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Here's top story today from Nigerian Champion-newspapers.... so Art, I tend to agree with you...... ND9
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2007: Prophet warns OBJ
By FLORENCE UDOH
Founder/Spiritual head of INRI Evangelical spiritual church, primate Babatunde Elijah Ayodele has prophesied doom for President Olusegun Obasanjo if he attempts to hold on to power after 2007.
http://www.champion-newspapers.com/news/teasers/
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Offshore West Africa - oil & gas development conference
March 14-16, 2006 - Abuja, Nigeria
Leading the World in Deepwater E&P
More Deepwater Growth Ahead
West Africa dominates the international deepwater market and will attract over 40% of the $48 billion in deepwater E&P spending projected for the next five years. The Offshore West Africa Conference & Exhibition remains the leading source of information on new technology and operating expertise for the worldїs largest deepwater and subsea market.
Building on its 10 years of experience in the offshore West Africa arena, the Offshore West Africa Conference & Exhibition is again offering industry professionals worldwide the opportunity to present papers on technical, operations, and geo-political topics.
Over 1,000 people and 80 exhibitors are expected from the energy centers of Nigeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, Equitorial Guinea, United Kingdom, UAD, United States, Francy, Italy, Norway, The Netherlands, Niger, Russia, Australia, and
http://owa06.events.pennnet.com/content.cfm?NavId=3345&Language=Engl
June 2005 Article from Addax & Oryn Group Chairman and Chief Executive Jean Claude Gandur....
In article, Mr Gandur says, "As you know, the oil producing countries in West Africa are known to the world. I am not sure that outside those countries, we are going to make much discoveries. We have a golden triangle that is made up of Nigeria, Equitorial Guinea, and Sao Tome."
Let's all hope he is right........... Happy New Year to All.
ND9
NOTE: I was unable to cut and paste this article but here is the link:
http://www.addax-oryx.com/pdf/itw-JCG-News-Africa-31-10-05.pdf
Third term: Obasanjo begins campaign
Festus Owete, Olusola Fabiyi (Abuja), Semiu Okanlawon and Olayinka Oyebode
As opposition continues to mount over President Olusegun Obasanjo’s alleged third term agenda, there are indications that he might flag-off the campaign in January 2006.
A senior Federal Government official, who craved anonymity, told our correspondent in Abuja on Thursday that the President was pushing ahead with the agenda, in the interest of the country.
He said that ministers, special advisers and other senior officials of the Federal Government had already been directed to coordinate the campaign in their respective states. Besides, a subtle move is on to convince the armed forces and other critical segments of the polity to support the bid.
The 36 state governors are not left out as many of them have been coerced into endorsing the bid. The source said that many of them had expressed support because they were afraid that if they didn’t, Obasanjo would expose them to the same treatment meted out to former Bayelsa State governor, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who was impeached two weeks ago.
It said it was in order to win the support of Nigerians that Obasanjo announced some months ago that his administration would not raise the prices of fuel till December 2006, adding that the President also intends to fully implement next year’s budget to avoid any problems with the National Assembly.
On the international front, the official said the President would approach the World Bank for endorsement of the third term plan.
He stated that the World Bank would be urged to produce a favourable country report on Nigeria, highlighting the reform programme of the current administration and how it had improved Nigeria’s image tremendously.
The report, which would also state why it is necessary for Obasanjo to remain in office for another four years to enable the programme stabilise, would then be passed on to the international community, especially the United States and Britain, to solicit their support.
It would then be strengthened by a follow-up visit by Obasanjo to both countries where he would inform their leaders about the need for him to stay a bit longer to set the country on a sound footing.
The source told our correspondent that if it becomes difficult for “the President to convince these two powerful countries (US and Britain), then the search for a trusted successor will be intensified next year before the presidential convention of the Peoples Democratic Party, which is likely to come around June.”
He said that it was not true that the President was reluctant to go for a third term, explaining that Obasanjo was tacitly avoiding public comments on the issue because he was worried about how to convince Nigerians and the international community about it.
The source said that top on Obasanjo’s list as possible successors, should the third term bid fail, are the Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu; Senator Jubril Aminu, the governors of Rivers, Bauchi and Nasarawa states, Dr. Peter Odili, Adamu Muazu and Abdullahi Adamu respectively.
The source also said that Obasanjo was not interested in handing over to any retired military officer, especially former military president, Ibrahim Babangida.
“There are reasons Baba (Obasanjo) would not hand over to this man (Babangida). There are fears within government circles that he (Babangida) has not forgiven the President for setting up the panel. This apart, he (Babangida) could be manipulated by the northern oligarchy,” he stated.
He also said that Senator Aminu was quite unlikely as Obasanjo’s successor because the former ambassador to the United States “is too rigid and does not seem to be a thorough politician.”
He said that as it is now, Mantu might be asked to contest for the presidency while Odili would emerge as his running mate.
This combination, he said, was borne out of the fact that the two are very loyal to the leadership of the party and the President believes that they would be ready to take advice from him any time he calls on them after his exit.
Meanwhile, the Presidency on Friday denied any such plan.
Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who issued the denial after a news conference in Lagos, told Saturday Punch that he was not aware of such plans, adding, however, that government would not in any way sanction those for or against the extension.
Earlier, at the press briefing Fani-Kayode faulted former head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon’s counsel to President Obasanjo not to seek a third term agenda saying that the former military ruler was not qualified to advise the president.
Gowon had in a message delivered on his behalf at the Middle Belt Conference held in Abuja on Thursday warned against any attempt to prolong President Obasanjo’s tenure.
Fani-Kayode, however, said that Gowon’s advice was uncalled for.
According to him, “What is the essence of giving advice when the person you are offering the advice has not done anything to suggest that he had any intention whatsoever of doing that thing you are advising him against?
“Secondly, you look at the credentials of the person that is offering the so-called advice. If we are to take stock of those who are qualified to give advice in terms of democracy and democratic process, among those that have ruled the country as military heads of state, the only two that are qualified are Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo (as he was then) and Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami, because they were the ones that voluntarily handed over power at the time they said they would hand over.
“That cannot be said of Gen. Gowon, Babangida and Abacha. I think it is very strange that somebody who did not leave power when he was supposed to, someone who kept on extending his hand over date until he was pushed out is now the one telling others not to prolong tenure
“Gen. Obasanjo, as he then was, left power in 1979. He did not have to do so. It was the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed that pledged that the administration would hand over government but when Obasanjo succeeded him, he ensured that the hand over was actualised.
“A man that was thrown out of power is now advising someone who voluntarily relinquished power especially when the man who voluntarily relinquished power then is not saying he will not do so again now. If you want to advise Mr President, it is important you do so in good faith and let your hands be clean.”
In a related development, Political Adviser to the President, Prof. Jerry Gana, has explained why Obasanjo has refused to comment publicly on the alleged extension bid.
Gana, who was asked by our correspondent in an interview in Abuja to explain why the President evaded a call-in question on the alleged bid during his monthly interactive television programme, said on Thursday that the President refused to give a definite answer on the matter because nobody would have believed him.
He said the President deliberately kept silent, assuring that at the right time, he would lay the matter to rest by telling Nigerians that he had no third term ambition.
SATURDAY PUNCH, December 31, 2005
http://www.punchng.com/main/article01
back to previous page
‘Third term rumour, cheap blackmail’
• Saturday, December 31, 2005
A federal lawmaker representing Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency, Delta State in the House of Representatives, Mr Pascal Adigwe has described the third term rumour of President Olusegun Obasanjo as a cheap blackmail aimed at derailing the on-going constitutional review.
Speaking to our correspondent at his home at Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State, Mr Adigwe expressed surprise why many Nigerian’s should be losing sleep over the issue of third term bid whereas there are other important national issues brought before the National Assembly for amendment that should be given more attention.
“The issue of terms of offices for the president is not the most contentious matter in the 96 listed items brought before the National Assembly for amendment. The crying of wolf by some persons concerning the third term bid is absolutely baseless,” he argued.
According to the lawmaker, the matter (their term) has only just been sent to the sub-committee to handle and the sub-committee itself has not rounded off their assignment, pointing out that the issue has not been formally presented to the National Assembly for debate and discussion.
Adigwe disclosed that the National Assembly has not taken any particular position as regards the matter, stressing that there are more contentious issues than the rumoured third term bid of the president.
“In my own opinion, I see the cry of these people as a deliberate effort aimed at diverting the National Assembly from tackling the more serious issues recommended by the confab’s report.
http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=12/31/2005&qrTitle=‘Third%20term%20rumour,%...
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Something else from 10K that I thought was interesting....
"In August 2005, the Company entered into an agreement with a consulting group to
identify and introduce to the Company oil and gas acquisition opportunities in Nigeria."
Hmmmm - other opportunities?
ND9
"Addax approval has been requested".
Interesting that the 10K didn't say Addax was approved. The exact words are:
"However, Noble subsequently withdrew from
negotiations and the company has entered into an agreement with
Addax Petroleum ("Addax") under which Addax will replace Noble in
the ERHC/Noble group. Approval for Addax to participate in Block 4 has been requested from the JDA."
ND9
Whose Front is Emeka Offor?
User Rating: / 6
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Written by Jonathan Elendu and Sowore Omoyele
If he were American or European, he would be on the Forbes list of the 400 richest people in the world. He estimates his net worth at three billion dollars ($3 billion), although a recent report obtained by Elendureports.com, puts his net worth at about six billion dollars ($6 billion). This former “Julius Berger truck driver” claims to have been a former petty contractor until fortune smiled at him. He reportedly was given a nineteen million naira contract in 1983, and thus opened the gates to unimaginable wealth.
According to documents obtained by Elendureports.com, business tycoon Emeka Offor is being investigated by a branch of the American government. Another business mogul, Wahab Folawiyo, may also be under investigation. What do these two men have in common besides stupendous wealth? They are both friends of Pres. Olusegun Obasanjo. And they are both oil men.
Emeka Offor is one of the major financiers of the President’s party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In the last election cycle, he donated two hundred million naira to the Obasanjo re-election campaign. He is also reputed to have sponsored the former Governor Mbadinuju of Anambra State, some members of the National Assembly and Anambra State House of Assembly for elections in 1999. He allegedly parted ways with Gov. Mbadinuju because the Governor refused him unimpeded access to the State’s Treasury. This parting with Offor led to Mbadinuju losing the nomination of his party for re-election in 2003.
Offor owns a chain of companies including, Chrome Oil Services, African Express Bank (Afex Bank), Chrome Radio Station, Chrome Air, and Environmental Remediation Holding Company (ERHC). Chrome Air is on retainer with the Central Bank of Nigeria. Offor also sits on the board of several companies, including Niger Insurance.
Documents obtained by Elendureports.com indicate that the bulk of Offor’s business is with the Nigerian Government. These documents show that Emeka Offor may have made most of his wealth from inflated contracts and speculate that he may be laundering money for some highly-placed government officials. Existing records show that Offor was a front for the late Gen. Sanni Abacha. His first major government contracts came from the Abacha regime.
Offor’s company, Chrome Oil Services, handled the Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM) on two federal government owned refineries in Port Harcourt. Claims have been made that Nigeria may have been fleeced of at least one hundred million U.S. dollars by Chrome Oil Services. Even with all the money invested in the Turn-Around Maintenance, the two refineries have yet to perform at optimal levels. On November 23, 2004, Offor appeared before the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (downstream sector) to explain the non-completion of the TAM. He was rude and disrespectful to the committee members. They have yet to summon him since then.
The documents in our possession accuse Offor of being involved in “about 20 other serious cases of corruption, influence peddling, abuse of office, involvement in illegal acts and cover-ups, harassment and intimidation of political and business opponents, procuring law enforcement agents to act unlawfully, infringement of transparency rules and regulations of government.”
A document prepared by one of the Nigerian security agencies credits Emeka Offor, his business partner, Gidado Idris, and some others as being the people who destroyed the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) through their business practices. Their imprints are also found on the struggling National Fertilizer Company of Nigeria (NAFCON), as well as Eleme Petro-Chemical Company.
There are allegations that Offor used his closeness to Vice-President Atiku to ‘corner’ the multi-billion dollar Yola/Bauchi NEPA transmission line. He has already been paid a significant part of the contract fees as mobilization fees. Offor, in a published report, denied Atiku’s involvement in the deal. Sources at the Vice-President’s office, who spoke to Elendureports.com, told us that Atiku and Offor were not, and have never been, close friends, “Although the Vice-President introduced Offor to the President, Offor is closer to the President than Atiku. In fact I can tell you that Offor has not been close to the Vice-President since 2001, except for during the campaigns when the entire people in the VP’s campaign entourage spent a night at Offor’s country home.” The Vice-President denied having any business dealings with Offor. According to the source, “The Vice-President swore that he has never done any oil business since becoming the Vice-President.”
The said documents in Elendureports.com’s possession state that Emeka Offor and Vice President Atiku were also implicated in a recent revelation about a mysterious Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) signature fee deposit from the sale of OPL 245. Malabu Oil and Gas, a Dan Etete company, were the original owners of OPL 245, but it was later revoked by the Obasanjo Government, and later sold to SPDC. The entire OPL 245 transaction is tainted by controversy as Malabu and Etete sued the Obasanjo Government in a U.S. court for two-and-a-half billion dollars ($2.5 billion). Some interest accruing from the signature fee paid by SPDC is said to have been paid to some U.S. Congressional contacts. Emeka Offor is said to have recapitalized his bank, the Apex bank, with some of the money.
Sources also told Elendureports.com that Offor is very close to the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) chief, Jackson Gaius-Obaseki. Sources told us that Offor and the Vice-President met last at the President’s office. The Vice-President had gone to present documents to the President concerning Jackson Gaius-Obaseki. The said documents show that Obaseki had salted away about six hundred million dollars ($600 million) in various bank accounts. This revelation led to the President’s firing of Obaseki. However, the President refused to release the file with the documents that show the details of Obaseki’s bank accounts.
The reason the U.S. Government is investigating Offor is for a company he acquired—the Environmental Remediation Holding Corporation (ERHC); it was registered in 1986 by some Americans in Colorado. Chrome Energy, LLC (registered in Houston, TX) owns about 51.1% of ERHC. There are many allegations swirling around Offor’s involvement with this company. There have been claims by some foreign organizations that Offor’s shares in this company were donated to him as a way of enticing Nigeria into a deal with Sao Tome and Principe. Another report speculates that Offor’s shares may actually belong to the Vice-President. As stated earlier, the Vice-President denies any business involvement with Offor.
Another allegation is that the Federal Government of Nigeria arm-twisted the original owners of ERHC and Sao Tome into giving Offor the controlling shares in the company. One thing is certain: Offor’s ownership of ERHC makes him the number one player in the emerging oil industry of Sao Tome and Principe. The Offor-ERHC-Obasanjo deal was said to have incensed U.S. oil giant, ExxonMobil, as they were still carrying out seismic studies in Sao Tome.
According to documents in Elendureports.com’s possession, ERHC’s “sole asset is an oil and gas exploration concession in Sao Tome received pursuant to an agreement which became effective in July 2002. The company's focus is to exploit its only asset. The agreement with the Government of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe concerns oil and gas exploration in Sao Tome, an island nation located in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of central West Africa, as well as in a joint development zone between Sao Tome and the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The agreement was embodied in a consent award issued by the arbitrator as a result of the satisfaction of several conditions, including the ratification of a treaty between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome & Principe.”
The company’s statement of accounts indicates that until 2003, ERHC did not have any assets, but had a debt portfolio in the millions of dollars. How did a company that is in debt up to the tune of about thirty million dollars ($30 million) and with one staff member acquire a lucrative oil deal in Sao Tome and Principe? Why did Offor buy this company and end up paying more than seventy-five percent of the company’s debts? The company’s statement of accounts for the year ended 2004 indicate that ERHC lost about four million dollars ($4,000,000.00) during the accounting period. Why did the Federal Government of Nigeria not use the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for this deal?
Perhaps the information excerpted from the documents in our possession will shed some light on this matter, “About 4 billion barrels of crude are believed to lie beneath those waters. Without a drilling rig to its name, ERHC could reap hundreds of millions of dollars from its holdings. The company was formed and run by a number of minor U.S players and was able to pay the Sao Tomeans a small sum for the contract. The contract ran into trouble when it was realized that these prospective oil leases would have no value until an international treaty was made between Nigeria and Sao Tome, delineating the territorial boundaries between the two countries. A visit to Sao Tome by the American head of the company proved useless. The U.S. owners were persuaded by Offor that he could arrange that Nigeria set out such a treaty, using his friends Obasanjo and Atiku. The company agreed to sell its shares to Offor, while retaining a number of shares in their own name. They didn’t so much sell the shares as donated them in exchange for Offor agreeing to be liable for the debt. In mid-2001 Offor acquitted a 75% stake in EHRC. A few weeks later the Government of Nigeria and the Government of Sao Tome signed a treaty delineating their borders. Now the oil leases (which promised a 5% of the revenue stream to Chrome) now had a putative value.
This ability to start to sell the oil leases attracted other players. Obasanjo was pushing two companies for the Joint Development Zone (JDZ). These were the Nigerian branch of Norwegian PGS, headed by Otunba Onabanjo (father-in-law of Obasanjo’s second son) and Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum, run by Wahab Folawiyo (close friend of Obasanjo). Atiku was happy with Chrome as it was widely believed that he actually owned the Chrome shares and Offor was his nominee.”
Howard F. Jeter, a former ambassador, retired U.S. State Department official and friend of Pres. Obasanjo, is on the board of ERHC. Jeter also serves as an executive of Goodworks International, LLC, a lobbying firm owned by Amb. Andrew Young and Carlton Masters. Goodworks International lobbies the American Government on behalf of Nigeria.
The last coup d’etat in Sao Tome was both a diplomatic and business opportunity for President Obasanjo. The President intervened and brokered a peace deal between the coupists and the ousted Sao Tomean President. There are reports that the ousted President was accompanied from Libreville by two plane loads of military men to retake power in Sao Tome. This singular act re-established Pres. Obasanjo and Nigeria as indispensable in Sao Tome’s march to petro-wealth. Emeka Offor is reputed to have sponsored Pres. Meneze’s for the Sao Tomean presidential election in 2001.
Elendureports.com contacted ERHC at their Texas office. We were informed by a receptionist, who gave her name as Jane, that Emeka Offor did not maintain an office there. She refused to give us information as to how to contact Emeka Offor. She refused to answer more questions and abruptly hung up the phone. The Securities and Exchange Commission refused to confirm or deny that ERHC is under investigation.
Emeka Offor’s deals have astounded many investigators as he seems to operate in almost all of Nigeria’s economic nerve centers. It is widely believed that Chris Uba, the self-acclaimed political godfather of Anambra State, is playing from Offor’s playbook. Their influence on the Obasanjo Administration makes them members of the elite class of ‘sacred cows’ in Nigeria today.
Dated 12/1/2005
http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/index.php/content/view/2041/46/
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE Oil Probe (website dated 12/21/05)
Launched in September, a preliminary investigation by Sao Tome’s prosecutor-general, Adelino Pereira, into the way in which licenses were awarded in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) between Nigeria and Sao Tome wound up last week. (...) [ 176 words ] [ 3,25USD ] Read
Does anybody subscribe to this website and if so, could you please provide the rest of this article.
thanks,
ND9
http://www.africaintelligence.com/aem/default.asp
JDA Chairman and Addax Managing Director (Development) Nigeria to speak at Nigerian Oil Conference April 3-4, 2006.
Hopefully, by then, Mr Carlos Gomes, Chairman of the Board, Nigeria – São Tomé & Príncipe Joint Development Authority will have some good news for us:>)
Confirmed Speakers
Dr. Edmund Daukoru, Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources
Mrs. Ammuna Lawan-Ali, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources
Eng. Funsho Kupolokun, Group Managing Director, NNPC
Dr. Edmund O Ayoola, Group Executive Director, E&P, NNPC
Chief Sena Anthony, Chair, NNPC Committee on Gas Policy, NNPC
Eng. Smart Fadayomi, Group General Manager LNG & Power, NNPC
Eng. J.A. Akande, Group General Manager Nigeria Content, NNPC
Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, Group Public Affairs, NNPC
Carlos Gomes, Chairman of the Board, Nigeria – São Tomé & Príncipe Joint Development Authority
Jaques Marraud de Grottes, Managing Director/ Chief Executive, Total Upstream Nigeria
Chris Haynes, Managing Director and CEO, Nigeria LNG
Martin Hutchinson , Managing Director, Brass LNG
Jim Pearce, Managing Director, Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Limited
Bunmi Obembe, General Manger of Nigeria Content, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd.
Dr. Alirio A. Parra, Senior Associate, CWC Associates Limited
Basil Omiyi, Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. (invited)
http://www.cwcnog.com/content.php?page=conference
Sao Tome and Principe eligible for .........
Statement on Countries Eligible for Economic and Trade Benefits under African Growth and Opportunity Act
Today, President Bush determined the following 37 countries as eligible for economic and trade benefits under African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA): Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Chad; Republic of Congo; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Ethiopia; Gabon; The Gambia; Ghana, Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritius; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Uganda; and Zambia. This year, the President designated Burundi as an AGOA beneficiary country and removed Mauritania from the list of eligible countries.
As required by the legislation, this annual determination provides benefits to those countries that are making continued progress toward a market-based economy, the rule of law, free trade, economic policies that will reduce poverty, and protection of workers' rights. By providing countries greater access to American markets, AGOA can continue to spur development by fostering new trade and economic opportunities and promoting shared values and shared responsibilities.
AGOA is a key pillar of the Administration's steadfast commitment to trade liberalization in order to advance hope, opportunity, and prosperity in both developed and developing countries by reducing barriers to trade and investment. AGOA eligible countries have benefited by the Administration's policy to spur economic development, alleviate poverty, and encourage trade in sub-Saharan Africa.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/12/20051222-5.html
# # #
Pioneer Begins Development of Gas Offshore South Africa
12/20/05
DALLAS, Dec 20, 2005 (CCNMatthews via COMTEX) --
Pioneer Natural Resources Company (NYSE:PXD) announced today that development activities have begun on its South Coast Gas project offshore South Africa. Pioneer is partnering with PetroSA, the National Oil Company of South Africa, to jointly develop the South Coast gas fields to provide feedstock for PetroSA's onshore gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Mossel Bay. Both companies have board approval for the project. Pioneer holds a 45% working interest in the project, and PetroSA has a 55% working interest and is operator.
Since 2003, Pioneer and PetroSA have been producing oil from the Sable field while reinjecting associated gas. The South Coast Gas project will include the subsea tie-back of gas from the Sable field and six additional gas accumulations to the existing production facilities on the F-A platform for transportation via existing pipelines to the GTL plant. Production is expected to begin during the second half of 2007 and increase to an average of approximately 100 million cubic feet per day of gas and 3,000 barrels per day of condensate over the initial phase of the project through 2012.
Engineering plans for subsea systems, pipelines, umbilicals and surface equipment modification are currently being finalized. Development drilling is scheduled to begin in January 2006.
Scott Sheffield, Pioneer's Chairman and CEO, stated, "We're very pleased to get gas development offshore South Africa underway. The South Coast Gas project will provide a growing production profile beginning in 2007 and is a good example of an important component of our strategy for adding value - seeking lower-risk opportunities to develop known oil and gas resources with strong economic returns."
Pioneer is a large independent oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in Dallas, with operations in the United States, Argentina, Canada and Africa. For more information, visit Pioneer's website at www.pioneernrc.com.
Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this News Release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements and the business prospects of Pioneer are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties which may cause Pioneer's actual results in future periods to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, volatility of oil and gas prices, product supply and demand, government regulation or action, third party approvals, international operations and associated international political and economic instability, litigation, the costs and results of drilling and operations, availability of drilling equipment, Pioneer's ability to implement its business plans or complete its development projects as scheduled, access to and cost of capital, uncertainties about estimates of reserves, quality of technical data, environmental and weather risks, acts of war or terrorism. These and other risks are described in Pioneer's 10-K and 10-Q Reports and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE: Pioneer Natural Resources Company
Pioneer Natural Resources Company, Dallas Investors Frank Hopkins or Chris Paulsen, 972-444-9001 Media and Public Affairs Susan Spratlen, 972-444-9001
Copyright (C) 2005 CCNMatthews. All rights reserved.
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Waiting for the oil boom
[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
© Robert Powell/IRIN
When the oil money comes, we will build a bridge
SAO TOME, 13 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Beatriz Azevedo points to a woman carrying a plastic bowl of fish on her head as she wades chest deep through a river where it flows into the sea.
This river separates the coastal village of Sao Joao dos Angolares from a nearby beach where fishermen beach their canoes.
“Two men were drowned in recent months while trying to carry their outboard motors across this river, says Azevedo, the head of the local women’s association.
“When the oil money comes in we are going to build a bridge here.”
Everyone in Sao Tome and Principe is convinced that this small island state tucked away in the Gulf of Guinea is on the verge of an oil boom.
The US oil major Chevron has announced that it will start drilling its first offshore exploration well in block one of a Joint Development Zone (JDZ) shared with Nigeria during the first half of January.
The seismic data already gathered there is very encouraging and Total, the French oil company, has discovered a major oil and gas field just 15 km to the north inside Nigerian territorial waters.
Total’s Akpo field will produce 225,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent when it comes on stream in 2008.
There are high hopes that Chevron will find a gusher of equally impressive proportions nearby.
A former cocoa plantation
Billions of dollars in the pipeline
Afonso Varela, the Legal Director of Sao Tome and Principe’s National Petroleum Agency (ANP), can scarcely contain his enthusiasm.
“If we are lucky enough to find an oilfield with 1.5 billion barrels of recoverable reserves (similar in size to Akpo), even after sharing its revenue with Nigeria, we stand to receive about US $9 billion over a period of 25 to 30 years,” he said.
That is a mind-boggling sum for this twin-island state of 140,000 people.
Sao Tome presently scrapes by on $5 million a year from cocoa exports and around $25 million a year of foreign aid.
Most of the inhabitants of this former Portuguese colony are fishermen, who brave the Atlantic waters in dugout canoes, and subsistence farmers, who slash out plots in the jungle to grow plantains, cassava and a few vegetables.
But young people are drifting away from the villages to Sao Tome city where youth unemployment is estimated to be around 50 percent and expectations that oil will provide an instant solution to poverty are running high.
Dozens of new four-wheel drive cars in the sleepy capital and a crop of luxury houses mushrooming in the posh new suburb of Campo de Milho, have convinced ordinary people that money from oil-related activities is already flowing into the pockets of the ruling elite.
Many live in conditions of extreme poverty
Corruption could soak up the money
“I don’t see how buying flash new cars can do much for the good of the people,” said Olavo Vingar, who exchanges wads of grubby Sao Tome dobras for dollars and euros in Sao Tome’s central market.
Carrying a calculator in one hand and a bag of local currency in the other, Vingar says he would prefer to get a proper job.
But with the minimum wage set at $40 a month, this 34-year-old man can’t find anything else to do that would allow him to feed his seven children.
Lucretio Goncalves, who wanders the streets with his camera, offering to take photos of people for a dollar a picture, is equally sceptical that the politicians will spend Sao Tome’s oil revenues on improving the lives of ordinary people.
“Some oil money is already coming in, but it is just benefiting half a dozen people who run the country. It doesn’t reach ordinary people, just those who govern us,” Goncalves said.
“I am absolutely certain that in this country, the oil money is not going to be well used,” said Goncalves, who walks the streets with his camera because he is unable to find work as a stone mason.
With the World Bank’s encouragement, parliament last year voted through a new law drafted by US lawyers that is supposed to ring-fence Sao Tome’s oil revenues and prevent greedy politicians from diverting the money into their own pockets.
This oil revenue law is designed to ensure that all the money is spent on priority development projects such as improving the country’s roads, schools and hospitals and its erratic electricity and water supply, while making sure some of it is set aside for the future in a Permanent Fund.
But legal experts say the new law will only work if the government and the courts are willing to enforce it. And some respected voices are already predicting that many of its provisions will be quietly ignored.
“Sao Tome is a state that simply doesn’t function,” said Pascoal Daio, an independent lawyer who is one of the pessimists. “This law is very pretty, but it is not being applied.”
Daio pointed out that Patrice Trovoada, the son of former President Miguel Trovoada who has frequently served as a cabinet minister and government adviser, has accumulated huge personal wealth without having to explain the source of his riches.
And he noted that several top government officials owned shares in ERHC, a company controlled by Nigerian millionaire Sir Emeka Offor, which has been granted generous pre-emption rights in several offshore blocks in the JDZ.
“I don’t understand how any government could give away such privileged rights to a company,” Daio said.
Praia Banana - the government hopes to develop tourism in the twin-island state
Signature bonuses
As the public debate smoulders on about oil-fuelled corruption, some legitimate oil money is already entering government coffers in the form of “signature bonuses.”
These front-end payments are trickling in as Sao Tome signs a series of production sharing agreements with companies keen to drill for oil in deep-sea waters that Sao Tome agreed in 2001 to share with Nigeria.
Earlier this year, Sao Tome received US $49.2 million as its share of the $123 million signature bonus paid by Chevron and its partners for the right to explore block one of the JDZ.
Nigeria receives 60 percent of all oil-related revenues from the formerly disputed JDZ, while Sao Tome receives 40 percent.
In the coming weeks, the two governments expect to sign production-sharing agreements with other oil companies covering a further five blocks in this broad swathe of ocean 200 km south of the Niger delta.
These contracts should trigger the payment of a further $55 million of signature bonus payments to Sao Tome in 2006.
However, government officials warn that even if oil is discovered in commercial quantities, there will be a 10-year gap before Sao Tome starts to receive large-scale oil production revenues.
Rafael Branco, the Economic Director of the National Petroleum Agency, reckons production will only start in 2012 – although Chevron says that the fast track development of block one could produce first oil as early as 2010.
Branco also warns that even when the oil does start flowing, Sao Tome will have to wait a further three to five years before it starts to receive large-scale revenues.
That is because the oil companies involved will first have to recover the capital they have invested to bring the oilfield on steam. And that sum is likely to be $2 billion or more.
Once the big inflow of oil revenues to government coffers does start – probably sometime between 2015 and 2017 – Sao Tome may well receive several hundred million dollars per year.
That would turn it overnight into one of the richest countries in Africa, at least on the basis of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
Santo Antonio, capital of Principe island
Foreign aid still needed
However, until then, this tiny state– the second smallest in Africa after the Seychelles - will continue to need a large injection of foreign aid.
President Fradique de Meneses, with the backing of the World Bank, is therefore asking international donors to help Sao Tome prepare for a new era of oil wealth by financing an ambitious public investment plan.
This Poverty Reduction Strategy aims to reduce poverty by two thirds by 2015.
It also aims to modernise and reform the way in which government operates, improve the country’s decaying infrastructure, create a solid platform for private sector investment and stimulate economic growth of at least five percent a year.
A government study carried out in 2003 calculated that 54 percent of all Sao Tomeans live in poverty.
If implemented in full, the Poverty Reduction Strategy would lift over 50,000 people out of the poverty trap and reduce the social and political pressures that are currently building up as a result of high youth unemployment.
The government of Sao Tome asked donors at a round-table conference in Brussels on 6 December for US $169 million to finance the first three years of this ambitious plan and Prime Minister Maria do Carmo Silveira came away with immediate pledges of $60 million.
The economy has gone steadily downhill since independence in 1975 as the old cocoa estates have been broken up and abandoned and the country has run up a stifling external debt of $320 million.
That is equivalent to over $20,000 per capita, making Sao Tome one of the most heavily indebted countries in the world.
Living standards have fallen – a study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimated in 1994 that only 40 percent of the population lived below the poverty line - and the country’s infrastructure has started to fall apart.
Narrow roads, once tarred and cobbled, are now full of potholes, and a third of the airport runway on the small island of Principe is unusable since the government has no money to resurface it, meaning only small planes can land there.
This year, the increasingly dilapidated state of the country’s water supply system and public latrines has led to a resurgence of cholera.
More than 700 people have fallen ill with this highly infectious disease since the latest outbreak began in October and over 20 have died.
The small airport on Principe needs resurfacing
Democracy provides hope
But with a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement in place since August, Sao Tome is set to benefit from debt relief through the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative in 2006, and western donors appear well disposed to maintain and increase the current inflow of bilateral aid.
Diplomats say that a key factor in Sao Tome’s favour is that despite rampant corruption at all levels of government, the country is at least a functioning democracy.
Elections are held regularly and no one party dominates parliament, so the government depends on a series of shifting coalitions.
There have also been three changes of president through the ballot box since multiparty democracy was introduced in 1991.
There is a strong awareness amongst senior government officials that Sao Tome cannot afford to make the same mistakes with its oil as two of its close neighbours – Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
These two states have frittered away their oil revenues on self-enrichment by the ruling elite, while little has been done to use the money for the benefit of ordinary people.
“Oil is not a solution for us,” says Adelino Castelo David, the government economist charged with raising donor money for the Poverty Reduction Strategy. “It is simply a tool which can help us if we learn to use it well.”
He speaks of using it to develop agriculture, where pepper and vanilla are now being promoted as an alternative to cocoa, tourism, which is still in its infancy, and the development of Sao Tome as a regional trade centre with a deep water port serving as an entrepot for other states in the region.
Acacio Bonfim, a former finance minister who now heads Sao Tome’s largest commercial bank, Banco Internacional de Sao Tome e Principe, agrees.
“Oil revenues must be invested in priority areas in the fight against poverty,” he said.
“Oil, in my view, is not an alternative to agriculture. Neither is it an alternative to tourism or anything else,” he added.
[ENDS]
Just a reminder ERHE is based in Houston. EOM.
Houston Chronicle article on XOM (12/13/05) Energy needs to soar.
Dec. 13, 2005, 1:28PM
World's energy needs will soar, Exxon Mobil predicts
Dow Jones/Associated Press
Global energy consumption will soar 60 percent over the next 25 years, Exxon Mobil Corp. forecast today in its annual energy outlook.
Energy demand will grow to 334 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2030, up from 205 million in 2000, Jaime Spellings, head of Irving-based Exxon Mobil's corporate planning, said during a webcast of the outlook's presentation.
Oil consumption will grow 1.4 percent annually, and gas will grow 1.8 percent per year. Oil and gas will account for 60 percent of the world's energy needs, the same share they hold today, Spellings said.
Most of the growth will occur in developing countries, he said.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries will have a progressively larger share of the world's oil production as non-OPEC output growth flattens around 2010, Spellings said.
To satisfy growing crude oil thirst, OPEC will have to produce more than 47 million barrels a day by 2030, a 40 percent increase over current levels, Spellings said.
"We're very confident that that growth will happen," he said.
The planet's remaining crude-oil resource base — approximately 2.2 trillion barrels, excluding non-conventional oil — can support that growth, Spellings said. The Middle East and Russia hold most of remaining reserves, he said.
North American natural-gas demand will grow 0.5 percent per year to 90 billion cubic feet a day, with domestic production expected to decline by 2030 to slightly above 60 billion cubic feet a day from close to 80 billion cubic feet a day. Liquified natural-gas imports will account for the difference.
Asian demand will triple from around 30 billion cubic feet a day to 90 billion cubic feet a day, on par with North America, Spellings said.
Technology and efficiency improvements, expected to dampen demand, are already factored in the Exxon Mobil outlook, Spellings said.
Houston Chronicle article on ERHE 12/13/05 - (actually in today's harcopy newspaper, posted on their website yesterday)
Dec. 13, 2005, 11:56PM
Nigeria doubts São Tome on energy treaty
Island nation accused U.S. firm of bribery in deal
By TOM ASHBY
Reuters News Service
KUWAIT CITY - Nigeria's top oil official questioned on Tuesday the durability of a treaty with São Tome after the island nation called for a U.S. bribery probe into their joint award of oil licenses.
Nigeria and São Tome were due to sign five oil exploration contracts with foreign investors this week, but São Tome's attorney general said the agreements may be void because of indications that U.S.-based ERHC made improper payments to São Tome officials.
ERHC said it had no contact with officials during the licensing process.
Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Edmund Daukoru told Reuters that the report was based on poor information and a product of internal wrangling at the top of the São Tome government.
"My first reaction is just to reject the report in its entirety. They cannot come after the event to condemn because of their own internal politics," Daukoru said.
São Tome was struggling to cope with a system of government where the president is from one party and the prime minister from another, Daukoru said.
"I see a basic inability to weave a national consensus even on small issues. We are being made to appear as if we are forcing things on them."
São Tome entered into an agreement with ERHC many years ago giving the company preferential rights to equity in São Tome's oil acreage and valuable waivers in exchange for technical and financial services. The company was later acquired by a Nigerian businessman and floated on a U.S. stock market.
The deal acquired new significance when the tiny island nation signed a treaty with Nigeria in 2000 to put aside a border dispute and develop the offshore oil resources jointly.
ERHC was the biggest winner in May's joint exploration licensing, winning joint control of two blocks and a stake in three others.
Its share price has risen sharply amid hopes of a big find. Other companies involved in the licensing included Addax, Devon and The Woodlands-based Anadarko.
U.S. giant Chevron had previously won drilling rights on another joint block.
The report said that São Tome would lose $58.6 million because of waivers accorded to ERHC and that the rights given to the little-known company were so favorable that they might violate its law by alienating control of its natural resources.
It called for an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into the alleged payments.
Houston Chronicle article on ERHE (12/9/05)
Dec. 9, 2005, 11:16PM
São Tome says it needs Nigerian OK to end flawed oil deals
By ZOE EISENSTEIN
Reuters News Service
SÃO TOME - São Tome has found irregularities in the award of oil exploration contracts in waters it manages jointly with Nigeria, but it cannot cancel the deals without Nigerian agreement, São Tome President Fradique de Menezes said.
An inquiry by the country's attorney general showed correct procedures were not followed in a second licensing round that awarded five offshore blocks in the Joint Development Zone shared by the two neighbors.
The round, which came after delays, squabbling between the two countries and allegations of corruption, awarded the blocks in May to U.S. and Nigerian companies.
The president said he did not have the power to order the cancellation of the flawed contracts despite the attorney general's findings.
"If we cancel the licensing round, we must also obtain the agreement of the Nigerian side. We cannot cancel alone," de Menezes said in an interview with Reuters.
The companies involved included U.S.-based ERHC Energy, which won the right to jointly operate in two blocks and stakes in the three others.
Controversy over the round has focused on ERHC, which de Menezes said was U.S.-listed but owned by Nigerian capital.
Attorney General Adelino Amado Pereira said Friday that procedures used to select the companies were "seriously flawed and did not meet the minimum international standards for a licensing round."
Some companies that received exploration blocks had little or no qualifications, both technically and financially, the attorney general said in a prepared statement.
De Menezes said such irregularities led to a loss of income for São Tome that he estimated at $58 million to
$59 million.
"We have a treaty with Nigeria, and everything which can be decided regarding the JDZ must be together. We cannot be alone in São Tome taking decisions. Otherwise we will have a conflict with Nigeria," de Menezes said.
The second licensing round followed a first, which was aborted after just one exploration contract was awarded for $123 million to a consortium led by U.S. energy giant Chevron.
Chevron is due to start drilling its first exploration well in its JDZ block in January, and São Tome plans to launch a first oil exploration licensing round for its own economic exclusion zone waters by the end of next year.
XXMMAX,
Not sure if this is accurate but here's a map I found.
B
http://www.un.org/Depts/los/LEGISLATIONANDTREATIES/PDFFILES/MAPS/STP_MZN17_1998b&w.pdf#search='S...
Blackdog6,
You might want to read JimC's March 02 email again. In it, he clearly states,
"Good news to continue from EDIG. Over the next few weeks we can expect a number of very positive developments to be announced by e.Digital. Among the most likely events:"
Those were clearly predictions he made back in March 02 and almost all of them were 100% totally wrong. Repeat, totally wrong. But that's ok, I knew one of his brainwashed flunkies would jump in and defend him. Boy, he really has all of you fooled.
Every prediction has a 50-50 chance of being correct. So he'll just keep on making them, even though he's usually wrong. Why should he stop when all of the folks on this board are brainwashed and continue to believe his hype (assuming you have brains and can think for yourselves).
ND
JimC1997,
Yes, just like you were confident last March 02 when you posted the message below, predicting more good things to come over the next few weeks (~April 02). Let's look at some of your predictions from last March: Dataplay (no), bundling with IBM/Gateway (no), Retailers like Radioshack and Best Buy (no), $30M in revenues within next 4 qrts (no and haha - that's funny), shareprice to rise (no). I guess you're predictions weren't very good. Note that I'm just listing one of your "hype" emails, which you cleverly disguise.
I think you're full of yourself and if most of your "worshippers" on this board would go back and read some of your predictions, I think they'd view you in a very different way. In addition, I don' think you're as successful as you boast, because if you were, you wouldn't be spending so much time on penny stock message boards acting like a big shot.
I guess if you continue to post your predictions, month after month, maybe every once in awhile, you'll be right, and your "worshippers" will continue to serve your overblown and definitely overrated ego.
For the record, I've held EDIG for the last two years, and am not a basher. I've just been lurking for two years and am tired of your "ego and hype".
ND
*****************************************
Message from JimC - March 2002
*****************************************
Good news to continue from EDIG
Over the next few weeks we can expect a number of very positive developments to be announced by e.Digital.
Among the most likely events:
1. Approval of the share registration filing by the SEC, with an immediate sale of 5 to 10 million shares to a single large entity. This will raise $5 to $10 million initially which will be used to repay debt and finance a rapid expansion of e.Digital's retail presence.
2. Official launch of DataPlay media with widespread and very heavy public relations efforts sponsored by DataPlay's primary equity investors (especially the record labels) and its partners.
3. Additional retail distribution agreements for EDIG. Primary candidates are Best Buy, RadioShack and Circuit City. I believe that the Renegade (manufactured by Maycom as the MP-50) will see widespread availability at one of these three retailers in the near future.
4. A PC/EDIG digital audio player bundling agreement. IBM and Gateway seem to be the most likely prospects here.
5. Production initiated on the Fujitsu Ten Eclipse infotainment systems which will trigger a rapidly growing revenue stream for the company.
6. DataPlay OEMs using e.Digital technology and reference designs will begin shipping to retail outlets.
As these developments occur the share price is likely to rise and this will enable EDIG to raise even more cash from the shares now being registered. These funds will finance addition inventory for retail distribution and cover all operating expenses for the next couple of years.
As Jim Collier pointed out in his recent conference call, all EDIG products enjoy positive operating margins "at or above the industry average." As sales ramp up this will insure substantial cash flow back to the company.
Jim Collier's business plan calls for the company to reach the point at which operating earnings cover all cash expenditures by the end of this year, thereby eliminating the need for additional equity placements.
Since operating expenses are now about $500,000 per month and industry gross margins are about 17%, that suggests that sales revenues will be running at an annual rate of at least $30 million within four quarters.
Given the current size of Fujitsu's automotive business and the prior ramp-up success of Creative's Nomad it would seem likely that e.Digital could easily achieve that goal.
JimC