Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Chevron Advises Against Mini-Tender
All Associated Press NewsSAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) - Oil company Chevron Corp. advised investors on Friday not to tender shares in response to an below-market mini-tender offer from private Canadian investment firm TRC Capital Corp.
Chevron said it was notified of a mini-tender offer to purchase up to 2 million shares of common stock, or 0.09 percent of outstanding shares, at $54.10, a 4 percent discount to the March 14 closing price of $56.35, the day before the tender offer was made, and a 6.7 percent discount to Friday's closing price of $57.97.
Meridian = pumper and dumper
PennWell sponsors West African oil seminar
Tulsa World (subscription), OK - Mar 26, 2006
A recent global energy conference by Tulsa-based PennWell Corp. highlighted petroleum activity and prospects in the Gulf of Guinea offshore West Africa. ...
http://www.tulsaworld.com/Register/Login.aspx
US might cancel Nigerian President's trip to White House
US raps Nigeria as Liberian warlord vanishes
By Dino Mahtani in Lagos and Guy Dinmore in Washington
Published: March 29 2006 03:00 | Last updated: March 29 2006 03:00
The Bush administration last night was considering cancelling a White House meeting scheduled for today with Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian president, following the disappearance of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president wanted for war crimes who had been given asylum in Nigeria.
A White House spokesman said the US was waiting to hear back from Nigeria on the whereabouts of Mr Taylor. Officials said Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, would meet Mr Obasanjo but a meeting with President George W. Bush was in doubt.
The officials expressed dismay that Mr Taylor had vanished after Washington had delivered a strong message that Nigeria was responsible for handing him over for trial by a special UN-backed court in Sierra Leone for his role in the civil war there. Liberia's newly elected president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who visited the White House last week, had called for him to face justice.
Ms Rice called Mr Obasanjo on Friday to reinforce that message, a US official said.
Members of Congress were outraged that Nigeria had apparently let him slip away on Monday, just two days after it had complicatedthe situation by suggesting that Liberian officials should come and collect Mr Taylor.
"Nigeria reportedly has let a mass murderer with alleged links to al-Qaeda slip out the back door," declared Ed Royce, a California Republican, calling on Mr Bush to call off the meeting. Mr Royce warned of "serious sanctions" by Congress for any country that gave sanctuary to Mr Taylor who is seen as a serious threat to regional security.
Mr Taylor, who won elections in Liberia in 1997, was given asylum in Nigeria in 2003. African leaders and western governments brokered the deal to stop further bloodshed and end 14 years of war that had killed some 250,000 people.
Since Mr Taylor's arrival in his seaside villa in the Nigerian city of Calabar there have been allegations by prosecutors and investigators that he was breaking the terms of his asylum by arranging secret meetings and meddling in Liberian politics.
In 1985 Mr Taylor escaped from a US prison while awaiting extradition to Liberia on corruption charges.
Security around his residence was reportedly lax during the days after Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf's request. Court prosecutors in Sierra Leone had made a request for Nigerian officials to arrest Mr Taylor. Nigeria said it would set up a panel to investigate his disappearance
"His disappearance could mean higher tensions in Liberia in the short term, but there are a lot of people who would rather see Taylor dead than alive, and everything that's happened is pointing more in that direction," said Mike McGovern, West Africa project manager of the International Crisis Group.
Nigeria to hold new bid round for 10 oil blocks in April
UPDATED: 17:14, March 23, 2006
The Nigerian government will in April hold a new bid round for 10 oil blocks from which it hopes to realize about 2 billion U.S. dollars, Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources Tony Chukwueke has said.
The fresh exercise for the blocks, seven from the deepwater and three from the 2005 bid round, is targeted mainly at the downstream operators, who are committed to building new projects such as refineries, power plants and gas pipelines, Chukwueke was quoted as saying in Nigerian media on Thursday.
"We have set a very tough downstream investment hurdle, based on investors who are committed already and prepared to spend over 2 billion dollars either in building refineries, or building power plants, gas pipelines for gas consumption, or railroad project or even agriculture, the fuel replacement program to put ethanol in our energy mix," he said.
Chukwueke denied that the new bid round was a make-up for the shortfalls of the 2005 bid round, saying that it was rather a consolidation of what was done in the last round.
"It was a mini because it is limited in size. The government wants to meet its obligation to all the major downstream players that had committed a lot of money to downstream oil and gas."
Unlike in the last round, Chukwueke pointed out that the bid round would not be open to all. "We are not going to allow everybody to run ... We are going to limit it to really serious downstream players," he added.
Source: Xinhua
UPDATED: 17:14, March 23, 2006
Nigeria to hold new bid round for 10 oil blocks in April
The Nigerian government will in April hold a new bid round for 10 oil blocks from which it hopes to realize about 2 billion U.S. dollars, Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources Tony Chukwueke has said.
The fresh exercise for the blocks, seven from the deepwater and three from the 2005 bid round, is targeted mainly at the downstream operators, who are committed to building new projects such as refineries, power plants and gas pipelines, Chukwueke was quoted as saying in Nigerian media on Thursday.
"We have set a very tough downstream investment hurdle, based on investors who are committed already and prepared to spend over 2 billion dollars either in building refineries, or building power plants, gas pipelines for gas consumption, or railroad project or even agriculture, the fuel replacement program to put ethanol in our energy mix," he said.
Chukwueke denied that the new bid round was a make-up for the shortfalls of the 2005 bid round, saying that it was rather a consolidation of what was done in the last round.
"It was a mini because it is limited in size. The government wants to meet its obligation to all the major downstream players that had committed a lot of money to downstream oil and gas."
Unlike in the last round, Chukwueke pointed out that the bid round would not be open to all. "We are not going to allow everybody to run ... We are going to limit it to really serious downstream players," he added.
Source: Xinhua
Chevron and Exxon strike it big in Africa
By Richard Orange
26 March 2006
US giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil have made an African oil discovery that could hold more than a billion barrels worth of oil and gas.
The find promises to be one of the largest finds this year, potentially opening up a new province off the shore of the West African island state of São Tomé and Principe.
A source who has seen the results told The Business that the Obo-1 well, completed on 15 March, had found oil and gas in significant qualities. He said: “It is an encouraging result. Everyone is pleased.”
Geological studies of the prospect suggest it could hold even more oil and gas than the Akpo field in the Nigerian waters to the north, which is thought to have recoverable reserves of more than a billion barrels.
The source said Chevron and Exxon would meet on Tuesday to plan their next moves. He said Chevron, the operator of the field, had not yet decided when it would drill more wells to prove the exact size of the recovery.
There is a severe shortage of oil rigs off West Africa, where the field has been discovered, making it extremely expensive to drill further at short notice.
The companies would not be able to confirm the full extent of the discovery until they had drilled more wells. It took four wells before the full extent of the Akpo field had been proven.
Another source said the consortium was still examining the data and was unlikely to agree on how to release the result until April.
Chevron is the operator of the field with a 51% stake, Exxon holds 40%, with an alliance of Nigerian oil companies Dang-ote Energy Equity Resources and Afren holding the remaining 9%.
The discovery will turn São Tomé into the oil industry’s newest resource-holder. The 160,000 inhabitants of the tiny former Portuguese colony could see their lives transformed in a way that has sadly eluded the inhabitants of the far more populous Niger Delta to the North – so long as São Tomé’s rulers manage to prevent a corrupt few siphoning off most profits.
Campaigners for transparency in oil producing countries were optimistic about São Tomé after the country put into place a petroleum law modelled on that of Norway, with transparency over oil revenues and an oil fund for future generations.
Sadly, the awards of other licences to drill in São Tomé have already shown significant irregularities, with squabbles between Nigerian and São Tomé officials delaying the awards.
A report by São Tomé’s attorney general said the recent bidding rounds were subject to “serious deficiencies and political manipulation”.
São Tomé signed its deal with Nigeria in 2001, after years of dispute over the maritime boundaries between the two states.
Under the agreement, São Tomé keeps 40% of state revenues from any discoveries and Nigeria keeps 60%.
http://www.thebusinessonline.com/Stories.aspx?Chevron%20and%20Exxon%20strike%20it%20big%20in%20Afric...
Chevron and Exxon strike it big in Africa
By Richard Orange
26 March 2006
US giants Chevron and Exxon Mobil have made an African oil discovery that could hold more than a billion barrels worth of oil and gas.
The find promises to be one of the largest finds this year, potentially opening up a new province off the shore of the West African island state of São Tomé and Principe.
A source who has seen the results told The Business that the Obo-1 well, completed on 15 March, had found oil and gas in significant qualities. He said: “It is an encouraging result. Everyone is pleased.”
Geological studies of the prospect suggest it could hold even more oil and gas than the Akpo field in the Nigerian waters to the north, which is thought to have recoverable reserves of more than a billion barrels.
The source said Chevron and Exxon would meet on Tuesday to plan their next moves. He said Chevron, the operator of the field, had not yet decided when it would drill more wells to prove the exact size of the recovery.
There is a severe shortage of oil rigs off West Africa, where the field has been discovered, making it extremely expensive to drill further at short notice.
The companies would not be able to confirm the full extent of the discovery until they had drilled more wells. It took four wells before the full extent of the Akpo field had been proven.
Another source said the consortium was still examining the data and was unlikely to agree on how to release the result until April.
Chevron is the operator of the field with a 51% stake, Exxon holds 40%, with an alliance of Nigerian oil companies Dang-ote Energy Equity Resources and Afren holding the remaining 9%.
The discovery will turn São Tomé into the oil industry’s newest resource-holder. The 160,000 inhabitants of the tiny former Portuguese colony could see their lives transformed in a way that has sadly eluded the inhabitants of the far more populous Niger Delta to the North – so long as São Tomé’s rulers manage to prevent a corrupt few siphoning off most profits.
Campaigners for transparency in oil producing countries were optimistic about São Tomé after the country put into place a petroleum law modelled on that of Norway, with transparency over oil revenues and an oil fund for future generations.
Sadly, the awards of other licences to drill in São Tomé have already shown significant irregularities, with squabbles between Nigerian and São Tomé officials delaying the awards.
A report by São Tomé’s attorney general said the recent bidding rounds were subject to “serious deficiencies and political manipulation”.
São Tomé signed its deal with Nigeria in 2001, after years of dispute over the maritime boundaries between the two states.
Under the agreement, São Tomé keeps 40% of state revenues from any discoveries and Nigeria keeps 60%.
http://www.thebusinessonline.com/Stories.aspx?Chevron%20and%20Exxon%20strike%20it%20big%20in%20Afric...
President to Welcome Nigerian President to the White House
President Bush will welcome President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the White House on March 29, 2006. Nigeria is a strategic partner of the United States in Africa and the visit provides an opportunity for the President to thank President Obasanjo for his leadership as Chairman of the African Union in the deployment of African troops in response to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. The two leaders also will discuss a broad range of regional and international issues including continuing cooperation in the areas of Darfur, regional security, energy security, fighting corruption, strengthening democratic institutions, and the need to bring Charles Taylor to justice.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060324-1.html
Bush to host Nigeria's Obasanjo
Mar 24, 2006, 17:31 GMT
printer friendly email this article
Washington - US President George W. Bush will meet Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in Washington this month to discuss the situation in Darfur, the White House announced Friday.
The leaders will meet March 29, according to a statement from White House PRess Secretary Scott McClellan. In addition to discussing Darfur, Bush and Obasanjo will discuss regional security in Africa, energy security and 'the need to bring [former Liberian president] Charles Taylor to justice.'
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Two Institutions Register 339,582 Restricted ERHE Shares For Sale; Cranshire Registered 1,922,576 For Sale On March 14
Two institutions, Vertical Ventures and Iroquois Capital LP, have registered a total of 339,582 through broker Bernard Herold & Co., the Dow Jones Newswire reported this morning.
The two companies have been associated with ERHC Energy shares for some time, but it is not known who the principals in either firm are, or why they chose the obscure brokerage to register their shares for sale.
Here are the items on these two Form 144 sales, followed by a third that we missed last week:
From Joe Shea's blog.... http://www.erhc.blogspot.com/
'World's largest' oil and gas exchange launches
by Daniel Stanton
Wednesday, 22 March, 2006
Livingston: EOS system provides greater transparency and makes it easier for buyers to plan.
A new Qatar trading exchange, believed to be the largest oil and gas trading platform in the world, has launched today, based on technology from an Oman-based company.
EOS Technology, which already operates exchanges in Oman, Kuwait and Jordan, has set up the system in collaboration with a consortium of local Qatari businessmen.
Alan Livingston, group CEO of EOS, said: “We have the largest oil and gas exchange in the world in terms of the number of members and in terms of true bids, and it all started here in the Middle East.”
Initial members are understood to include Shell, BP, and most of the other major oil and gas producers.
Livingston believes the system offers greater efficiencies than existing catalogue-based systems, which tend to be based on EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), a 40-year old technology.
“PDO (Petroleum Development Oman), having been using the system, have paid 98% of their invoices on time,” he said.
“It makes it much easier for the vendors to plan. We have a large company who is saying if we use your exchange we will offer our vendors payment within seven days of presentation of the invoice and in return for that we will expect the vendors to give us a discount.”
The system also provides transparency, since it records details of all trading and bidding activities, as well as archiving data necessary for compliance with regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley.
“Under our system its fully auditable,” said Livingston. “You can’t actually open any of the bids until the due date has been reached or indeed all the responses are in, and the system records the decision in terms of who purchased the goods. We’re protecting the buyers from accusations of underhand dealings.”
The Oman exchange currently handles 25,000 documents a month, while the other exchanges operated by EOS have moved over two million documents to date.
EOS will be launching an exchange in Sudan shortly and is currently in negotiations for a partner in the US.
Chevron may own piece of "world-class discovery"
Nexen says Knotty Head "potential world class"
Wed Mar 22, 2006 7:52 AM EST
TORONTO (Reuters) - Nexen Inc. (NXY.TO: Quote) said late on Tuesday it will ramp up the appraisal of its interest in a well in the Gulf of Mexico region after results showed it to be "a potential world-class discovery."
Nexen, which along with Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC.N: Quote), BHP Billiton (BHP.N: Quote), and Chevron Corp. (CVX.N: Quote) each own a 25 percent interest in the well, said the resource estimate for the field is 200 million to 500 million barrels of oil equivalent.
Nexen's pre-drill resource estimate for the field, before drilling the first exploration well, was 350 million to 1 billion barrels.
Late last year, the partners said they had discovered oil in the deepest well ever drilled in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico region, in Green Canyon block 512 about 170 miles southeast of New Orleans.
The Knotty Head No. 1 well, which hit 600 feet of net pay oil sand, was drilled to a depth of just over 34,000 feet in about 3,500 feet of water.
Chevron's Deepest Well Holds Less Oil Than Forecast (Update1)
March 22 (Bloomberg) --
Chevron Corp.'s Knotty Head discovery, the deepest well ever drilled in the Gulf of Mexico, holds about half as much oil and natural gas as originally estimated, said Nexen Inc., a partner in the project.
The discovery, announced in December, probably holds the equivalent of 200 million to 500 million barrels of oil, less than an earlier estimate of 350 million to 1 billion, said Kevin Finn, a spokesman for Calgary-based Nexen. The estimate was lowered after a second well was drilled off the main shaft.
Additional drilling to gauge the extent of the field has been delayed because no rigs are available in the Gulf, Finn said. Chevron, Nexen, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and BHP Billiton Ltd. each own a 25 percent stake in the project. Chevron was operator of both wells.
``The 1-billion-barrel estimate was a pre-drill estimate based on everything going exactly right,'' Finn said today in a telephone interview. ``That rarely occurs in an oil well. But this is still one heck of a big find.''
Shares of Chevron rose 21 cents to $56.78 at 1:43 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Woodlands, Texas- based Anadarko rose $2.01 to $98.36, and Nexen climbed C$1.20 to C$63.05 ($54.11) in Toronto. Earlier today in Australia, Melbourne-based BHP Billiton fell 14 cents to A$25.18 ($18.10).
Chevron, Exxon Mobil Corp. and other oil producers are drilling twice as deep as they ever have before to locate untapped reserves big enough to make up for shallower wells that are nearing depletion.
Knotty Head was drilled in 3,500 feet (1,067 meters) of water to a depth of 30,589 feet under the sea floor, San Ramon, California-based Chevron said in December. The field is about 170 miles southeast of New Orleans.
NIGERIA - US Navy pledges stronger ties with Gulf of Guinea
Posted Tue, 21 Mar 2006
Abuja - The visiting Commander of the US Naval Forces in Europe, Admiral Henry "Harry" Ulrich, has pledged more "activity and visibility" by the US Navy in the Gulf of Guinea as a way of firming co-operation between America and nations of the region.
Admiral Ulrich arrived in Nigeria on Monday from Ghana, where he attended a conference between the Gulf of Guinea nations and the US on ways of securing the region, at the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Institute in Accra.
The Gulf of Guinea nations include Nigeria, Angola, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and Sao Tome and Principe.
He told officers of the Nigerian Navy at the Naval Headquarters in Abuja that the US authorities were bent on ensuring security in the region, especially because of the thousands of ships that navigate through it.
"We aim to co-operate with the Gulf of Guinea nations on security. We have thousands of ships from the Gulf of Guinea to the US each year. We have interest in what they have and what they carry," Ulrich said.
"Also, a couple of thousands of ships come from the US to the Gulf of Guinea, and across to the Far East. So, all nations have vested interest in knowing the history of ships plying the region and what they carry. We have to work together to share information. We are looking forward to recommendations on the way forward," he added.
Admiral Ulrich also confirmed that the US has two ships in the region - one in Accra, Ghana and the other in Congo - to help the region's navies in "terrorism training".
With the situation in the Middle East, the US is looking more and more to Africa - especially the Gulf Guinea - for its oil supply, necessitating increasing interest in the security of the area especially amid rising terrorism in the world.
US dependence on oil from Africa is expected to increase from the 18 per cent of US net oil imports recorded in 2004, as new oil fields are brought on line in the Gulf of Guinea.
The visiting US Commander also asked the Nigerian military, particularly the Navy, to keep its "gates of communication" wide open in order to share information with the US Navy for mutual benefit.
Admiral Ulrich also promised to participate in the African Sea Power Symposium, scheduled to hold next May in Nigeria.
Nigerian Chief of Naval Staff, vice-admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, briefed the visiting American Commander on the current activities of the Navy, saying that the environment in which the Nigerian Navy operates was quite complex. -panapress
Nigeria, Chinese firm sign investment MOU
• Sunday, Mar 19, 2006
Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on economic cooperation and investment with the Guangdong Xinguang International Group of China.
The MOU would herald at least two-billion-dollar worth of investment in the agriculture, health, education, transport, industry, commerce and housing sectors of the economy.
Commerce Minister Idris Waziri signed on behalf of the government at the brief ceremony in Abuja on Wednesday after two days of discussions with the two-man Chinese delegation.
“Waziri said in his speech that the MOU showed “a clear determination on both sides to enter into concrete business activities”.
The Leader of the Chinese delegation, Mr Wenbin Wang, who signed on behalf of his company, said that the time was ripe for concrete economic cooperation between China and Nigeria.
In his opinion, the signing of the MOU was a good beginning, adding that a good future lay ahead of the two nations.
Under the MOU, the Guangdong Xinguang International Group, which is a government-owned company, wants 100 personnel each from the agriculture and health ministries for immediate training in identified areas of need.
The company would build the Abuja metro line and light train infrastructure, build 50,000 units of low income houses in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt.
It also intends to build malaria medicine and antibiotics factories, provide computers for tertiary institutions.
It would also build a cement factory to service its projects as well as an international shopping mall in Port Harcourt, Abuja and Lagos.
The Tide On Sunday learnt that this development was sequel to a letter written to President Olusegun Obasanjo by the Chinese President Hulin Tao indicating the country’s willingness to concretise economic cooperation between them.
As a result, Obasanjo set up an inter-ministerial committee with membership drawn from the relevant ministries to hold discussions with the visiting delegation and work out modalities for the economic cooperation. This is coming ahead of the expected state visit of the Chinese President to Nigeria next month.
SAO TOME : Nigerian company to build US $25 m power plant
March 18, 2006, 23 hours, 58 minutes and 49 seconds ago.
Nigerian company, Petroleum International is set to invest US$25 million in building a power plant in Sao Tome and Principe, Sao tome’s prime minister said recently.
Maria do Carmo Silveira made the announcement at the end of a ceremony to sign the agreement between the director of the Sao Tome Finance Ministry, Ana Silveira, and the executive director of Petroleum International, Akiwole Omoboviono.
Speaking to the press, Maria do Carmo Silveira, set a deadline of 12 months for the start of this project, which will involve Sao Tome’s national electricity company, EMAE, and Germany’s Siemens, which will provide technical assistance.
Over the last few years there have been successive energy crises in Sao Tome and Principe due to breakdowns of the generators that power EMAE’s only power plant, which is responsible for 80 percent of the electricity supply in the archipelago.
Source : Macau-Hub
CVX's CEO Dave O'Reilly - global view...
A global view from the top of Chevron
By Sheila McNulty in San Ramon, California
Published: March 19 2006 16:36 | Last updated: March 19 2006 16:36
At first, Dave O’Reilly, Chevron’s chief executive, cannot remember the last movie he saw. Then it comes to him – Syriana. “I had to go and see that,” he says of the Oscar-nominated, contintent-hopping drama about oil, politics and the war on terror.
But afterwards, he smiles, his wife said: “Well, the real thing is a lot more fun.”
Mr O’Reilly runs the world’s fifth largest integrated oil and gas company by market capitalisation, and fourth biggest by worldwide reserves. Now that oil companies must explore for new reserves in deeper water, under salt, or in dense rock and clotted sand, his business has become a lot more difficult.
It not only requires innovative technology; in a business that involves so much investment and in which projects run for a decade or more, the economics are always key.
The big finds are usually in politically sensitive areas that need high-level diplomacy, such as Venezuela. Add in protests from Washington about the recent record profits prompted by a public struggling with high energy prices, and it is clear why Mr O’Reilly has little time for movie-going.
How does he manage a difficult business at a difficult time? He sets aside time to think about the business while working out in the morning, but also during the many hourse spent on aircraft. He says: “It’s pretty hard to think when you are sitting here in the office because there is always somebody at the door.’’ He also makes good use of technology for staying in touch. “I have a laptop. I confess to having a BlackBerry and cell phone,” he says.
Speaking in his office in San Ramon, California, Mr O’Reilly is relaxed and affable, even joshing. He is known for the relationships he can establish in even the most politically challenging countries. He travels extensively, willingly hopping on an aircraft to sort out high-level issues. “The interesting thing for me is trying to understand what are the priorities in the places in which we do business and how can we help fulfil those priorities while conducting our business in a way that creates value for the company.’’ He gains that understanding while doing the main negotiating himself, noting: “It’s the way you get things done. I don’t think you can delegate some things.’’
That is how he won Unocal in last year’s bidding war with CNOOC, the Chinese oil company, and how he reached the biggest decision he has made at Chevron – to undertake the $36bn merger with Texaco in 2000, the same year he became chairman and chief executive.
“If we wanted to compete on a global basis, my view – and our team all agreed with this – was that we needed to have the scale and the breadth and the geographic balance to do that,” Mr O’Reilly says.
Since 1998 Chevron’s capital employed has nearly tripled to $71.1bn and expanded outside the US. In 1998, 62 per cent of those funds were spent in North America, compared with just 33 per cent in 2005. Chevron’s net production has grown from 1.6m barrels per day to 2.7m, with the North American share dwindling from 44 per cent to 29 per cent. Chevron has refocused its portfolio to be a top player in its core areas of the Gulf of Mexico, west Africa, Asia, Venezuela and the Caspian.
The internationalisation of Chevron was a logical step for the Dublin-born 59-year-old, who earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from University College, Dublin, and immediately signed on as a process engineer at Chevron. “I just love the oil industry and the idea that it’s a business where you have this great combination of technology, economics and geopolitics.’’
Mr O’Reilly has read “all the books about leaders”, but in the end decided: “You have to be yourself.” But managers can get ideas from others and he relies on his strategy committee to discuss issues such as big investments or new directions for the business. The first stage is discussing whether something is consistent with Chevron’s strategy, then comes assessing the economics and risks. “But, ultimately, somebody has to make a decision, and that’s my role.”
He credits his father, Jack, who was general manager of a large Dublin department store, for preparing him for a role as decision-maker. “He was the one who pushed me to ensure that I did the tough things in high school, such as mathematics and sciences, and things that are harder to do. And you have to work hard.” Mr O’Reilly’s brother, John, also became a chief executive – of Paddy Power, the Irish off-track betting company.
With memories of his father in mind, Mr O’Reilly considers it part of his job to push and encourage the younger employees at Chevron. He tries to dine with its “future leaders” weekly, when in town; the previous night’s meal included 20 staffers from around the world, he says.
Meeting them enables him to learn about their perceptions while reinforcing Chevron’s value system and priorities. “I consider one of my most important roles is keeper of the value system,” he says, leafing through a brochure for employees. “If I were to sum this up in one sentence, it would be ‘getting results the right way’.”
Such values are, post-Enron, preached throughout corporate America, but Mr O’Reilly says Chevron’s date back to the 1920s, which in itself proves the system’s value: “It enables organisations to be successful for the long term.”
It is his intention to continue that tradition.
Oilman57, Walter Brandhuber might not have been there but ERHE's Director Howard Jeter was in the audience - see my post from 3/3/06 below.
thanks,
ND9
****************************************************
Posted by: Nightdaytrader
In reply to: None Date:3/3/2006 10:52:55 PM
Post #of 34693
ERHE's Howard Jeter & Daukoru together in DC, at same function........... Howard Jeter is ERHE Director.......
Per article below, "Person was joined on the panel by Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria's minister of state for petroleum resources and currently president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Howard Jeter was in the audience."
ND9
****************************************************
03 March 2006
Africa Important to Nation's Energy Security, U.S. Official Says
Energy Department's George Person sees "tremendous" increase of imports possible
By Jim Fisher-Thompson and Bruce Greenberg
Washington File Staff Writers
Washington -- U.S.-Africa trade ties can grow only stronger as one in five barrels of oil consumed in America in the next few decades most likely will come from the continent, says a top U.S. energy official.
Currently, 15 percent of U.S. oil imports comes from Africa, according to George Person, acting deputy assistant secretary for international energy policy at the U.S. Department of Energy. Person participated in a March 1 discussion on Africa and International Energy Security sponsored by the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation.
Sullivan was a prominent African-American minister and businessman who operated self-help programs in the United States and abroad and established an important set of ethical guidelines -- known as the Sullivan Principles -- for foreign investors and businesses operating in apartheid-era South Africa during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Person was joined on the panel by Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria's minister of state for petroleum resources and currently president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria Howard Jeter was in the audience.
Daukoru also addressed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce March 2 on the topic of energy security.
Person told the Sullivan Foundation panel: "Close to 20 percent of [U.S.] net oil imports are coming from Africa. Think about that. Some analysts are even forecasting that that number could increase tremendously."
In addition to oil, there are other opportunities in Africa, the U.S. official said. For example, "natural gas, particularly liquefied natural gas, is increasingly becoming more of a global commodity, and the U.S. is a major consumer of that," he said.
Certainly, there are challenges to this increased trade, Person said. But Americans, he said, must move beyond the challenges and focus on more than oil and gas. The dialogue, he said, also should be about "energy services, trade and investment, economic empowerment," as well as public and private partnerships.
Person said, "We have had very good discussions at the Department of Energy between the minister [Daukoru] and [Energy] Secretary [Samuel] Bodman, who has emphasized the importance of working with Africans" on mutual energy concerns.
As president of OPEC, Daukoru heads the organization whose 11 member nations hold two-thirds of all proven oil reserves. Its chief aim is to keep the price of oil stabilized to eliminate fluctuations that might imperil a steady income flow to its oil-producing members. Although most of the Gulf states are members, large producers like the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia are not.
Even though Nigeria is the only sub-Saharan nation in OPEC, the African energy resource base throughout West and Southern Africa is substantial and very promising, Daukoru said. Already, he added, the United States receives about 8 percent of all its oil imports from Nigeria and 7 percent from Angola, and fields in the Gulf of Guinea area "are of increasing importance for [energy] supplies to the U.S."
African oil, he said, also has "the advantage of being light and sweet [easier to refine] and comes from the Atlantic rim, and you have investments across the Atlantic Ocean and therefore in the same [geologic] basin."
Daukoru predicted that natural gas soon will rival oil as a major energy source worldwide: "Gas has become a cleaner fuel than oil, and at least for utilities’ purposes, and to some extent transportation, gas is going to rival oil. We estimate that in the next 20-25 years gas will get very close to overtaking oil" in world markets.
This is good news for Africa, the Nigerian said, because gas has "a big resource base in Nigeria, offshore Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea -- also to some extent in Angola."
"The resource [in Africa] is huge, but so is the challenge of bringing that to the marketplace," and that will involve partnerships with companies and organizations familiar with mobilizing energy resources, Daukoru concluded.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
Magic, Meridian said "current assets and financing". I assumed by financing he meant the $45.9M. So I didn't forget it............
Now, if you're right........., and when he says "current assets", he's talking about the $45.9M, I would then ask what "financing" he's talking about.
ND9
******************************
Meridian said,...... "Brandhuber is not a classic CEO. I think there will be a plan to transform this company into a real oil company. the current assets and financing are an ideal platform IMHO."
Meridian, what ERHE "current" assets are you referring to? Do you mean the potential oil reserves? Please elaborate.
thanks,
ND9
Meridian said,...... "Brandhuber is not a classic CEO. I think there will be a plan to transform this company into a real oil company. the current assets and financing are an ideal platform IMHO."
Balance - no worries?
a.) What happens if CEO EO sells his ~42% to a large oil company. How do we (i.e., shareholders) profit if that happens?
b.) What happens if we move to London AIM?
c.) What happens if we have a reverse split (per Meridian's opinion) and investors get scared off?
d.) What happens if the company doesn't market itself well, doesn't communicate to investors or shareholders, and we never see the share price go up significantly?
I'm long on ERHE but I think there are still some concerns here.......
ND9
Chevron to modify US refineries for more gasoline
Tuesday 14 March 2006, 11:48am EST
Printer Friendly | Email Article | Reprints | RSS
WASHINGTON, March 14 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp. (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to spend $3.3 billion this year in the United States to explore and produce crude oil and natural gas and an additional $1 billion in U.S. refining and marketing of petroleum products, the company's chairman said on Tuesday.
"Spending is targeted for modifications to our refineries in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Richmond and El Segundo, California, that will enable increased gasoline production," David O'Reilly said in written testimony for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on record oil company profits and high gasoline costs.
Chevron's total planned capital spending worldwide this year will be nearly $15 billion, up 33 percent from 2005, O'Reilly said.
"These investments are aligned with our extensive queue of projects that are scheduled to come on line between now and 2008, bringing significant new supplies of energy to U.S. and global markets," O'Reilly said.
Daukoru says more deep water blocks to be opened up for competition by end of 2006 (if I'm reading article below correctly).
ND9
Article states: Daukoru said with the record signature bonuses paid by investors, the Federal Government is encouraged to open up more deepwater acreages to international competition in the future, “the earliest of which I expect to be concluded by end 2006.”
*******************************************
FG Earns $650m from Awards of Deepwater Oil Blocks
Loses N4.3bn daily to Niger Delta crisis •Hope dims on early release of hostages
From Mike Oduniyi, Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Segun James in Warri, 03.14.2006
The Federal Government yesterday said it realised more than $650 million (N83.9 billion) from signature bonuses paid by investors on eight deep offshore oil blocks awarded in the 2005 Bid Round.
However, a spate of militant attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta has cut the country's crude oil production by as much as 560,000 barrels per day (bpd), which in monetary terms, translates to a daily revenue loss of $33.36 million (N4.3 billion) for Nigeria and its multinational oil partners.
Also, hopes that the remaining three oil expatriates held hostage by Niger Delta militants would be released has been dashed.
Speaking at the opening of the Offshore West Africa (OWA) Conference and Exhibition in Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, said the revenue earned from the allocation of the eight deepwater blocks, out of the 14 put on offer at the last bidding round, was a demonstration of international investors’ confidence in Nigeria.
Daukoru said with the record signature bonuses paid by investors, the Federal Government is encouraged to open up more deepwater acreages to international competition in the future, “the earliest of which I expect to be concluded by end 2006.”
“The 2005 bid round presented acreages in 2-3 kilometers of water depth, which would require the latest advances in technology to bring to maturation,” said the minister.
“I am very pleased with the response of the international investing community to the round, as new investors picked up 8 of the 14 deepwater blocks offered at record signature bonuses exceeding $650 million in total,” he added.
Nigeria is looking up to exploration in the deep offshore for it to meet the targeted oil reserves and production of 40 billion barrels and 4.5 million barrels per day (bpd), respectively.
Daukoru, however, adviced operators that while they pursue deepwater development, they must ensure that indigenous participation also progressed at the same pace.
He commended the achievement of oil service firms like Nigerdock, Daewoo, Saipem and Wilbros for ensuring local fabrication of deep offshore oil production facilities including platforms, booms and buoys, adding that the next stage is to get indigenous companies to participate in fabrication of subsea equipment.
“In this regard I have mandated the DPR and the NNPC to work together with our international partners to formulate strategies to realise optimal Nigerian content in deep offshore development,” said the minister.
Speaking later to newsmen, Daukoru said that crisis in the Niger Delta had cut Nigeria's crude oil production by as much as 560,000 bpd.
He said that the Federal Government was however, pushing to have part of the production back on stream within two weeks.
"Actually when we counted up, we were losing 556,000 bpd including third party production into Shell facility," said Daukoru, who is also president of the Organisation of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC).
"But I believe 100,000 bpd should come back very quickly and then some of the shut-in production in the east (of the Niger delta) should also come back," he said.
Shell accounts for about 450,000 bpd of the production loss after shutting down its entire operation in the west of the Niger Delta, following attacks by militants demanding a greater share of oil revenue.
While Daukoru said he expects Shell's 120,000 bpd EA shallow water field to "immediately come back," he warned that getting the entire 556,000 bpd output back on stream depends on situation in the Delta's creeks.
A militia group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) attacked Shell's Forcados crude export terminal on February 18, sabotaged two pipelines belonging to Shell and state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and kidnapped nine foreign oil workers. Six of the men were later released, but three are still being held.
"We were thinking that in two weeks we could get the production back but it depends on the extent of the damage. Because of the threat to helicopter over flight, we don't really have quantitative assessment of the damage to the field. Our expectation is to be able to get it done in two weeks,” Daukoru added.
But in a paper presented at the OWA Conference, NNPC Group Managing Director, Engr. Funsho Kupolokun, said that the Corporation is trying to engage international consultants to assist in reviewing deepwater development project schedules.
According to Kupolokun, this is aimed at reducing project delivery times and cost considerations among other issues, while also noting that government expects the cost of deepwater projects to be within budget and to be comparable in costs and scope to similar projects around the world.
He said that the available opportunities have inherent challenges, the most critical of which is capacity limitations in local infrastructure companies.
“In order, therefore to build capacity, close identified gaps and facilitate the successful implementation of the Nigerian content programme, NNPC has identified about 22 capacity building projects,” said Kupolokun.
The first deepwater licensing round in Nigeria was held in 1990 and by 1995 exploratory drilling resulted in the discovery of Oyo field by an indigenous company in 365m water depth. This was followed in quick succession by SNEPCO operated Bonga field (1015m) in 1996 and NAE’s Abo (580m) in 1997.
The development encouraged other PSC operators to venture out aggressively into exploration of their blocks leading up to the discovery of Erha, Agbami, Akpo and others between 1997 and year 2002.
Currently, deepwater exploration has added about seven billion barrels of crude oil and about 20 trillion standard cubic feet of gas representing an increase of 16 per cent and 11 per cent in crude and gas reserves respectively.
The increase has pushed Nigeria’s crude oil reserves to about 36 billion barrels and 187 trillion standard cubic feet of gas.
"With the sustained level of exploration activities, the nation’s reserves and producibility targets of 40 billion barrels and four million barrels per day respectively by 2010 are very much on course,” Kupolokun said.
Meanwhile, hopes that the remaining hostages held captive by militant Ijaw youths would soon be released were dashed yesterday when the meeting of the Concerned Ijaw Youth Leaders Forum (CIYLF), was unable to adequately address their situation.
Also, an oil facility belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), the Ekremor Manifold, was on Monday, bombed at Odidi area of Warri by suspected Ijaw militants.
American and British diplomats, who had besieged the venue of the CIYLF meeting in Warri, were disappointed yesterday when the leaders only gloss over the fate of the men in a signed communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
The diplomats who stayed at the Wellington Hotel, venue of the two day meeting had hoped to directly negotiate the release of the men but their efforts proved abortive.
The CIYLF members who came from the Eastern, Central and Western zones of the Ijaw nation, in a statement signed by 19 person including Dr. Bello Oboko, president, Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC); George Timinimi, Dan Ekpebide, Kennedy Orubebe, Dennis Otuaro, Kingsley Kuku and Paul Bebemimibo among others stated in their nine point resolution that “we align with the position of the Ijaw elders and call for the release of all remaining hostages”.
The diplomats were visibly disappointed as hopes which had been raised that the men would be released yesterday as a gesture of the magnanimity of the youth leaders was dashed.
However, the Ijaw youth leaders called for “a total cessation of hostilities against the Ijaw people by the Armed Forces of the Nigeria State” as a condition for the release of the men adding that only “a clear and formal declaration to that effect by the Federal Government of Nigeria, and the release of the remaining hostages in the Niger Delta would demonstrate goodwill and prepare the conditions necessary for genuine dialogue that would aim at addressing the underlying factors for violence in the Niger Delta and Nigeria”.
While also calling on the “international community” to prevail on the Federal Government to come to terms and negotiate with the Ijaw people, they also demanded that former Bayelsa Governor DSP Alamieyeseigha be given “free, fair and expeditions trial” as well as MASSOB leader, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, Chief Gani Adams, Dr. Frederick Fasheun, Alhaji Dokubo Asari and his lawyer, Uche Okwukwu.
They also demanded that anything short of 25 per cent derivation would not be acceptable to the South-South people.
The CIYLF also asked Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to comply with the Federal High Court order to pay the Ijaws of Bayelsa state the sum of $1.5 billion.
Sao Tome boosts budget with US$15.6 million from Oil Account [ 2006-03-13 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 13 March – Sao Tome and Principe’s National Assembly has approved the transfer of US$15.6 million from its Oil Account, which brings together revenue from oil exploration, to the State Budget, according to local press reports Friday.
The figure, the transfer of which was proposed by a government decree, will boost Sao Tome’s state budget, which was approved last week and outlines expenditure of US$87 million, daily newspaper Tela Non reported.
Of the total, 35 percent is earmarked for general expenses and 65 percent for capital expenditure, including paying off foreign loans.
In its latest report on Sao Tome published last week, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it was “satisfied” with the archipelago’s economic development.
The IMF granted the country additional funding of US$600,000, but warned that Sao Tome needed to carry out reforms and create a transparent system for managing oil revenues. (macauhub)
http://www.macauhub.com.mo/en/news.php?ID=959
XOM/Chevron drilling 6 miles down........
****************************************************
Exxon, Chevron drilling risk may depress sharesPublished: Monday, 13 March, 2006, 11:10 AM Doha Time
An artist's concept of the Discoverer Clear Leader, a new deepwater rig Transocean, the world's largest offshore oil and natural gas driller will be building. Any failure in the expensive search big reserves will leave the producers vulnerable to declining reserves, output and earnings, says analysts.
CHICAGO: The world’s largest oil companies are drilling deeper than ever to find fields as energy demand rises and countries such as Saudi Arabia limit access. That may be the bad news for shareholders.
The wells may yield nothing more than a lesson in what happens when drilling deeper than the height of Mount Everest. Oil companies including BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are seeking to replace the millions of barrels of oil pumped each day. Any failures would leave the producers vulnerable to declining reserves, output and earnings.
ExxonMobil Corp and Chevron Corp are spending $250mn to search for natural gas at a record six miles beneath the Gulf of Mexico, where temperatures reach 600 degrees Fahrenheit, testing the limits of drill bits and pipes.
Chevron last week asked Transocean Inc to build a rig capable of boring 7 1/2 miles down as part of a $1.7bn order. “We are concerned with production growth year after year after year,’’ said Gene Pisasale, a former ExxonMobil geologist who helps oversee $48bn at Mercantile Bankshares Corp in Baltimore. The bank holds 5.1mn ExxonMobil shares and 870,000 Chevron shares, according to Bloomberg data.
Energy stocks have become cheap relative to profit largely because of the potential for setbacks. The price-earnings ratio for Morgan Stanley Capital International’s World Energy Index of 83 producers fell last month to 11.3, the lowest since at least 1994.
A year earlier, the ratio was 14.1. ExxonMobil shares, down 1.4% this year, trade at 11.4 times earnings, and Chevron sells for 8.7 times profit. BP stock is up 3% this year, trading at 10.5 times income, and Shell’s B class shares in London are at 8.5 times earnings.
Crude oil prices are up 18% in the past year and reached a record $70.85 a barrel in August after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, shutting refineries, flattening rigs, and cutting oil and gas production.
As prices surged, the oil companies were criticised for not spending enough to boost energy supplies. The world’s three largest oil companies – ExxonMobil, BP and Shell – last year reported a collective net income of almost $84bn. That’s equal to $13 from each person in the world.
Among the five largest publicly traded oil companies, Shell, BP and Total SA of France last year failed to find enough oil and gas to replace what they produced, based on the Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Exxon and Chevron replaced more than 100% of what they pumped. ExxonMobil and Chevron are seeking a new deposit at twice the depth of the existing Gulf fields. Their target may be large enough to heat the US with natural gas for more than two years.
“It’s a very risky question as to what we will find,’’ Stuart McGill, senior vice president at Irving, Texas-based ExxonMobil, said in an interview in early February. “We think it’s worth the risk.’’
Geology and politics are forcing the oil companies further afield. Production from areas such as the North Sea and Alaska have peaked after decades of pumping. The size of new discoveries has been declining worldwide in the past decade, said Eric Sprott, who oversees C$3.2bn, ($2.81bn) at Sprott Asset Management in Toronto.
The average size of the seven biggest oil fields scheduled to begin production this year by publicly traded companies is 728mn barrels, according to Deutsche Bank AG analysts. That will drop by about half next year.
Countries such as Russia and Saudi Arabia are saving their best fields for domestic oil companies. And China and India are becoming more aggressive in acquiring foreign fields that historically had been taken by ExxonMobil, BP and their peers.
The Exxon well, known as Blackbeard, is supposed to reach 32,000ft (9,754m) in May at a cost of $110mn. That would beat the record depth of an Oklahoma well known as Bertha Rogers, which got to 31,441ft in 1974, after two years of drilling.
Chevron’s $140mn Knotty Head project reached 30,589 feet below the Gulf of Mexico seafloor in December. The well encountered 600ft of petroleum-laced sand, according to Chevron spokesman Mickey Driver. Additional wells will be drilled off the main shaft to determine whether the deposit will yield enough to be commercially viable, he said.
These wells “are big, costly as hell and absolutely astounding,’’ said David Rinsink, an Apache Corp geologist and president of the Houston Geological Society. “Just physically keeping such a hole from collapsing on itself is a challenge, never mind that you have no idea what’s ahead of you down there.’’
Derek Vogler, who helps manage $11bn as vice president of investments at Country Trust Bank in Bloomington, Illinois, said the big oil companies are able to take advantage of rising commodity prices with projects that are too large and risky for smaller companies.
“The oil companies are looking anywhere they can to find energy,’’ Vogler said. “It takes an Exxon, Chevron, BP or Shell to take on the risks of the largest exploration projects.’’
As energy prices surged 2 1/2 years ago, Country Trust added shares of Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips, the third-biggest US oil company, Vogler said.
McGill said ExxonMobil will take big risks for the chance of long-term payoffs. The company’s first attempts to find oil off the west coast of Africa in the mid-1990s failed. The continent last year became Exxon’s biggest source of crude.
“People often forget that the first two wells drilled in Angola were dry,’’ McGill said. Exxon is prepared to continue the search for gas at more than 30,000ft beneath the Gulf of Mexico if Blackbeard turns out to be a dry hole, McGill said. – Bloomberg
Meridian,
If you had a chance to buy more ERHE this Monday morning, would you?
thanks,
ND9
Meridian, yes, I did. A couple of days back, you said,
Date:3/11/2006 5:44:49 PM
Post #of 30675
From the CIS, it is way after midninght here.
So I was wondering if you were in Russia or somewhere else?
ND9
CHCR - You're putting words in my mouth. I didn't say I didn't like the way the Board was being run. I like the Board.
What I said was this........ I said that although I never agree with Mongo, he actually had a decent thought today about Meridian's posts. I also said that I thought other Board members might want to read Mongo's post. I then said that I didn't think Mongo's post should have been deleted (because it actually added value).
That's the only point I was making..... (I'm not counting the BS back and forth with Kobi)
ND9
Kobi2000, you are missing the points:
1.) I just think that in this case, Mongo's post should not have been deleted. He actually had a decent thought for once. Maybe he was right, maybe he was wrong, but he had a decent thought that others on this board may have been interested it.
2.) Time is subjective as you say. However, unless you are inside Meridian's brain, you don't know if Meridian thinks "shortly" is 30 minutes or 6 hrs. You just don't know Kobi, and that's no BS.
ND9
Mongo was right this time.......... Well, I hate to say that because I never agree with Mongo but he was right..........
In his recent post, which was just deleted, Mongo said it was strange that around 11AM Meridian said he would be leaving for Nigeria "shortly"........ then around 3:30PM, when I (ND9) asked Meridian if his plane had already left, Meridian said still 2 hrs before he had to leave.......
Mongo's point was that at 11am, Meridian said he would be "leaving shortly", yet, 4.5 hrs later Meridian said that he still had 2 more hrs to go. Mongo (like myself) thought it strange that Meridian would say, "leaving shortly" yet, 4.5 hrs later, Meridian was still there.
I must admit, I work with Russians on a weekly basis and I've wondered about some of the phrases that Meridian has used. Meridian used the term "BS" one time, another time he used "big brother, little brother"....... makes you wonder. Again, I work with Russian each week and they never use terms like that....
Oh well, I guess we shouldn't question these posters who just pop in at just the right time....... I guess it's better just to bow and kiss his ring like everybody else.
Yes, I'm long on ERHC Energy so don't even think it......
ND9
Meridian, shouldn't your plane have already left? ND9
22:15 Depart Heathrow
05:25* Arrive Abuja
BA0083 British Airways
Korea, Nigeria Sign Massive Oil Pact
By Ryu Jin
Korea Times Correspondent
President Roh Moo-hyun, left, talks with Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo at the presidential state house in Abuja, Nigeria, Friday. Roh is on nine-day official tour of African nations.
/Yonhap
ABUJA, Nigeria ¤Ñ South Korea and Nigeria signed a contract here on Friday for joint development of two large-scale oil fields off the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa.
Both countries signed a Product Sharing Contract for an estimated 2 billion-barrels petroleum project after a summit between President Roh and the Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, officials accompanying Roh said.
Roh is on a three-day state visit to Nigeria as part the first African trip in nearly 25 years by a South Korean head of state. Before arriving here, Roh had been in Egypt.
``We could secure 1.2 billion barrels of petroleum if the project succeeds in accordance with the contract, which states that we own 60 percent of the total extracted petroleum,¡¯¡¯ Song Min-soon, chief presidential secretary for unification, foreign and security policy, said in a press briefing.
South Korea also signed a memorandum of understanding for comprehensive energy cooperation with Nigeria.
At a luncheon meeting with business leaders from the two nations, Roh presented a package of aid programs for Africa, including plans to triple its Official Development Assistance bound for the continent to some $100 million by 2008.
Officials said the increased financial assistance would be used largely to support Africa¡¯s human resources development and improve health.
On Saturday, Roh is scheduled to fly to Algeria for talks with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on ways to improve cooperative relations between the two countries. Roh returns home Tuesday.
SAO TOME : To discuss splitting oil production with Nigeria
March 11, 2006, 12 hours, 54 minutes and 48 seconds ago.
By Andnetwork .com
Sao Tome and Principe and Nigeria are due to meet on March 14 to try to sign an agreement for splitting production from an oil bloc, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported citing government sources.
Sao Tome’s minister for natural resources, Deolindo da Costa said the meeting would discuss oil issues of the joint exploration area between the two countries..
At the meeting, due to take place in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, the two countries will try to conclude the process for signing an agreement to split production in bloc 4 between them, following a failed meeting on February 24.
The treaty for joint oil exploration, signed in February 2001, divided revenue from the area as 60 percent for Nigeria and the remaining 40 percent for Sao Tome and Principe.
Last February, Nigeria accused the Sao Tome government of trying to make the signing of the contract unviable, a charge denied by the Sao Tome authorities.
The Sao Tome government said that Nigeria was attempting to pressure it into finishing the contract process, without being aware of alleged last minute changes implemented by one of bloc 4’s operators.
Sao Tome’s authorities have stated that without informing either country, ERHC, a Nigerian company heading the consortium operating bloc 4, had included another Nigerian company in its consortium, Godosonic, which acquired a 9 percents take in ERHC.
Source : Maccahub
Search for similar stories
Meridian - you are wrong.........
You said, "BTW what is the logic of having a HQ in Houston while the operatians are in Africa. Every international oil company manages its assets in the Africa time zone from London."
I know for a fact that there are oil companies, including supermajors, that operate in Africa and are managed from the USA, not London.
You make me very nervous. You come on this Board and before you know it, everybody is kissing your ring. I wonder what you're up to?
ND9
JDZ: Sao Tome and Principe shuns PSC treaty with Nigeria
*******************************************
Old news but another interesting article - below, Daukoru states Block 4 will be the first PSC signed. ND9
********************************************
JDZ: Sao Tome and Principe shuns PSC treaty with Nigeria
By LOUIS IBA
Monday March 6, 2006
An imminent collapse of the Nigeria , Sao Tome and Principe treaty to jointly develop crude oil resources overlapping their border looms as the latter has suspended the signing of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the development of Oil Block four in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ), querying the terms of the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) for the block.
The Sao Tome and Principe government over the weekend in Abuja withdrew its consent for the signing of the PSC, insisting it should be given more time to study the document.
Daily Sun reliably gathered that the withdrawal might not be unconnected with fears that the tiny West African country had lost confidence in Nigeria to spearhead an unbiased joint development of resources in the JDZ.
A PSC is the document guiding the relationships between parties, states and operators in an oil block development deal, while the JOA guides relationships among the oil companies in an oil block and has no direct impact on the state parties.
Representatives of the consortium of oil companies for the development of the block include: Addax, Environmental Remediation Holding Company, Godsonic Oil and Gas, Hercules and Centurion. All the firms had gathered for the signing ceremony in Abuja, but the PSC left the venue disappointed.
Block four was earlier awarded to the consortium with Nobel as the operator during the 2004 bid round. Noble, however, withdrew months later for Addax, another member of the consortium to take over as operator.
Addax had led the negotiations for the PSC and also spearheaded the discussion for the JOA among the consortium of oil companies on the oil block.
But on the date of the signing of the final PSC, not even the explanations by the Nigerian firms in the deal that the government of Nigeria had no business with the JOA could dissuade the firms and officials from Sao Tome and Principe from their stance, thereby frustrating the signing of the PSC.
The Nigerian government did not however, take kindly to the development as it told Sao Tome and Principe to tender an unreserved apology to the affected oil companies and the international community, describing the refusal to sign the deal as “ an embarrassment.”
Leader of Nigerian delegation and Minister of State for Petroleum and Energy Resources, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, said that the development was capable of sending wrong signals to the international community and that oil companies might be wary of doing business with the JDZ.
“Nigeria takes no responsibility for this embarrassment. What happened here today would not jeopardise the spirit of the agreement on the JDZ,” Daukoru, who is also the OPEC president, said.
“This is still better than fighting on a piece of land and Nigeria will try its best to ensure the peaceful implementation of the treaty. But I must state here that oil business is done in real time and if we approach it in business manner we would avoid this kind of embarrassing situation, ” Daukoru pleaded.
His words: “Sao Tome and Principe should tender an unreserved apology to the international community for this avoidable situation. This is not good. It does not send the right signal to the outside world in terms of doing business with JDZ. I cannot quantify the loss in terms of the shift and bad image it has created and even in terms of the monetary values.
“Because block 4 is the first PSC we are signing in 2004 bid round. The delay we experience in the first bid round had affected the date for the first oil and now this shift again will affect the first oil. This is at a time cost of producing oil is going up everyday. This is not how to do business and Nigeria is not happy about it.”
India-Africa oil conclave in May
Vishaka Zadoo / New Delhi March 07, 2006
Unveiling another facet of its oil diplomacy, India is now reaching out to Africa. On invitation from the petroleum ministry, top executives of the oil industry from 15 African nations will arrive in India this May to explore business avenues in the hydrocarbon sector.
The ministry, along with Ficci, has also invited energy ministers, oil companies, retail vendors, shipping, pipeline and transportation companies from these countries.
The conference comes at a time when India is seriously looking overseas for exploration, production and downstream activities.
The countries invited include Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Congo Equatorial Guniea, Ethiopia and Gabon. Officials and corporates from Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Ivory Coast and Mauritiana are also likely to visit India for the conference.
The objectives of the conference include forging partnerships between India and African public and private sector companies, and facilitating joint ventures, technology transfer, supply of equipment, consultance and advisory services.
The list of invitees will also include natural gas producing companies, petrochemical companies, legal experts and consultants to showcase the business opportunities in the hydrocarbon sector in Africa.
Africa currently holds 9.4 per cent of the world's proven oil reserves and produces nearly 11 per cent of the world's total oil production. In addition, in the last decade, Africa has registered a 30 per cent increase in oil production. With India importing 16 per cent of its requirement from Africa (mainly Nigeria), there still is a lot of potential that needs to be tapped.
Oil from Africa, particularly from the Gulf of Guinea, is of high quality with low sulphur content.
In return for exploration opportunities in Africa, India will offer expertise for providing oil infrastructure.
The conference will showcase India's competence and know-how in exploration and production activities and technology for upgrading old refineries. India is also expected to offer co-operation in operation and maintenance of refineries, turnkey project implementation, laying pipelines and building infrastructure.
Sao Tomeans and JDA
********************************************
Yes, I know this is old news but looks like The Tide posted it today, March 6.
http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspxqrDate=03/06/2006&qrTitle=Sao%20Tomeans%20and%20JDA&q...
**********************************************
Sao Tomeans and JDA
• Monday, Mar 6, 2006
The Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Authority (JDA) has suffered a setback.
The setback is the inability of JDA to sign the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) on five blocks in the Joint Development Zone two years after the contracts were awarded.
JDA had in November 2004 awarded five oil blocks to a consortia of oil companies, including some multinationals.
But there has always been some elements of distrust on the side of the Sao Tomeans in the venture, which was established in February 2001 between their country and Nigeria on a 60/40 ratio in favour of Nigeria.
This development had impacted negatively on the activities of the joint venture since inception.
The Sao Tomean attorney-general had in November last year conducted an investigation into the award of blocks in the JDZ and concluded that the awards of the contracts were fraught with irregularities.
The attorney-general’s office had called on the U.S. authorities to probe the award of five oil block licences to ERHC by the JDA based on the reports of the investigation.
ERHC is a U.S. based company involved in exploration and production of oil in Africa.
It won stakes in all the five blocks awarded because of its pre-JDA oil activities in the JDZ.
As a result of the report, two American oil firms (Noble Energy and Pioneer) that had an MOU with ERHC to develop blocks two and three pulled out of the venture.
The development led to ERHC wooing Swiss Addax petroleum to take up their stakes in the blocks.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Edmund Daukoru, while reacting to the call for a probe said the award of oil blocks in the Nigeria-Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone (JDZ) was transparent and without irregularities.
“We worked hard as a team to arrive at who gets what in the JDZ,” Daukoru said in Abuja.
The report had alleged that the U.S. based ERHC made improper payments to key decision makers in Sao Tome in a bid to get the contract awarded to it.
According to Daukoru, the report is based on the lack of information and high internal wrangling at the top of the Sao Tomean government.
“1 have a copy of the report and 1 have rejected it in its entirety,” he said.
The minister said Sao Tome and Principe was struggling to cope with a multi-party government, with the president in one party and the prime minister in another.
He explained that ERHC was prospecting in Sao Tome and Principe before the establishment of the JDA and had been providing assistance to the country in areas of infrastructure and transport among others.
The venture suffered a heavy blow at the weekend in Abuja, when winners of block four assembled to sign the PSC, only to learn that the Sao Tomeans had requested for more time to study the PSC that was earlier outlined with their full participation.
The winners of the block led by Addax Petroleum of Switzerland expressed surprise at the turn of events.
Chief Executive Officer of Addax Jean Clude Gandur lamented the situation and said such behaviours would discourage investment in Africa.
Daukoru had apologised to the international investors on behalf of Nigeria and demanded an apology from the Sao Tomean government in the interest of the venture.
He said the delay in signing the PSCs was denying the two countries huge revenue for development and expressed optimism that all the PSCs would be signed in no distant future.
China Expects 8% Growth in 2006, Premier Says
2006-03-05 14:49:57 CRIENGLISH.com
China targets an 8 percent economic growth this year and will take measures to keep the development "fast" and "steady", Premier Wen Jiabao said.
China targets an 8 percent economic growth this year and will take measures to keep the development "fast" and "steady", Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in Beijing Sunday.
The projected growth rate is 1.9 percentage points lower than the actual growth in 2005, but is higher than the targeted annual growth of 7.5 percent for the 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010).
Wen made the projection while delivering the annual work report of the government to 2,927 deputies at the opening ceremony of the Fourth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress, China's top legislature, at the Great Hall of the People.
China helps get Angola on track
John Reed, London
March 06, 2006
A MURAL in the art deco headquarters of Angola's Benguela Railway shows Africa's colonial rail network in fading tones of sepia and black. During Portuguese rule the line led 1304km east from the coast to the mines of the interior, now Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Completed by British engineers in 1929, Benguela Railway was bombed and dynamited beyond use during Angola's civil war. Today its longest working stretch ends 150km east of the coast, in the town of Cubal.
Passengers ride in or on the roofs of open boxcars on a four-times-daily shuttle between Benguela and Lobito, a coastal city nearby. Now the railway is due for an overhaul costing $US300 million ($405 million) to $US500 million, financed by a new foreign partner, China.
Three tidy fenced tent camps housing Chinese workers have already sprung up in the muddy fields alongside the line.
Ground is due to be broken on the railway's "expedited rehabilitation" this month, with completion planned for August 2007.
"We hope to move 30 million tonnes of goods and 4 million passengers every year," says Daniel Quipaxe, the railway's director.
The project is just one example of China's expanding influence in Africa, which has rich reserves of many of the raw materials China's booming economy needs. In Angola alone, Chinese engineers are refurbishing two other rail lines, government buildings and a new airport in Luanda, with the help of a $US2 billion credit for infrastructure from China's Eximbank approved in 2004.
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who last stood for election in 1992, said recently that his Government needed to rebuild Angola's road and rail networks before holding elections.
Angola never held a donors' conference to gather pledges for aid to rebuild infrastructure ruined in the war, which lasted with interruptions from 1975 until 2002. Last November, Finance Minister Jose Pedro de Morais admitted it was probably now "too late" to hold one.
Angola lacks a financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund, in part because of IMF misgivings about how it accounts for the massive revenues it receives from oil. China is a more supportive and less critical partner, providing financing and skills to a country that lost many educated people to post-colonial emigration and war.
For China, Angola's chief attraction is its oil. China rivals the US as the largest importer of this. State-owned petroleum firm Sinopec picked up a share in offshore Block 3 last year when Angola refused to renew a concession held by France's Total.
No reason for the non-renewal was given but some analysts linked it to a criminal case in France that had aired corruption allegations against Angolan officials.
Refurbishing the railway will require replacing its rails and substituting concrete sleepers for the colonial-era wooden ones, rebuilding 37 bridges and building new stations.