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miamidrift & AGELS OMG I Didn't realize I Was A Spammer & That I'm Looking For Cheap Shares!
Agels ERHE has been linked to the Rep. William Jefferson case. So posting about same is News. Most Longs believe there is no connection. So posting on the W.J. case when there is no mention of ERHE is actually Good News. (They have nothing on us)
M.D. My posts on the N. Delta. I've always thought it makes ERHE look more valuable because our blocks are so far out in the ocean. But lately because of some Dot Connecting this area may become very important to us.
At any rate, if the Moderators don't want my posts about these 2 subjects just let me know.
Jefferson sibling pleads guilty in fraud
Youngest sister says she knew about scam
Thursday, June 19, 2008
By Gordon Russell
Dealing a blow to her family's hang-tough legal posture, Brenda Jefferson, the youngest sister of embattled U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, pleaded guilty Wednesday to concealing her knowledge of a conspiracy to skim money from nonprofit groups controlled by relatives.
The plea marked the first admission of guilt by a member of the Jefferson family, five of whom have been charged with federal crimes in the past year.
In doing so, Brenda Jefferson agreed to provide truthful cooperation, according to her plea agreement. A summary of the government's case against her, which she signed, says she knew of and participated in various schemes being carried out by relatives who are now facing corruption charges. Brenda Jefferson also said that two of her family members charged in the charity scandal made out checks to her from the charities' accounts, then forged the endorsement and deposited the money in their own accounts.
For The Rest Of The Story
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-10/121385372039730.xml&coll=1#continue
Sao Tome and Principe: Portuguese group opens five-star hotel in Sao Tome [ 2008-06-18 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 18 June - Portuguese group Pestana is due Saturday to open a new five-star hotel with 115 rooms, built from scratch in Sao Tome and Principe at an investment of over US$26 million, a group official said Tuesday.
Speaking to Macauhub, the commercial director of the group in Sao Tome and Principe, Ricardo Rodrigues, said that the Sao Tome head of state, Fradique de Menezes would inaugurate the new hotel unit.
The new complex, which has been built next to one of the beaches on the Sao Tome coastal road, includes a casino, a night club, two swimming pools overlooking the sea, a health club, two conference rooms and a covered car park.
The construction of the new unit, which began in January 2006, is part of a tourism plan by the Portuguese group, known as, “Pestana São Tomé Ocean Resort Hotel which will also include a real estate complex comprising 54 houses that are due to be completed by the end of 2008.
As well as the new resort, the Pestana group also ownd a four-star hotel in Sao Tome, which has 65 rooms, as well as management of another complex on the Rolas islet, in an overall investment of over US$57 million. (macauhub)
I B Confused. Our oh so (in the past) quiet company is finally talking, answering question, and for heavens sake giving us pee ons a peak BEHIND THE CURTAIN. imho They are TELLING us they WILL be getting INCOME PRODUCING property in the NEAR future. The company WILL have INCOME coming in before 2012. They ARE going to be listed on the AIM. And some here are saying No, No, don't tell us what you're up to, talk more about our rights in the JDZ. In the presentations they gave us all the info they can. Anything new has to come from our partners. As Judge Judy says "Put on your listening ears." They are telling us the future & it sounds good to me.
And Walldog. Something I learned from you oh so many years ago. "Offor Doesn't Make Bad Deals." Your words have held true all the years & I believe will continue to do so. Relax bud, it's all good.
N’Delta Summit’ll Address Region’s Devt, Says VP
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja , 06.18.2008
Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan has again assured that the proposed Niger Delta summit is not going to be business as usual. He maintained that it would give firm commitment to the development needs of the region.
He stated this yesterday while addressing a delegation of members of the River State Truth and Reconciliation Commission led by Justice Kayode Eso, in his office at State House, Abuja .
“The Niger Delta Summit will achieve clear results. President Umar Yar’Adua is totally committed to bringing lasting peace to the region, hence there will be a commitment on the part of the Federal Government and all recommendations at the Summit will be carried out to the letter", he said.
Jonathan assured on the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring the safety of those who sought to testify before the Commission. He also pledged amnesty for those who as part of seeming agitation may have fallen foul of the law but are now willing to make amends.
He commended Governor Rotimi Amaechi for setting up the Commission, noting that “as a former Speaker in the last administration and now a sitting governor, it must have taken courage to set up this Commission. This shows a great commitment on the part of the Governor to see to the end of the crisis in Rivers State .”
Earlier in his remark, Justice Eso said the Commission moved to Abuja in continuation of its sitting “to take evidence of some of the people who have expressed concerns for their safety.”
He reiterated the Commission’s commitment not to fail the nation in the present assignment. “We have seen signs that they will respond to the Commissions’ efforts, but they also have expressed reservations about their safety.”
He, therefore, called on the Federal Government to support the Rivers State government in its bid to enthrone peaceful coexistence.
Shell: We’ll Remain Shareholders in Ogoniland
...Rules out suing FG over revocation
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku with agency report, 06.18.2008
Royal Dutch Shell said yesterday that it would remain a shareholder in Ogoniland operations even if the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), also Shell's joint venture partner, becomes the operator of the oil fields.
The company also ruled out the possibility of suing the Federal Government over the revocation of Ogoni oil fields.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had announced over a week ago that oil fields abandoned by Shell in Ogoniland 15 years ago would be given to the NNPC to operate.
Justifying government’s decision to withdraw Shell’s operatorship in Ogoniland, Yar’Adua had said since there was a total loss of confidence between the Ogoni people and Shell, government decided that the best solution was to allow another operator acceptable to them (Ogonis) to take over exploration activities in the area.
He however announced last week that the NNPC would take over the company’s interest in the area.
But reacting to the development in an interview with Bloomberg yesterday, the Managing Director of Shell Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, said Shell would continue to be a shareholder in the Ogoniland operations even though NNPC will become the operator.
Sunmonu also disclosed that SPDC currently has as much as 400,000 barrels of crude oil shut in as a result of militant attacks on its facilities.
“Militants attacks as recent as last month and as old as February 2006 have halted about half the venture's production,” the Bloomberg report said.
The company also said yesterday that it would not mount a legal challenge to government's plan to take over its oilfields in Ogoniland later this year.
"Shell will not challenge this in court," said Precious Okolobo, a spokesman for Shell in Nigeria, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"If this action will bring peace to Ogoniland, we will support it," Okolobo said.
Shell’s activities in the area had suffered set backs due to strained relationship between it and the Ogoni people over the company’s alleged failure to pay compensation for damages done to their environment as a result of exploration activities.
Shell has since maintained that it has never been found wanting in its social responsibility to its host communities.
The relationship between Shell and the Ogonis was further strained following the execution of nine Ogoni activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), in 1995 by government of the late General Sani Abacha.
The development effectively crippled the company’s activities in the area while its infrastructure including oil wells, flow lines which bring crude oil to the flow stations, rotted away due to lack of access to them.
THISDAY had on Monday reported that Russian oil giant, Gazprom, and several foreign companies were jostling for the Shell’s the oil fields in the area.
THISDAY was also informed that many Chinese companies have indicated interest in the oil fields, which hold proven reserves of over 10 trillion cubic metres of gas – one of the world’s largest.
It was learnt that Yar’Adua’s decision to re-allocate the fields was informed by his desire to address the power situation in the country through the use of gas to generate electricity. Gas is one of the cleanest sources of power.
In line with the policy of the Yar’Adua administration to involve host communities in the ownership of oil fields in order to address the issue of marginalisation, THISDAY reported that there ewas intense mobilisation by the communities in preparation to take up equity in the ventures.
Any new company that gets the oil fields is expected to begin production within a year.
Gazprom, although not an oil company, is said to be interested in gas production in which it has global acclaim.
Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world, accounting for about 93 percent of Russian natural gas production. With reserves of 28,800 cubic km, it controls 16 per cent of the world's gas reserves.
Nigeria oil rebels reject Niger Delta summit
LAGOS - Nigerian militants responsible for bombing oil pipelines and kidnapping foreign workers in the Niger Delta said today they would not take part in a peace summit called by the government for next month.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), whose campaign of violent sabotage against Nigeria’s oil industry has helped push world oil prices to record highs, said the summit was “bound to fail”.
“Mend has made its position very clear that it will not be a part of the jamboree called a summit. Unlike other groups that go back and forth to be appeased with bribes, Mend has people with integrity,” the group said in an e-mail to Reuters.
President Umaru Yar’Adua said on Friday that the long-awaited summit would take place next month.
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, from the delta, has been tasked with organising the summit.
His office said on Thursday that top UN official Ibrahim Gambari, a Nigerian who is a special adviser to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, would lead a steering committee to prepare the summit.
Gambari was Nigeria’s envoy to the United Nations (UN) in 1995 when writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists were hanged by the then-military government of General Sani Abacha after leading protests against international oil companies.
Mend rejected Gambari’s involvement in the proposed summit, saying he had defended Abacha’s actions against international condemnation at the time of Saro-Wiwa’s execution.
“Ibrahim Gambari’s utterances during the trial and after the murder of Ken Saro-Wiwa have come back to haunt him,” Mend said.
“Here is a man who defended the despot, Sani Abacha, and the judicial murder only to expect a warm embrace from the Niger Delta people. He is not welcome and we do not consider him credible,” the e-mail said.
Shell won’t challenge takeover of Nigeria oil wells
17 Jun 2008
bbj.hu
Royal Dutch Shell said on Tuesday it will not mount a legal challenge to the Nigerian government’s plan to take over its oilfields in Ogoniland later this year.
President Umaru Yar’Adua earlier this month announced the government will give the oilfields, located in the Niger Delta, to another company after they were abandoned by Shell 15 years ago. Production at the time had averaged around 28,000 barrels per day. “Shell will not challenge this in court,” said Precious Okolobo, a spokesman for Shell in Nigeria.
Analysts said that losing the right to operate in the Ogoni area was unlikely to have much impact on Shell’s business but that the move was important symbolically. “If this action will bring peace to Ogoniland, we will support it,” Okolobo said.
Shell closed its operations in the area in 1993 due largely to popular protests over pollution and lack of development. The protests were spearheaded by a rights group, the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), whose leader Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the then-military government in 1995. Hundreds of placard-carrying villagers staged a protest against Shell in March, when MOSOP said the company was trying to force its way back to the Ogoni area. (Reuters)
Sao Tome and Principe: Cocoa is Sao Tome’s main export in first quarter of 2008 [ 2008-06-16 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 16 June – Sao Tome and Principe netted some US$463,000 from cocoa exports in the first quarter of 2008, which accounted for 97.8 percent of the country’s exports in the period, according to the archipelago’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
According to INE, cocoa exports saw a year on year increase of 0.9 percent between January and March of 2008, when considering nominal values in dobras, the Sao Tome currency.
INE added that growth in value of cocoa exports (97.8 percent in the first quarter of 2008, against 97.1 percent in the same period of 2007) was due to the improved international price of the product.
In terms of quantity, there was a fall of 19 percent in the period with cocoa exports falling by 466 tons in 2007 to 283 in the first quarter of this year.
As well as cocoa, Sao Tome also exported coconut.
The list of buyers of Sao Tome cocoa in the period was headed by the Netherlands, which purchased US$185,000, followed by Portugal, with US$133,000 in the period.
The main exporters of cocoa on the Sao Tome and Principe archipelago are companies Agricom from the Agua-Izé plantation, in the south of Sao Tome, Sodeap, C.G.I, Bela Vista and Secabe. (macauhub)
N’Delta Summit: Amaechi Assures FG of Leaders’ Participation
06.17.2008
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State said yesterday that leaders of the Niger Delta region would attend the planned summit to iron out the crisis rocking the area.
Describing the summit as important, Amaechi said there was the need for the people to dialogue with the Federal Government over their plight. ``Niger Delta summit is important, we need to talk, we need to dialogue, we need to engage the Federal Government. It is important for the public and the Federal Government to know what the problems are and how to go about resolving them,'' he told State House Correspondents after an audience with President Umaru Yar'Adua.
On the Truth and Reconciliation Commission sitting in the state, the governor reiterated that its outcome would not be used to prosecute anyone.
Amaechi said the essence of the exercise was to heal all wounds and unite all factions to bring peace to the state and promote development.
``It is geared toward finding a lasting solution to the crisis that rocked
Rivers State over the past years. The commission came into being because a lot of stakeholders demanded for it,'' he said.
The governor said his administration had been channelling all the funds it received from the federation account into projects that would impact positively on the lives of the people.
``Our intention is to apply judiciously all the funds that we have received from the government,'' Amaechi said. Amaechi said the major project he had engaged in was a ring road that would cost the state between $1.5 billion (N175.5 billion) and $1.7 billion (N198.9 billion).
He said the state needed partnership with the private sector to be able to execute the projects.
farrell90 Here's The Link...
http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=114276
In Nigeria, oil wealth delivers grief
Salil Tripathi
WITH the price of oil skyrocketing, the search is on for explanation. One reason is violence and unrest in Nigeria, which has reduced production by at least a quarter, according to some estimates. The economic and political failures that lay behind rebel violence in Nigeria's oil-bearing Delta, however, are not amenable to any easy fix.
While the recent rebel attacks are not directly responsible for the logic-defying $11 surge in oil prices as of June 6, they complicate the market, challenging policymakers and governments to take effective steps to stem the rise.
Nigeria is not a bit player in international markets; it is OPEC's fifth-largest oil producer, with a quota of 2.3 million barrels a day. Policy pronouncements, increasing production quotas, plans to build nuclear-power plants, imposing taxes on air travel or talk of unlocking the strategic petroleum reserve in the United States have not calmed markets. Unrest in Nigeria only aggravates the situation.
The unrest also hurts poor countries most dependent on commodity imports, as their fuel bills rise without an accompanying increase in any revenue. Discontent over globalisation increases in such a context, since those at the vanguard of maintaining the global architecture -- the G8 finance ministers, the UN Security Council, CEOs who meet at Davos -- have little influence over events in the Niger Delta.
The standing of the African West Coast as oil producer has grown because of ongoing instability in the Middle East. According to a US congressional estimate, the US alone expects perhaps one quarter of its future imports to come from the Gulf of Guinea region within a decade or so.
Nigeria, the biggest producer there, hardly provides an encouraging example of what might follow in Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome or further inland in Cameroon or Chad.
Oil was discovered in the Niger Delta in 1956, in Oloibiri. Since then, Nigeria has exported oil worth billions of dollars, but poverty has worsened. While the capital city of Abuja has sparkling buildings, the Niger Delta, where much of the oil is found, has few public services such as electricity, clean water, primary health clinics or schools.
The governmental authority the Delta communities see most often is the military, usually defending oil-industry installations. Most oil companies operating in the Niger Delta have signed on to corporate social responsibility initiatives that address chronic poverty, but the companies can only provide relief to some communities, and such initiatives cannot become a substitute for governmental action.
On top of that, many communities are angry over years of environmental degradation due to gas flaring and groundwater contamination. The contamination is at least partly due to sabotage of oil pipelines by rebel forces, but the communities want clean water, not analysis of who blew up the pipes.
Writer and environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa captured the global imagination with his campaign against oil companies in the Ogoni region, but was arrested by a former dictator and executed in 1995, after a trial that most observers dismissed as unfair by any standard.
Since the return of electoral politics in Nigeria in the late 1990s, successive governments have vowed to address the Delta crisis by allocating more resources to the region. But the pace has been sluggish, and corruption remains rife. Capitalising on the discontent, a rebel group called the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has taken it upon itself to pursue justice.
Its armed militia have killed government soldiers, kidnapped oil-industry workers, and attacked industry infrastructure repeatedly. They fund their illegal activities through ransom payments as well as stealing oil from pipelines and selling it to unscrupulous traders, often in collusion with some Nigerian authorities.
With fast motorboats, the masked rebels operate with virtual impunity in the inaccessible creeks, their hands wielding AK-47s, engaging in frequent bloody skirmishes with military who patrol the region.
With their boats and barges often leaking, they leave a trail of pollution in the creeks. Frequent attacks on the pipelines cause explosions that add to the region's environmental woes.
The oil industry cannot fix this discontent. Including every subcontracting employee, the industry employs about 35,000 Nigerians. Even if the industry were to add a small percent of new jobs every year and replace staff lost due to attrition, the highest number of jobs it can create in a year won't exceed 5,000.
The Niger Delta alone has nearly 30 million, about a fifth of the nation's population. Its population grows at 2.4 percent a year, implying the need for some 3 million jobs a year, with perhaps 700,000 in the Niger Delta. Oil can only play a small role in such an equation.
Oil can fuel the engine of the economy, with other industries creating jobs. But over the years, easy money from oil has distorted investment decisions, allowing Nigeria to neglect other industries.
Some 95 percent or more of its foreign-exchange earnings come from oil, and with the current stratospheric prices, Nigeria might think it has no reason to look beyond oil. Its reserves are about 36 billion barrels, and at the current rate of production, it has enough oil to last another 40 years.
After that, what? Better management of oil revenues is one solution. Reflecting on the destructive role sudden wealth can play, policymakers have tried monitoring oil revenues.
But the effort hasn't borne any fruit. Take for instance Chad. When oil was discovered in the Chad basin and the Chad-Cameroon pipeline was built, the World Bank insisted on conditions to ensure that revenues would be deposited in an escrow account, with funds only used for approved development expenditures.
However, with conflict in Darfur and the presence of hundreds of thousands of refugees on the border, Chad now ignores those commitments some of the time, and spends more on defense. Rising oil revenues, thanks to rising prices, means there are limits to the absorptive capacity in Chad for more development expenditure. A waste of those resources is, then, inevitable.
In the path-breaking 1997 study, "The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro States," author Terry Lynn Karl shows how sudden infusion of oil wealth, unless properly harnessed, leads to problems in countries without a tradition of good governance. The book focused on Algeria, Venezuela, Nigeria, Indonesia and Iran, but the message resonates beyond.
Still, there's little to show for the better understanding of the problem. International financier George Soros funded several initiatives to seek greater transparency in the management of revenues from natural resources, such as the Publish What You Pay Coalition, which empowers the civil society to make authorities publicly accountable; the Open Society Institute; and the Revenue Watch movement.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair launched the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, which calls upon oil, mining and gas companies to reveal their payments to host states.
In theory, the surge in the price of oil should provide ample resources for the government to address problems of chronic poverty. But clearly that hasn't happened, and discontent simmers.
Unless countries like Nigeria address this specific issue -- and the international community helps it to develop a smarter macroeconomic policy that reduces dependence on oil exports and diversifies industries, its growing population will face a bleak future.
Nigeria's crisis is not only a Nigerian concern. The discontent in the Delta frightens markets, and instability could spread. Dependence on a single industry cannot be sustained, and economic diversification and fairer redistribution of resources must become a priority in Nigeria, to prevent another full-scale war.
Salil Tripathi is a London-based writer who specialises in Asian and international economic affairs. He is former correspondent for India Today and Far Eastern Economic Review.
© Yale Center for the Study of Globalization. All rights reserved. Reprinted by arrangement.
Gulf of Guinea: Britain, Nigeria Meet on Security
By Eugene Agha, 06.16.2008
Naval officers from the British Royal Navy and its Nigerian counterpart rose from a security seminar on board HMS Albion, with the resolve that the Gulf of Guinea needs proper protection.
British High Commission’s Defence Attache in Nigeria, Colonel Nick Pele, while addressing some defence correspondents, described the seminar as a welcome development and an attempt to build the Nigerian Navy’s capabilities as leaders in the ECOWAS sub-region, and as principal leaders in the African Union in the areas of peace -keeping operations.
He said the two-day seminar, which was rounded up last Thursday, was meant to spread good ideas between, the British Royal Navy and their Nigerian counterparts in cross country services.
Pele said the seminar will further cement relationship between the two.
According to him, the Royal Navy, led by captain Wyne Keble’ was in Nigeria to carry out low level training with their Nigerian counterparts and hold a joint seminar on maritime security, particularly on littoral areas from the shore line and after about 100 to 150 kilometers, which both countries dominate.
Russian, Chinese Oil Firms Jostle for Ogoni
•Shell may sue FG over revocation
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku and Davidson Iriekpen, 06.16.2008
Russian oil giant, Gazprom, is among several foreign companies jostling to replace Royal Dutch Shell in Ogoniland following Federal Government’s decision to award the oil fields to another company.
THISDAY was also informed that many Chinese companies have indicated interest in the oil fields, which hold proven reserves of over 10 trillion cubic metres of gas – one of the world’s largest.
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had announced over a week ago that oil fields abandoned by Shell in Ogoniland 15 years ago would be given to another oil company this year – a decision, THISDAY learnt, may soon be challenged in court by Shell.
However, Section 25 (1) (a) of the 1969 Petroleum Act empowers the government to take over and re-award oil fields that are inactive.
THISDAY was informed last night that following government’s six-month quit notice to Shell, the oil giant is planning to farm out the fields to Addax Petroleum, a Canadian company, in order to prove that they are not dormant.
Yar’Adua’s decision to give up the fields to another company was said to be informed by his desire to address the power situation in the country through the use of gas to generate electricity. Gas is one of the cleanest sources of power.
In line with the policy of the Yar’Adua administration to involve host communities in the ownership of oil fields in order to address the issue of marginalisation, THISDAY has learnt that there is intense mobilisation by the communities in preparation to take up equity in the ventures.
Any new company that gets the oil fields is expected to begin production within a year.
Gazprom, although not an oil company, is said to be interested in gas production in which it has global acclaim.
Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world, accounting for about 93 percent of Russian natural gas production. With reserves of 28,800 cubic km, it controls 16 per cent of the world's gas reserves.
After acquiring the oil company Sibneft, Gazprom, with 119 billion barrels of reserves, ranks behind only Saudi Arabia, with 263 billion barrels, and Iran, with 133 billion barrels, as the world's biggest owner of oil and oil equivalent in natural gas.
Apart from its gas reserves and the world's longest pipeline network (150,000 km), it also controls assets in banking, insurance, media, construction and agriculture.
Shell is said to be preparing for a legal battle because even though it has not produced in Ogoniland since 1993, the proven reserves there is at the heart of the company’s business interests.
Federal Government’s withdrawal of the oil fields could affect Shell’s market capitalisation and stocks, THISDAY can report.
Shell closed its operations in the area in 1993 as a result of protests over pollution and lack of development.
The protests were spearheaded by the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), whose leader Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Abacha government in 1995.
“There is a total loss of confidence between Shell and Ogoni people,” Yar'Adua said while on a state visit to South Africa recently.
“Another operator acceptable to the Ogonis will take over. Nobody is going to gain from the conflict and stalemate, so this is the best solution,” he added.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had been named to take over the fields but it is yet unclear how the ownership will be structured if eventually a foreign company wins the fields.
It appears the NNPC may adopt the joint venture partnership structure.
9042 Did You Happen To Notice How Many Investors Were Watching Other Presentations? Wondering if our 15 to 20 was average or a low turn out?
Thanks For Being There For Us.
Sao Tome and Principe: World Bank approves US$6 million loan [ 2008-06-13 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 13 June – The World Bank has decided to approve a loan of US$6 million to Sao Tome and Principe to combat the poverty that affects almost 53 percent of the Sao Tome population, the archipelago’s national radio station reported.
According to Sao Tome and Prancipe state radio, the loan approved Tuesday in Washington, United States, essential aims to implement reforms in the tax sector as well as provide investment in the health, education and infrastructure sectors.
The funds from the World Bank will also be injected into projects for management of natural resources as well as governance activities in the oil sector, in partnership with the initiative for transparency in the extractive industries in order to ensure the economic stability of the archipelago, the radio station reported.
At the beginning of 2007, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to pardon 90 percent of Sao Tome and Principe’s external debts as part of a financial programme aimed at correcting the country’s macroeconomic imbalances.
The World Bank has supported Sao Tome and Principe within the framework of a process of oil exploration in the seas off the archipelago, by training staff and providing technical assistance. (macauhub)
O.T. BB
Would you please send me your e mail address. I had it years ago, but lost it when changing to a new computer.
rubymartin1@juno.com
Our Interest in N’Delta, By US
•Nigeria/America business partnership tops agenda
By Paul Ohia and Agha Ibiam, 06.12.2008
The United States Amba-ssador to Nigeria, Ms. Robin Renee Sanders, has said the preoccupation of her country in the Niger Delta region is to offer humanitarian intervention, education and promotion of dialogue as a way of affecting the oil-producing communities positively.
She ruled out any military intervention despite her country's perceived military and technological capability to fish out the militants and protect US economic interest in the region.
Sanders acknowledged Nig-eria's ability to understand that the agitation of the people on political and environmental issues are genuine, but said the US would only come in to be of assistance in the humanitarian efforts.
The ambassador was speaking during a courtesy visit to THISDAY corporate headquarters in Lagos, yesterday, the first to any Nigerian media house since she assumed office last year.
She said the issue of oil price jumping up after every attack in the area affects everybody in the world and not only the US.
"There is a legitimate concern in the Niger Delta both politically and economically. The political dialogue has to be spearheaded by Nigeria," she said, adding that her country has in place conflict resolution, entrepreneurial, education and sundry programmes to complement the efforts of the Nigerian government.
She said she has visited to the region to see things for herself and know the recurring issues at stake which, according to her, go beyond humanitarian needs but extend to development issues.
On the relationship between US private sector and its Nigerian counterpart, the envoy said: "The government is working to create a bilateral framework that needs to be there for a stronger business relationship. We're working with the Nigerian government on a bilateral investment treaty. We have businesses in Nigeria but ironically we don't have a bilateral investment treaty."
She noted that American businesses in Nigeria are not as big as they should be, but her mission was working hard to improve private sector partnership.
She said that this gives meaning to the ongoing seminars being organised by the embassy at different place in Nigeria. The seminar held in Abuja is focused on power sector and financing opportunities that are inherent therein.
"Tomorrow (today) there will be another two-day seminar in Lagos that will focus on other sectors as well. We have agriculture, trade, and economic development," she said.
On agriculture, Sanders noted that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has made it part of his seven-point agenda and said the embassy, with USAID, is working in several areas to improve yield, research, food production and how to get entrepreneurial expertise in this area.
On the complaint of Nigerians about consular services, Sanders said people need to understand that the services follow the process of rule of law.
Her words: " The visa and immigration process is the rule of law process and I think people have to recognise that but what I have tasked myself is that people have to be treated politely when they come, even if one has to be turned down for the visa".
She said there is and improvement on how people are being treated and said that she wants that to continue.
She wants visa seekers to respect the online, rule of law and transparency process but added that 70 per cent of those who apply get visas.
Yar’Adua: FG’ll Raise Nigeria’s Crude Oil Capacity to 4m bpd
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 06.13.2008
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has said that his administration will work towards raising Nigeria’s crude oil production capacity from the current two million barrels per day to four million barrels per day by 2010.
Yar'Adua made the disclosure at a press conference at the Elysee Palace, Paris, France yesterday after talks with French President Nicholas Sarkozy.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Communications, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, quoted Yar'Adua as saying he discussed the rising crude oil prices with the French leader.
Yar'Adua, according to the statement, assured his French counterpart that Nigeria was better disposed to "stable, sustainable and predictable oil prices”, rather than unpredictable prices which, he said, did not help anyone in the long run.
The President said: “Nigeria will work to ensure an oil price acceptable to both users and producers.”
He said he had received a promise from Sarkozy of his government’s support and assistance to Nigeria and other Gulf of Guinea nations for the enhancement of maritime security and surveillance capabilities to further protect the energy resources of the region.
Yar’Adua said that he and Sarkozy also agreed on the need to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries in view of the strategic importance of both countries to the development of the African continent.
Responding to questions from reporters, Yar’Adua said that with the proposed withdrawal of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) from Ogoniland, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would become the operator of the oil-prospecting licence covering the area, which is currently held by a Shell/NNPC joint venture.
He expressed the belief that with the departure of Shell from the area, the “Ogoni will now calm down.”
On Zimbabwe, the President said that it was not true that African leaders had refused to take a stand on the situation in that country.
"Our position is that the laws of Zimbabwe should be observed, that the run-off elections must be free and fair and the election dispute resolved according to the rule of law," he said.
The President also announced that Nigeria’s former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon, would head a 30-man ECOWAS team to observe the run-off elections in Zimbabwe.
ERHE May Be Bringing On The PERFECT STORM. Getting new/large investors interested & watching our minnow. And then BAM, Rig Announcement!
There would be a clamor for shares.
From Page 42: JDZ block 1: high impact exploration (Afren Web Site)
Obo -1 discovery in 2006 proved
JDZ as a significant oil and gas
province
Block 1 technical studies ongoing
prior to further drilling
On trend with Nigerian deep water
world-class oil fields
- Akpo and Egina (Total):
1,500 mmbbls
Multi firm well programme on
Blocks 2, 3 and 4 in 2009
Militants Storm Oil Security Vessel, Kill Naval Officer
Some gunmen in the Niger Delta yesterday continued with their attacks on oil facilities, this time storming a security vessel working for Canada’s Addax Petroleum Corp.
The attack resulted in the killing of a Nigerian Navy seaman and injuring several others before being repelled by reinforcements from the military.
According to a Reuters report, the attackers, who came in speedboats, ambushed the vessel with eight navy seamen on board as they travelled from Calabar near Nigeria’s south-eastern border with Cameroon towards Rivers State in the Niger Delta.
The report quoting the spokesman for the Nigerian Navy, Mr. Henry Babalola, said the gunmen were initially repelled and two of their boats sunk after an exchange of gunfire. But the attackers later regrouped and came back in six speedboats to board the vessel.
"About 56 militants boarded the vessel, but they were later dislodged when we got reinforcements and they dispersed into the surrounding creeks," Babalola said.
"We have cordoned off the area and are searching for the militants."
Addax said one navy seaman had been killed and four other navy personnel and crew injured while defending the vessel, which had been contracted to provide security services. It said the attack began shortly before midnight of Sunday.
"We are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim's family and those of the injured personnel," Addax President and chief Executive Officer, Mr. Jean Claude Gandur, said in a statement.
"We strongly believe that this unfortunate incident was a premeditated act by criminal elements seeking personal benefit."
A senior state security official earlier said three naval personnel and one civilian were injured, while one seaman was missing, presumed dead, after going overboard as shots were exchanged.
Militants who say they are fighting for greater local control of the Delta’s natural resources launched a campaign of violent sabotage against the oil industry – Africa’s biggest – in early 2006, which have forced the world’s eighth-biggest exporter to cut output.
The situation is believed to have largely been responsible for the current hike in oil price at the international market.
Last month, Nigeria's most prominent militant group, MEND, launched an attack on an oil pipeline belonging to the Royal Dutch Shell and claimed to have killed 11 soldiers in the region.
It has, however, become difficult to draw the line between political agitation and criminality in the region, with gangs kidnapping oil workers, children and the aged for ransom and funding themselves by stealing crude oil.
President Umaru Yar’Adua’s year-old administration has said it plans to hold a summit with Niger Delta communities to try to address the root causes of the unrest but has also promised a crackdown on militant camps in the region.
Many in Nigeria still see this move as ineffective in addressing the problem of the region, citing non-release of the full budget for the presidential intervention programme, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), among several others.
Meanwhile, trigger-happy soldiers from the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta also over the weekend went on rampage in a school community of Ufuoma in Ughelli north local Government Area, a host community to Delta State School of Health Technology, leaving in its wake four students shot and scores of others sustaining severe bullet injuries.
Investigations carried out revealed that the soldiers, who were allegedly hired by a 200 level female student (name withheld) of Environmental Health Department of the institution, who was one of the parties in the fracas, wasted no time in going to action by shooting sporadically into the air apparently to scare away some aggrieved youths in the community.
Eyewitness account revealed that the soldiers, who were alleged to have been brainwashed by the story of the female student, later threw caution to the wind by firing directly at some unsuspecting male students who were playing football on a nearby secondary school field believed to have been involved in a face-off with the female student.
One of the victims, who identified himself as Onofuro Yerorovwon, claimed to have been hit by a stray bullet while he was in front of his house, told our correspondent at his hospital bed that he was shot in front of his house when he came out to find out where gun shots were coming from.
The 20-year-old Yerorovwon stated that he just came back from the bush where he went to fetch sticks to construct local ceiling for his apartment when the unfortunate incident occurred.
He said before he could escape, on sighting the soldier, he received a gun shot on his left palm.
Meanwhile, thousands of Ogonis under the auspices of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), staged a peaceful rally in Port Harcourt over the pulling out of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) from Ogoniland.
The people carried placards with various inscriptions, some of which read "Non-violence pays," "Bye bye to Shell," "No more Shell in Ogoni land," "Justice for Ogoni," "justice for all," "Thank you President Yar'Adua," "No more genocide in Ogoni land," among others. They sang and danced through major streets of Port Harcourt and terminated at Government House, where they delivered their solidarity message to President Yar’Adua through Governor Chibuike Amaechi.
In the message delivered on their behalf by the MOSOP president, Mr. Ledum Mittee, they expressed gratitude over the decision of the Federal Government to replace Shell as the oil exploration company in Ogoniland.
Mittee said the Ogonis were committed to playing a more positive and constructive role in the transformation process, just as he expressed the hope that the new challenges and opportunities would be addressed in such a manner that would improve the natural environment and secure a viable future for the people.
The people of Ogoni advised prospective oil operators to break with the past and design a relationship with local people based on just treatment of communities and innovative approach to development and employment.
They contended that if this was done, an inspiring message that non-violence pays would have been sent to the rest of the people of the Niger Delta region.
Receiving the people, Rivers State governor, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, assured them that their message would be delivered to President Yar’Adua, noting that what has happened was an indication that violence was no longer a viable option in the resolution of the issues of the Niger Delta.
Amaechi, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Magnus Abe, said people who make their case consistently and peacefully now have an opportunity under President Yar’Adua to get justice without recourse to killing anybody.
"As usual, the Ogonis have blazed the trail, the Niger Delta thing everybody is talking about is nothing but an extension of the Ogoni struggle, but the violence that has come with it is a bastardisation of what the Ogonis struggle," he declared.
The governor urged Ogonis to come together and unite in fashioning their future and determine what they can get out of the present situation that God has afforded them, warning that any further misunderstanding within the ranks of the people will not do them any good.
He congratulated the Ogoni people for remaining peaceful, principled and consistent in their quest for better treatment, and enjoined them to remember those who contributed immensely to the struggle but are not alive to witness the victory.
Angola: Angola is the biggest oil producer in Africa according to OPEC [ 2008-06-11 ]
Vienna, Austria, 11 June – Angola has overtaken Nigeria as Africa’s largest oil producer, according to the most recent Oil Mining Report (OMR) published by the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC).
In its OMR for May, OPEC said that Angolan production in April totalled 1.87 million barrels per day whilst in Nigeria’s production fell to 1.81 million barrels, against a peak of 2.5 million barrels three years earlier.
According to OPEC, Nigeria’s daily production has fallen from 2.235 million barrels in 2006 and 2.125 million in 2007.
In the same period Angola’s production rose from 1.385 million barrels per day in 2006 to 1.66 million in 2007.
The oil cartel said the rise in Angolan production was due to offshore projects in the oil rich area off the coast of Cabinda province. (macauhub)
Again, Gunmen Attack Addax Vessel
From Ahamefula Ogbu in Port Harcourt, 06.11.2008
Barely 24 hours after a security vessel belonging to Addax Petroleum, an indigenous oil firm, was attacked offshore, another vessel belonging to the company was again attacked yesterday morning.
Reports say one naval personnel was killed, while two civilians were wounded.
The vessel, Seacor Macor, said to have been heading to Athan field sailed into an area where militants allegedly identified and tried to seize the vessel with its content.
Immediately the hoodlums sighted the vessel, they allegedly allowed it to sail within their weapons range before opening fire on it.
The vessel was under the guard of naval personnel from NNS Victory in Calabar, Cross River State.
The naval personnel were said to have returned fire and in the exchange, an officer was killed, while civilians on boars sustained various degrees of injuries.
Confirming the attack, spokesman of the Joint Task Force, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, said he did not have the details since it happened outside the jurisdiction of the JTF Operation Flush III.
He said it appeared that at least one personnel was killed in the attack, adding that he could not say if there was any casualty on the part of the attackers.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) had both threatened to carry out attacks against federal interests in the oil and gas sector.
The militant groups said they were going to attack because of the raid by soldiers on some Ijaw villages where soldiers said they were looking for arms and razed them down.
The gunmen had on Monday attacked a security vessel, Altra G, belonging to the same company.
The Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in Port Harcourt had on Monday said its personnel on board the vessel had repelled the attack, adding that no casualty was recorded.
Commenting on the attack, President and Chief Executive Officer of Addax Petroleum, Jean Claude Gandur, said one of the firm’s contractors was killed in the attack, while one naval personnel and a crew member were injured.
He said: "First and foremost, we are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and those of the injured personnel.
“Secondly, we believe that violent criminal attacks of this nature are perpetrated opportunistically by lawless criminal elements and, whilst they do not present a substantive threat to our operations, they nevertheless cause us great concern regarding the safety of both our and our contractors’ personnel.
“We believe that the timing of this incident is unfortunate and coincidental, particularly as the events relating to yesterday’s (Monday) incident remain unclear. Our approach to security on all of our operations is to work closely with our host communities and local security forces, harnessing the strong goodwill and excellent relationships that we have patiently built over the years and value so much.
“We will continue to apply these principles and redouble our security efforts to deter these tragic and lawless acts.”
Gandur said full investigations into this criminal incident are under way by local and federal security and government agencies and by Addax Petroleum.
We Didn’t Import Arms and Ammunition – Shell
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku, 06.10.2008
Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), has debunked allegation that it is importing arms and ammunition into the country, and also denied any involvement in the proliferation of arms and ammunition in the Niger Delta region.
Mr Femi Falana, counsel to Henry Okah, leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), who is currently facing treason charges before a Jos Federal High Court, had written the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mike Okiro, alleging that the Nigerian Army and SPDC are involved in the proliferation of arms and ammunition in the Niger Delta.
In the said letter, Falana said the MEND leader was alleged to have committed treason by providing 250,000 assault rifles, General Purpose Machine Guns, Rocket Propelled Launchers/Canisters, Bazookas and assorted ammunition to armed groups in the Niger Delta, to wage war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He said, "in the course of preparing our client's defence, we traced the proliferation of arms and ammunition in the Niger Delta to the Nigerian Army and the Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria Limited."
The Lagos Lawyer said he was prompted to apply to the IG for a Certified True Copy of the Approval, dated July 20, 1994, given to SPDC to import arms to enable the accused adequately defend himself.
But in a swift reaction yesterday, a Shell Spokesman , Mr Precious Okolobo, said at no time did SPDC apply to the IG for permit to import arms and ammunition into Niger Delta or Nigeria at large.
He explained that sometime in 1994, SPDC investigated the possibility of funding the upgrade of the side arms used by the Supernumerary (SPY) Police assigned to guard the company's personnel and Joint Venture facilities, following upsurge in violent crimes in Nigeria at that time. He said the company decided to shelve the idea, based on issues of price and supply, coupled with its concern that upgrading weapons at a period of extreme sensitivity might be misconstrued.
"SPDC wishes to state that it does not and has never imported arms and ammunition into Nigeria as being alleged. At no time did SPDC apply to the IG for permit to import arms and ammunition into Niger Delta. To set the record straight, sometime in 1994, SPDC investigated the possibility of funding the upgrade of the side arms used by the supernumerary (SPY) police assigned to the company to guard its personnel and Joint Venture facilities at a time when there was an upsurge in violent crime in Nigeria.
"SPDC eventually decided not to proceed with the idea and has not done so since. The decision was based on issues of price and supply, and because of the company's concern that upgrading weapons in a period of extreme sensitivity might be misconstrued. The matter is subject of an on-going suit at the Federal High Court, Lagos, and we cannot make further comments on it," Okolobo said.
OPEC Countries to Invest $160bn to Increase Oil Output
From Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja, 06.10.2008
Nigeria and the remaining 12 member countries of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have concluded plans to commit more than $160 billion (about N19.20 trillion) into crude oil capacity expansion programmes, which are expected to yield additional 500 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to world’s production by 2012.
Also, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday bemoaned the level of poverty in Africa, describing it as unacceptable, calling on the leadership in the continent to work assiduously to halve poverty by 2015 with a view to assuaging the suffering of the people.
Addressing participants at a workshop on “Energy Poverty in Africa” yesterday in Abuja, OPEC Secretary General, Abdalla Salem El-Badri, explained that the expansion programme became necessary because of the rising crude oil prices.
The workshop was jointly organised by the Finance and Energy Ministries and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
Essentially, El-Badri pointed out that OPEC was making the moves to increase production of crude oil to mitigate the unfavourable effects of high oil prices on poorer nations of the world.
The spirited efforts by the OPEC member countries may not be unconnected with the serious threats rising oil prices and food crisis is posing to the achievement of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including halving extreme poverty by 2015.
“Currently, oil is selling for more than $130 per barrel, bringing in its wake, calls on OPEC to increase supply. The existing volatile situation in the market is therefore, a clear indication that oil prices have been vulnerable to factors other than market fundamentals.
“The sharp increase in crude oil prices over the last 10 months has coincided with a continuing decline in the value of the US dollar, which has encouraged asset portfolio substitution as investors seek to hedge against inflation and the decline in the value of dollar by switching directly to commodities or indirectly via index trading.
“This has caused crude oil prices to become disconnected from the dynamics of supply and demand fundamentals and the heightened levels of speculation have been a principal driving force behind the volatility as oil, like other commodities, has been turned into a financial asset,” he said.
El-Badri, who was represented by Head of Public Relations and Information Department of OPEC Secretariat, Omar Farouk Ibrahim, said OPEC was disturbed by the spate of speculation, which “has created volatility in the oil market, and was worsening the plight of the poor as well as hampering sound investment planning for the future.”
Nevertheless, El-Badri said OPEC would continue to make provisions for poorer countries that do not produce oil, and lack the financial power to buy from the market.
He recalled that “the heads of state of member-countries had in 1975 in Algiers produced the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), which has been working to alleviate poverty in more than 120 poor countries across Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, through the provision of aids and grants.
“In addition to OFID, our member-countries also render assistance to poorer developing countries through various arrangements including bilateral and multilateral aid institutions,” he explained.
El-Badri disclosed that OPEC members had pledged $750 million for the funding of research relating to energy, the environment and climate change.
An estimated 2.5 billion people in developing countries, he said, rely on biomass for their cooking and heating needs, while about 1.6 billion live with no access to electricity, adding that over 130 million people in sub-Saharan Africa also rely on firewood, cow dung and crop residues for their cooking and heating needs.
“This has enormous health implications for the people and it gives them no escape route from the poverty cycle,” he said.
Yar’Adua posited that the continent must achieve higher levels of domestic and foreign direct investment and economic productivity for it to attain the MDGs by 2015.
He lamented that productivity and overall economic performance in sub-Saharan Africa were being hampered by the poor state of energy sector.
According to him, “as some of our development partners will attest, Africa is not exactly poor in energy resources. We are aware that Africa’s land mass of 30.3 million square kilometres is endowed with rich natural resources, including fossil and renewable energy sources.
“Nevertheless, most of these resources are yet to be exploited. There is need for further investigation which, we expect, is part of the charge of this workshop. Effort must be exerted to enable African countries to overcome the problem of access to energy, as a basis for creating sustainable development.”
Yar’Adua who was represented by Finance Minister, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, stated that apart from energy supply and energy sufficiency, African governments were also being challenged by some other difficulties.
For instance, he cited many African governments still struggling with infrastructure creation along with other human development issues.
According to him, African countries need financing for education, shelter, healthcare and private enterprises development to move their societies and economies forward.
“Even now, a major threat to stability in some of our countries is that of food crises, brought about by the rise in prices and shortages due to increased use of agric products for bio fuel,” he added.
Why OPEC Favours High Crude Prices
By Collins Edomaruse with agency report, 06.08.2008
Minister of State, Energy (Petrol), Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, yesterday said the rising crude prices was in consonance with the “huge” investments members of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were making in the industry to ensure new output capacity.
The minister told Dow Jones Newswires that the oil producing countries were aware of global concerns over the rising crude prices, but said: “The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries is unlikely to pump more oil to ease market concerns about the health of global crude supplies.
“I really don't see what OPEC can do other than make a futile symbolic gesture without any real prospects of higher OPEC output at this time," Ajumogobia said yesterday.
He said OPEC was aware of market concerns about global oil supplies keeping up with demand in the future but that the 13-nation producer group was making big investments in new output capacity.
"We recognise that future supply concerns are an issue and OPEC is addressing that,” he said.
Ajumogobia said the new oil price high hit last Friday was driven by speculative trading and a weaker U.S. dollar after the European Central Bank indicated earlier this week that European interest rates may be headed higher in coming weeks to head off building inflationary pressures. U.S. benchmark crude prices closed up by a record $10.75 a barrel at $138.54 on the New York Mercantile Exchange and are now up about 44% so far this year.
Ajumogobia, however, said Nigeria, where militant attacks have caused major oil production shut-ins, in the past two years, was considering the possibility of reopening some oil fields in Ogoniland.
Oil production in Ogoniland pretty much ground to a halt back in the early 1990s after Royal Dutch Shell
was forced to leave the area amid festering disputes with the local population over issues like environmental pollution and following the execution of Ogoni rights activists and leader of Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ken Saro-Wiwa, by the Abacha military government.
Ajumogobia also said talks about restarting some Ogoni oil fields, which are away from the main area of militant activity that's crippled Nigeria's oil production, were still at an "exploratory" stage.
How much Ogoni crude production could be restarted was also still being considered, he said.
At the time of Shell's departure from Ogoni in 1993, the company was producing around 28,000 barrels a day in the area, which represented about 3% of the company's total Nigerian production at that time.
President Umaru Yar’Adua had in South Africa on Wednesday announced that Shell’s oil fields in Ogoniland would be reallocated to new operators which will be acceptable to the local communities.
More than 600,000 barrels a day of Nigerian capacity is shut because of militant assaults on oil infrastructure. The country is currently pumping around 1.8-2.0 million barrels a day.
The news agency also reported that a senior Israeli official told an Israeli newspaper on Friday that an Israeli attack against Iran, OPEC's second-biggest producer after Saudi Arabia, was "unavoidable" if Tehran continued to push forward on its controversial nuclear programme.
Iran is producing around 4 million barrels a day, while Saudi Arabia is pumping around 9.3-9.4 million barrels a day.
Crude prices rocketed Friday by almost $11 barrel to a new record high of more than $138 a barrel on a weakening U.S. dollar and fresh geopolitical concerns that raised big questions about the potential for Middle East oil supplies being disrupted.
O.C. No I Think Finding 1/3 The Oil Would Make Them Look Stupid. Find 3 X the oil makes them look smart, for having acquired the Block(s) in the 1st place.
My Son Lives 120 Miles From S.F. And he is a shareholder. He's a Fireman & I don't know if he's off on the 5th or would be interested. I would think with the live web casts a warm body wouldn't be needed. This board would know the whole presentation before he would be able to do any reporting.
Sad part is I live maybe 30 miles away. But I'm owner/operator of a small business & I'm booked up for that day.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Nevermind. My son is working on the 5th.
emdyal: This Is All The Info I Have...
Addax Petroleum presents at upcoming conferences
CALGARY, May 30 /CNW/ - Addax Petroleum Corporation ("Addax Petroleum" or
the "Corporation") (TSX: AXC and LSE: AXC), announces that Mr. Jean Claude
Gandur, President and Chief Executive Officer, will be presenting at the
Credit Suisse Oil & Gas Conference in London on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008.
In addition, Addax Petroleum announces that Mr. Michael Ebsary, Chief
Financial Officer, will be presenting at Scotia Capital's Canadian
International E&P Conference in Toronto on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at
approximately 10:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. London U.K. Time). Investors
are invited to listen to the live webcast of the Scotia Capital presentation
via the following link:
http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=95155
The presentation slides for the above conferences will be available prior
to the presentations on Addax Petroleum's website at www.addaxpetroleum.com.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2008/30/c6308.html
Dog: Yes, and Addax Is "Presenting" On The 3rd & The 5th.
Looking forward to/hoping for, a good week.
Walldog I liked The Line Above It...
"We are especially eager to present the results of our work toward exploratory drilling in the Joint Development Zone "
I'm hoping those "Results" are a Rig Announcement.
Addax Petroleum presents at upcoming conferences
CALGARY, May 30 /CNW/ - Addax Petroleum Corporation ("Addax Petroleum" or
the "Corporation") (TSX: AXC and LSE: AXC), announces that Mr. Jean Claude
Gandur, President and Chief Executive Officer, will be presenting at the
Credit Suisse Oil & Gas Conference in London on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008.
In addition, Addax Petroleum announces that Mr. Michael Ebsary, Chief
Financial Officer, will be presenting at Scotia Capital's Canadian
International E&P Conference in Toronto on Thursday, June 5th, 2008 at
approximately 10:00 a.m. local time (3:00 p.m. London U.K. Time). Investors
are invited to listen to the live webcast of the Scotia Capital presentation
via the following link:
http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=95155
The presentation slides for the above conferences will be available prior
to the presentations on Addax Petroleum's website at www.addaxpetroleum.com.
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2008/30/c6308.html
Sao Tome and Principe: Political crisis in Sao Tome leads Portugal to postpone archipelago’s debt pardon [ 2008-05-29 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 5 Sept – The fall of the government of Sao Tome and Principe has led Portugal to postpone is debt pardon to the archipelago and of a credit line worth 50 million euros, the minister of Finance said Wednesday in Sao Tome.
In a press conference, Raul Cravid said that the Portuguese finance minister, Teixeira dos Santos, had been expected to arrive in the country Thursday for a two-day visit, but had put off the visis indefinitely.
Cravid said that, during the visit, Teixeira dos Santos had been due to sign a memorandum for a 20 million-euro credit line, for teh purchase of food and capital, and a debt pardon agreement with Portugal, of US$30.8 million (19.7 million euros).
"Due to the decision of the National Assembly, we are a management government and agreements of this kind are only signed with legal and legitimate governments,” said the Sao Tome minister.
The mambers of São Tome and Principe’s National Assembly on 20 May approved, by majority vote, a motion that led to the fall of the government led by prime minister Patrice Trovoada. (macauhub)
Prepare for fuel scarcity - Marketers tell Nigerians
From Komolafe Rasheed and Qudirat Hakeem-Apanpa - 28.05.2008
A fresh round of hardship looms in the country as fuel marketers yesterday warned Nigerians to prepare for another scarcity. The scarcity, Nigerian Tribune learnt is the fall-out of the recent pipeline fire incident at Ijegun, Lagos State but another source hinted the looming scarcity was the usual ploy of government to jack up the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol.
Another petroleum industry source, however, told the Nigerian Tribune that the problem might not be unconnected with the reality at the international market where the price of crude oil keeps skyrocketing on a daily basis and the fact that the local price was not encouraging importers to venture into the business as only NNPC was left to import.
Stakeholders in the oil industry who confirmed the impending scarcity revealed that the volume that was being loaded had been reduced drastically and there was no hope for improvement until next week.
Statistics of the supply situation of PMS attested to this fact. A source in one of the depots in the SouthWest told the Nigerian Tribune that in the past few weeks, what was being pumped into the depot had dropped drastically fuelling fears that government might be up to a move to jack up the pump price of petroleum products any moment from now
“As I am talking to you now, the fear of the unknown has gripped the marketers especially the independent marketers who depend on government depots for their business as PMS is being rationed to them,” the source said.
Confirming the situation to the Nigerian Tribune, the Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Otunba Akanni Oyewole, said the volume now being allocated to the 874 marketers in Oyo and Osun State was just 525,000 litres instead of the usual 3 million or 2.5 million litres per day.
“In fact, Ibadan PPMC Depot received just 550,000 litres of PMS for the whole of this week showing a decline of almost 110,000 litres compared with 660,000 litres it received last week, shared among about 500 marketers,” another source told the Nigerian Tribune.
Otunba Oyewole advised Nigerians not to capitalise on that to store the product which could be dangerous to life and property.
Also speaking on the issue, the Secretary of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ unit of NUPENG, Mr. Ade Koledeso, stated that the Sagamu Depot could not load a single litre of the product on Tuesday due to the pipeline explosion in Lagos and that this would soon affect other parts of the country especially Ibadan and Ilorin which get supplies from Lagos via Sagamu.
He said although the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) had promised to rectify the problem before the end of next week, he was sure it might take longer than that, so Nigerians should be ready to face scarcity.
To prevent immediate scarcity, the Federal Government was said to have directed the Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) Plc., to ensure a continuous loading of PMS from its Depot in Lagos till Thursday which is the anniversary day of the present government, fuelling fears that any moment after Thursday, the country might return to fuel scarcity.
The corporate affairs managers of the major marketers in the country declined comments on the issue.
LAGOS, May 28 (Reuters) - Nigerian militants said on Wednesday they planned to carry out a series of car bombings and attacks in the oil-producing Niger Delta on Thursday to mark President Umaru Yar'Adua's first year in office.
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which has carried out a campaign of sabotage against oil installations over the past two years, said it was issuing the warning in the hope of minimising deaths of civilians.
"To commemorate the one year of failure by the government of Umaru Yar'Adua, MEND will carry out a string of deadly attacks and car bombings on Thursday in some Niger Delta states," the group said in a statement e-mailed to the media.
"This fore-warning is to ensure that civilians avoid milling around oil pipelines and installations or close to military check-points and vehicles to minimise civilian loss of life."
The group is one of several which say they are fighting for local control of oil wealth in the Niger Delta, a network of swampy creeks which is home to Africa's biggest oil industry, pumping more than two million barrels per day.
Pipeline bombings and attacks on industry installations have cut output in the world's eighth biggest oil producer by around a fifth since 2006, helping push oil prices to record highs.
The Nigerian army said it did not intend to deploy troops on the streets and said it was used to such threats from MEND. But it said it was determined to maintain law and order.
"I can assure you of the readiness of our troops to deal with any situation," said Sagir Musa, spokesman for the military task force in the Niger Delta.
REBEL LEADER HELD
A private security contractor working in the oil industry said the threat was being taken seriously and that extra security personnel would be protecting installations while travel restrictions would be imposed on some workers.
MEND blew up a major Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L: Quote, Profile, Research) pipeline on Monday, forcing the firm to shut down some production, having carried out similar attacks last month.
President Yar'Adua moved swiftly to engage the rebels after taking office on May 29 last year, freeing two jailed militant leaders and drawing up plans for formal talks.
But the peace process has made little tangible progress.
In an e-mail to Reuters earlier on Wednesday, MEND said any goodwill that existed after Yar'Adua took office had evaporated after one of its leaders, Henry Okah, was arrested on gun-running and treason charges.
"A very simple solution to the crisis is this. Free and allow Henry continue from where he stopped," it said.
Okah, arrested in Angola last September and handed over to Nigeria five months later, stands accused of conspiring to wage war against Nigeria. His trial resumes next month and he faces the death penalty if convicted.
MEND said Yar'Adua's government had only freed another ex-militia leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, last year because it believed he would be easily malleable as a negotiating partner.
"Everything was going in the right direction until Henry Okah was arrested," MEND said in the email to Reuters. "The divide and rule strategy has failed. It will be a pity if the next one year goes by the same way."
Sao Tome and Principe: Membership of World Trade Organisation analysed in Sao Tome [ 2008-05-27 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 27 May – The authorities of Sao Tome and Principe Monday in Sao Tome opened a national seminar on trade, with a view to the archipelago joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO), announced the director-general for trade, Abenilde dos Santos.
The seminar, which is promoted by the Ministry for Trade and Tourism, will last three days and has the support of the WTO and the European Union (EU), as well as the International Organisation for Francophonie.
The director-general for trade said that “Sao Tome and Principe wants balanced trade with several foreign partners within the framework of the World Trade Organisation.”
As part of the process for inclusion of the archipelago in the WTO, dos Santos said that one of the seminar’s aims was to offer the country’s future negotiators instruments that allow them to negotiate the future membership of Sao Tome and Principe of the WTO with “clarity.” (macauhub)
N’Delta: ‘Master Plan ‘ll End Political Agitation’
From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja , 05.27.2008
President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua yesterday assured that the Niger Delta Master Plan, when implemented, will remove the basis for the on-going political agitation in the region.
Yar’Adua while briefing the new Ambassador of Denmark to Nigeria, Mr. Flemming Bjok Pedersen, on the situation in the Niger Delta, at the presentation of his letters of credence at the State House, said “we already have a 15-year Master Plan for the comprehensive development of the Niger Delta region, and once this is implemented, the basis for the political agitation will no longer be there”, he stated.
He stressed that the issue of criminality and oil bunkering had to be separated from the genuine political agitation, adding that his administration had reached an advanced stage in the discussions with political and community leaders, as well as the militants, in an effort to find a lasting solution to the problem.
The President said the Niger Delta was one of the priorities of the his government while concerted efforts are on to address the situation.
On bilateral issues, President Yar’Adua directed that arrangements be made for a Nigerian trade delegation to reciprocate the Danish trade delegation’s visit of October, 2007, adding that this was one of the ways of strengthening relations.
Earlier, the new Danish Ambassador, commended the President’s efforts towards achieving peace in the Niger Delta, and requested for a reciprocal visit to his country by a Nigerian trade delegation next month.
During a separate audience, President Yar’Adua told the new Singaporean Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Shabbir Hassanbhai, that Nigeria appreciated the technical cooperation between the two countries, especially in the area of training, and assured him of necessary support to make his tenure a success.
The two ambassadors, who are non-resident, expressed their condolence to President Yar’Adua on the death of 46 Nigerian soldiers in an accident last week.
Nine Persons Injured in Another Pipeline Fire
...Diesel price hits N135 per litre
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku and Fidelia Okwuonu, 05.27.2008
Nine persons were severely burnt yesterday as a vandalised pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Mosimi, Ogun State caught fire.
This is coming as the price of diesel has risen to a record high of about N135, a development that has adversely affected industrial and vehicular operations.
Those who sustained varying degrees of burns in the latest incident, which affected the Mosimi-Ibadan line, included five riot policemen attached to the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) and four community security guards.
The damaged pipeline supplies products to Ibadan and Ilorin depots, raising fears of imminent products shortage.
But PPMC spokesman, Mr. Raph Ugwu, has allayed fears of any product scarcity, saying the depots have tanks with capacity to hold products for so many days. He said whenever there were pipeline breakages, products would be supplied from the storage tanks pending when repair works were completed.
Besides, he said the repair of Ijegun pipeline, which was damaged in the wake of a recent explosion, had been completed and that products supply through the pipeline had commenced.
Narrating the incident, he said PPMC officials were alerted in the early hours of yesterday that vandals had broken a portion of the Ibadan-Mosimi pipeline and were scooping fuel from it.
Following the tip-off, he said the policemen headed for the scene in company with the community guards.
According to him, on sighting the operatives, the vandals opened fire on them, a development, which he said sparked the inferno.
He said the injured operatives were currently hospitalised, while plans had commenced for the fixing of the pipeline. He affirmed that the fire was finally put out in the afternoon.
The Minister of State for Energy, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), had during his facility visit to the Atlas Cove last year, said the greatest challenge confronting the industry was the vandalism of its pipelines.
He said the ministry might consider burying the pipeline deep in the ground to prevent easy access.
He regretted that the huge amounts of money, which could have been spent on developmental projects, were being expended on demurrage incurred on vessels carrying imported fuel.
Meanwhile, to stem the rising cases of pipeline vandalism, as well as recurring incidences of pipeline explosion, the Federal Government, THISDAY learnt is at the final stage of awarding the contract for the laying of the pipelines 20 feet deep in the ground.
The new pipeline laying technique, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), it was learnt, would require replacement of existing pipes with special ones, which will make them maintenance- free for so many years.
The Atlas Cove-Mosimi line has been selected for the pilot test, which will commence soon.
The choice of Atlas Cove-Mosimi line, sources said was informed by its vulnerability, coupled with the fact that the line is used for evacuation of imported products.
With the new technique, it is believed that cases of pipeline vandalism will become a thing of the past, as vandals will no longer have access to the pipelines.
Less than two weeks ago, a ruptured NNPC pipeline at Ijegun, a suburb of Lagos, had exploded, claiming 16 lives and property worth millions of naira.
The incident occurred, when a Lagos State Government contractor‘s earth-moving equipment working on the Isolo-Ijegun road project, unknowingly ruptured the pipeline, which passes through the area to Mosimi depot in Ogun State.
However, industrialists have continued to groan over the escalating diesel price, which was attributed to poor performance by the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries.
Some independent marketers told THISDAY yesterday that the refineries were performing below capacity and had been unable to produce both Premium Motor Spirit (PMC) and Diesel at the same time.
According to the sources, the independent marketers had tankers stationed for weeks at both refineries, but had not been able to load owing to non-availablity of stock.
They revealed that only a few marketers were currently selling, because they had some in stock. They raised fears that the situation might become worse when those currently selling ran out of stock.
9999 We're Still Waiting Word, But I Believe The Adam Abraham Is Supposed To Be Finished This Month.