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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
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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)
Thanks. I'm going to repost since it was so late last night.
Nigeria's 19 exploratory/appraisal well failures.......... Folks on this board sometimes talk about the possibility of drilling a duster. I thought I would post this article just for info. Article basically says that between 1995 and 2005, 60 deep water wells were drilled, 19 were failures. So that's about 33%.
ND9
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February 27th, 2006
Nigeria’s deepwater oil exploration gulps $3bn in 10 years
Oil exploratory activities in Nigeria’s deepwater gulped a total of $3 billion between 1995 and 2005. The country also recorded 19 failures from over 60 exploratory/appraisal wells drilled in the same period.
Olusola Bello and Ejiofor Alike
These revelations were made during the monthly Technical meeting of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists held in Lagos.
In a paper titled; "The Performance of deepwater Exploration; NAPIMS Perspectives’’, the General Manager, Deepwater, Abiye Membere, who stood in for the Group General Manager , National Petroleum Investment and Management Sservices (NAPIMS) George Osahon, attributed the failures in deepwater exploration to complex geology, depth of hydrocarbon- bearing sands and lack of charge. He noted that the oil industry recorded 11 major deepwater discoveries mega finds between 1996 and 2004, with a success ratio exceeding 80 percent in the areas of signature bonuses , seismic acquisition, number of wells drilled and reserve growth. Nigeria , according to him, contributes 13 per cent of the total figure of 24 per cent which the West African sub-region contributes to the world’s deepwater reserve. He pointed out that despite the fact that oil, which constitutes 33 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product { GDP},75-80 per cent of the government budget and 95 per cent of export earnings, was discovered in commercial quantities in Oloibiri in the present Bayelsa State by Shell in 1956, deepwater initiatives commenced only in 1990 while actual production began in 1993.
The petroleum scientist also disclosed that over five billion barrels of recoverable oil reserves had been discovered while five fields were at various stages of development. He stated that out of 61 oil blocks allocated under the 2005 Licensing Round , 13 blocks were in deepwater. He stressed the need for the country to meet the target of 40 billion barrels deepwater reserve base by 2010 so as to maintain her position as a global energy player.
Petroleum experts who spoke at the occasion were worried that deepwater oil production exceeds oil discoveries while expenditure also exceeds earnings. They observed that Nigeria’s reserve to production ratio is the lowest among the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries {OPEC},describing the 40 billion barrels deepwater reserve target by 2010 as unrealistic,in view of a myriad of problems plaguing the industry including ,the Niger Delta crisis. They, therefore, stressed the need for conservation,arguing that it is only in Nigeria that every influential family is allocated an oil block.
Oil revenue, according to most contributors, should be judiciously utilised for the benefit of the future generation. They advised the government to emulate Norway who keeps money in banks for her future generation. Students from various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria who distinguished themselves in various fields of academics received financial awards at the occasion.
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
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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)
U.S.: Nigeria May Burn Over 3rd Term
Daily Champion (Lagos)
March 2, 2006
Posted to the web March 2, 2006
Adeze Ojukwu and Lere Ojedokun
Lagos/Abuja
HE United States (U.S) has warned that Nigeria may be thrown into violence and conflict "if President Olusegun Obasanjo seeks constitutional amendment for alleged third term in office."
Director, U.S National Intelligence, Mr. John Negroponte, who gave the warning, while testifying before his country's Senate Armed Services Committee, further warned that the conflict may spread and possibly engulf neighbouring countries.
Reacting, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr. Frank Nweke (Jnr), dismissed the submission, stressing that non-Nigerians cannot know Nigeria more than Nigerians.
The U.S official who spoke few months after an earlier prediction by another American intelligence group that "Nigeria may break-up in about 15 years time," said "chaos in Nigeria could create instability elsewhere in the region."
Negroponte said the 2007 election is the most important on the African horizon, with the potential to reinforce a democratic trend away from military rule or produce a major disruption in the country already affected by ethnic violence and corruption."
Speculation that the president will try to change the constitution for the third term bid, has raised political tension in the country," he added.
Meanwhile, a new pressure group known as "Obasanjo-Must-Vacate-Aso-Rock-Come-2007 (OVARC-2007)" has also warned that any extension of the tenure of current political office holders was capable of breeding terrorism and secession.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja, the group's national co-ordinator, Mr. Olusegun Bamgbose appealed to those behind the plan to drop it in the interest of national peace and corporate existence of the country.
The group promised "to use all legal and democratic means to stop the Controversial third term project, even as it called on "the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) to convene an all-stakeholders meeting, immediately, to adopt a common stance against the idea.
Bamgbose said "the group, which would be formally launched in May, was out to make it practically impossible for Obasanjo to stay in office beyond May 29, 2007.
While admitting that President Obasanjo has done his best for the country, he said, "We need a change. He has to leave for us to avoid secession and civil war. Third term will breed and promote terrorism and secession will become inevitable".
Mr. Bamgbose called on world leaders like President George Bush of the United States and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain to dissuade him from contemplating such a move.
When reminded that a constitutional amendment could allow the President run for a third term in office, the coordinator maintained that "it is our belief that he (Obasanjo) is a tenant in Aso Rock and his rent cannot be renewed irrespective of constitutional amendments".
Faulting the recent blanket endorsement given President Obasanjo by South-west governors to seek an extension of his tenure, he vowed that the group would challenge "such sycophancy" when OMVARC-2007 campaign formally kicks off in an undisclosed South-west state in May.
On strategies to be adopted by the group, Bamgbose disclosed that fervent prayers would be used to seek divine intervention, as well as public enlightenment and persuasion of political parties and members of the National Assembly.
He urged President Obasanjo to investigate allegations that governors of the South-South states have been clandestinely responsible for terrorist acts in the creeks of the Niger Delta.
Speaking with Daily Champion , Nweke said that matters of intelligence are government to government issues and that if the United States of America government has such concerns, they know the appropriate channels to use in communicating such concerns, since Nigeria is a sovereign state.
He said further that there is no denying the fact that under President Olusegun Obasanjo, substantial progress has been made in all sectors, pointing out that such progress could not have been made without the support of Nigerians.
"We know where we are coming from, where we were in 1999 and the substantial progress that has been made since then," he stressed, insisting that Nigerians are hardworking, resourceful and optimistic people who have the capacity to surmount any challenges under the leadership of President Obasanjo.
He, therefore, cautioned Nigerians to be careful when listening to people who feel they know Nigeria more than Nigerians.
Meanwhile presidency, yesterday dissociated itself from some comments allegedly made against the US government, by Vice President Atiku Abubakar in an interview he granted the Financial Times of London.
This came as the Vice President, also denied ever attacking the US for its inability to respond quickly enough to the crisis in the Niger Delta in the interview.
In its reaction however, the Presidency, said the comments did not in any way represent the position of either the Federal Government or President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has maintained a close personal relationship with the America government.
Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, told journalists in Abuja that the statement credited to the Vice President was completely at variance with the position of government.
"The position of Mr. President is that the relationship between the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Nigeria has never been as good, as close and as cordial as it is today. Apart from that, the personal relationship and close ties that exist between President George W. Bush and President Olusegun Obasanjo are not only exemplary, but also legendary. The suggestion that the Federal Government of Nigeria or the President of Nigeria is not happy with the United States government or that the relationship between the two countries is in any way strained does not represent the position of the president of the Federal Republic, President Obasanjo. Our ties are getting stronger by the day and it will continue to get stronger", he stated.
The presidential aide said that Atiku has no authority to speak on behalf of the Federal Government, and that President Obasanjo was the country's recognized leader.
His words: "I have told you the position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and commander-in-chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces who is the leader of this country and who speaks for this country".
On whether the Presidency would take further steps to clarify the position, he explained "there is no need to reach out to anybody because of this issue simply because the United States government and President Bush himself know how close we are and how well we collaborate on a number of national and international issues".
Meanwhile, Vice President Atiku Abubakar has denied ever attacking the United States (US) for its inability to respond quickly to the crisis in the Niger Delta as reported by Financial Times of London.
He also faulted the allusions credited to him in an interview he granted the Financial Times, which was reported by some national dailies, that the Federal Government has turned to China for the purchase of military equipment due to alleged failure or reluctance of the American government to supply same to Nigeria.
Deputy Press Secretaty to the Vice President, Mr. Mohammed Yakub, in a statement, said the report was false in its entirety.
" The attention of the Vice President has been drawn to a publication in the Financial Times of London and which has also been carried in a number of Nigerian dailies in which it is claimed that the Vice President criticized the U.S. for failing to help protect its oil assets from attacks by militants in the Niger Delta. The same report claimed that Nigeria has consequently turned to the Chinese for military equipment. These are false", he stated.
Admitting that Atiku granted interview to one Dino Mahtani, the West Africa Correspondent of the Financial Times on Friday 24, February, he added that his boss answered questions on a wide range of issues, including the crisis in the Niger Delta and Nigeria's strategy and preparedness in dealing with it.
But he noted that "at no point in the interview did the Vice President criticize the United States Government for not responding quickly enough to the crisis in the Niger Delta.
And he did not say that military equipment ordered from China were motivated by the failure or reluctance of the U.S. to supply same to Nigeria. In fact, the U.S., more than any other country has contributed to the overall security not just in the Delta but in the Gulf of Guinea."
Relevant Links
West Africa
Arms and Military Affairs
Legal and Judicial Affairs
Nigeria
United States, Canada and Africa
Crime and Corruption
Continuing, he said:"although the Vice President advocated that talks on security arrangements between the U.S. and Nigeria should move much faster considering the rapidity of unfolding events and the overall interests of the countries, this could not have been interpreted as a criticism of the U.S. Government."
"The Vice President at a point reminded Mr. Mahtani that the problem in the Delta is Nigeria's problem, not America's, and that the purchase of equipment for Nigeria's military and police forces was for that overall strengthening of those forces for improved security in the country which is critical for attracting investment and not simply for the Niger Delta. It is surprising that the report would make different attributions to the Vice President although the reporter recorded the interview on tape just as the Office of the Vice President did", Mr. Yakub stressed.
Don’t Break Up, Germany Urges Nigeria
Friday 3rd, March, 2006 HOME | Previous Page
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By Chuks Isiwu
Foreign Editor, Lagos
German Ambassador to Nigeria, Dietmar Kreusel, has advised Nigerians to avoid a break up, urging patience in the quest for national unity.
He spoke on Thursday in Lagos at a round table organised by the embassy and the Geothe-Institut to mark the first 100 days of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel.
Kreusel enthused that Nigeria’s diversity is its strength, saying national unity “is not coming overnight and will not come as manna from heaven”.
He compared Nigeria and his country. Whereas Nigeria is just over 40 years as a nation, most of them under military administration, he noted, Germany has seen 135 years of leadership by chancellors.
Kreusel counselled that Nigeria could also draw from the successful unification of East and West Germany after operating for several years as separate countries.
This, he recalled, was achieved through a long process, liberal thinking and constitutionalism.
German party representatives and Nigerian international relations experts at the round table reviewed the performance of the Merkel administration in its first 100 days.
They also focused on how to nurture the ties between Nigeria and the country.
Kreusel described the first 100 days of the new government as successful and said Germans are happy.
According to him, the tasks before the government include remedying the high rate of unemployment, reforming social security and raising educational standards.
On how to achieve a better business relationship with Nigeria, Kreusel said fraudulent practice hampers it, not only as it concerns Germany but also the rest of Europe.
He explained that there is a feeling that most Nigerians who want to travel to Germany always have another agenda.
Nigeria’s former Ambassador to Germany and a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee on International Relations, Jide Osuntokun, said the new German Government has performed well.
It has not done much in terms of delivering on its promises but it has brought a feeling of expectation, he added.
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Transfer a 9% equity stake from Addax and Nigerian-owned, US-listed ERHC to an obscure Nigerian company, Godsonic
ND9
Minister Daukoru here in Washington and says by 2008, Nigeria production will go up by 1.5M barrels a day, by 2010, up 2.0M barrels a day.
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OPEC President Says Oil Priced Fair
Wednesday March 01, 2006 6:04pm
Washington (AP) - While tight markets and global tensions have pushed up prices, the president of OPEC said Wednesday there's plenty of oil with the global surplus expected to grow at current production levels.The assessment by Nigerian Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru in an interview with The Associated Press provided an indication that the OPEC producers may pull back on production levels when they meet March 8.
The ministers declined to change their production numbers when they met in January.
"In the second quarter, we forecast an overhang (of supply) of maybe 2 million barrels a day," said Daukoru, maintaining there isn't enough refining capacity to handle that amount of supply.
Daukoru, who is OPEC president this year, declined to speculate what the cartel will do, but said its discussions "should be against the background of that anticipated overhang" which he suggested could lead to a collapse in oil prices.
He called $60 a barrel for oil a "fair price" and said oil prices should be kept at "an equilibrium with global economic growth." He cautioned if prices are allowed to edge toward $70-a-barrel "everybody gets nervous" about the impact on the global economy.
On Wednesday, light sweet crude for April delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange edged close to $62 a barrel.
"A fair price is what markets can sustain," said Daukoru, who is in Washington for a round of visits with administration officials including Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman later in the day.
Daukoru declined to get into reports that Nigeria is seeking help — in the form of military speed boats and other technologies — to protect its oil facilities, especially in the Niger Delta. But he also said that Nigeria's security needs are different from say those of Saudi Arabia (website - news) , which thwarted an attack recently on its highly defended oil processing facility. Nigeria's oil infrastructure is more scattered and "the best security is good relations with the local population," said Daukoru.
Nigeria, which produces 2.5 million barrels a day, is the fifth leading supplier of foreign oil to the United States, accounting for about 1 million barrels a day in imports.
Daukoru said he is optimistic that the hostage taking of oil workers and by Nigerian rebels — which has cut Nigeria's oil production by 20 percent — can be resolved soon. One of the nine hostages was released Wednesday.
Attacks on the oil industry in the Niger Delta has shut down 455,000 barrels per day in crude production. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, which continues to hold eight hostages, wants Nigeria's federal government to release two of the region's top leaders and increase the amount of oil revenue flowing to the region.
Once the hostages are released 75 percent of the lost production can be resumed within two weeks, said Daukoru. He said most of the lost supplies reflects oil shut in as a precaution to protect workers and not because of oil facility damage.
In a wide-ranging AP interview, Daukoru attributed much of the tightness of the world oil markets to a lack of refineries — not production decisions.
He called the "fear factor" in the oil markets over possible major supply disruptions "totally out of proportion" to real conditions. "We do believe there is enough spare capacity" to produce more oil if needed, he said.
He also said he has no reason to believe that Iran would withhold oil from the markets because of its dispute over nuclear development. "They have clearly said they have no such intention and we have to believe them," said Daukoru. "I have no reason not to believe them."
Asked about President Bush (website - news - bio) 's recent call for the United States to end its addiction to oil, Daukoru said it was up to Americans to decide whether they are addicted.
"I don't live in this country, so I can't pass judgment whether energy is being used in wasteful ways," he said, adding that "conservation is not necessarily a bad thing."
He said Nigeria is determined to expand its oil production as well as develop its large resources of natural gas, including participation in the growing global LNG trade.
He projected Nigerian oil production to grow to 4 million barrels a day by 2008 and to 4.5 million barrels a day by 2010.
Balance, so shouldn't we get rid of EO also? If Memon failed so terribly over the last 18 months, and EO owns approx 40% of the company, and EO is calling all the shots, maybe you'd like to get rid of him too?
Dealing with the countries like Nigeria and Sao Tome is difficult. Things don't happen overnight. There are delays and corruption everywhere. You don't know what restrictions were placed on Memon. Maybe EO told Memon to say nothing about JDZ negotiations to shareholders. Maybe the JDZ told Memon/ERHE to say nothing. Maybe EO is going to sell his share of ERHE and screw us shareholders so he didn't want Memon to say anything. You don't know. Repeat, you don't know. Once again, you're just another moderator (like Mark) who is bad-mouthing somebody based on your personal opinion with no real data to back it up. Surely you and Mark understand what the word "moderator" means?
In addition, how could Memon get the share price higher? What did he have to sell? Nothing, no assets, no people skills, no contracts, nothing. The price is going up now because we're getting closer to the PSCs being signed. That's it.
Finally, you said, "Enough on him....he's gone and now, if he did lay some golden eggs during his stint.....we're about to find them." That's a terrible statement. I wish Mr Memon well and thank him for getting us closer to having PSCs signed.
ND9
Bskjohnson, China doesn't like STP because STP supports Taiwan...... That is, I think I read that in an article recently but I need to go find it to make sure........
ND9
U.S. sailors will train Africans to fight terrorism
USS Emory S. Land’s mission to coast part of push ‘south and east’
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The Sardinia, Italy-based USS Emory S. Land has sailed again for a two-month deployment to the Gulf of Guinea on a mission to teach African navies how to defend against smuggling, piracy and terrorism.
About 1,400 sailors and Marines are aboard the submarine tender, which will sail to the African nations of Sao Tome and Principe, Gabon, Congo and Angola.
The deployment is part of U.S. European Command’s big push “south and east” of Europe to secure vulnerable states where terrorists are working to gain a foothold, Navy officials have said.
“The world is getting smaller, and we need a safe and secure African region,” rich in resources such as iron, timber and petroleum, Navy Capt. Tom Rowden, commander of Task Force 65, said Monday in a telephone interview from the ship.
During this deployment, Navy leaders are laying the groundwork to equip West African countries with an unclassified, commercial network system that would allow them to keep tabs on all the vessels in and around the Gulf of Guinea. The system is similar to how air traffic controllers monitor who and what is in the skies.
“We have no funding for the equipment, that’s the bad news,” Rowden said. “The good news is that the cost is a drop in the bucket [and] we’re looking for ways to provide the equipment to them.”
The Land also will provide materials to help restore some of the West African nations’ ships. Materials include extra welding rods, steel pipes, sheet metal and other supplies to either repair or create items such as exhaust manifolds or air-conditioning ducts, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Timothy Sepula, a hull technician on his second tour to the gulf.
In Sao Tome, Seabees from Gulfport, Miss., will rebuild a high school, from new flooring in the gym to running water, urinals, sinks and concrete pillars, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Dane Hendricks, a steelworker.
Nigeria turns to China for defence aid
By Dino Mahtani in Lagos
Published: February 27 2006 22:05 | Last updated: February 28 2006 01:07
Nigeria has criticised Washington for failing to help protect the country’s oil assets from rebel attack, forcing it to turn to other military suppliers, including China, for support.
Atiku Abubakar, Nigeria’s vice-president, told the Financial Times the US had been too slow to help protect the oil-rich Niger Delta from a growing insurgency. He said talks with the US over security plans for the region did not “appear to be moving as fast as the situation is unfolding” and Nigeria was instead sourcing military equipment elsewhere.
Nigerian security sources said China was becoming one of Nigeria’s main suppliers of military hardware. They said new supplies would include dozens of patrol boats to secure the swamps and creeks that form the launching pad for rebel attacks.
A senior Nigerian naval official said Nigeria had “felt let down” by the reluctance of the US military to offer more support and that the Chinese boats were “a very welcome development”.
Analysts say Nigeria wants 200 boats to guard the Delta.
Militant attacks on oil facilities and abductions of foreign oil workers this month have shut down a fifth of Nigeria’s oil production. Both the US and China see Nigeria, the eighth-largest oil exporter, as an important future supplier.
The US government has offered the Nigerian military technical assistance and training, but has provided only four old coastal patrol boats. Nigeria has also ordered 35 smaller high-speed patrol boats from a US company but fewer than half have been received, said a security analyst.
Diplomats and analysts say that concerns over the level of corruption within the Nigerian security forces and human rights violations have made the US reluctant to supply more equipment.
Nigeria accuses militants of funding themselves with stolen oil but many industry officials say military personnel are involved in cartels that sell stolen oil to criminal syndicates.
Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa programme at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said the Pentagon had been “hot and cold” about providing military assistance because of difficulties in working with the Nigerian military. “The Chinese are very competitive players and we have to come to terms with that. They are going to places that really do matter.”
While the US has provided some assistance to Nigeria, it has been tempered by Congressional concerns about corruption and human rights issues. Mr Morrison said Washington needed to get more serious about dealing with the Nigerian military and show more concern about Chinese involvement in the country.
China insists it does not use arms sales for diplomatic or political ends, and analysts say Beijing has been willing to approve weapons shipments to almost any willing state buyer.
Nigeria last year signed an $800m deal to supply PetroChina with 30,000 barrels a day of oil. This year, CNOOC, China’s largest offshore producer, agreed to pay $2.3bn for a share in an oil block owned by a former defence minister. Oil industry officials say China is looking to increase its interest in bidding for offshore oil acreage in Nigeria.
Additional reporting by Mure Dickie in Beijing and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
BP buying piece of Sinopec - read article below
ND9
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China paves way for BP to buy Sinopec stake -paper
Sun Feb 26, 2006 11:55 AM GMT
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LONDON (Reuters) - China has decided to allow BP Plc (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research) to enter a joint venture with the country's largest refiner, Sinopec Corp., that could pave the way for the oil major to buy a 25 percent stake worth $14 billion, the Observer said on Sunday.
The newspaper, which did not cite any sources, said: "The signal from senior Chinese government figures that it has sanctioned an investment into one of its most important energy firms represents a spectacular breakthrough for the UK energy giant."
BP was unable to confirm the reported change of heart on the part of Beijing. Two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters in October that Sinopec (0386.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) (SNP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) had rebuffed a BP approach to swap part of its oil fields for a big stake.
"It's news to us," BP spokesman Roddy Kennedy said. "It's no secret that we're interested in deepening our investment in China. We've been talking to the Chinese authorities for a very long period as to the best way to do that, and negotiations continue."
The world's second-largest listed oil company by market value is already active in China through a number of joint ventures, but like other Western oil majors it acts at the periphery of the fast-growing Asian nation's energy market.
China is the world's second-largest oil consumer, and all the majors are keen to gain a more material presence there.
Sinopec is the foreign-listed arm of China Petroleum Chemical Corp. (CNPC), China's biggest oil producer and refiner.
(Additional reporting by Tom Bergin)
Dr. Daukoru/Addax/Chevron in China, April, 2006
ND9
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2nd Annual African Petroleum, Energy, and Mining Forum
1-5 April, 2006
Beijing Exibition Centre, China
This conference is held to coincide with the 6th Annual China International Petroleum and Petrochemical Exhibition CIPPE 2006, which will take place from 1- 5 April 2006 at the African Pavillon, Beijing Exhibition Centre, 35 Xizhimen wai Avenue, Haidian District, Beijing, China.
The venue realisation was emphasised by the enthusiasm shown by the Chinese government which sent a delegation from China to the premier Africa Petroleum and Energy Forum which was held in April 2005 in London.
This Forum will address relevant issues that are critical to securing increased investment and projects will be presented to investors seeking project to finance in Africa. This will be an opportunity to showcase the investment climate, available opportunities and governments' position.
It will also provide an annual meeting place for African Government Ministers, Heads of Government agencies and the international energy community to discuss business opportunities associated with the restructuring of the power sector, the development and utilization of Africa's natural gas, and the exploration and development of the continent's oil resources.
Who can afford to ignore the vast potentials of Africa ?
Blessed by its considerable and yet untapped hydrocarbon resources, Africa is currently the focus of the world wide industry. Don't miss this exciting, interactive and unique Forum, register now to maximize your networking and listen to African Ministers, Governors and Senior Officials from both the public and private sectors speak on opportunities, partnerships, joint ventures and projects financing in their countries.
OBJECTIVES OF THE FORUM
The Forum is aimed at changing Africa 's perception globally, but will also offer serious investors and companies a great opportunity to target a brand new, untapped and highly lucrative market.
This unique Forum will bring together senior level captains of Industry and investors from across the globe to explore available opportunities in the abundantly untapped hydrocarbon and energy deposits in the continent.
To bring together all African oil and energy agencies with a view to strengthening cordial relationships among them.
Bring in potential investors in African business.
Provide suitable platform for cross-border interaction and networking.
Match-make senior level captains of industries from African countries to establish new networks.
Enhance the capacity of Africans in this sector in the conduct of international business.
Expose the opportunities in this sector to potential investors.
Create continental and regional oil and energy business network.
SPEAKERS
Mr. Lu Tingen, Professor, Centre ForAfrican Studies, Peking University, China.
Mr. Li Ruogu, Chairman, The Export-Import Bank Of China.
Mr. Chen Geng, General Manager, China National Petroleum Corporation.
Mr. Wang Tianpu, President, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation.
Mr. Cao Gensheng, Vice President, Sinochem Corporation.
Mr. Fu Chengyu, CEO, China National Offshore Oil Corporation.
Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, former Secretary General OPEC.
Professor Fathi Shatwan, Minister of Energy Libya.
Mr Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelo, Minister of Energy, Angola.
Mr Mike Oquaye, Minister of Energy, Ghana.
Dr. Obi Ezekwesili, Minister of Solid Minerals, Nigeria.
Mallam Nasir El- Rufai, Minister of FCT, Nigeria.
Senator Liyel Imoke, Minister of Power and Steel, Nigeria.
Dr. Edmond Daukoru, Minister of State for Petroleum, Nigeria.
Mr. Simeon Nyachae, Minister of Energy, Kenya.
available soon.
Confirmed participants : include Addax, Chevron (NOTE: Can't get this section to cut and paste)
http://www.finmagazine.com/apemf_2006.htm
Chevron Shareholders meeting Apr 27, in Houston.
ND9
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Chevron expands space in Houston
By Rick Jurgens CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Posted on Sat, Feb. 25, 2006
Chevron Corp. will expand its presence in downtown Houston after signing a long-term lease for 465,000 square feet in an office tower adjacent to a former Enron building now owned by the San Ramon company, according to Trizec Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust. Lease terms weren't disclosed.
Chevron got 20 additional floors of office space where it will move from a Houston suburb 700 former employees of Unocal, which Chevron acquired last year. The space could accommodate as many as 1,300, Trizec said. Chevron, which has 5,000 employees and 1,000 contractors in the Houston area, also plans to hold its annual shareholders meeting there on April 27.
The new offices are near a 40-story tower that Enron built but failed to complete prior to its 2001 bankruptcy. That building, which Chevron bought in 2004, was used to accommodate 3,700 employees already in Houston and about 500 moved from other cities, including about 165 from the Bay Area.
Trizec characterized Chevron's latest deal as "a continuation of Chevron's strategy to consolidate the majority of its Houston employees in downtown."
By comparison, Chevron has exited the urban core of the Bay Area. In 2002, the company moved its corporate headquarters from San Francisco to San Ramon, where it owns a 1.4 million-square-foot campus nestled into an intersection on the south side of Bollinger Canyon Road and the east side of Interstate 680. Chevron, which also leases space in nearby Bishop Ranch office park, reported at the time of its headquarters move that it had a total of 3,500 employees in San Ramon.
Chevron, once known as Standard Oil of California, traces its Bay Area roots back for more than a century. It has about 1,150 employees at its 240,000 barrel-a-day refinery in Richmond. However, the company, which at the time of its headquarters move reported total Bay Area employment of 8,500, was listed with only 6,300 employees in a recent compilation of the region's top employers.
Meanwhile, Chevron has added to its work force in Houston, where competitor ConocoPhillips has its headquarters and total employment in the oil and gas industry is about 50,000.
The new lease was the largest in more than seven years in downtown Houston, where the office vacancy rate is about 15 percent, according to GlobeSt.com, a commercial real estate news service.
Nigerian Pres/Addax Chairman were together yesterday in Abuja - see article below.
ND9
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OBASANJO calls for good among companies, hosts
By Lucky Nwankwere, Abuja
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Obasanjo
Pix: Sun News Publishing
Amid increased youth restiveness and agitation for the provision of social amenities and empowerment of the people of the Niger Delta, President Olusegun Obasanjo said yesterday in Abuja that foreign companies operating in the country could make a whole lot of difference in their host communities.
He stated this when he received a five-man delegation from Addax and Oryx Group led by its founder and chairman, Mr. Jean Claude Gandour, pointing out that foreign companies "can provide friendliness and harmony in so-called hostile environments".
He contended that the outstanding success of Addax and Oryx Group in Nigeria was a clear testimony that foreign companies and host communities could co-exist peacefully.
"You have proved to me that the returns on investments in this economy completely outweighs the risks", he stated, urging other foreign companies to emulate the example of Addax and Oryx Group. The president urged the integrated oil company to invest in the building of an Independent Power Production (IPP) plant and a refinery in Nigeria.
The chairman of Addax and Oryx Group, Mr. Gandour said his company with 28 years of experience in Africa has benefited immensely from its upstream and downstream activities in the petroleum sector in Nigeria.
Revealing that his company would invest $1 billion in Nigeria’s petroleum sector this year, he stressed that working very closely with host communities through the provision of social amenities was a cardinal philosophy of his company’s social responsibility.
He also said his company was considering going into Independent Power Production "as one of the tools to alleviate tension’ in the areas of operation of the company.
Oilman57, that's why on 2/19 I posted (#23986) that there sure was a lot of criticism of Joe Shea for being negative, but nobody ever questions the motives of the "hype-sters" on this board.
Yeesssss, I'm long on ERHE.
ND9
Strassenheim, specifically, what sentence in the article makes you think this meeting was held long ago? Or is that just your opinion?
ND9
Obasanjo and Gandour together in Abuja.......... read article below.
ND9
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Obasanjo Seeks Better Deal for Oil Communities
From Josephine Lohor in Abuja, 02.24.2006
Obviously reacting to the persistent tension between oil companies and host communities in the Niger Delta, President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday posited that foreign firms operating in the country could be more friendly and live in harmony in such areas.
He also said that returns on investments for investors outweigh the risks.
Speaking at an audience with a five-man delegation from Addax and Oryx Group at the State House, the President said that the company's outstanding success in Nigeria was a proof that foreign companies and host communities could co-exist peacefully.
"You have proved to me that the returns on investment in this economy completely outweigh the risks", he declared, and therefore, urged the integrated oil firm to invest in the building of an Independent Power Production plant (IPP) plant and a refinery in the country.
Chairman of the company, Mr. Jean Claude Gandour, while stating that his firm has benefited immensely from participating in the nation's petroleum sector, announced fresh investment portfolio of $1 billion this year. He said that his company has operated in Africa for about 28 years, stressing that the provision of social amenities in the host communities was a cardinal corporate philosophy deployed to sustain friendly relationship with their hosts.
Gandour said the firm was considering going into IPP as one of the tools to ameliorate tension in the company's areas of operation.
All comments
IHUB starting to look like Raging Bull. ND9
OT: I wish the media would have blown Al Queda out of proportion back in the 90's. Maybe we would have done something and not had 9-11.
ND9
Posted by: Nightdaytrader
In reply to: None Date:2/20/2006 11:29:11 AM
Post #of 23547
Equator Exploration & JDZ Block 2 mentioned in article....
ND9
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20 February 2006News Today
Oil explorer raises £144m for 2006 drilling
AIM-listed oil and gas explorer Equator Exploration has announced the placement of 41-million new common shares with institutional investors at a price per share of 350p for total proceeds of £143,7-million.
CEO Wade Cherwayko said: “We are pleased with the continuing support of our existing shareholders and new investors. The funds raised will support the company's aggressive exploration, appraisal and development drilling program for 2006 as well as the possible acquisition of additional exploration acreage.”
Equator engages in the exploration and development of oil and gas projects in the highly-prospective waters of West Africa.
The company's objective is to build a diversified portfolio of exploration, appraisal and production assets in the region.
Equator is currently focusing its efforts in the Gulf of Guinea and recently started drilling its first well on OML 122, located offshore Nigeria with Peak Petroleum Industries Nigeria.
It has also been allocated an interest in JDZ Block 2 of the Nigeria - Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Zone. It addition, it has rights to acquire a 100% interest in two blocks of its choice in the territorial waters of Sao Tome & Principe.
Oil up $1.50 after Nigeria attacks, OPEC hints
Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:35 AM ET
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By Janet McBride
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil leapt $1.50 on Monday after rebels bombed Nigeria's oil industry and some OPEC ministers suggested the cartel may need to cut output in spring.
Nigerian militants knocked out 19 percent of supplies from the world's eighth biggest oil exporter by attacking a major tanker terminal and blowing up a pipeline over the weekend.
OPEC member Nigeria's biggest foreign operator Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) suspended 455,000 barrels per day of output. The rebels threatened more violence in a campaign to free two ethnic leaders and win influence over the Niger Delta's oil wealth.
With U.S. markets closed for a holiday, the focus was on London where Brent crude futures <LCOc1> climbed $1.46 a barrel to $61.35. Traders of west African crude, which mostly sells to the United States and Asia, were trying to assess the impact but forecast the cost of Nigerian oil would rise.
"There is a realization that no one can be complacent about supplies," said independent oil consultant Geoff Pyne.
Last week oil looked to be in steady decline from last year's record high of above $70 a barrel.
Violence in Nigeria had abated after an upsurge in January and the market judged Iran's dispute with the United Nations nuclear watchdog posed no immediate threat to supplies from OPEC's second biggest exporter. Traders were firmly focused on ample fuel stocks in top consumer the United States.
Nigeria is the fifth-largest supplier to the United States and could have a big role to play in President George W Bush's aim of cutting U.S. reliance on the Middle East for oil.
International Energy Agency analyst Harry Tchilinguirian said high U.S. fuel stocks and refinery maintenance should soften the blow of losing so much Nigerian oil.
"Yes, it's a disruption of a sizeable amount. But in the short-term we have very heavy inventories and very heavy maintenance in the United States so you can mitigate some of it," he told Reuters.
OPEC BARGAINING
A sharp price rise will make it difficult for OPEC to cut production when it next meets on March 8, but several ministers have voiced concern that the cartel is producing too much oil.
OPEC and the International Energy Agency have both trimmed their oil demand growth forecasts in recent weeks as persistent high prices make themselves felt. A barrel of oil costs more in real terms than for a quarter of a century.
Iran's Deputy Oil Minister Mohammad Hadi Nejad-Hosseinian said he expected demand for OPEC crude to drop about two million barrels per day (bpd) to 26 million bpd in the second quarter.
He told Reuters in an interview Iran's policy at the March 8 meeting would be "to keep prices between 50 and 60 dollars."
OPEC's current output ceiling is 28 million bpd, excluding Iraq which has no official quote.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah said he too saw a surplus of up to two million bpd in the second quarter, and Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said at the weekend he believed markets were oversupplied.
Price hawk Venezuela last week called for a production cut of up to one million bpd.
(additional reporting by Jonathan Leff in Singapore and Barbara Lewis in London)
© Reuters 2006. All Rights Reserved.
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Equator Exploration & JDZ Block 2 mentioned in article....
ND9
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20 February 2006News Today
Oil explorer raises £144m for 2006 drilling
AIM-listed oil and gas explorer Equator Exploration has announced the placement of 41-million new common shares with institutional investors at a price per share of 350p for total proceeds of £143,7-million.
CEO Wade Cherwayko said: “We are pleased with the continuing support of our existing shareholders and new investors. The funds raised will support the company's aggressive exploration, appraisal and development drilling program for 2006 as well as the possible acquisition of additional exploration acreage.”
Equator engages in the exploration and development of oil and gas projects in the highly-prospective waters of West Africa.
The company's objective is to build a diversified portfolio of exploration, appraisal and production assets in the region.
Equator is currently focusing its efforts in the Gulf of Guinea and recently started drilling its first well on OML 122, located offshore Nigeria with Peak Petroleum Industries Nigeria.
It has also been allocated an interest in JDZ Block 2 of the Nigeria - Sao Tome & Principe Joint Development Zone. It addition, it has rights to acquire a 100% interest in two blocks of its choice in the territorial waters of Sao Tome & Principe.
Shell, Sinopec Rush for Canadian Oil Sands, Send Prices Soaring
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's hottest piece of real estate isn't much to look at, a mix of swamp and scattered spruce and pine trees in northern Alberta.
Underneath the muskeg lie the oil sands, by some measures the world's largest petroleum reserves outside Saudi Arabia. To tap the deposits, companies such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc are paying record prices for undeveloped land. Already this year, the province of Alberta has raised more money from oil sands leases than the record amount earned in all of 2005.
The oil sands have ``become the Beverly Hills of the oil patch,'' said Gregg Scott, president of Calgary-based Scott Land & Lease Ltd., Canada's biggest land broker. ``This is the most high-profile play I've seen in my 24 years as a broker.''
Producers such as Shell Canada Ltd., the Canadian arm of Royal Dutch Shell, are searching for new sites to develop oil sands as Asian countries buy more fuel and the U.S. seeks supply alternatives to the Middle East. U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow toured the oil sands last year, the first visit by a Treasury secretary to Canada in two decades.
Oil companies will spend about C$73 billion ($63 billion) in the next 20 years to boost output in Alberta, according to the province's Energy Ministry. Part of that will be spent on new sites.
Synenco Energy Ltd., developing a C$5.3 billion project with China Petrochemical Corp., also known as Sinopec, kicked off the rush last September by paying a then-record C$75.9 million for 9,216 hectares (22,763 acres). Calgary-based Synenco paid 3,298 times the minimum price of C$23,040.
`Whooping Sounds'
``We were quite nervous about it,'' said Todd Newton, Synenco's 43-year-old president. He found out Synenco got the land after hearing ``a loud whooping sound'' from the desks outside his office, where employees were monitoring the government Web site.
That exuberance hasn't abated. A record for a land package was set Feb. 8, bringing Alberta's total for oil-sand land sales to C$846.3 million from three auctions this year. That eclipsed the old record of C$433.1 million set in 2005 from 21 auctions, according to provincial government data.
Alberta's tar-like reserves cover an area almost as big as the state of Florida. The oil sands, 750 kilometers (466 miles) north of Calgary, are estimated to contain 175 billion barrels of recoverable oil, second only to Saudi Arabia's 259 billion barrels, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. The oil sands have helped Canada become the biggest supplier of oil to the U.S.
Prices Double
Producers and land agents, used by some companies to disguise their identities, paid C$867 per acre for leases this year, almost double the amount paid last year.
Oil sands output in Alberta is forecast to triple to about 3 million barrels a day in the next nine years, according to a report from Calgary brokerage FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in December. That would almost equal the current output from OPEC members Algeria and Libya combined.
Compared with multibillion-dollar investments to build a mine and a refinery, land is the cheapest cost for oil-sands projects, said Wilf Gobert, vice chairman of Peters & Co., a Calgary brokerage.
``There's a bit of a mentality in the industry that if you don't have the land, then you're short of luck,'' said Gobert, an oil analyst for more than 30 years.
Some clients were ``blown away'' after losing land auctions to bids triple their offer, land broker Scott said. Some properties sold this year aren't in areas with proven output, so the land rush depends on owners being able to economically produce oil from these leases, he said.
Strip Mining
If the deposit is less than 75 meters underground, the oil can be extracted through strip mining, which can cost C$25 a barrel, compared with C$12 for traditional pumping. If the reserves are deeper, companies inject steam into the ground to soften the heavy oil, or bitumen, to extract it.
Companies are more willing to use the expensive methods because they're confident the projects will be profitable as rising demand boosts prices, Gobert said. Most oil sands deposits are economically feasible as long as oil prices are higher than $30 a barrel, or about half the current price of crude.
Even if these projects are never developed, there is one clear winner from the land auctions: the Alberta government and the province's taxpayers.
Thanks to surging oil and gas revenue, Alberta has recorded budget surpluses for the past 12 years, making the province the only debt-free region in Canada. Premier Ralph Klein this month sent each man, woman and child in the province a check for C$400 -- known as ``Ralph Bucks'' -- to share the wealth.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Ian McKinnon in Calgary at imckinnon1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: February 19, 2006 22:15 EST
Sao Tome workers threaten to boycott parliamentary poll
Sao Tome, Sao Tome et Principe, 02/20 - The Trade Union of Sao Tome And Principe State Workers have threatened to boycott parliamentary election scheduled on 26 March to protest the government`s refusal to pay allowances to nearly 3,000 retrenched civil servants.
The government had promised to pay the said allowances after the approval of the budget by the national assembly.
"We wish to express our concern and indignation and we have told the national assembly to stop this comedy and focus on issues which matter," the union`s secretary general, Aurélio Silva, indicated.
"No elections will take place if the budget is not approved and if the dismissed workers are not paid their dues," he warned.
The national assembly has taken the threat seriously and promised to examine the issue.
Oil Rises in Tokyo After Militant Attacks Cut Nigerian Exports
Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose in Tokyo after rebel attacks in Nigeria cut exports from Africa's largest producer by about 20 percent and militants threatened further strikes.
Shell said yesterday it had shut down production of 455,000 barrels of oil per day following three attacks on Feb. 18, including the seizure of nine hostages employed by a U.S. contractor. Nigeria ships about 2 million barrels of oil a day.
Crude oil for July delivery rose as much as 1.1 percent to 42,520 yen a kiloliter on the Tokyo Commodity Exchange. That's equal to $57.23 a barrel. It traded at 42,460 yen at 9:13 a.m. in Tokyo
The contract rose 1.8 percent
Chevron says oil and gas will be core business for 30 yrs.... so we have that long to get the oil out of the JDZ.... LOL.
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Chevron claims energy debate
Last Updated: Sunday, 19 February 2006, 11:17 GMT
Chevron last year made the highest profits in its 126-year history
The world's fifth-largest oil company, Chevron, has invested $300m (£173m) a year in technology to support new energy sources, fearing oil and gas prices will continue to rise, one of the company's leading figures has told the BBC.
Peter Robertson, the oil giant's Scottish-born vice chairman, said that the company is putting the money into biodiesel and ethanol research, as it is "very important" for the long-term future of the company.
"In 30 years' time, oil and gas will be Chevron's core business - 50 years, I'm not sure," he told BBC World Service's The Interview programme.
"Prices will continue to go up, and I think that technology will continue to advance. Somewhere along that road this $300m a year (that Chevron is investing in alternative energy), which will grow, will intersect with the price of gasoline, or petrol, and people will find alternatives."
Energy debate
Mr Robertson said that Chevron - is now selling "energy efficiency" and claimed the company is the biggest producer of geothermal energy in the world.
"It makes good economic sense and we do it - I think it is very important for the future of our business," he added.
There is a huge debate going on in our country
Peter Robertson, Chevron vice chairman
Chevron has made efforts to present itself as a leader in the energy debate.
The company has been running a web discussion - called willyoujoinus.com - inviting the views of the public on energy issues such as what fuels they want to use, where their fuel is coming from and how much they want to pay for it.
The home page details how many barrels of crude oil are consumed worldwide during the stay of a visitor to the site.
Mr Robertson said that willyoujoinus.com has had 300,000 hits in the seven months since it started.
"I think there is a huge debate going on in our country, the United States [and] there is probably a huge debate going on in the United Kingdom," he said.
He rebuffed criticism that, as a percentage of the company's $14bn a year profit, the $300m investment in renewable energy products is just two percent; and that effectively, with profits of $38m a day, only nine day's worth of profit is being invested.
"Actually, $300m is a lot of money when you are doing research," he said.
'Informed and realistic'
Mr Robertson admitted that the environmental specifications of many products have greatly changed.
However, he said that the site exists so the debate can be "informed about what is realistic" and what, in the company's view, is actually possible.
Chevron says geothermal energy "makes economic sense"
"We will do our very best to advise, to help people understand what can be done and to see whether we can come up with processes that will provide people with energy from a different source," he added.
And he stressed that the business has no intention of ceasing to reinvest in fossil fuels.
"As long as there is oil and gas that can be produced for customers at reasonable prices, that are better than anything else they've got, we will continue to do what is best for our customers - that's what they want us to do," he said.
"People want this product, they want to buy the product. We are in business to produce the products that people want.
"As soon as our customers tell us they don't want it, or vote it down, or do something like that, we will do something else."
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Brent crude leaps $1 after weekend Nigeria attacks
Monday 20 February 2006, 8:11pm EST
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SINGAPORE, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Brent crude oil prices leapt more than $1 in early trade on Monday after militant attacks at the weekend crippled production in OPEC member Nigeria, the world's eighth-largest exporter.
April Brent <LCOc1> was up 91 cents at $60.80 a barrel after having touched a high of $60.90 a barrel about one hour after the market opened. The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), which normally sets price direction, was closed for a holiday.
So much hype this weekend...... Everybody always gets on Joe Shea (i.e, his blog) and accuses him of trying to drive the price down....... Interesting how nobody ever gets on the ERHC IHUB "hypesters".... Makes you wonder.
ND9
Stockholder,
I was just thinking, maybe we (ERHE) could use the cash to buy back some of the 700M outstanding shares?
Thanks to all for responding. I'm just trying to understand. Appreciate your patience.
ND9
Kobiashi, just because we have cash, again, how does that translate into share price? Just because we have cash, that doesn't mean the marketmakers, institutions, and common folks will start paying more for the shares and increase our share price.
Everybody keeps saying our share price will go up and I'm praying for that but I don't see how selling a piece of block 2 for cash will directly translate into our share price going up. Everybody says that but is that just hype? How do we know that for sure. Maybe Chevron gives ERHE a big check and we the share holders get nothing..... I don't know. I'm just trying to understand the different scenarios and not get over hyped........
Again, not a basher, have been holding ERHE for over 1 yr. Will hold some forever, will sell some within the next year, I hope.......
thanks,
ND9
Stockholder, rather than give us cash, I would like Chevron to buy our ERHE stock. Maybe that would help get our share price moving upward.
ND9
DougC/All, but how would that $4B dollar purchase effect our share price? I'm trying to figure out how this works? If Chevron buys into Block 2 or makes a very large payment to ERHC, how does the common person benefit? What will make the share price go up?
No, I'm not a basher. I've been holding for over 1 year and all this news is very exciting. However, the bottom line is share price. That's what we're all here for.
thanks,
ND9
TheDane, so you think there is a good chance that the Production Sharing Contracts will be signed on Feb 28 and now that there's a good chance, Chevron has struck oil, the Sao Tome Principe folks won't want to renegotiate to get a better deal?
I really hope that is the case so we can move forward.....
ND9
How does Chevron possibly striking oil effect the signing of the Production Sharing Contracts (hopefully Feb 28)? Will that still happen or will Sao Tome Principe want to stop and renegotiate?
Maybe it was talked before but I would appreciate any thoughts on this.
thanks,
ND9
Chevron peaks with 10 rigs offshore West Africa during month of February 2006....
This is an old article from Dec 2005 but I like the 6th paragraph where it talks about Chevron having at least 8 rigs working each month and a peak of 10 during Feb 06. No specifics on type, depth, etc.
ND9
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Weekly Offshore Rig Review: Go West, Young Man ... West Africa, That Is
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Worldwide offshore rig utilization dipped slightly this week as only one idle rig started a new contract, while four rigs came off contracts, pushing utilization down 0.5% to 82.2%. This is a very transitory decline, and utilization will likely climb back above 83% soon. Of the rigs coming off contract, TODCO's 200' MC jackup THE 202 is undergoing inspection after a jacking accident, while two other jackups are going into the shipyard for scheduled maintenance and already have subsequent contracts in place.
Among the rigs going into the shipyard is the Trident IV-A. This 300' ILC jackup has been working in the Mediterranean since 2004, but it will be heading back to West Africa (where it had worked previously) in April 2006 to begin a contract with Chevron.
Rig utilization offshore West Africa has reached its highest levels in more than 3 years, when utilization peaked at 95% in April 2002. Since February 2005, West Africa utilization has remained above 90% with a peak of 98% in September, at which point 45 of 46 rigs were contracted.
Over the last two years, the busiest operators offshore West Africa have been Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Total. Between them, they have contracted nearly two-thirds of the rigs working in this region at any given time. Each of these majors has consistently employed a fleet of rigs ranging from as few as 4 to as many as 10 rigs during any given month. Over that period, each of these companies has averaged 6 to 8 rigs working offshore West Africa at a given time.
Through most of 2005, ExxonMobil has taken the lead employing more rigs in this region than any other company. From March through November, ExxonMobil consitently had 10 rigs contracted with day rates ranging from $47,000 to $225,000 and averaging just over $110,000 per day per rig. So, for nine months, ExxonMobil was spending over $1 million per day on drilling offshore West Africa.
Looking forward to 2006, Chevron looks to take the lead in drilling offshore West Africa. The company already has at least 8 rigs contracted per month through almost the entire first half of 2006, with a peak of 10 rigs already under contract for work in February.
But the majors are not the only game in town, and many independents have been active in the waters offshore West Africa, particularly over the last 12 months. Two years ago, there were eight operators with one or two rigs working in this region. During the second half of 2005, as many as 18 different companies have been drilling with two or fewer rigs. Among these are a few majors with a smaller presence in West Africa, such as BP and Shell, but the majority of these companies are independents.
In fact, during 2005, the highest day rate earned by a rig working off West Africa was paid out by an independent. Nexen contracted Transocean's Deepwater Discovery, a 10,000' drillship, to drill a well offshore Equatorial Guinea at a day rate of $318,500, the highest day rate earned by any rig in 2005.
With rigs moving back into the market and more than 60% of the current fleet contracted through 2006, West Africa seems poised to experience strong growth in the size, utilization, and earnings of its rig fleet.
Balance Builder - by saying, "Yep....a potential competetive bidding frenzy"...... you're implying both Sinopec and Chevron want to buy all or a piece of ERHC. I hope you're right but what if there's another reason?
If you go to Joe Shea's blog, he says, "Under the treaty that governs the Gulf of Guinea waters, an oil find that straddles two blocks automatically entitles operators of both to some of the revenues from any oil there - in this case, even before ERHC Energy has acquired a rig or a technical partner to begin drilling in Block 2 on its own."
So couldn't Chevron be meeting with ERHC just to work out the details associated with how they (Chevron) can move forward? Again, if you believe Joe's paragraph above, Chevron has to provide ERHC with some revenue because the oil find crosses over the block 1/2 boundary?
Maybe that's what their meeting was about and not your "bidding frenzy" scenario. Thoughts?
thanks,
ND9
Yale Drops Sinopec As Harvard Holds On
Published On Thursday, February 16, 2006 5:29 AM
By CYRUS M. MOSSAVAR-RAHMANI
Crimson Staff Writer
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While Harvard continues to hold shares in firms currently operating in Sudan, Yale announced yesterday that it will divest from seven oil companies that it deems partly responsible for funding the Sudanese government.
The Yale Corporation, the school’s governing board, reached the decision at a Feb. 11 meeting after an advisory committee of students, faculty, and staff recommended divestment.
“The time-honored principles that Yale observes as an ethical institutional investor have guided us to take this strong action,” Yale President Richard C. Levin said in a statement.
Yale’s announcement follows similar moves last year by colleges and universities such as Stanford, Amherst, and Dartmouth. Harvard announced this past April that it would divest from PetroChina, a subsidiary of the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), after pressure from students and some faculty members. But Harvard continues to hold a stake in a second Beijing-based oil company, Sinopec, which also does business in Sudan.
PetroChina and Sinopec were both listed among the seven companies targeted by Yale’s divestment move yesterday.
According to documents released by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, Harvard held 134,050 shares of Sinopec as of the past calendar year. If Harvard has retained this stake in the company, the shares would be worth $8.2 million as of the close of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.
Harvard’s SEC filings indicate that the University does not own shares in the other five firms targeted by Yale’s divestment move.
However, Harvard is not required to report holdings in foreign exchanges in its SEC filings.
In a statement, Yale announced that the decision to divest was based on the conclusion that oil revenues play a major part in supporting the dictatorial African government.
“As the source of such revenue, the companies are presumed to be committing ‘grave social injury’ by providing substantial assistance to the perpetrators of genocide,” the Yale statement said.
Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate declared in July 2004 that the Sudanese government violated international laws against genocide in Darfur.
Yale’s move could increase pressure on Harvard to cut its ties to Sinopec.
Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College who has been on leave since 1999 as an activist for involvement in Sudan, said, “I think Harvard is to be commended for having led the way in the divestment campaign, but it’s time for them to eliminate their investment in those companies that continue to sustain a genocidal regime.”
“Amherst’s divestment and Yale’s divestment this month oblige Harvard to rethink the extent of the divestment,” he said.
While PetroChina’s involvement in Sudan was well-publicized, the extent of Sinopec’s activities are not as clear.
A Washington Post reporter, Peter S. Goodman, wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson last spring that “Sinopec’s role in Sudan is clearly not as great as CNPC’s”—a reference to PetroChina’s parent company.
“Sinopec is essentially a contractor, whereas CNPC actually owns the lead shares in the consortium that runs Sudan’s oil patch,” Goodman wrote.
Sinopec is in the process of building a pipeline from the Melut Basin of southern Sudan to a Red Sea tanker terminal, according to an article by Goodman in the Washington Post from December 2004.
A report from Reuters in October 2004 said that Sinopec bought a six percent share of two oil blocks in the eastern Upper Nile region of Sudan.
Yale, in explaining its decision to divest, said in a statement yesterday that the companies targeted by yesterday’s divestment move were given an opportunity to explain their actions in Sudan.
Stanford’s divestment from Sudan-related firms also targeted a Russian-based oil company, Tatneft. At the end of the last calendar year, Harvard owned 48,100 shares of Tatneft, according to SEC fiings. That stake would be worth approximately $4.5 million at the close of trading yesterday.
Amherst’s divestment last month targeted 19 companies, including Tatneft as well as at least three other stocks that Harvard still owns—Swedish telecom giant Ericsson, energy firm Royal Dutch Shell, and oilfield service provider Schlumberger.
—Staff writer Cyrus M. Mossavarahmani can be reached at crahmani@fas.harvard.edu. While Harvard continues to hold shares in firms currently operating in Sudan, Yale announced yesterday that it will divest from seven oil companies that it deems partly responsible for funding the Sudanese government.
The Yale Corporation, the school’s governing board, reached the decision at a Feb. 11 meeting after an advisory committee of students, faculty, and staff recommended divestment.
“The time-honored principles that Yale observes as an ethical institutional investor have guided us to take this strong action,” Yale President Richard C. Levin said in a statement.
Yale’s announcement follows similar moves last year by colleges and universities such as Stanford, Amherst, and Dartmouth. Harvard announced this past April that it would divest from PetroChina, a subsidiary of the Chinese National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), after pressure from students and some faculty members. But Harvard continues to hold a stake in a second Beijing-based oil company, Sinopec, which also does business in Sudan.
PetroChina and Sinopec were both listed among the seven companies targeted by Yale’s divestment move yesterday.
According to documents released by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, Harvard held 134,050 shares of Sinopec as of the past calendar year. If Harvard has retained this stake in the company, the shares would be worth $8.2 million as of the close of the New York Stock Exchange yesterday.
Harvard’s SEC filings indicate that the University does not own shares in the other five firms targeted by Yale’s divestment move.
However, Harvard is not required to report holdings in foreign exchanges in its SEC filings.
In a statement, Yale announced that the decision to divest was based on the conclusion that oil revenues play a major part in supporting the dictatorial African government.
“As the source of such revenue, the companies are presumed to be committing ‘grave social injury’ by providing substantial assistance to the perpetrators of genocide,” the Yale statement said.
Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate declared in July 2004 that the Sudanese government violated international laws against genocide in Darfur.
Yale’s move could increase pressure on Harvard to cut its ties to Sinopec.
Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College who has been on leave since 1999 as an activist for involvement in Sudan, said, “I think Harvard is to be commended for having led the way in the divestment campaign, but it’s time for them to eliminate their investment in those companies that continue to sustain a genocidal regime.”
“Amherst’s divestment and Yale’s divestment this month oblige Harvard to rethink the extent of the divestment,” he said.
While PetroChina’s involvement in Sudan was well-publicized, the extent of Sinopec’s activities are not as clear.
A Washington Post reporter, Peter S. Goodman, wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson last spring that “Sinopec’s role in Sudan is clearly not as great as CNPC’s”—a reference to PetroChina’s parent company.
“Sinopec is essentially a contractor, whereas CNPC actually owns the lead shares in the consortium that runs Sudan’s oil patch,” Goodman wrote.
Sinopec is in the process of building a pipeline from the Melut Basin of southern Sudan to a Red Sea tanker terminal, according to an article by Goodman in the Washington Post from December 2004.
A report from Reuters in October 2004 said that Sinopec bought a six percent share of two oil blocks in the eastern Upper Nile region of Sudan.
Yale, in explaining its decision to divest, said in a statement yesterday that the companies targeted by yesterday’s divestment move were given an opportunity to explain their actions in Sudan.
Stanford’s divestment from Sudan-related firms also targeted a Russian-based oil company, Tatneft. At the end of the last calendar year, Harvard owned 48,100 shares of Tatneft, according to SEC fiings. That stake would be worth approximately $4.5 million at the close of trading yesterday.
Amherst’s divestment last month targeted 19 companies, including Tatneft as well as at least three other stocks that Harvard still owns—Swedish telecom giant Ericsson, energy firm Royal Dutch Shell, and oilfield service provider Schlumberger.
—Staff writer Cyrus M. Mossavarahmani can be reached at crahmani@fas.harvard.edu.
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China's CNOOC African unit signs Equatorial Guinea oil exploration deal
HONG KONG (AFX) - CNOOC Ltd said its unit CNOOC Africa Ltd has signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) for block S with the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy, and The National Oil Company of Equatorial Guinea.
Block S covers a total area of approximately 2,287 square kilometers in the south offshore Equatorial Guinea. Water depth of the block ranges from 30 to 1500 meters.
The exploration period of the contract is 5 years and CNOOC Ltd acts as the technical operator. Under the terms of the contract, the company is committed to conduct seismic data interpretation and drilling exploration wells.
'The signing of the PSC for block S in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea is another progress in CNOOC's overseas expansion. I believe in the favorable geological conditions of the block and look forward to making breakthrough for the benefits of both parties in the future,' said Zhu Mingcai, company vice president and general manager of the international department.
The company did not provide financial details.
leonora.walet@xfn.com
lw/swp