioned in this July 28 article....
Here's the paragraph from article below: If Chief Emeka Offor, who claimed he have put former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju in office in 1999 and gave him hell for reneging on their agreement, could be relegated to the background in the politics of Anambra, one does not see how those who are holding the state hostage today would not be neutralized
****************************************************************
Anambra crisis and FG’s cosmetic solution
By Onuoha Ukeh(E-mail onuohaukeh@Hotmail.com)
Friday, July 28, 2006
In the last one month or so, Anambra State has been in the news, for the wrong reason. Within this period, there is hardly any day that passes without the state, which has produced a ceremonial president and vice president of the federal republic as well as two Senate presidents, recording one ugly incident or another. For the state, it is one day, one trouble.
Incidentally, even before the latest crisis, which has not only made the state unsafe but also impeded commercial activities, Anambra never knew peace, in the true sense of it. The state had recorded many incidents of bloodshed and destructions of property more than all the five South-eastern states put together. Since 1999, the state has been a theatre of war.
The state has seen clashes between members of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the police. It has seen clashes among street urchins as well as those between rival political groups. It has also seen clashes between traders and security agents. These clashes could be said to have escalated since the 2003 governorship election. Between then and now, incessant clashes had led to the destruction of a section of the state’s Government House. It saw the destruction of government property spread across the state. It saw the abduction of the former governor, Dr. Chris Ngige. This avalanche of crises has made people to wonder what the problems really are.
One dares say that by the pattern of Anambra crisis, it is becoming obvious that the problem has little to do with the activities of members of MASSOB, who are agitating, albeit subtly, for self-determination of the Igbo. It is also clear that the problem has nothing to do with the fight for the control of vehicles’ terminals in Onitsha.
There is obviously a political angle to the whole problem. For one, there have been allegations that some politicians in the state infiltrated the state’s National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), enthroned their favourite thugs, with a view to using them as instruments of coercion during next year’s general elections. There is also the belief that politicians have infiltrated the MASSOB, planted their agents whose assignment is to foment trouble, thereby giving the wrong impression that the pro-Biafran group is at the head of the crisis. These allegations may not be far from the truth.
In the first place, before former Governor Ngige and his successor, Mr. Peter Obi became governors, the NARTO had been in existence and going about its businesses in the state within the ambit of the law. Before then also, the MASSOB had been known to be a non-violent group, which believes that through persuasion and superior argument it could achieve its goals. Indeed, until lately and only in Anambra, so far, there was never any recorded case that members of the MASSOB employed violence, even in the face of incessant police and army raids of Okwe, in Okigwe, the home town of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, MASSOB leader.
If MASSOB has become a violent group, only in Anambra, would one be wrong to say that something has happened to the group? If the NARTO has suddenly become a lawless trade union only in Anambra, there is definitely something wrong in the state.
One had expected the police to be more professional in their investigation about the Anambra crisis. The idea of drawing a conclusion that the MASSOB is responsible for the mayhem in the state, without considering other options, is, to say the least laughable. The onus, therefore, falls on the police to find out what is wrong. In any case, one expects the police to be transparent in investigating the Anambra crisis. One considers the police conclusion that MASSOB’s activities, which, in any case, have nothing to do with the governance of Anambra, as a cheap way of addressing the issue.
The police and other security organizations assigned the responsibility of ending the Anambra mayhem should look beyond the MASSOB. The governor of Anambra State said that those causing the crisis are being sponsored by some influential indigenes of the state. Particular personalities from the state have also been fingered in the crisis. Have the police investigated the people named? If these people so named are not investigated, the police are just pretending to the tackling the problem.
It is a pity that Anambra has been held hostage by a those who feel that because they know some people in government they could play god. A sitting governor, Dr. Ngige, was abducted in Anambra and he alleged that he was forced to sign a resignation letter by politicians he named. The law enforcement agents, who were also used to perpetrate this illegality, did not do anything to bring those involved to book.
The Assistant Inspector General of Police, who was used to perpetrate this illegality, was only retired, but the people who commissioned him for the dirty job were not even called for questioning. Chief Chris Uba, the self-styled godfather of Anambra politics, confessed that he masterminded electoral fraud in the state and even revealed that people in government were aware of the crime. Till date, nobody has invited him for questioning. Also, no legal action has been instituted against him. Instead, he was appointed into the Board of Trustees of his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
One believes that the Anambra political crisis would be solved when those who control security agents, nay the Federal Government, become sincere in tackling it. The truth is that some people are being shielded from justice, having been given the impression that they are above the law. Indeed, there appears to be a high class conspiracy involving some people in government at the federal level and some politicians in the state. The governor of the state is handicapped since he does not control the police. One knows that were the governor in control of the police, those behind the crisis in Anambra, who had been named, would have long faced justice.
Now is the appropriate time to address the Anambra crisis. Now is the time to make those behind it face justice. This is pertinent because if Anambra crisis lingers till next year’s elections, one foresees a greater problem because the people, who would want to resist the stranglehold of these few people holding them hostage at present, would revolt.
We should not lose sight of what happened in Ondo State during the Second Republic, when the people felt that the result of the 1983 governorship election did not reflect their wishes. In Anambra, those who sowed the seed of this crisis, by imposing Dr. Chris Ngige as the PDP governorship candidate and manipulating the election result to get him into power, appear bent on repeating this fraud in 2007.
These are the people, who feel that because they have the backing of those in the corridors of power at the federal level, they could do anything and get away with it. These are people who do not mean well for the people but are more interested in their selfish gains. These are people, whose political and business dealings have impoverished the people and the state.
One believes that the Anambra problem could be solved if sincere and genuine efforts are made by those who are in authority as well as indigenes of the state. The state deserves to be freed from the clutches of political buccaneers.
These agents of instability are known. They should be made to pay for their political sins. While the government is expected to use the instrument of justice to take care of them, indigenes of the state should come together to make them politically irrelevant. If Chief Emeka Offor, who claimed he have put former Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju in office in 1999 and gave him hell for reneging on their agreement, could be relegated to the background in the politics of Anambra, one does not see how those who are holding the state hostage today would not be neutralized. Suffice it to say that until the excesses of the Chris Ubas of this world, who believe that Anambra is in their pockets, because of the backing of those in positions of authority at the federal level, are cut to size, Anambra will continue to be in trouble. This is an assignment for the generality of Anambra people.
Centurion website: Several elephant size structures!
Sao Tome/Nigeria JDZ Operations: Sao Tome/Nigeria JDZ
Awarded 10% (7.5% net) in Block 4 of Sao Tome / Nigeria JDZ
$US 90 million gross signature bonus
212,000 acres (16,000 net)
World class exploration acreage
Several elephant size structures mapped on 3D seismic
Potential 2.5 - 3.5 billion barrels
3 exploration phases:
http://www.centurionenergy.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92&Itemid=65
Centurion website: Several elephant size structures!
Sao Tome/Nigeria JDZ Operations: Sao Tome/Nigeria JDZ
Awarded 10% (7.5% net) in Block 4 of Sao Tome / Nigeria JDZ
$US 90 million gross signature bonus
212,000 acres (16,000 net)
World class exploration acreage
Several elephant size structures mapped on 3D seismic
Potential 2.5 - 3.5 billion barrels
3 exploration phases:
http://www.centurionenergy.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=92&Itemid=65
Nigeria to spend $8.3bn on rail project
August 10, 2006, 24 minutes and 37 seconds ago.
By ANDnetwork .com
The Nigerian government has said it planned to spend $8.3 billion on the rehabilitation and modernisation of the country's railway system.
In a special nationwide broadcast on Wednesday evening, specifically to outline government's plan to revive the ailing railway system, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said the first phase of the project should be completed within four years.
He said that $2 billion of the cost would be obtained as a soft loan from the Chinese government, noting that the second phase covering the Port Harcourt to Jos line would commence as soon as the first phase was completed.
"Contract formalities for the award and commencement of Lagos- Kano First Phase Project of the modernisation program will be signed this month; and construction work will commence immediately thereafter," he said.
He said the government was committing $2.5 billion and $1 billion from the Chinese government concessionary loan in addition to a $1.5 billion federal government counterpart funding on the project between 2006 and 2007.
"It is my hope that subsequent administrations will buy into this vision and that other friendly countries will offer similar concessionary loan assistance to continue the project in the years ahead with the possibility of a west African regional railway system," he said.
He therefore warned those that had encroached on railway land to "quietly leave such piece of land to save the government and themselves the effort of using all means to reclaim such right of way."
He also said that there would still be the need to acquire new land for the modernisation and expansion to new locations and appealed to state governments and land occupiers to co-operate in making land available for this all-important project.
"No nation has achieved holistic development in all its ramifications without a coherent, integrated, efficient and reliable transportation system," he said, while emphasizing the need for the federal government to revive the railways for the benefit of all.
He said a combination of corruption, poor management, inefficiency, lack of adequate marketing, failure to develop new lines and to plan ahead or introduce new technology and adaptation to global best practices led to the near total collapse of the nation's railway.
"Today, we have a new vision, a new commitment, and a holistic strategic plan encompassing expansion and modernization of the railway to be implemented within a 25-year time frame," he said.
The construction of the rail line will employ tens of thousands of Nigerians immediately.
The entire project will promote technology transfer, the building of new skills, and the development of rail allied industries. As much as possible, local materials will be used.
Xinhua
MP//JB//
Nigeria fines Chevron $400M
PrintE-mailDisable live quotesRSSDigg itDel.icio.usLast Update: 6:25 PM ET Aug 8, 2006
LAGOS (MarketWatch) -- Nigeria's House of Representatives' committee on petroleum has slapped a $400 million fine on Chevron (CVX)Nigerian for "irregularities" in its financial reports, privately owned Channels TV reported late Tuesday.
The committee said it investigated reports of tax evasion and irregularities made against the U.S. oil company.
"Chevron was found to have inflated its community projects," Cairo Ojualogbo, the committee chairman, told Channels TV.
He said Chevron had been accused of evading $10.8 billion in taxes owed to the Nigerian government, but said this could not be substantiated.
"When the report broke out, they quickly paid $16 million into the federal government coffers," Ojualogbo said.
A consultant hired last year by a government agency probing oil companies' accounts in Nigeria had said Chevron did not pay its full obligations to the government.
Calls to Chevron officials were not answered.
-Contact: 201-938-5400
Total signs agreement on offshore oil-lease blocks
French oil giant Total announced last week that its wholly-owned Nigerian operating subsidiary, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited (EPNL), had signed a farm-in agreement with Amni International Petroleum Development Company Limited, for the Oil Mining Licences (OMLs) 112 and 117 offshore southeast Nigeria, according to a press release. According to the agreement, EPNL has acquired a 40 percent participating interesting in both OMLs. EPNL is the technical partner and will operate the appraisal and development on behalf of Amni. OMLs 112 and 117 are located in the eastern part of the Niger Delta, at about 20 kilometres from the Bonny LNG plant. Together, they cover an area of 550 square kilometres in water depths between 10 to 15 metres. An appraisal well, Ima 12, has just been drilled and confirmed the gas reserves of the acreage. Tests are currently ongoing to ascertain the quality of the gas and the nature of the reservoirs. The gas reserves will supply Total’s future projects in Nigeria. The development of offshore fields in Nigeria constitutes one of the principle growth areas for Total in Africa, in particular with the development of the Akpo field, with start-up planned for late 2008 at a level of 225,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Total owns a 15 percent stake in the Bonny liquefied natural gas plant. Total’s growing presence in Nigeria, combined in particular with the growth of the company’s production in Angola will enable Total to consolidate its position as leader among other oil majors in Africa.
"Total may help operate the fields with China"
There is a line down below, 5th paragraph from bottom, that states Total might help China (I.e., Sinopec) with their new Angolan fields - who knows, maybe JDZ also?
ND9
*********************************************
Total takes risks in most-inhospitable regions as prices soarPublished: Tuesday, 8 August, 2006, 11:54 AM Doha Time
PARIS/LONDON: Angola ranked 151st out of 158 nations in Transparency International’s 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index. The agency rated Angola 2 out of 10 for perception of bribery and misuse of public funds. Iceland scored 9.7, making it the most transparent.
Ismael Gaspar Martins, Angola’s UN ambassador, says the government has been tackling the issue of transparency. "If conditions are so bad, or opaque, of course you would not invest,’’ Martins says.
Angola is spending 40% of its budget on social issues such as education and health, he says. "One of the things needed is rehabilitation of the infrastructure,’’ he says. "This is a major effort that is being done.’’
Total officials say they support more transparency. At the same time, they won’t tell the Angolan government how to run its affairs.
"Our philosophy is, we work with the government in place,’’ de Margerie says. "How can an NGO tell me I have to change the government?’’ he says, commenting on non-governmental organisations such as Transparency International. "That’s not my job.’’
France, which produces only 3% of the oil and gas it consumes, has always taken unconventional routes when it comes to petroleum.
Industrialists set up Cie Francaise des Petroles, which became Total, at the government’s behest in 1924. That year, the government granted the new company a 23.75% share in Iraq Oil Co, which had been owned by Deutsche Bank and was given to France as compensation for damages in World War I.
Oil was discovered in Iraq in 1927.
After World War II, CFP had trouble discovering oil and relied on refining. It was even ridiculed as "Can’t Find Petroleum,’’ a play on its initials. CFP’s fortunes changed when Serge Tchuruk, a former Mobil executive, became CEO in 1990.
"A company that could not find oil and was dependent on refining was dangerous,’’ Tchuruk says. "The general opinion was that Total was a dead company.’’
Tchuruk disposed of 200 subsidiaries, eliminated 6,500 jobs and rechristened the company Total in 1991 ahead of selling shares on the New York Stock Exchange. He expanded exploration, leading to major discoveries of oil in Colombia and natural gas fields in Indonesia.
Tchuruk, 68, stayed for five years before leaving to run Paris-based telecommunications equipment company Alcatel SA.
He handpicked Desmarest, then 49, to replace him. Desmarest had joined Total in 1981 after graduating from Ecole des Mines in Paris and spending more than a decade as a technical adviser in the French ministries of economics and industries.
"He’s a cold-blooded guy,’’ says Tchuruk, who remains a Total board member. "I say that in the positive sense. You have to take risks. You have to know up to what point you can go and when you’d better back off.’’
Desmarest continued Tchuruk’s aggressive expansion. Desmarest flew to Tehran in 1995 to sign a $610mn contract to develop Iran’s Sirri offshore oil field, stepping in after then US President Bill Clinton barred Conoco Inc, which had won the contract, from working in Iran.
Alfonse D’Amato, then a Republican senator from New York, pushed for sanctions on Total and sponsored the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, which called for financial penalties on non-US firms that dealt with Iran. Clinton signed the bill into law on August 5, 1996.
The law didn’t cover Total’s existing contracts. In 1997, Total again tweaked the US’ nose with a deal to run the second phase of Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, the biggest in the world.
As Shell and others stood on the sidelines, Total took a 40% stake in a $2.2bn contract along with Gazprom and Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd, known as Petronas.
Desmarest ignored the threat of sanctions. In May 1998, the US granted Total a waiver after Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said the sanctions wouldn’t prevent the project from proceeding.
While Total was exploring in Iran and Libya, a series of mergers rocked the industry.
Desmarest says he was concerned Total might end up being bought. Instead, he planned on striking first.
"We were mindful that we were becoming an attractive target,’’ he says. Desmarest says he realised Total was too small to tackle Elf and first went after Petrofina.
"The strategic conclusion was clear,’’ says Albert Frere, 80, who controls Cie. Nationale a Portefeuille SA, Total’s biggest shareholder, with 127mn shares valued at $7.8bn. "The one who linked with Petrofina had the first-mover advantage.’’
On Monday, July 5, 1999, three days after the Petrofina paperwork was finished, Desmarest faxed a 42bn-euro offer to Philippe Jaffre, his counterpart at Elf.
"We did not want to wait one extra day,’’ Desmarest says. "When you shoot first, you have the credibility of a management team which takes initiative.’’
Jaffre hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Morgan Stanley to make a counteroffer for Total. Shareholders preferred Desmarest. "Total had a CEO who’d spent two decades in the oil industry,’’ Institute of French Petroleum President Olivier Appert says. "Elf’s had no understanding of the business he was in.’’
Jaffre had been a civil servant in France’s ministry of finance and CEO of Paris-based lender Credit Agricole SA before being named to head Elf.
What Elf did have was a history of investing in sub-Saharan Africa and finding oil in Angola, Congo, Gabon and Nigeria. One of the most-promising areas was off Angola.
Engineers discovered the Girassol field in 1996 after exploring along the Congo River, which flows along northern Angola and into the Atlantic.
It took five years to develop a three-dimensional seismic appraisal covering 1,100sq km (425sq miles) of ocean and then narrow it to a production field of 140sq km, slightly larger than the city of San FrancisCo. Then Total had to install well-head and gathering systems in 1,400m of water and connect the pieces without the aid of divers.
It added riser towers, 1,250m-tall structures made of four production pipelines, to bring the oil to the platform. It also installed two pipelines to pump water or gas back into the well, feats never accomplished at such depths. In 2001, the Girassol field started production. The platform, two football fields long and weighing 343,000 tonnes, is painted an easily visible bright yellow. Girassol is Portuguese for sunflower.
Rivals are circling in the once-empty expanse of the Atlantic Ocean. ExxonMobil pumps 550,000 bpd from its two Kizomba offshore-Angola fields, which came on line in 2004. BP is planning to spend $8bn in Angola and expects to pump its own oil in 2007.
In June, China Petrochemical Corp, known as Sinopec, offered $2.2bn to explore in two offshore locations even though it has little deep-water experience. Total may help operate the fields with China, which is the biggest consumer of oil after the US, says Andrew Hayman, a Geneva-based analyst for IHS Inc, a consulting firm in Englewood, Colorado.
In Africa, Total’s offshore production requires even more extreme measures. One challenge is to keep the oil temperature at more than 40 degrees Celsius so it flows smoothly through as much as seven kilometers of flow line from the well-heads to the platform. That’s not easy when the seabed water temperature is only 4 degrees.
With standard non-insulated steel tubing, the oil temperature would fall 18 degrees Celsius for every kilometer of flow line, turning the oil semisolid. Total devised synthetic foam that withstands water pressure of 140 bar, or 2,000 pounds per square inch, and offers an insulation capacity 500 times greater than steel.
As the West’s grasp on the petroleum-rich Middle East and Latin America grows more tenuous, Total and its rivals are spending billions of dollars in the most-inhospitable regions of the globe.
Whether such risk-taking yields increasing profits depends on the world’s continued addiction to oil and its willingness to pay stratospheric prices for it. – Bloomberg
Total outpumps Exxon in Africa, new frontier in race for oilPublished: Sunday, 6 August, 2006, 11:58 AM Doha Time
LONDON/PARIS: In a patch of peacock-blue, shark-filled Atlantic Ocean 93 miles off Angola, Total SA technicians turn truck-tire-size valves on a floating storage platform six stories high. The 120-person crew is preparing for a shutdown that will enable the world’s fourth-largest oil company to bring a new field on line 2,500m below, adding four more years of 250,000 bpd production.
Behind fire doors, Jacques Saint-Jean monitors a TV screen in the control room for the Girassol field. A robotic arm is changing a chokehold on a pump 1,312m (4,304ft) down, as deep as four Eiffel Towers are tall, as the light from a remote- controlled minisub illuminates the blackness.
To get to oil may mean drilling another 1,200m through the seabed.
"I remember when we did this 30 years ago at 60m and we thought that was deep,’’ Saint-Jean says. "We are still at the beginning of this kind of technology. It’s like the astronauts at the beginning of space travel.’’
Africa is the petroleum industry’s new frontier as prices top $78 a barrel and oil grows tougher to find and pump out. Companies plan to spend $20bn in the next five years exploring off Africa, the poorest continent on the planet – double what they spent from 2000 through 2005.
They have to: Output is declining in 33 of the 48 biggest-producing countries, the US and UK among them.
Iran and Russia are curbing Western access to the world’s largest reserves; Venezuela is raising taxes as high as 50% for Western producers; and Bolivia is taking control of its gas fields and threatening to boot out foreigners.
All of that makes Angola, where 70% of the 12mn people live on less than $1 a day, a prime alternative even as the International Monetary Fund seeks greater disclosure of where the $10bn in oil revenue the country took in last year is going.
Angola’s deep waters are vital to a world short on energy. As much as 10% of the planet’s petroleum reserves, or about 100bn barrels, lies in depths exceeding 500m.
That’s enough oil to power the US for the next 12 years.
"West Africa is strategically important to global oil markets and to the US,’’ says former US Assistant Secretary of Energy David Goldwyn, who now heads his own political consulting firm in Washington. In the past two years, 50% of discoveries by Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp, the world’s biggest oil company, have been in Africa.
"There is a lot of oil in this area,’’ says Bill Cummings, Exxon’s spokesman for Angola.
Paris-based Total is a top contender in the global oil hunt. Created by the French government after World War I, Total gained deep-water technology from experience in the North Sea.
That has made Total a leader in Africa, allowing it to beat ExxonMobil by two years in offshore Angola. Total is the biggest oil and gas producer on the continent, with 751,000 bpd last year, ahead of 660,000 bpd for Exxon.
"They’re the most technologically advanced company out there,’’ says Gerard Kreeft, managing director at Arnhem, Netherlands-based oil consulting firm Energywise, who was in Luanda, Angola’s capital, in February for a conference on offshore oil exploration.
"Normally, when you’re trying a new technology like they did in Girassol, you try it at 60m, where it’s comfortable,’’ Kreeft adds. "They did it in 1,000m-plus; that’s what’s gutsy about them.’’
Seven years ago, Total was a medium-size oil company, second largest on its own soil after Paris-based Elf Aquitaine SA. Total had a market value of $30bn and produced 840,000 barrels of oil and gas a day.
Exxon Corp pumped triple that – 2.7mn barrels – even before its 1999 combination with Mobil Corp.
Beginning in 1998, Thierry Desmarest, 60, who had become Total’s chief executive officer three years earlier, engineered a double merger. First, he spent $12.8bn to buy Belgium’s Petrofina SA. Six months later, he went after Elf.
Total won its rival after raising its bid to $54bn in Europe’s biggest hostile takeover. The combinations made Total the largest refiner in Europe and added lucrative production fields in Africa and the Middle East.
"Total didn’t have good acreage,’’ says Jason Kenney, an analyst at ING Financial Markets, a unit of Amsterdam-based ING Groep NV. "That’s what Elf brought.’’
Desmarest has courted governments that his rivals have avoided. In 1995, just months after taking the CEO post, he flew to Tehran. There, he signed the first major oil contract with Iran by a Western company since the 1979 Islamic Revolution removed Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and installed an anti-US government.
Also in 1995, Total started work on a natural gas pipeline in Myanmar, formerly called Burma, which was under a military dictatorship. In an April 2006 report, the US State Department accused the regime of repressing ethnic minority groups and of jailing political dissidents.
In 1997, Desmarest approved a deal to develop a $2.2bn natural gas field in the Arabian Gulf off Iran, risking US economic sanctions. In 2003, Total handed over the completed project to Iran.
"We were not breaking French laws,’’ says Desmarest, who adds he didn’t regard himself as bound by US laws.
From the early 1990s until the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, Total negotiated with Saddam Hussain for exclusive rights to develop the Majnoon and Bin Umar oil fields. The areas may hold 20bn barrels, as much as a quarter of Iraq’s reserves.
Total never signed the contracts because the Iraqis demanded that drilling work begin immediately, which would have violated a UN embargo.
"They focused on areas where others wouldn’t go: Iran, Burma, South Africa under apartheid,’’ says Paris-based Natexis Banques Populaires economist Thierry LeFrancois, who has covered Total for more than 10 years. "It wasn’t politically correct, but it was effective.’’
Today, Total’s market capitalisation is $164bn – bigger than 25 of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average – compared with $412bn for ExxonMobil. Total has stakes in 27 refineries and produces about 2.5mn barrels of oil and gas a day; Exxon produces 4.2mn.
In 2005, Total made a record profit of 12bn euros ($15.4bn) on 124bn euros in sales.
Since its merger with Elf, Total has consistently achieved the highest cash return on capital employed among the majors in the industry, exceeding ExxonMobil, London-based BP Plc and the Hague-based Royal Dutch Shell Plc – the top three oil companies – says Lucas Herrmann, an analyst at Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank AG.
Total reported a return on equity of 35% last year, beating Exxon’s 34%. Total shares gained 41% from January 4, 2005, to July 31, outperforming the company’s bigger rivals.
"We are now earning every 15 days what we made in one year,’’ says Desmarest, comparing last year’s earnings with pre- merger days during an interview in his corner office on the 44th floor of Total headquarters in Paris’s La Defense business district. The suite is spotless, the only distraction an abstract painting by Algerian artist Abdallah Benanteur.
Desmarest says his benchmark to determine the profitability of new projects is figuring the price of oil at $25 a barrel. For heavy oil, which can have the consistency of molasses and typically contains impurities, or liquefied natural gas, Total may lift that to $30 or $35.
"We keep a relatively conservative oil price scenario for deciding developments,’’ he says. Total’s cost of finding and removing oil was about $3.07 a barrel at the end of 2005, less than half of ExxonMobil’s $7.95, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
With depreciation, depletion and amortisation costs, Total’s technical costs are about $8.50 a barrel.
"We had the lowest technical costs per barrel among the majors last year,’’ Desmarest says. Exploration and production chief Christophe de Margerie will inherit the job of keeping Total’s costs down and its shares and profits rising when he takes over as CEO in January.
Russia and Latin America will demand his immediate attention.
For the past decade, Desmarest has tried to persuade the Russian government to let Total develop a massive offshore Arctic gas field known as Shtokman. The $20bn project would pump gas from beneath the icy Barents Sea, chill it to liquefied form and ship it to the US State-controlled Gazprom still hasn’t decided on partners from a final list of five companies that includes Total.
In 2005, Total lost out on a $1bn agreement for a 25% stake in Novatek, Russia’s second-biggest natural gas producer. Total had begun investigating the company two years earlier and debated whether to pursue a joint venture or try to buy an equity stake.
When Total decided on taking a stake, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service delayed the deal’s approval for a year. Then, in a snub, Novatek sold shares on the London Stock Exchange, forcing Total to lower its growth estimates.
The episode taught the French company the risk of moving too slowly, says de Margerie, 55, a grandson of champagne maker Pierre Tattinger. – Bloomberg
Gulf Times Newspaper, 2006 ©
Sao Tome President in PH
• Sunday, Aug 6, 2006
The President of Sao Tome and Principe, Fradique Melo De Menezes arrived Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital on Friday for a two-day working visit to the state.
President Melo De Menezes who arrived the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa on board a presidential aircraft at 6.30pm was recieved on arrival by the state Governor, Dr Peter Odili and his wife, Justice Mary Odili.
Others that accomplanied the governor to receive the Sao Tome President and members of his delegation include the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon Chibuike Amaechi, State Chairman of Peoples Democractic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus, Minister of Transport, Dr Abiye Sekibo, some members of the state executive Council and other top government functionaries.
It would be recalled that President Fradique Melo De Menezes is visiting Rivers State for the second time during the life span of the present state administration, the first being in 2004.
Spec29, How do you know SEO's family and friends don't also own a bunch of shares, thus, making them all together own over 50% of the outstanding shares at this time?
ND9
Nigeria's oil blocks sizes to get smaller?
August 4, 2006, 1 day, 20 hours and 7 minutes ago.
By ANDnetwork .com
The federal government is considering moves to make the oil block acreages in Nigeria smaller than it is presently, in line with what obtains in other oil producing countries.
By Clara Nwachukwu
If the plan pulls through, the oil and gas industry might witness further reduction in block sizes from the current 1 250sq metres with effect from the 2006 bid round.
Department of petroleum resources' director, Tony Chukwueke, gave this indication in Lagos while responding to industry issues posed by The Punch correspondent.
“In Nigeria, our blocks are quite big, we are aware of that, which is why we had to cut down the size in 2005. Probably, we will cut it down further,” he said.
Although the trimming of the block size in the 2005 bid round had been met with outrage by investors, this, notwithstanding, he said that government was going ahead with further review of the block sizes, which process had started with the mandatory 50% relinquishment policy.
According to him, “We are in the process of reviewing all the existing acreages, and deciding which ones are due for relinquishment. All the ones we have acquired so far were put up in the just-concluded mini-bid round.”
Even as each company had started doing some stock taking with regards to the relinquishment policy, he, however, stated that the issue of relinquishment went beyond relinquishing half of the acreage.
He explained that the policy also involved determining whether the acreages were being manned properly and put into active operation and if the companies were having problems with fulfilling their obligations.
He added that companies would be compelled to give up such acreages and concentrate on the assets that they can manage.
Modus operandi
He said, “This exercise concerns all the acreage in active operation. We are looking at areas we can have cheaper oil by looking at the assets we already have than for us to go further into the deeper terrains where we don’t have the technology to maximise the resources.”
He reiterated that there was no international standard for oil blocks, noting that each country determined its own standard acreage per block based on experience.
He further noted, “Prior to 2005, the size of a block in Nigeria was 2 500sq km, compared to the Gulf of Mexico, which is only 100sq metres for one block.
“If you look at the Gulf of Mexico, they would have thousands of blocks, in the North Sea, its about the same, and the investors acquire up to 15 blocks to get a reasonable size of blocks, where we have less because of the large size of our blocks.
"But we have reduced the size to 1 250sq km with effect from the 2005 bid round, so most of the blocks are considerably smaller and you saw that investors were complaining already.
"It doesn’t mean we will stop there because as we go they will become smaller and we will see how the process goes gradually.”
The size of the block notwithstanding, he stated that the most important issue in acreage allocation was not in the number of blocks but the acreage put into active use.
The Punch
Gulf of Guinea holds over 24 billion barrels reserves of crude oil.........
ND9
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Friday, August 4, 2006
Energy, Oil and Gas
Of Gulf of Guinea and immense wealth
Stories by MARTIN AYANKOLA, Lagos
THE Gulf of Guinea is a geographical expression that involves the coastlines of countries like Angola, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe. It is the part of the Atlantic southwest of Africa. The gulf is considered the geographic center of the earth because it is zero degrees longitude and latitude (where the Equator and Prime Meridian meet ). It is an area very rich in hydrocarbon resources and the major oil and gas players in the Gulf of Guinea now are Nigeria and Angola. The geographical area is being talked about more these days, because it is oil rich.
The Gulf of Guinea, according to estimates, holds over 24 billion barrels reserves of crude oil, which are mainly offshore deposits. Nigeria and Angola, as stated earlier, are the two key producers in the region. Nigeria currently has the capacity to produce about three million barrels per day while Angola, the second largest producer in the area after Nigeria, is also close to producing two million barrels per day. Equitorial Guinea, seems to have potentials to surpass Gabon in oil production before 2020.
Nigeria and Sao-Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone is also full of activities presently. One of the major operators of the JDZ fields, Chevron, has just struck oil in a well being drilled. The United States of America [USA], the world’s biggest consumer of crude oil, is interested in the area because of its permutations on energy security. Although the United States would want people to believe that its real reason for sending warships to patrol the Gulf of Guinea was to secure the area from international criminals, international observers would know that the real reason behind this is to secure its supply of oil from the area. Nigeria and Angola are major suppliers of crude oil to the U.S. However the Commander of the US Naval Forces in Europe and Commander of the Allied Joint Force Command in Naples, Italy, Admiral Henry Ulrich, said recently that "We hear a series of stories for our presence in the Gulf of Guinea, but I want to say that we are concerned for Nigeria and we want to help her protect the region from the hands of maritime criminals." However, beyond the issue of the U.S presence is the issue of the management of the oil resource in the area. How will the emerging oil industries in the countries surrounding the Gulf of Guinea impact their economy? How will the citizens of the area benefit from the God given resource?
In the case of Nigeria and Angola, there is very little to cheer about the way those countries had used proceeds from their oil and gas resources. After about 50 years of oil exploitation in Nigeria, the country had just paid a mind boggling debt of over $30 billion. Angola, had also used a lot of its oil revenue to prosecute a civil war, which the country is just recovering from. For both countries, the resource has been much of a curse than blessing. Presently in Nigeria, crisis is brewing in the Niger Delta because the Indigenes are saying that they have not got a fair share of resources being mined from their lands.
Thus, countries like Sao Tome and Principe and Equitorial Guinea, have a lot to learn from the cases of Nigeria and Angola, in that they should ensure that the proceeds from oil are used to diversify the economy to avoid the Dutch disease. They must also ensure that the communities around the oil mining areas are well taken care of. Crude oil is a finite resource and all the countries in the Gulf of Guinea area should spare a thought about when there will be no more oil to mine. The leaders should think about what coming generations will survive on when there will be no more oil. United States has a lot of untapped crude oil reserves but why does it prefer to buy instead of tapping everything now?
Ramirez calls for OPEC unity against American hostilities
Venezuelan Oil Minister, Rafael Ramirez, who was visiting Tehran with President Hugo Chavez, called for the unity of OPEC members against American hostilities. Following his meeting with the Iranian oil minister on Sunday, Ramirez said that the present status of the oil market was the result of offensive American policies. "America intends to take the important oil producing and exporting countries under its control and will spare no effort in this respect," the official IRNA news agency cited him, as monitored by the BBC.
He said that the 2002 coup in Venezuela was not incidental and was in fact an oil coup. "Iraq's situation is dreadful from every aspect. America's continuous hostility against Iran and some crude oil producing and exporting countries has raised oil prices to the present level," he said. Ramirez predicted that oil prices will remain at the present level for a long time. He said high demand from countries such as the US and China, are also affecting oil prices. Concerning Venezuelan President's threat to boycott oil exports to the US, he said: “We have a transparent policy. If America continues its hostile policies towards us, we will stop our oil export to that country”. Ramirez said that he was sure that Iran would have done the same if it had been under attack. He added: “We cannot constantly export our oil to America and be treated with hostility. We have to take certain measures if American policies continue”.