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My pleasure...I owe you bigtime! Ken
JDZ plans commission on non-hydrocarbon resources
Clara Nwachukwu
Plans have been concluded to set up a commission to survey the non-hydro-carbon resources under the Joint Development Zone in the Gulf of Guinea.
This was one of the resolutions arrived at on Wednesday in Abuja, during the 11th meeting of the Joint Ministerial Council of the Zone operated by the governments of Nigeria and Sao Tome and Principe.
In a statement issued on Thursday, by the Joint Development Authority, on the outcome of the meeting, the JMC said the decision was in line with its resolve “to pursue the rapid development of the petroleum and other natural resources in the JDZ.”
The council, which is the highest decision-making organ of the JDA, said there was “the urgent need for the Non-Hydrocarbon Resources Department of the JDA to commission a survey with a view to determining the inventory and commercial value of the non-hydrocarbon resources in the JDZ and directed speedy action in this regard.”
The council said it arrived at the decision after it had among other things, “considered technical and administrative issues crucial to the development of the JDZ.”
In its consideration of other issues affecting the JDA, the council urged the JDA to fast-track negotiations on all the Production Sharing Contracts for blocks 2 to 6, awarded during the second Bid Round, with a view to signing the PSCs during its next scheduled meeting by the end of February, 2006.
While noting the progress achieved in the negotiations on the (PSCs) for Blocks 2-6, the council ratified Addax Petroleum as operator for Block 4 and also approved Addax as replacement for Pioneer in Block 3.
Furthermore, the council noted that drilling of the JDZ 1 Exploratory Well (OBO 1) was progressing satisfactorily without any pollution incident.
With regards to the Report of Investigation on JDZ second bid round conducted by an American-based non-govenmental organisation, (International Senior Practicing Lawyers) at the instance of the Attorney-General of Sao Tome and Principe, the council rejected the report and expressed displeasure at the insinuations of impropriety levelled against Nigeria and Nigerian Government officials in the report.
The PUNCH, Friday, February 10, 2006
JMC Demands Speedy Award Of PSCs Licenses
By Bssey Udo
Energy Editor
The Joint Ministerial Council (JMC) has directed the Joint Development Authority (JDA) of the Nigeria-Sao Tome Joint Development Zone (JDZ) to speed up negotiations on all Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) to ensure that all agreements in respect of oil blocs awarded in the 2004 licensing round are signed before the end of the month.
Rising from its 11th meeting held in Abuja, the JMC, which supervises the JDA, reiterated its commitment and determination to pursue the rapid development of the petroleum and other natural resources in the JDZ.
The JMC is made up of the Ministers of Petroleum Resources and other representatives of the two countries involved in the management and development of natural resources at the JDZ, while the JDA is responsible for the administration of the affairs of the JDZ.
It considered other technical and administrative issues crucial to the development of the JDZ and rejected the report of investigation on JDZ second bid round conducted by an American-based law firm on behalf of the Attorney General of Sao Tome and Principe and expressed reservations over insinuations of impropriety leveled against Nigeria and Federal Government officials.
The Office of the Sao Tome and Principe Attorney General in an independent inquiry report had condemned the process of award of the oil blocs and called for the United States probe of the 2004 licensing round alleging "serious flaws" in the awards, particularly improper payments to officials and their families in contravention of country’s law.
In the report released late last year, the Attorney-General also observed that several of the companies chosen to explore the JDZ blocs lacked the requisite technical know-how and financial capacity to carry out the development of the acreages, while the procedures adopted in selecting the companies that won concessions did not meet the minimum standards required for the award of such licenses.
Noting the various stages of progress achieved in the negotiations on the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for Blocs 2-6, the JMC ratified Addax Petroleum as operator for Bloc-4 as well as for it to replace Pioneer in Bloc-3.
Expressing satisfaction over the progress on the drilling of the first exploratory well OBO-1 in Block One without pollution incident or accident, the council acknowledged the urgent need for the Non-Hydrocarbon Resources Department of the JDA to commission a survey with a view to determining the inventory and commercial value of the non-hydrocarbon resources in the JDZ.
Big Oil Is Getting Pushed Around
by Jim Kennett and Manash Goswami Bloomberg News
International Herald Tribune 2/9/2006
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=29317
Exxon Mobil's biggest competitor in the quest for oil reserves is not BP or Royal Dutch Shell. It is the governments of China, South Korea and India.
Chevron and Exxon Mobil lost an auction for Nigeria's most promising oil and gas fields last year to companies controlled by South Korea. In Venezuela, Royal Dutch Shell's bid to develop an offshore gas deposit collapsed when Brazil's state oil company stepped in.
The world's biggest publicly traded oil producers are losing reserves to state-run companies willing to pay higher prices for energy needed to fuel growing economies. Petroleo Brasileiro, Cnooc of China and Oil & Natural Gas of India have all bought reserves in the past year.
State-controlled oil companies represent "unpredictable competition," said David Pursell, an analyst at Pickering Energy Partners in Houston. "All of a sudden, Cnooc shows up. What's their cost of capital? I don't know. What's their strategy? I don't know."
The increasing competition for oil and gas fields is driving up costs, hurting corporate profits, while bolstering crude oil prices by inflating the cost of production. In the early 1990s, less rivalry for fields existed because countries like China produced more oil than they consumed and prices were lower.
Last year, Chevron bought Unocal for $17.8 billion, $1.4 billion more than initially planned, after Cnooc made a counterbid. Cnooc at one point offered $18.5 billion for California-based Unocal, which holds reserves in Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar.
Unocal shareholders accepted Chevron's lower offer after the U.S. Congress threatened to block Cnooc's bid.
Demand for reserves is helping to lift prices for oil and gas. Crude oil in New York is around $67 a barrel, more than three times the average of about $20 during the 1990s. New York natural gas is around $8 per million British thermal units, four times the average of about $2 during the 1990s.
More than half the oil and gas reserves that changed hands since 2003, through corporate acquisitions or the sale of drilling rights, went to state-owned companies, BP's chief executive, John Browne, said in a speech in Singapore in November.
"Energy is an issue of national security in which governments, and the state companies that they have established, are likely to be involved for a long time," Browne said.
National oil companies did about 15 major transactions outside of their borders last year, up from two in 2000, said Saad Rahim, an analyst at PFC Energy in Washington. The state companies are a "new breed of competitor" that are driving prices higher and squeezing returns on international projects, Morgan Stanley's oil analysts said in a report in November.
Oil industry participants say government-controlled companies will continue to increase in importance.
Rebuffed in the United States, Cnooc last month paid $2.3 billion for a stake in a Nigerian oil field. Another state-controlled company, China National Petroleum, in October acquired PetroKazakhstan for about $4 billion
Buying PetroKazakhstan, based in Calgary, Alberta, gave the Chinese control of about 12 percent of the petroleum production in Kazakhstan. The price per barrel China National paid was about double the price in transactions earlier last year.
Oil output is rising in Kazakhstan, which has about 3 percent of the world's proven reserves.
Nigeria's top oil official, Edmund Daukoru, has said that ties between governments are a legitimate part of the process of selecting partners to develop energy projects. He spoke last August after Korea National Oil won the auction of offshore oil and gas development rights with an investment package that included promises for power plants and railways.
Nigeria has a right to choose an investment package that will foster "good economic relations, government to government, with another country that promises to do major infrastructure projects," Daukoru said.
Korea Electric Power said in a filing to the Korean Stock Exchange in October that its part of the Nigerian package would be $571 million, and it put the total at $5.3 billion for all the companies involved.
"Having some kind of political alignment between nations and their oil companies is bringing a distinct competitive advantage," John Knight, senior vice president of international business development and acquisitions at Norway's state-owned Statoil, said in an interview. "That advantage will not be going to the stateless multinationals."
While Statoil is run more like a private company than an arm of the Norwegian government, its ties to the state can help, Knight said. For example, the company is on the short list to work with Gazprom of Russia to develop its massive Shtokman gas field near the Arctic.
When Shell's negotiations with Venezuela to develop the Mariscal Sucre offshore gas field faltered in November 2004, the company played down the possibility that a competitor would step in. Company officials said Venezuela would have to sweeten the terms for development because the gas will primarily go to a domestic market where prices are regulated.
Brazil's state oil company is now Venezuela's partner on the project, an arrangement cemented by ties between the presidents of the two nations. The plan to have Petroleo Brasileiro drill the prospect was announced at a joint appearance by President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil.
"State companies winning deals because of government-to- government interaction has become a rule rather than an exception," said Arjuna Mahendran, chief economist and strategist at Credit Suisse Private Banking in Singapore. "This will increase competition for multinational companies in acquiring oil and gas assets."
(C) 2006 International Herald Tribune. via ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved
This Day (Lagos)
February 6, 2006
Posted to the web February 6, 2006
Lagos
President Olusegun Obasanjo is leaving Abuja today for a two-day official visit to Gambia.
A programme on the president's weekly activities made available in Abuja, shows that the president will be accompanied by some top government officials.
Details of the visit was not made known, but it was learnt that it was based on special invitation by President Yaya Jameh of the Gambia.
Biilateral issues of common interest between Nigeria and Gambia,as well as peace in the ECOWAS sub-region would dominate discussions between the two leaders during the visit.
Relevant Links
West Africa
Gambia
Nigeria
The visit followed a commonwealth mandate to him to mediate between the opposition and the ruling party in Gambia.
Obasanjo completed his two-year mandate as Chairman of the Common-wealth in Malta,last year.
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Chevron, JDZ Partners Launch Anti-Malaria Programme
02.06.2006
Chevron JDZ Limited and its partners --ExxonMobil, Dangote Energy Equity Resources (DEER) in Block 1 of the Joint Development Zone (JDZ), has launched a Roll Back Malaria (RBM) programme in Ikwerre, Rivers State.
Chevron said in a statement that the health intervention program is part of the Corporate Responsibility contributions of the company and its JDZ partners.
The partners won the oil block in the JDZ, managed by Nigeria and Sao Tome, in 2003, having paid $120 million signature bonus.
Speaking at the launching, Mr. Abbey Adeniji, the Chevron’s Government and Public Affairs Manager, Deepwater Business, who represented Chevron’s Chairman and Managing Director, Jay Pryor, at the occasion, said “We can not speak of development when the people do not enjoy the best of health.” He added that in the pursuit of Chevron’s corporate responsibility obligations, “we have always viewed health care as a crucial social service and an area where we could support government”.
According to statistics, malaria is a major killer of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Adeniji said that the campaign is focusing on malaria control because of its enormous burden on the people. “It is for this reason that we have taken up the challenge of putting the health of our people on a truly sustainable footing. We know and believe this to be a vital key to communal growth and national development,” he added.
As part of the campaign, the company donated 5,000 pieces of Insecticides Treated Nets (ITNs), drugs for Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT), and diagnostic kits to the people. Twenty six community health workers were also trained to spread the campaign and provide malaria treatment to the people.
The Rivers State Governor, Dr. Peter Odili who was represented at the occasion by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Solomon Enyidah, commended Chevron and its partners for the initiative which he described as thoughtful and laudable. “We commend Chevron and its partners in the Block 1 of the JDZ for this gesture which will go a long way in improving the quality of life of our people. This is a good demonstration of their commitment to corporate responsibility and we commend this to other multinational companies operating in the state.”
He advised the people to take advantage of this program and reciprocate the gesture by helping to create an enabling environment that will promote peace and social development.
The JDZ Block 1 is located about 160 kilometers offshore Nigeria, 300 kilometers north of the city of Sao Tome - in approximately 1,747 meters of water.
e.g. The Astrodome em
ONGC may take Nigerian blocks
By Upstream staff
Indian state oil company Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is reported to be seeking government approval to buy a 90% stake in two Nigerian deep-water blocks.
Reuters quoted a company official as saying that ONGC was seeking cabinet approval to take the stakes in blocks 321 and 323, which have a total signature bonus of about $1.5 billion.
ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) had in August last year emerged as the highest bidder for the two blocks, however the Korean National Oil Company (KNOC) exercised preferential rights agreed during the round to snare both blocks.
However, the official said that the Nigerian government had approached ONGC again, saying that there were differences with KNOC over the commercial terms of the deal.
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02 February 2006 07:19 GMT | last updated: 02 February 2006 07:19 GMT
Nigerian Militants Say Will Free Workers By DULUE MBACHU, Associated Press
Sun Jan 22, 6:55 PM ET
Militants holding four foreign hostages in Nigeria claimed Sunday they would release the captives soon, according to a statement purportedly from the militant group.
The hostages — an American, a Briton, a Bulgarian and a Honduran — were seized near a Shell oil field on Jan. 11 by a group that also claimed responsibility for other oil industry attacks that have cut Nigerian production by almost 10 percent.
"We promise that they would soon join their families, hale and hearty enough to tell the true story of a revolution," the statement e-mailed to The Associated Press said.
The identity of the e-mail's authors could not be independently confirmed and no name was attached to it. But the statement came from an e-mail address known to be used by the Movement for the Emancipation of the People of the Niger Delta, which has claimed responsibility for a series of recent attacks on the country's oil industry.
On Saturday, the group's leader told the AP by telephone that the American hostage, Patrick Landry, was sick and warned that if he dies, his group would kill the remaining hostages.
Landry's son, Dwight, said Sunday he had not heard of any new developments, but said he had seen a recent picture of his father and the other hostages and believed they were all still alive.
Landry said he was encouraged by the group's apparent pledge to release his father.
"I certainly hope that's the case," he said.
The militants are demanding the release of two imprisoned figureheads of their ethnic Ijaw group and have threatened more attacks on oil facilities. They claim to be fighting for a greater local share of oil wealth they believe is being unfairly snapped up by foreign companies and the federal government.
The kidnapped workers are employed by two companies contracted by Shell in the delta: Britain's Ecodrill and Tidewater of Louisiana.
The crisis, along with concern over the Iranian nuclear dispute and new threats of attacks on the United States by al-Qaida, has helped push world oil prices up.
___
Associated Press writer Jessica Bujol contributed to this report from New Orleans.
U.S. Navy Seizes Pirate Ship Off Somalia By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 12 minutes ago
The U.S. Navy boarded an apparent pirate ship in the Indian Ocean and detained 26 men for questioning, the Navy said Sunday. The 16 Indians and 10 Somali men were aboard a traditional dhow that was chased and seized Saturday by the U.S. guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill, said Lt. Leslie Hull-Ryde of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.
The dhow stopped fleeing after the Churchill twice fired warning shots during the chase, which ended 54 miles off the coast of Somalia, the Navy said. U.S. sailors boarded the dhow and seized a cache of small arms.
The dhow's crew and passengers were being questioned Sunday aboard the Churchill to determine which were pirates and which were legitimate crew members, Hull-Ryde said.
Sailors aboard the dhow told Navy investigators that pirates hijacked the vessel six days ago near Mogadishu and thereafter used it to stage pirate attacks on merchant ships.
The Churchill is part of a multinational task force patrolling the western Indian Ocean and Horn of Africa region to thwart terrorist activity and other lawlessness during the U.S.-led war in Iraq.
The Navy said it captured the dhow in response to a report from the International Maritime Bureau in Kuala Lumpur on Friday that said pirates had fired on the MV Delta Ranger, a Bahamian-flagged bulk carrier that was passing some 200 miles off the central eastern coast of Somalia.
Hull-Ryde said the Navy was still investigating the incident and would discuss with international authorities what to do with the detained men.
"The disposition of people and vessels involved in acts of piracy on the high seas are based on a variety of factors, including the offense, the flags of the vessels, the nationalities of the crew, and others," Hull-Ryde said in an e-mail.
Piracy is rampant off the coast of Somalia, which is torn by renewed clashes between militias fighting over control of the troubled African country. Many shipping companies resort to paying ransoms, saying they have few alternatives.
Last month, Somali militiamen finally relinquished a merchant ship hijacked in October.
In November, Somali pirates freed a Ukrainian ore carrier and its 22 member crew after holding it for 40 days. It was unclear whether a US$700,000 ransom demanded by the pirates had been paid.
One of the boldest recent attacks was on Nov. 5, when two boats full of pirates approached a cruise ship carrying Western tourists, about 100 miles off Somalia and fired rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.
The crew used a weapon that directs earsplitting noise at attackers, then sped away.
Somalia has had no effective government since 1991, when warlords ousted a dictatorship and then turned on each other, carving the nation of 8.2 million into a patchwork of fiefdoms.
sighted nothing...reporting same eom
Wouldn't surprise me..thats why it is the JDZ- jerk delay zone!
if anybody needs me...I'll be visiting my son in Chino..back later!
First-ever deepwater JDZ probe spudded
By Barry Morgan
All eyes are on the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) managed by Nigeria and the archipelago of Sao Tome and Principe this week as the disputed maritime zone’s first ever deepwater probe was spudded by Chevron.
The US major operates block-1, alongside ExxonMobil as junior partner.
Wildcat Obo-1, located in some 1700 metres and spudded by the Transocean drillship Deepwater Discovery on 14 January, will cost US$60 million and take 60 days to reach total depth.
Production might begin by 2010 if commercial oil is discovered, according to country manager Tim Parsons.
Under a bilateral protocol signed in 2001, revenue from the JDZ will be shared 60:40 in favour of Nigeria. Chevron won the block after bidding in the first JDZ licencing round and the results of this debut well will directly affect confidence in this unproven Gulf of Guinea play.
The Abuja-based Joint Development Authority’s (JDA) Joint Ministerial Council was slated to meet this weekend to fix dates for the ratification of further JDZ awards for blocks two through six allocated after the second licencing round concluded late last year.
However, Sao Tome's Ministry of Natural Resources and National Petroleum Agency has requested the JDA delay by one week, ostensibly to re-examine the controversial operatorship of block-4 by Swiss explorer Addax Petroleum and revisit the impact of ERHC Energy's preferential acreage rights on the islands' revenue expectations.
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18 January 2006 17:19 GMT | last updated: 18 January 2006 17:24 GMT
India renews interest in Nigeria’s oil block
Atser Godwin
India on Wednesday renewed its interest to acquire and invest in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Oil India Limited- a state-run oil exploration firm, said despite its loss in the 2005 Bid Round to a Canadian firm, it was hopeful that if the Canadian firm fails to pay the signature bonus, which is a mandatory fee for acquiring the blocks, it would click the deal.
In a statement released on its website, OIL said it planned to spend $150million on global exploration and production activities on international oil blocks including few in Nigeria.
“We have already two blocks in Libya. Besides, we have acquired one block in Gabon. We are hopeful of getting one block in Nigeria,” OIL Director, (Exploration and Development), S K Patra said.
OIL is one of India’s oldest exploration firms which has significant presence in the northeast region.
The government is pursuing a policy of supporting its oil companies such as OIL and Indian Oil Corporation to explore global opportunities in exploration and production for fulfilling the country’s energy demand.
Patra restated that OIL’s bid for Nigerian blocks stands second among all bidders.
“Our Nigeria bid is also in partnership with IOC and a local company. We will share 40-45 per cent each and the local partner would have 10-20 per cent stake in the bid,” he said.
The PUNCH, Monday, January 12, 2006
Kelly...are you the Kelly on the ERHE board? tia
Balance..I still get chills when I see the word BILLION..good luck to us this yr Ken
Nigeria Establishes Three More Naval Bases in Niger Delta
Xinhua News Agency 1/6/2006
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=28363
Nigeria has established additional three naval formations in the oil-producing Niger Delta, apparently in a bid to effectively police the restive area, a Nigerian daily reported on Friday.
The naval units, identified as Forward Operational Base (FOB), were sited in Bonny in Rivers State, Forcados in Delta State, and Egueme in Bayelsa State, Flag Officer Commanding of the Eastern Naval Command Sunday Baje was quoted by The Punch daily as saying.
Earlier, the Nigeria government had established two naval formations in Ibaka in Akwa-Ibom State and Igbokoda in Ondo State.
Baje said construction works had begun in the three locations, while officers have been posted to the bases.
"The FOBs were introduced to be able to reach out straight to the sea, our channels are very long, some are as much as 46 nautical miles (about 85 km). But, with the FOBs, we can reach out to the sea very fast," he said.
President Olusegun Obasanjo has provided the navy with the right platforms to engage in routine patrols to curb unlawful acts, including pipeline vandalization, according to him.
"We have some fast moving boats, it is called Rapid Response Boats or Defender Boats, to patrol the creeks regularly, the boats are very versatile and we have six of them in the Eastern Command, " he added.
Nigeria is the world's eighth largest oil producer and the biggest in Africa. Most of the country's daily production of 2.5 million barrels of oil comes from the Niger Delta and nearby offshore oilfields.
Copyright 2006 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY.
Sao Tome: MLSTP urges full investigation into alleged wrongdoing by FM Pequeno
Sao Tome, Jan. 5 (Lusa) - Sao Tome and Principe's ruling MLSTP party has urged its government to do "everything possible" to investigate allegations that Foreign Minister Ovídio Pequeno has diverted foreign aid funds for his personal use.
The party, in a statement issued Wednesday, called on Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira to fully investigate and clarify the alleged scandal that broke last weekend in a newspaper report.
On Tuesday, Silveira said she was ordering an "urgent" inquiry into the affair.
Pequeno, a political independent considered close to MLSTP archrival President Fradique de Menezes, was abroad on vacation and has yet to respond publicly to the allegations.
In its communiqué, the governing party also said it had information that other "large sums" of foreign aid been spent irregularly for "supposed diplomatic activities" under Pequeno's helm.
The bimonthly newspaper "Ecuador" reported Saturday that Pequeno had transferred, without the prime minister's authorization, euros 450,000 of Moroccan aid to Gabon and from there to European bank accounts.
The islands' chief political protagonists, de Menezes and the MLSTP are gearing up for a series of elections this year, including legislative and presidential ballots.
Before the aid scandal broke last weekend, the two sides were already engaged in a bitter dispute, also involving allegations of corruption, over the recent awarding of five offshore oil blocks shared with Nigeria.
Both the president, who signed the awards with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in May, and the prime minister have promised to take a public stance in the next few days on a report by Attorney-General Adelino Pereira that the oil exploration licensing round had not met "minimal international standards".
Though backed by Nigeria, the signing of the production sharing contracts for the five Joint Development Zone (JDZ) blocks has been held up by feuding and political gridlock in Sao Tome.
RCN/SAS.
Lusa
FG projects $20bn earnings from crude oil
Michael Faloseyi and Chiawo Nwankwo, Abuja
The Federal Government expects to earn about $20billion earnings from crude oil sales by 2007. This is about $6billion or 43 per cent higher than the year 2006 projected earnings of about $14billion.
The anticipated increase in revenue would be accompanied with about three billion additional barrels of crude oil to the existing reserve base of 35 billion barrels.
The Department of Petroleum Resources, which disclosed this while defending its budget before the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources in Abuja, on Wednesday, said about 750,000 barrels per day of the new additions would be in 2006.
The Director, DPR, Mr. Tony Chukwueke, stated that the government’s short-term objective was an urgent need to increase the rate of oil find in the country.
He said that there was need to increase the rate of oil discovered because most of Nigeria’s production platforms and oil fields were approaching maturity.
“We need to increase our rate of oil finds. Most of our fields are aging and we need to increase our efforts on the rate of oil finds so that we can achieve the 2010 mark for 40billion barrels reserves,” he said.
He said that DPR was able to add 300,000 barrels to the country reserve base in 2005 as it brought two developments projects, Bonga and Okwori, into production.
He listed about 20 ongoing development projects, some of which would start production during the year to achieve the projected increase in production and revenue levels.
Some of the projects include Bonga, expected to increase its production volume to 200,000 bpd by third quarter of 2005 from the present level of 50,000bpd.
Erha and Erha North are to start crude oil production by March 2006 and June 2006 respectively. The projects are at engineering procurement contract stage but the floating production and storage off-take arrived Nigeria October 24, 2005.
The floating production storage off-take vessel for Agbami oil field, reputed for its 800million barrels reserve, is now at hull and topside fabrication stage and would deliver its first oil at the fourth of quarter 2007.
Another project slated to aid government revenue target for 2007 was the Antan oil field, which floating storage off-take vessel would arrive Nigeria by June 2006 from Dubai.
The PUNCH, Thursday, January 05, 2006
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Copyright 2005 Punch (Nigeria) Limited. All Rights Reserved
OPEC President: Healthy Demand Seen for Foreseeable Future
by Sally Jones
FWN Financial News 1/4/2006
URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=28289
Jan 04, 2006 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex)
OPEC doesn't need to consider an output cut when it meets late January, if oil prices continue to trade at current levels of around $60.00 a barrel, the group's president told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday. "Anything in the high $50's or low $60's isn't a case for cutting output," Edmund Daukoru told Dow Jones Newswires in a telephone interview.
Daukoro, who is also Nigeria's oil minister, said oil demand should remain healthy for the foreseeable future.
"The second quarter traditional drop in demand hasn't been as significant in recent years as it was in the past. I certainly don't expect to see prices crashing," the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' president said.
He said a combination of a colder-than-normal winter in the northern hemisphere and robust Chinese demand is likely to keep oil prices well above $60.00 a barrel in the months ahead.
The Chinese government recently revised upwards previous estimates for economic growth, saying the economy grew 9.8% in 2005 and not 9.4% as previously forecast.
However Daukoro, who took over OPEC's presidency Jan.1, said he hasn't yet spoken with other OPEC members as to what action the group should take at its Jan. 31 meeting.
An OPEC delegate familiar with Gulf oil policy said Wednesday there is no consensus on whether the group needed to cut output when it meets next.
The delegate said global energy demand is well-supported by U.S. and Chinese economic growth. He also said forecasts in the past two years calling for weaker second-quarter demand had been wrong.
Energy demand typically falls in the second-quarter - at the end of winter - but the rate of decline has eased in the past two years on strong economic growth and China.
But others within the group still seem to be concerned over a possible price crash.
Earlier Wednesday, Indonesia's OPEC governor Maizar Rahman said some members will push for an output cut of one million barrels-a-day late January.He said global oil demand is expected to fall by 1.5 million b/d in the second quarter due to seasonal factors.
OPEC's second
Monday 2nd January, 2006 HOME | Previous Page
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Nigeria records first offshore crude shipment
By Bassey Udo
Energy Editor, Lagos
Nigeria celebrated the New Year with its first export of crude oil from deepwater offshore production field.
The consignment of about 200,000 barrels by Shell at the weekend came from Bonga, the country’s largest deepwater oil and gas offshore field reputed to be endowed with over a billion barrel reserves.
The landmark export on board the vessel, ARION, departed the field about 13:30 hours on December 29, 2005.
Though the ship’s destination could not be confirmed at press time, it probably headed to markets in Europe or the United States.
The shipment involved pressurised crude transfer from the field’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel via a dynamic flexible pipe, nearly two and a half kilometres long, to the offshore loading buoy and onto the ocean-going tanker.
Bonga’s offshore loading buoy, built locally by Nigerdock, is the world’s first, largest and most technologically advanced polyester moored deepwater buoy.
The Managing Director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCO), Chima Ibeneche, expressed delight at the achievement, which came less than a month after the production start-up last November.
Said he: “It is a technological triumph that Shell is successfully producing oil and gas from Nigeria’s deepwater frontier and we have capped that achievement with (this) first shipment.
“It demonstrates Shell’s commitment to Nigeria as one of the world’s key energy sources and (this) marks a major milestone for a project which will deliver long term benefits to Nigeria, to Shell and to our partners”.
The 60 square kilometer field, situated in water depths of more than 1000 metres, is located in Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 212), more than 120 kilometres offshore Nigeria.
It is operated by SNEPCO on behalf the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) under a Production Sharing Contract (PSC).
The development of the field cost about $3.6 billion to first oil; a joint venture with Esso, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAEL) and Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited (EPNL).
Production at the Bonga facility is expected to ramp up to 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, before rising to the target nameplate capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
Production is expected to increase to about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s oil production and 25 per cent of Shell operated production in Nigeria,
Bonga is part of Nigeria’s strategy to grow oil production to four million bpd and 40 billion barrel reserves by 2010.
12 shot dead at Niger Delta pipeline
By Upstream staff
Nigerian troops have killed 12 men caught stealing oil from a pipeline in the southern state of Delta.
Siphoning oil from pipelines, a practise known locally as bunkering, is common in the Niger Delta, a vast region of mangrove creeks and swamps that accounts for almost all of Nigeria's 2.4 million barrels per day production of crude.
Government official Isiaka Pachiko said troops on patrol in remote Oghara community stumbled on a group of bunkerers on Saturday who had heavy drilling equipment and four trucks ready to be loaded with oil.
A gun battle broke out and 12 of the suspected oil thieves were killed, three were injured and five were arrested, Pachiko said. He did not mention any casualties among the troops.
The Nigerian security forces have been cracking down on bunkering this year, and industry officials estimate that large-scale oil theft has dropped from 100,000 bpd earlier this year to about 20,000 now because of a heavier military presence.
Some oil industry workers suspect that frustration over the crackdown may be one of the reasons behind a recent spate of pipeline attacks.
A suspected dynamite blast at a Shell pipeline in neighbouring Rivers state on 20 December killed 11 people and cut output by 180,000 bpd.
Pachiko said the pipeline the bunkerers were targeting is operated by oil junoir PanOcean
12 Killed in Battle With Security Operatives
This Day (Lagos)
NEWS
January 1, 2006
Posted to the web January 2, 2006
By Segun James
Warri
Twelve suspected pipeline vandals were killed weekend at Oghara in Delta State during a gun battle with security operatives while siphoning crude oil from pipelines belonging to the Pan Ocean Oil Corporation (PANOCO).
Also, men of the Presidential Task Force on NNPC Pipelines have arrested 22 persons in connection with last week's pipelines fire at Adeje.
In the operation which confirms that the vandals have moved their activities from the rivers and swamp locations, the 20 man gang which had mobilised with sophisticated equipment were busy siphoning crude into four trailer tanker trucks when security operatives arrived the scene.
The arrival of the security men triggered a gun battle which left 12 of the vandals dead while three others sustained gun shot wounds while five others were arrested.
THISDAY gathered that following the success of the operation, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Sunday Ehindero ordered the immediate evacuation of the arrested vandals to Abuja, including the injured three who were discharged from the Warri Central Hospital where they were receiving treatment on Sunday morning following Saturday's bloody encounter.
THISDAY gathered that in the ensuing battle with the vandals, the trucks with resgistration numbers PLATEAU AA 423 SHD, LAGOS XP772 AAA, EDO XA 472 SGB and ANAMBRA XA258 went up in flames.
Meanwhile, 22 persons arrested in connection with last Monday's pipelines explosion in Adeje are now undergoing interrogation in Warri.
Confirming the gun war and the arrest in Warri, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force, Mr. Isiaka Pachiko said his men would not relent in the battle with vandals.
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Number 1 with a bullet!
Namibe: Sao Tome Singer Launches First CD
Namibe, 01/01 - The Sao Tomese singer, André Seabra, 41, on Saturday launched his first Compact Disc at the main gate of the National Radio of Angola, in Namibe province, on Saturday.
The 15-song disc, entitled "Sakabaxe", was recorded and edited in Angola at Edson (Namibe) and Bismas (Benguela) studios.
For the conception of this work, the artist counted with the participation of chorus voices by Dange, from Namibe, and Mabela, from Benguela province. The author dedicates the CD to a former colleague and friend in Huila province, to his family and specially to his mother.
The musician told Angop that 5,000 dollars were spent in the production of the CD.
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© 1996-2003 Angop. All rights reserved.
Door #3 eom
Translation
In English:
Members of the house of representatives of the fourth commission of the Parliament are -tomense congregate themselves with Government 2005-12-29 14:21:24 They are Tomé - the members of the house of representatives of the fourth specialized commission of the National Assembleia for the petroliferous subjects had convoked, Wednesday, the Executive led for Maria of the Carmo Silveira to clarify some teses on "dossier oil". The meeting, that had place in the Palace of the Congresses, appeared in the pursuing of the report of the Public prosecution service that points imperfections in the procedures in the last auction carried through in the zone of joint exploration enters Is Tomé and Príncipe and Nigéria. In the meeting also the point of the situation on "dossier was made petroliferous" in that it says respect to the allotment of the work. For the president of the specialized commission, the Carlos Snows, most important is to see the state of the situation. Thus, he calls the attention for the necessity "to see with the Government as he is that he could, with the biggest possible brevity, to advance with this problem of the allotment of production". "It is very important for we and we had the care of that all the question registada in the continuation of the report nothing had to see with the relations that we have with the Republic of the Nigéria", it affirmed Carlos Snows. How much to the Government, "still he does not have a definitive position on the subject", declared first-gives are -tomense. "We are to analyze the question carefully" and "very briefly" the decision will be become public, added Maria of the Carmo Silveira. The Public prosecution service concluded that the procedures used for the selecção of the company beneficiary in the last auction had not reached the molds necessary to grant the licenses. In accordance with a note of the Office of the attorney general of the Republic, this procedure occurred in financial detriment of Is Tomé and Príncipe and, on the other hand, made with that the authority of joint development has been disabled until the present a date to celebrate agreements with the winning companies. Inácio Amorim
Govt, oil firms strategise on Gulf of Guinea's security
By Taiwo Hassan
FEDERAL government, oil chiefs fashion out strategy to protect Gulf of Guinea
Worried by the spate of threat to security on African oil due to political instability, war, vandalisation, piracy and terrorism, the Federal Government has held a top level meeting with oil and gas industry chiefs in Abuja, with a mission on how to share responsibility for the protection of the Gulf or Guinea where the continents burgeoning oil suppliers emerged.
Disclosing this revelations in Lagos over the weekend to newsmen, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Funso Kupolokun said that the Gulf of Guinea was secured despite the incessant trouble in the Niger Delta region
Kupolokun, who dropped this hint, while on a courtesy visit to the Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said that the government was not folding its hands to the issue and all efforts to ensure that the gulf was safe had been put in place. He added that Gulf of Guinea was driven from the world point and that was the highest point on the earth.
Indeed, to ensure that the different initiatives taken at the just concluded meeting with the president were implemented, the NNPC helmsman observed that the corporation had moved to enhance the navy with various sophisticated equipment needed to protect the gulf and this initiative was driven by the president, in the run-off to the forth coming general elections in the country.
According to him: "We cannot again runs from this that the Gulf of Guinea is not secured, the Gulf of Guinea is very secured.
"Somebody raised the issue of what happened on the run-off to elections. Perfect, on the run-off to elections in 2003, crude theft was on the order of 100,000 barrels per day. From then to now, it has come down gradually. As at today, we are dealing with 30,000 barrels per day and that is not fair." He continued: "What we want is completed a zero level."
He noted further that in terms of oil theft, which arises from the activities of vandalisation of oil pipelines, the NNPC had tackled this menace and currently, those attacks on oil pipeline had reduced by at least 60 per cent. He added that the nation's production farm-in rose from over 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd).
He went further that that significant improvement was achieved as a result of various law agencies in the country; namely, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), the NAVIS, and the police, while also clamouring for the steps taken by the oil industry and the NNPC.
His words: "In terms of oil theft in the country arisen from activity of vandalisation and so on, that again has reduced by at least 60 per cent and when you look at the production farm- in, we moved from over 300,000 bpd to a 400,000 bpd. The bulk of it is common from the west of the Niger Delta-Chevron. So you can see that there were significant improvement being made there. This is as a result of a number of interventions. The EFCC is doing their work, the Navy-they have been wonderful and, of course, the industry have been playing its own part with the NNPC," Kupolokun added.
"NNPC has to buy flat bottom barges for the navy and we bought it and they have deployed these vessels to the gulf for its protection and as a result, we see significant improvements. So we are encouraged by this achievements and we hope to do more," he said.
In addition, the GMD explained that the corporation as part of its plan for next year would pay more attention in the delivery of facilities to the police, EFCC, navy the SSS.
According to him: "We are encouraged to do more and indeed, next year, we are going to deliver more to the police, EFCC and Navy, the SSS. We are going to help them to help us in terms of delivering the services they needed for protection of oil and pipelines."
He admonished also that there were various initiatives going on relating to the Gulf of Guinea. He added that only a months ago, there was a meeting which was held in London and the brain behind this initiative was the Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili, and there was large turnout of foreigners and, of course, a number of factors were taken at the meeting.
"I think Gulf of Guinea is secured and with the initiative on going, we thing by 2006 and 2007, the whole story would be a happy one," said GMD.
Besides Nigeria, Angola, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea were already major suppliers of oil to the United States and their reserves were about to surge higher because of the award of oil blocks to interested bidders who won the rights to drill new field in the deep waters for offshore.
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Nick..it's getting to the point where I have to look into my wallet to see who I am..but I still have my fake i.d. from high school..so now I'm really confused! Happy Holidays...Ken
26-12-2005 12:27:00. Fonte LUSA. Notícia SIR-7600898
Temas:
Sao Tome: Islanders urged to forgo Jan. 1 sea dip due to cholera risk
Sao Tome, Dec. 26 (Lusa) - In an bid to control a cholera outbreak that has claimed over two dozen lives, health authorities in Sao Tome and Principe have urged people not to take their traditional New Year`s swim.
It is estimated that about half of the archipelago`s 140,000 inhabitants normally head for Sao Tome's beaches in the early hours of Jan. 1 to celebrate the arrival of New Year.
Cholera has killed 25 people from the 1,374 cases registered since breaking out in the islands nearly two months ago, according to official figures.
RCN/CJB.
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u wellcome
any one else need a link?
DA BEARS!! go to nfl.com !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.nigeriamasterweb.com/paperfrmes.html have an eggnog and relax...then go to the financial standard
Merry Christmas and Go Bears!