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O.T. Spain provides aid for water and sanitation sector in Sao Tome and Principe [ 2007-03-05 ]
Sao Tome and Principe, 5 March – Spain has provided aid of US$1.4 million o help Sao Tome and Principe with a social project for improving its water supply and sanitation system designed by the archipelago’s Red Cross, the project’s director told Macauhub Saturday.
Eduardo Garrido said that the funds made available to the archipelago, were 80 percent guaranteed by the Spanish International Cooperation Agency and the remainder would come from the Spanish Red Cross.
Garrido noted that the project would begin in a few days and is part of the Sao Tome government’s policy to combat poverty.
The project essentially includes improving the water supply system, building social housing, draining swamps and building latrines.
It is estimated that over the last three years, Sao Tome and Principe’s Red Cross, with funding from similar foreign partners, has spent over US$1.5 million on similar initiatives on the archipelago, where poverty affects over 50 percent of the population. (macauhub)
China floors investment in Nigeria's oil and gas sector
By Sulaimon Salau
CHINA, the world's second-largest oil user after the United States (U.S.), in a list of topmost nine countries it considered suitable for investment by the nation's oil companies left out Nigeria, among three other oil producing countries.
According to the list released by China National Development and Reform Commission, countries considered suitable includes Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Morocco, Libya, Niger, Norway, Ecuador and Bolivia. While Nigeria, Iran and Sudan were not on the list.
The report shows that Chinese companies can get tax holiday or other incentives for investing in oil and gas industries in the listed countries, but the statement gave no details of the kind of incentive to offer to the companies.
It was not clear whether the exclusion of Nigeria, Iran and Sudan came because Chinese companies already have short-term investment plans in the three countries, or for more political reasons or the restiveness in the oil producing regions such as Niger Delta.
China National Petroleum and China Petroleum & Chemical, or Sinopec, are among companies scouring the globe for oil and gas resources to meet surging demand in the world's fastest-growing major economy. The country's oil demand may rise 6.1 per cent to 7.56 million barrels a day this year, according to the International
"The catalog is intended to further encourage and guide domestic companies to invest abroad," the commission said, without explaining its choices.
According to Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association of China, the county's top three oil companies pumped 29 per cent more crude from overseas fields last year. China National Petroleum, Sinopec and China National Offshore Oil produced 35 million metric tons of oil from foreign fields in 2006, accounting for 18 per cent of the total of 200 million tons, it said.
China National Offshore Oil, or Cnooc, completed acquiring a stake in Nigeria's Akpo field in April for $2.7 billion, outbidding rivals, including India's Oil & Natural Gas Corporation.
China already has investments in some of the nine countries on the list but the offer of incentives for further, or new, investments underlines Beijing's determination to acquire further energy assets overseas.
China draws 80-90 per cent of its own primary energy needs from domestic supplies, mainly through coal resources.
British Geological Survey to reassess seismic data in Sao Tome and Principe [ 2007-03-05 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 5 March – The British Geological Survey (BGS) is set to begin a reassessment survey of the seismic data on the existence of oil in the exclusive economic area of Sao Tome and Principe, the Sao Tome National Oil Agency (ANP) said Friday in Sao Tome.
According to ANP's bulletin, the consortium made up of Britain’s BGS and Aupec, will reassess a seismic survey carried out by Petroleum Geo-Service (PGS), of Norway, which was the basis for an agreement signed in 2001 with the Sao Tome authorities.
The process of reassessing the seismic survey, which also has the assistance of the World Bank, is due to be concluded at the beginning of May, according to ANP’s bulletin, published over the weekend in the capital of the archipelago.
PGS’s surveys showed geological structures that may contain hydrocarbons totaling 10,870 square kilometers in deep waters in the seas off the archipelago, in a survey which was intended to assess the existing oil potential in the area.
BGS, which was hired following a public tender launched by ANP, is responsible for producing a specific map of the area, containing the potential division of oil blocs, as well as recommending further seismic surveys.
The reassessment essentially aims to be the basis for an initial auction of blocs in the exclusive economic area of Sao Tome and Principe, planned for the end of 2007, according to the ANP's quarterly bulletin.
As well as its exclusive area, Sao Tome and Principe also has a joint exploration area with Nigeria base don a treaty stating that Nigeria receives 60 percent of revenues while 40 percent goes to Sao Tome.
As well as revenues from the Chevron Texaco bloc, in which the US company has already struck oil, Sao Tome and Principe also expects revenues of a further US$28 million this year from the signing bonus from three joint area blocs. (macauhub)
Been Going Around For Bout 5 Years Now, But Still A Keeper.
Global Energy boss advocates collective solution to Niger Delta crises
CHAIRMAN, Global Energy Limited, Mr. Joe Obiago has advocated collective solution by all stakeholders to bring an end to the crises in the Niger Delta. This includes investment of operating oil firms in the construction of roads, hospitals, provision of electricity and water and creation of gainful employment for host communities among others.
Obiago, who spoke as the chairman of Niger Delta session during the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja, commended the efforts of the Federal Government with the employment of dialogue to stop hostage taking and disruption of exploration and production activities by the youths of the Niger Delta.
He noted that provision of facilities needed to improve the quality of life in the region should be taken seriously by both the operating firms and all tiers of governments.
"The best arrangement for improving of quality of life in the Niger Delta should be a collective effort and not just the government alone. It should be the government, host communities, operators and service companies. We should employ collective solution. We are moving forward because 10 years ago some of the issues discussed here today would not have been discussed," he said.
He noted that as an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company, Global Energy has been assisting communities at the construction site by providing amenities needed to ensure cordial relationship with the operating companies. This, he said, is necessary since the EPC companies bear the brunt of any protest over neglect by the host communities.
"Sincerely, the Niger Delta case is pathetic. It is important at this time as explained by Dr. Edmund Daukoru, minister of energy and Mr. Funso Kupolokun, group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that all stakeholders should come together and do their best for host communities in various ways to address the neglects of the past. Even though, it takes time to heal wounds, but the best thing would be to bring an end to all forms of impediment to the achievement of Federal Government's aspirations for the oil and gas industry," he said.
He, however, advised the Federal Government to wait for the success of explorative blocks awarded to firms during 2005 licensing round and 2006 mini-bid round under the strategic downstream projects before implementing it in future licensing round. He noted that the arrangement is very good for the country due to lack of infrastructure and inadequate investment in power facilities, as well as refineries by existing operators in the country.
"We need to wait for few more years to see the outcome of the blocks awarded under the downstream strategic projects before giving out new blocks using the same condition, as a result of the urgency it requires to have infrastructures in place. Government more than ever is determined to turn things around in the Niger Delta," he said.
� 2003 - 2006 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved).
According To The Charts It's About Time For Our Annual Run Up To 90 Cents.
Now THAT"S Funny! THE Answer To The Most Important Questions Mankind Has Ever Asked.... And It Gets Deleated. Next time I'll have to add that ERHE is/will be the best/greatest stock ever.
U. S. military establishes separate Africa Command
by by Jim Garamone
American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON (AFNEWS) — The U.S. military will establish a separate U.S. Africa Command to oversee military operations on the African continent, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced during congressional testimony Feb. 6. “The president has decided to stand-up a new unified, combatant command, Africa Command, to oversee security cooperation, building partnership capability, defense support to non-military missions, and, if directed, military operations on the African continent,” Secretary Gates said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The command will enable the U.S. military to have a more effective and integrated approach than the current command setup, Secretary Gates said. Responsibility for operations on the African continent is currently divided among three combatant commands: U.S. European Command, which has responsibility for most of the nations in the African mainland except in the Horn of Africa; U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya; and U.S. Pacific Command, which has responsibility for Madagascar, the Seychelles and the Indian Ocean area off the African coast. The secretary called this arrangement an “outdated arrangement left over from the Cold War.” He added Department of Defense officials will consult closely with Congress and European and African allies to implement the effort.
RollingDunder I See You Made It Over From The RB Board. Still spending your days hating/bashing erhe & Red. (For those who don't know, this guy has been bashing Red & ERHE for quite a few years now.) Anyway Mr. Dunder straight out & out bashers aren't tolerated too well here. I don't think you'll last very long. Suggest you might want to go back to RB with your s***.
ajaxxx_99 Suggest You Rent/Watch A DVD "Who Killed The Electric Car". You'll learn that Government, GM, And the Oil Companies, all participated in the murder. GM took back their EV1's that they had LEASED (They would NOT SELL them) and crushed them in the desert. They rather destroy them than have people driving around in a car that didn't have many parts to repair/replace. A very eye opening documentary for anyone interested in how the World/Auto Industry/Government & Oil Companies work for their own, & not our, best interest.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Oil will be $5 to $10 a barrel in 10 years unless Exxon buys GM and locks the patents in a safe,,,,Check this site, look at the GM prototype
http://www.youtube.com/v/ry6w3mRm-FM
Investors delay commitments to LNG projects in Nigeria, others
* Natural gas price stability under threat
By Yakubu Lawal, Deputy Energy Editor (with agency reports)
CHEVRON Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are delaying construction projects from Australia to Nigeria, threatening to drive natural gas prices higher for years to come.
None of the world's biggest energy companies approved developments last year to increase production of liquefied natural gas, which helps heat homes and run power plants from Tokyo to Boston. The main reason is the cost to build LNG plants has tripled in six years, according to Bechtel Group Inc., the biggest U.S. contractor.
Natural gas prices are three times higher than during the 1990s and consumption of the fuel will outpace the 1.6 per cent yearly gain in energy demand for the next 25 years, according to the International Energy Agency. Gas is also becoming more popular because it emits 29 per cent less carbon dioxide than oil and 45 per cent less than coal burned in power stations.
But officials of Shell who spoke with The Guardian in Lagos stated that the stakeholders in the Nigeria's LNG projects are quite on track with the execution of the project.
The officials said studies on trains 6 and 7 is at advanced stage but that the Final Investment decision has not been taken pointing out that the project would be executed as soon as investment decision are taken.
The officials who spoke on the ground of anonymity however pointed out that trains 8 and 9 are merely a conceived project and cannot be realised for now.
On its parts, Chevron Nigeria official said it relinquished its 17 per cent interest in the Brass LNG to be able to concentrate on OK LNG.
Sources close to the company added that the final investment decision when taken and signed will trigger off development of the projects.
``Costs are going up and they're going up far faster than anybody expected,'' said Andy Flower, a U.K.-based consultant to the LNG industry and a former BP Plc executive. He forecasts that the world LNG shortage will last until at least 2011.
Natural gas in New York soared from an average $2 per million British thermal units in the 1990s because consumption increased, oil costs rose and domestic supplies diminished. U.S. gas production peaked in 1973, and demand since then has held steady, increasing the need for imports.
Natural gas for February delivery rose 6.7 per cent to $6.601 per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange last week. On December 13, 2005, the futures rose to a record $15.78.
Gas may become more important than oil in the next 50 years because crude supplies are running out faster, according to the Paris-based IEA. Global oil and natural gas reserves were about the same at the end of 2005, equal to 1.2 trillion barrels of crude, according to data compiled by BP. Oil reserves are being burned almost twice as quickly as gas.
LNG sales rose about 11 per cent last year to 157 million metric tons, according to Wood Mackenzie Consultants Inc. in Edinburgh. It may jump about 66 per cent to 261 million tons in 2010 and another 87 per cent to 488 million by 2020, the group said.
Record LNG prices won't fall for ``years to come,'' said Ari Soemarno, president of Indonesia's State Energy Company, PT Pertamina, until 2005 the world's largest LNG exporter.
Prices under multiyear contracts, excluding freight and insurance, range as high as about $10 per million British thermal units in Asia, assuming $60 a barrel for oil, an element in formulas that determine LNG prices. LNG will say high, even if oil declines, because of shortages, Soemarno said.
Natural gas deposited near industrialised nations is typically transported through pipelines. The challenge is getting gas from the biggest producers -- Russia, Qatar and Iran-- to consumers world-wide who aren't linked by those networks. Now, gas that can't be transported is pumped back underground to force more crude to the surface, or burned off.
Some $37 billion goes up in smoke each year as waste, from Brazil to the Russian arctic to Nigeria.
Transporting gas on a ship requires it to be chilled to liquid at -162 Celsius (-260 Fahrenheit). The cost of building liquefaction plants has risen to as much as $600 million foreach million metric tons of annual production from about $200 million in 2000, according to San Francisco-based Bechtel.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan in June testified in Congress that LNG is ``very important for the U.S., for our national security'' and has argued for increased investment. ``We have not picked up as quickly as we need'' to increase imports, he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington about energy security and economic risk. He declined to comment for this story.
Two of the newest and biggest LNG projects have been over budget and late. Shell's Sakhalin-2 LNG in Russia has doubled in cost to more than $20 billion. Stavenger, Norway-based Statoil ASA's Snohvit LNG plant will cost $9.5 billion, almost 50 per cent more than first anticipated in 2002.
Building LNG plants now takes four years, rather than three, because contractors are stretched, said Flower, the consultant.
``Construction and permitting of LNG plants is a lengthy process,'' BP spokesman David Nicholas said from London.
Chevron, the U.S.'s second-biggest oil company, last year abandoned its timetable for approving the Gorgon LNG project in Australia. Developing the fields, which hold $400 billion of natural gas, would cost $10 billion and increase world supplies by 7 per cent. The driller and partners Shell and Irving, Texas- based Exxon Mobil Corp. are studying ways to reduce construction costs.
"The project is large, complex and faces considerable cost challenges,'' Colin Beckett, Gorgon area manager for San Ramon, California-based Chevron said in an interview last month.
Politics and violence also hold back LNG developments. In the seas between Australia and East Timor, development of the $3.7 billion Sunrise LNG project has been stalled for more than two years as the nations resolve how to split royalties.
Shell, the world's largest non-government producer of LNG, is struggling with projects in Nigeria because of rebel attacks and in Iran, where threats of sanctions over the nation's nuclear research program restrain investment. Iran has the world's second-largest gas reserves.
'Shell has a lot of LNG projects in the pipeline,'' spokesman Wim van de Wiel said by phone from The Hague. He declined to specify why they were being held up.
No Trading Tomorrow...
2007 Market Holidays:
Event: Date:
New Year's Day Monday, January 1, 2007
M.L.King Jr. Monday, January 15, 2007
Presidents' Day Monday, February 19, 2007
Good Friday Friday, April 6, 2007
Memorial Day Monday, May 28, 2007
Independence Day Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Labor Day Monday, September 3, 2007
Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 22, 2007
Christmas Day Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Nigeria to conduct fresh oil bloc sales next month
By Yakubu Lawal with agency reports
BID for the sale of Nigeria's offshore oil blocs, suspended last year, has tentatively been fixed for around the middle of February, Energy Minister, Edmund Daukoru has said.
"The bid round will come up at about the middle of February. This is however tentative," he stated.
"There are one or two things we are putting together ahead of the bid round. It is still premature to say the exact number of bloc to be put on sale", he said, adding that a committee was working on the issue.
He however told The Guardian in an interview that government is considering road show for the event in the first week of February while by middle of the month the exercise is expected to kick-off.
The Federal Government last December suspended until 2007 the sale of about 65 oil blocs initially anticipated for the last quarter of 2006, officials from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said.
Industry sources had last month predicted that the bidding round might take place in the middle of January or February this year.
The DPR Director, Tony Chukwueke, had in October told journalists that the government was increasing the number of blocs up for tender to 60 from 50 previously, owing to increased interest by Asian investors, they said.
"We have had a flood of investors from Asia who are interested in our downstream sector, so far as we give them opportunity in the upstream and this is forcing us to increase the number of blocs on tender ... from 50 blocs initially announced to 60," Chukwueke had said.
He said that the new government policy gives preference to companies that agree to invest in the downstream sector of the industry.
Nigeria, which derives more than 95 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings from oil, hopes to realise about $500 million from the bloc bid round, he also said.
The country normally produces about 2.6 million barrels of oil per day but a quarter of this has been affected in the past months due to restiveness in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
Nigeria, Africa's largest producer, lost more than half a million barrels a day last year due to unrest by those who want to see more of the earnings put back into the local communities.
According to the Finance Minister, Nenadi Usman, N570 billion ($4.4b) in revenue was lost to unrest last year.
"Early in the second quarter of 2006, there was a loss of production of 600,000 barrels per day from the joint venture operations," Usman said this week.
"The loss was due principally to social disruptions in the Niger Delta, which continued until the end of fiscal year 2006," she added.
� 2003 - 2006 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved).
Would Like The Boards Opinion. Should Me & Doris Put Our 8.5 Mil Into ERHE??
Good day I am Miss Doris Dumas From Abidjan Cote d'ivoire, I wish to request for your urgent assistance in my investment plans in your base,I wish to invest in manufacturing and real estate management in your base,this is because I inheritated an important sum from my late father who died in recent political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire here.
Before the death of my father he informed me near his hospital bed at chu- teaching hospital, that he has saved the total sum of ($8.500,000)Eight Million Five houndred thousand united states dollars only, in one of the bank here in cote d Ivoire.
This money was been deposited for my social security and for fruitful international investment.That is why I need you to keep this transaction highly confidential and trustworthy person who will assist me to receive this fund overseas for investment establishment purpose industries and lucratives profitable ventures.
Further directives and details about the deposit and on how to move the fund successfully into your private bank account in your country will be given to you as soon as I get your response,
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Doris Dumas
Not 07. The Year Will Be 007. I Can Already Feel It's Going To Be My/Our Year. Best Holiday Wishes To All!
Our Water Based Puddles Of Oil Have To Be Looking Pretty Desirable To The Major Oil Companies. Our day is coming.
The move comes after a car bomb was detonated at the perimeter fence of its Port Harcourt headquarters on Monday. The bomb was in the car park of a residential compound. Nine cars were damaged.
Shell staff will stay put and oil and gas production will not be affected, company officials said.
Italian oil company Agip has already shifted the families of its workers to Lagos.
In February, Shell, the largest oil operator in Nigeria, shut down its western delta operations after attacks and kidnappings, cutting Nigerian oil output by about a fifth.
Captives
Activists fighting for more control over the region's oil wealth are still holding four oil workers, three Italians and one Lebanese, after an attack on an Agip oil export terminal on December 7.
World rethinking the dollar's hegemony
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
With more countries shedding dollars in favor of euros, political motives are clear, as is economic common sense. Both might diminish the economic influence of the US
TAYLAN BİLGİÇ/CALEB LAUER
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News
Iran is to move against the ailing U.S. dollar, saying it will no longer keep or do business using it. Instead, the country will sell oil for euros and also shift its foreign currency reserves into euros.
This shift has a clear political motive and has created wild speculation about the �downfall of U.S. monetary hegemony.� According to analysts, Tehran has been steadily shifting its foreign-held assets out of dollars since 2003.
�There will be no reliance on dollars,� said Gholam-Hussein Elham, spokesman for Iran. �This change is already being made in currency reserves abroad.�
The Central Bank of Venezuela has also slashed its dollar reserves. Iran and Venezuela have political motives for wanting to hurt the U.S. economy, but the tendency shows sign of spreading to �U.S.-friendly� countries, too.
The dollar is the world's currency and is regarded by some as a pillar of U.S. hegemony. They argue if the dollar loses its position as the world's reserve currency, this will signal the diminishing influence of the United States.
A massive sell-off of dollars would be bad news for the United States; currency instability causes inflation. If countries start selling off some of their dollars in exchange for euros, any dollars kept in reserve would be worth much less.
Others say it is unrealistic to expect the U.S. dollar to lose its position as the international reserve currency; however, they advise against relying exclusively on dollars for international exchange.
Rig Shortage Slows Chevron Bid to Tap Offshore Fields (Update1)
By Joe Carroll
Dec. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Bill Thornburg, a senior drill-site manager for Chevron Corp., opens a steel door on a floating oil rig off the Louisiana coast and stops dead in his tracks.
Red plastic tape warns that crews are hauling pipe and wrenches the size of baseball bats across a deck slick with sea spray. If it were up to Thornburg, there'd be a dozen more $1- million-a-day rigs plying the Gulf of Mexico, full of roughnecks so busy their bosses would need to stay out of the way.
He'll have to wait. A global shortage of deep-sea drilling rigs is costing Chevron precious time as it taps the Gulf, and the equipment deficit may keep oil prices high. A prime example is the $3 billion field dubbed Jack. Chevron and partner Devon Energy Corp. announced the deepest-ever well test there on Sept. 5. Politicians backing energy independence exulted. Investors sent Devon shares up 12 percent and Chevron's up 2.3 percent.
They didn't know the drilling rig Cajun Express had already plugged the Jack well and moved to another urgent job. Drilling at Jack won't resume until at least July, Thornburg says.
``There's a lot of prospects out here we'd like to drill but can't yet because there aren't enough rigs,'' says Thornburg, 58, who's overseeing drilling at another site, called Tahiti, that needed the Cajun Express to meet a more pressing deadline.
The Cajun Express is one of just 18 rigs worldwide capable of tapping the deepest discoveries. For the test at Jack, the platform-shaped vessel, which motors from site to site, needed to drill 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) below the sea floor.
Postponements
The rig shortage is forcing oil companies to postpone new offshore wells in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, says Peter Jackson, an analyst at Cambridge Energy Research Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a result, crude prices will remain high and U.S. reliance on imports from Africa and the Middle East will increase over the next decade, says David Foley, who manages $600 million at Grove Creek Asset Management in New York.
Crude oil prices have tripled in the past five years. The year's low for benchmark oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange is about $55.
Jack will take about nine years to develop from discovery to first production, compared with six years for Tahiti, according to estimates by San Ramon, California-based Chevron, the second- biggest U.S. oil company. That's because rigs are harder to come by and it takes longer to drill deeper wells, Thornburg says.
Rental Fees Double
The Cajun Express is owned by Houston-based Transocean Inc., the world's biggest offshore driller. While record lease rates of as much as $520,000 a day are funding expansions by Transocean and other rig operators, shipyards from South Korea to Singapore to Scandinavia are backlogged with orders. Growth of the offshore drilling fleet will be gradual, says Kenneth Sill, a Houston- based analyst at Credit Suisse Securities USA LLC.
Daily rental fees on the most sophisticated and rugged drilling vessels are double 18 months ago, Sill says.
``Day rates have climbed aggressively because demand for these rigs far outweighs the ready supply,'' says Clayton Ballard, the top-ranking Transocean employee aboard Discoverer Deep Seas, another rig at the Tahiti field.
Worldwide, there are 31 rigs on order that will be able to handle deepwater projects such as Jack, according to Houston- based Rigzone, which compiles data on the drilling industry. Two are scheduled to be finished next year and 13 are slated for delivery in 2008.
$1.5 Billion Order
The time required to map and develop oil fields means any discoveries made by rigs from the Class of 2009 won't begin producing oil until 2015 or later, says Gene Pisasale, a former Exxon geologist who helps oversee $25 billion at Mercantile Bankshares Corp. in Baltimore.
Earlier this year, Chevron ordered two new rigs from Transocean at a cost of about $1.5 billion. They will be able to drill a mile deeper than the most sophisticated existing vessels. The first of the new vessels, which at a cost of $670 million will be the most expensive rig in history, won't be ready until 2010. Transocean will own the rigs and lease them to Chevron.
Even when available, the rigs are costly to operate. Chevron and its partners on the Tahiti field, Statoil ASA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, are spending $1 million a day to rent, staff and supply the Cajun and Discoverer Deep Seas with fuel, food and hardware. The price tag will rise to $1.6 million a day by the end of this month as more cost-intensive phases of well preparation get under way, says Donald LeGros, Tahiti's drill site manager and Thornburg's No. 2.
``If people wonder where their money goes when they're paying $2.50 a gallon for gasoline, this is it,'' says LeGros, 45, who began working in oil fields the day after he finished high school in 1979.
Refitted in Singapore
Thornburg, who will also oversee drilling at Jack, says Chevron may borrow a rig being refurbished in Singapore for Oklahoma City-based Devon to resume work on Jack next year.
For now, the Cajun Express, built to drill almost 7 miles beneath the surface of the sea, is preparing to blast penny-sized holes in the sides of six wells at the northern end of Tahiti, a crucial step in preparing the field for startup, says LeGros.
The rig, which has a derrick tall enough to be seen from the Discoverer 3 miles away, houses engineers and workers known as roughnecks, who pull 12-hour shifts for two weeks followed by two weeks of shore leave. The rig is equipped to sail out of harm's way when hurricanes threaten.
Popping Bolts
On the other end of the Tahiti field, the Discoverer uses satellite-positioning gear to remain stationary amid 20-foot (6- meter) swells. The floating work camp for 200 workers includes a movie theater, Internet cafe, exercise room and infirmary. When new employees board the rig, the mandatory safety video includes instructions for donning emergency wet suits to a soundtrack of AC/DC's ``Hell's Bells.''
On a cloudy December day, Thornburg and LeGros are struggling with the unforeseen: The 34-degree Fahrenheit (1 degree Celsius) water temperature and massive pressure exerted at the sea floor are popping out bolts needed to secure equipment to the eight wells at the southern end of the field.
A team of engineers is experimenting with different types of insulation to overcome the cold and pressure and keep the bolts screwed down tight, Thornburg says.
Time is short because the Discoverer and Cajun Express must have all 14 wells at Tahiti ready by July, when a production platform is scheduled to arrive in two pieces from shipyards in Texas and Finland. Unlike the mobile floating rigs, production platforms are anchored to the sea floor.
Secrecy
Thornburg won't say where the Discoverer and Cajun Express are headed after Tahiti. His gray-tiled office is off limits to most people on the ship because he is privy to data on new prospects that would be valuable to rivals.
A sign beside his door uses industry jargon to warn visitors of the need for secrecy: ``This is a tight hole. Do not enter this office without permission.''
Escalating rig costs are contributing to a slowdown in profit growth at the world's five biggest publicly traded oil companies -- Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell, BP Plc, Chevron and ConocoPhillips. Net income for those companies probably will rise by an average of 12 percent this year, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. That's down from 35 percent growth in 2005.
Chevron says it plans to boost spending on exploration, refineries and chemical plants by 23 percent in 2007 to a record $19.6 billion as costs rise.
Drilling Curbs
Houston-based ConocoPhillips, Devon and Reliance Industries Ltd., which owns India's biggest crude refinery, all say they plan to curb drilling next year because of rising costs and the scarcity of equipment.
``The rig situation is going to slow down the rate at which companies can appraise and develop these prospects,'' says Jackson of Cambridge Energy Research.
Investors and politicians may have lost that point in the excitement over the deep Jack test, which showed for the first time that energy companies could exploit a layer of rocks that may hold as much as 15 billion barrels of oil.
Oil prices dropped 7.8 percent in six trading sessions after the Chevron and Devon statements Sept. 5. Chevron shares have climbed 15 percent since then.
``America needs America's oil, and suddenly we've found a lot more of it,'' Representative Joe Barton, a Texas Republican who chaired the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement.
Analyst Jackson says the Jack test prompted ``an awful lot of froth.''
Sealed for Now
``But we have to bear in mind there's no chance we'll see any of that oil on-stream this side of 2010,'' he says.
For now, the Jack well that was tested is sealed with a yellow fiberglass cap the size of car tire's rim.
Chevron says it expects Tahiti, which holds an estimated $33 billion of crude at current prices, to begin pumping oil by the second or third quarter of 2008.
The company needs Tahiti, discovered in 2002, to start generating income as costs soar and the search for petroleum pushes into ever deeper waters, says Mickey Driver, a Houston- based spokesman for Chevron's exploration and production business.
It costs about $120 million to drill a well in deep water, with no guarantee that oil or natural gas will be found. The diamond-crusted bits used to drill into the Earth's crust cost $50,000 apiece. One well may chew up a dozen, LeGros says.
The first six exploratory wells Chevron drilled with the Discoverer in the Gulf were so-called dry holes, or wells with too little oil to turn a profit, Thornburg says. About 80 percent of the exploratory wells in the Gulf are failures.
``It's lots of money, it's lots of equipment and it's a total crapshoot,'' says Driver. ``Of course, we don't publicize the dry holes.''
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Carroll in Chicago at jcarroll8@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 20, 2006 10:55 EST
INDIA has joined a new five-nation club of oil buyers aiming to challenge the vice grip of producing countries over crude prices and supplies. It has also formalised a long-awaited arrangement with China to explore and produce oil and gas in third countries.
These deals have been struck at a time when the latest gas find by the ONGC at the Krishna-Godavari basin promises to put India in the select list of 10 gas-rich countries and give it a biggest bargaining position in the world oil markets.
The deal with China would help India access some oil-rich but politically difficult areas in Africa, where the Chinese have built up enviable influence.
"This is a very important deal. We will now start looking at joint participation in oil projects across the world," Indian petroleum minister Murli Deora said on Sunday after signing a memorandum of union with Ma Kai, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, which is China's main policy setting body.
The two nations have worked jointly in a few projects in Syria and Columbia but this is the first time that the process has been formalised as a permanent feature of Sino-Indian relations. Deora said there are several good locations like Venezuela and Ecuador where the two countries can go for joint bidding or joint venture projects. The recent joint deal in Columbia resulted in massive savings for both countries because they acted in a co-ordinated fashion, he said.
India's inclusion in the oil buyers' club smacks of some deft diplomacy because India consumes a mere three per cent of the world's oil resources. The other members of the club consume much more with the United States leading the way at 25 per cent, followed by Japan 11 per cent and China 8 per cent. The only other low consumer is South Korea at 3 per cent.
"This is the first time in history that the voice of the buyers is being heard. So far the oil producers have been determining supplies. But I would not call it a cartel. The purpose is to express the difficulties of the buyers," Deora said.
The MoU signed with China would not preclude competition among the two countries, MS Srinivasan, secretary for petroleum and natural gas, said.
"We cannot avoid competition. But we will try to cooperate and jointly bid for oil and gas assets, wherever possible," he said. RS Butola, MD of ONGC Videsh, which would be at the forefront of joint participation with China, said the agreement would give a "major boost" to his organisation.
The latest oil discovery by ONGC at the Krishna-Godavari basin has further buoyed the mood at the Indian petroleum ministry.
Gold prices may rise as investors seek alternative to U.S. dollar
GOLD may rise, snapping a two-week slide, on speculation Russia and Middle Eastern crude-oil producers may shift reserves away from the dollar, boosting the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment.
Seventeen of the 34 traders, investors and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News from Sydney to Chicago on December 14 and December 15 advised buying gold, which fell 1.9 per cent last week to $619.30 an ounce in New York. Eight respondents said to sell, and nine were neutral.
The central bank of Russia, the world's second-biggest oil producer, increased gold holdings by 2.2 per cent to 394.1 metric tons in the third quarter, the London-based World Gold Council said last week. Gold rallied 7.6 per cent in November, the most since April, as the dollar slumped to a 20-month low against the euro.
``Investors will start anticipating Arab oil producers are not happy with recent declines in the dollar,'' said Stephen Leeb, president of Leeb Capital Management, which oversees $152 million in New York. ``If the dollar is seen weaker from a longer-term perspective, that has to be positive for gold, one of the primary alternatives to the dollar.''
Gold may rise to $1,000 an ounce over the next 18 months, driven by a falling dollar and rising energy costs, Leeb said. Leeb Capital has 4 per cent in gold equities.
Gold futures on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell $11.90 an ounce last week, after sliding 3 per cent the previous week. The decline surprised the majority of analysts who predicted a gain when surveyed on December 7 and December 8. Respondents have forecast prices accurately in 83 of 138 weeks, or 60 per cent of the time.
Sales of gold by central banks fell 31 per cent in the third quarter to 59 metric tons from a year ago, according to the producer-funded World Gold Council. A group of European central banks this year sold 395.8 tons, below the 500-ton limit under a special accord, the Council said.
``Gold is just pausing in a secular bull market,'' said Michael Metz, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York, which has about $10 billion in assets. ``The Western central banks did not sell their quota. It's just begun to turn up in central banks like Russia.''
Belarus, Ukraine, Greece and South Africa are among countries that have increased gold reserves this year, according to the World Gold Council. The dollar has fallen 7.8 per cent against a basket of six major world currencies this year, and gold has climbed 19 per cent.
``Dollar weakness, based on major central banks reducing their dollar exposure where possible, will continue to drive gold up,'' said Stuart Flerlage, managing principal at NuWave Investment Corp. in New York. ``This trend will only accelerate as Middle Eastern reserves are switched out of dollar- denominated assets.''
The Central Bank of United Arab Emirates, the third-biggest OPEC exporter behind Saudi Arabia and Iran, said in November its ``medium- to long-term objective'' was to boost euro and gold holdings to diversify out of the dollar.
Gold also may get a boost from speculation that higher energy costs will increase the appeal of the metal as a hedge against inflation.
Some investors buy gold to preserve purchasing power in times of accelerating inflation. Gold futures surged to $873 in 1980, when a jump in the cost of oil led to a 13 per cent yearly rise in consumer prices.
Crude oil rose to a two-week high of $63.43 a barrel on December 15 after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to production cuts.
"Crude prices have moved up, and that will support gold,'' said Siddharth V. Kothari, an analyst at Sunidhi Commodities Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai. "There is also more non-commercial and institutional buying emerging. Any drop in prices to $617 and $620 should be taken as a good buying opportunity.''
Gold may rebound to $650 this week because weakness in the dollar will persist in the long term, he said.
Higher oil prices are generating background support for gold, said James Moore, an analyst in Kettering, England, for The Bullion Desk.com. Oil over $60 a barrel is likely to generate further anti-inflationary hedging, he said.
Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators reduced their net-long position in Comex gold futures in the week ended December 12, data from the Washington-based Commodity Futures Trading Commission show.
Speculative long positions, or bets that prices will rise, outnumbered short positions by 81,829 contracts, down 2.2 per cent from a week earlier.
Militants Bomb Shell, Agip in Port Harcourt
• SPDC moves to secure facilities
From Chika Amanze-Nwachuku in Lagos and Ahamefula Ogbu in Port Harcourt, 12.19.2006
True to their threats of a massive onslaught on multi-national oil companies in the Niger Delta, suspected militants yesterday beat the water tight security by Shell Petroleum Development Company and bombed the residential area.
Almost at the same time, another bomb exploded at a location between the Rivers State University of Science and Technology and Agip which pulled down the fence of Agip oil in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Already, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has in an online message, claimed responsibility for the bomb blasts saying it was in line with its earlier threats.
The Royal Dutch company has however assured that its operations are on-going, while appropriate security measures have been put in place to safeguard its facilities in the area. The company also said no life was lost and nobody sustained injuries in yesterday's explosion that rocked its Port Harcourt Club.
What appears to be the motive for the bombings was contained in one of the paragraphs in MEND’s statement where the group said it was watching the political developments in an apparent reference to the refusal of the Peoples Democratic Party to give their Presidential ticket to the Niger Delta region and the continued agitation for resource control.
Others include the continued detention of their leaders, Alhaji Mujahadeen Asari Dokubo and former governor of Bayelsa State Chief Diepreye Alamieseigha, for whose release they are hinging further release of seized hostages.
The group said it used cell phones to trigger off the blast in the bombs said to be made from a combination of military and commercial materials, apparently meaning dynamites.
The bombing of Shell was more devastating as the device which was apparently hidden in a car parked at the car lot in the Shell club near the main gate upturned and mangled while four others were badly affected by the impact of the explosion.
A source told THISDAY that in the club around 1 pm when they heard a very loud bang that reverberated through all the well fenced area before smoke billowed into the air causing a lot of panic and stampede.
So far, there has not been any report of loss of life as security men cordoned off the area and restricted the movement of people close to the scene of explosion where the charred remains of the cars were still visible.
SPDC quickly closed down the club and asked its workers on duty to go home while bomb experts scrambled to the scene.
However, the car which suffered the worst impact appear to be a Volkswagen product while a Mercedes Benz parked close by was not as damaged as the other vehicle which sources said may have been where the bomb was planted.
The security men at the scene of the explosion prevented movements beyond the Shell club area except for people that moved straight to the abodes beyond the Club area.
“Everywhere was scattered and people ran helter skelter before some semblance of order was restored and security men came in. People working in the area were asked to go home as there was fear that the one that exploded may not be the only bomb planted by those responsible”, the source said.
Agip sources that pleaded anonymity said the explosion did not damage anything inside their compound but blasted only the fence that separates the company from the University.
Contacted, the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Ireju Barasua said there was an explosion which destroyed five cars at the Shell club while that of Agip exploded at Eagle Island and did not touch the oil company.
Immediately the explosion was reported, Barasua said she dispatched bomb experts who rushed to the scene to take charge of the situation, adding that investigation was on.
Meanwhile the MEND statement where it claimed responsibility for the explosions read: “Today, Monday, December 18, 2006, operatives of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) planted three car bombs in locations strategic to the oil industry in the Niger Delta.
“The Operatives in one location reported a concentration of civilians at his location and that bombing was aborted at the very last minute to prevent loss of innocent lives. The other two bombings were directed at Shell and Agip all in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in the Niger Delta.
“Both bombs were triggered by cell phone and were a cocktail of military and commercial explosives. Again, we warn all those with dealings with oil companies in the Niger Delta to steer clear of all facilities of these companies.
“We have previously warned all Nigerian workers on Agip terminal in Brass to vacate that facility. This warning will not be repeated. Attacks against oil industry targets will increase , be carried out without warning and with extreme ruthlessness.
“We are impervious to the unfolding political drama in Nigeria and still has as our original goal, the resource control for the Niger Delta. Until this and every single one of our demands is met, the Nigerian government and oil industry will persistently bear the brunt of our rage”, the group said.
It warned those dealing with individuals and groups claiming to represent them to desist from doing so as they would only release hostages when the duo of Dokubo and Alamieyeseigha were freed.
The two explosions which occured simultenously, torched the property belonging to the Royal Dutch Shell in Port Harcourt and the boundary fencing of the Italian oil company Agip, both situated in Port harcourt, Rivers State.
In a statement made available to THISDAY last Night, SPDC however stated that relevant government agencies have been intimated about the blast, which it confirmed damaged some cars in the Shell club.
The text read; "An explosion occurred at the car park of Shell Club, Port Harcourt, today (yesterday). The club is part of the residential area of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. Some cars were damaged in the incident, but thankfully there were no injuries.
"Relevant government agencies have been informed of the explosion.
"We take the safety of staff very seriously and we have initiated appropriate security measures at our facilities. Our operations are on-going.
Bobwill9 Who Said The 15 On The Elephant Meant The 15th? >$6. & "Ammonia Inhalants" Just Maybe He Meant $15.
Sao Tome makes US$52 million at its round table meeting [ 2006-12-11 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 11 Dec – Sao Tome and Principe is set to make over US$52 million from its round table meeting with international donors, in order to fight poverty on the archipelago, an official statement said.
According to the statement, issued after the round table meeting held in the capital of Sao tome, international donors pledged to contribute US$25 million to be invested in developing infrastructure, US$20 million in education and training and US$7 million in a good governance program.
Amongst the international contributions are those of the World Bank (US$6.2 million), the African Development Bank (US$4.8 million), the European Union (US$4.2 million), Portugal (US$4 million), the United Nations (US$3.2 million), Taiwan (US$3 million) and France (US$1 million).
The funds announced by the donors will be used by the Sao Tome authorities over the next three years, according to projects initially estimated to cost US$121 million.
In terms of infrastructure the main expenditure will be a project to improve the quality of energy costing some US$31 million, the road building plan estimated to cost US$14 million, and the tapping and distribution of water valued at US$4 million.
In education, amongst other projects, there is a program for increasing the length of compulsory schooling estimated to cost US$13.3 million, the reform of basic schooling budgeted at US$9.2 million and training in higher education with a cost of some US$4.2 million.
In the area of improving governance, the development of the private sector is a priority in a project estimated to cost US$4 million, together with programs of reform of public administration and the justice system, valued at US$4 and US$ 3 million, respectively.
At the last round table meeting held last December in Brussels, Sao Tome and Principe netted over US$60 million from international donors.
With foreign debt totaling over US$300 million, it is estimated that more than 50 percent of the population of Sao tome and Principe lives below the poverty line on less than a dollar a day. (macauhub)
From RB: Seven Sinopec firms says trading suspended.......SHANGHAI, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Trading in seven Chinese companies related to Sinopec Corp (0386.HK: Quote, Profile , Research)(600028.SS: Quote, Profile , Research) (SNP.N: Quote, Profile , Research) listed on the mainland bourses will be suspended from Wednesday pending "important company announcements," state media said, citing statements from the companies.
No reasons were given for the suspension, but Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, is engineering an overhaul to simplify a sprawling structure spanning several listed arms, having taken private several units and planning to privatise others.
Round table meeting of Sao Tome donors expects to obtain US$121 million [ 2006-12-04 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 04 Dec – Sao Tome and Principe from December 4 hosts a round table meeting with its international donors in order to obtain a further US$121 million to combat poverty on the archipelago, officials said.
According to a document drawn up by the Sao Tome and Principe government, of the funds to be obtained from donors US$70 million are to be invested in developing infrastructure, US$37 on education and US$14 million on a good governance program.
In terms of infrastructure the main expenditure will be a project to improve the quality of energy costing some US$31 million, the road building plan estimated to cost US$14 million, and the tapping and distribution of water valued at US$4 million.
In education, amongst other projects, there is a program for increasing the length of compulsory schooling estimated to cost US$13.3 million, the reform of basic schooling budgeted at US$9.2 million and training in higher education with a cost of some US$4.2 million.
In the area of improving governance, the development of the private sector is a priority in a project estimated to cost US$4 million, together with programs of reform of public administration and the justice system, valued at US$4 and US$ 3 million, respectively.
According to the list of round table participants the United Nations, the European Union, the World Bank and the African Development Bank will be present at the three-day meeting.
The event will also be attended by Sao tome and Principe’s potential bilateral partners, Angola, Brazil, the United States, France, Equatorial Guinea, Libya. Nigeria, Japan, Portugal and Taiwan.
At the last round table meeting held last December in Brussels, Sao Tome and Principe netted over US$60 million from international donors. (macauhub)
African oil producers to meet in Washington
AFRICAN oil producers and companies will begin a three-day dialogue tomorrow in Washington DC, United States of America on the current and future of oil and gas investments on the continent.
The forum tagged: "2006 Africa oil and gas forum," was convened by the U.S-based Corporate Council on Africa (CCA).
A statement issued by the council stated that the forum would attract current and former heads of OPEC.
Also expected to attend and deliver papers are African ministers of petroleum resources, major oil companies and business groups.
Nigeria's Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Edmund Daukoru, who is OPEC's current president and secretary-general will deliver a keynote address on the conference theme: "Expectations and reality."
According to the statement, Daukoru's speech will set the stage for constructive dialogue on what African nations and oil companies with operations on the continent expect to gain from current and future oil and gas investments.
It said that Chakib Khelil, Algeria's Minister of Energy and Mining and former president and OPEC secretary-general in 2001, will also address the conference.
Daukoru and Khelil will each share their views on the types of partnerships that African nations seek from oil companies and the investments potential for them to explore, the statement added.
It further noted that the objective of the forum is to assess whether expanding global competition in the energy sector, driven by emerging national oil companies, creates any unique challenges for U.S. - Africa bilateral relations.
Each representative of African oil producer will also address important issues pertaining to their respective environments, local content, natural gas reserves and potentialities.
"The CCA's 2006 Oil and Gas Forum, is put together to make a strong statement about the importance of Africa's role in meeting global energy demands," CCA President, Stephen Hayes said.
Hayes said that forum would also highlight other salient industry issues, such as changing global energy markets and the strategic importance of Africa's oil and gas producing countries to the U.S.
CCA, established in 1993, is a non-partisan membership organisation of nearly 220 U.S. companies dedicated to strengthening commercial relationship between the U.S. and Africa.
Its members represent nearly 85 per cent of the total U.S. private sector investments in Africa.
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I Think Joe Shea Agrees With Walldog... Offor Is One Hell Of A Deal Maker.
(J.S.)
What is fascinaing is how incredibly agile Mr. Offor is when it comes to making deals. He had set his eye on two other non-JDZ blocks and won them, but was apparently persuaded by his JDZ partners at Addax to swap them for OPL 291 instead. The winning bid for OPL 291 was from India's ONGC, another crafty player, but ONGC couldn't pay the hefty $55 million licensing fee. Starcrest's's original partner in the bid for the two other blocks (collateral for the swap), Chinese Petroleum Corp., dropped out, and Offor tried to link with Sinopec, a government-owned Chinese company, but it couldn't make a quick decision and Offor replaced them with Addax. With Addax, he got the identical good deal he got from the Swiss driller in their JDZ partnership.
Once again, as other companies faltered, Offor seized the day and came out on top.
That has always been the pattern: In Blocks 2 and 3, he replaced Pioneer and Devon with Sinopec and Addax in a heartbeat. just as he'd earlier replaced Noble Energy with Addax in Block 4. The process, from the outside, looked seamless and brilliant; investors shocked by the Noble defection sold out, and the ERHE share price shot up almost instantly; the same occured in Blocks 2 and 3, with sharp price drops followed by sharp rises when the malefactors were replaced.
Seems To Me BM Has Put Out Blatant ERHE Hit Pieces Before. Myself, I no longer trust Upstream.
SANTO ANTONIO, Sao Tome and Principe (AFX) - For more than 30 years Eugenio Piter has scraped a livelihood fishing from his dugout canoe in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea.
Now, his tiny island nation is about to unlock the wealth from an estimated 11 billion barrels of oil from the seabed beneath those same Atlantic waters. The government says the oil is the answer to this country's grinding poverty. But people like 51-year-old Piter say the benefits of the anticipated oil windfall are as uncertain as his catch on any given day.
Too often, in too many places across Africa, oil has only fomented despotism and cronyism, and left the poor poorer. Already, even before a drop has been pumped here, oil has fueled political squabbling in this country, which now exports little more than cocoa and imports almost everything else.
Global Witness, a group that tracks corruption in resource-rich developing countries, welcomed safeguards Sao Tome officials pledge will help them avoid a repeat of oil's corrosive effects, but noted that some measures, especially a commitment to establishing independent oversight committees, have still not been enacted.
"Implementation is the thing," Sarah Wykes of Global Witness said.
Authorities hired legal experts from two U.S. universities to help craft legislation for the oil sector. Norway is advising on transparency.
Under the law, oil revenue goes automatically into a bank account at the U.S. Federal Reserve. Funds can be withdrawn only with the signature of four senior officials, including the president and prime minister.
But trying to police the oil sector is like trying to herd cats.
A report by the Attorney General's Office concluded that the selection process for awarding offshore fields last year was tainted by political manipulation, shady companies and murky payments.No charges were ever brought because Nigeria, which shares the oil fields under a 2001 agreement, refused to open its books.
"There will always be unscrupulous people," said Luis Prazeres, the executive director of the National Petroleum Agency, a government-appointed watchdog. "The world's a complicated place."
Sao Tome and Principe covers about 400 square miles and has only about 150,000 people. When offshore oil reserves were discovered eight years ago, the country was hailed as a potential "Brunei of Africa" or "Monaco of the Gulf of Guinea."
The Gulf of Guinea produces about 4.5 million barrels of oil a day and supplies nearly 15 percent of U.S. crude imports. Analysts say that figure could climb to 25 percent within next 10 years with the help of countries like Sao Tome.
The crude is light and easy to refine, and the region lies conveniently across the Atlantic from the United States.
Senior U.S. military officials have spoken to Sao Tome about establishing a home port for the U.S. Navy in the islands.
Earlier this year the U.S. chose Sao Tome as the regional center for a maritime security program called Marine Domain Awareness, which monitors ship movements and identifies vessels. That includes the provision of modern radar equipment, telecommunications and computers. Such a system is helpful for protecting supertankers.
Sao Tome's elected officials portray the oil discoveries as an antidote to the entrenched poverty and flourish grand development plans once the oil starts flowing in a few years' time.
But the people, stuck in miserable living conditions, have not fallen under oil's spell.
Ask just about anyone in the streets of the capital, called Sao Tome, whether they think they will feel any benefit from oil and they reply with raised eyebrows and a smirk that says, "Are you kidding me?"
Sao Tome and Principe has never known great wealth.
Portuguese settlers, who discovered the two volcanic islands on the equator in the 15th century, used slaves on their coffee and cocoa plantations for several centuries.
Those European rulers withdrew in 1974.
Arlecio Costa, a former soldier now involved in tourism, points through the window of his office in the capital to the street outside.
"The Portuguese built that," he says of the road whose edges have been frayed by tropical downpours that have also scoured deep potholes. "Sewage used to run beneath it. Now it runs over it," he said.
Sao Tome's annual gross domestic product is around $70 million. For years it has been propped up by foreign aid and has racked up some $340 million in foreign debt.
No one dies of hunger in Sao Tome. The warm ocean has plenty of fish, and the fertile tropical rain forest is full of exotic fruit. But few grow fat.
In the Riba Mato suburb of the capital, where wooden shacks on stilts are glimpsed through thickets of banana trees and the loudest noise is the chirruping of colorful birds, wiry children on the roadside wave at passing vehicles. When every few minutes a mango falls with a thud behind them they dash giggling into the undergrowth as if on an Easter egg hunt.
Not everyone is able to fetch what they need.
Leonarda Miguel, 73, lives in a quarter of the capital called Liberdade (Freedom), named after the country's 1975 independence. She, her daughter and granddaughter share a dingy, two-room house with no running water, no sanitation and sporadic electricity. There is no glass in the windows, and her front door is an ill fit.
"I go to sleep hungry and I wake up hungry," she says, mimicking sleep by clasping her hands next to her cheek.
"Oil money won't reach this far down. We'll still be hungry," she said. Copyright 2006 Associated Press.
ERHC Energy Inc. reported financial results for the third quarter ended June 30, 2006. As of June 30, 2006, ERHC reported cash assets totaling $41.3 million. During the three months ended June 30, 2006, ERHC had a net loss of $621,474, compared to a net loss of $223,628 for the three months ended June 30, 2005. Interest income increased by $527,732 due to the significant cash balance related to proceeds from the sale of participation interests in Blocks 2, 3 and 4 of the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) during the first quarter. General and administrative expenses during the third quarter increased by $1.2 million over the same period last year, due to an increase in legal costs, accounting of employee stock options in fiscal 2005, and increased travel and administrative expenses of doing business internationally.
ERHC Energy Inc. (OTCBB: ERHE) - Friday's shares closed down 1.37% with a price of $0.360. The volume was at 440,290. ERHC Energy Inc. reported financial results for the third quarter ended June 30, 2006. As of June 30, 2006, ERHC reported cash assets totaling $41.3 million. During the three months ended June 30, 2006, ERHC had a net loss of $621,474, compared to a net loss of $223,628 for the three months ended June 30, 2005. Interest income increased by $527,732 due to the significant cash balance related to proceeds from the sale of participation interests in Blocks 2, 3 and 4 of the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) during the first quarter. General and administrative expenses during the third quarter increased by $1.2 million over the same period last year, due to an increase in legal costs, accounting of employee stock options in fiscal 2005, and increased travel and administrative expenses of doing business internationally.
ERHC Energy Inc. is a Houston-based independent oil and gas company focused on growth through high impact exploration in the highly prospective Gulf of Guinea and the development of undeveloped and marginal oil and gas fields. ERHC is committed to creating and delivering significant value for its shareholders, investors, and employees; sustainable and profitable growth through risk balanced smart exploration, cost efficient development and high margin production.
Fuel is main import of Sao Tome and Principe [ 2006-11-17 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 17 Nov – The Sao Tome and Principe authorities spent US$7.18 million on fuel, the biggest imported product in the first half of the year, according to the archipelago’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
Figures forwarded to Macauhub from INE showed that fuel imports, particularly gasoline, diesel and oil, represented 19.9 percent of imports between January and July, at a total cost of US$38.12 million.
In the first half of 2005, fuel imports accounted for US$4.7 million.
Food products, agricultural products, machinery and cars, with 15, 14, 13 and 9 percent, respectively, were the next largest groups of imports.
Angola is Sao Tome and Principe’s largest fuel supplier via state oil company Sonangol.
The archipelago’s largest consumer of fuel is the country’s water and electricity company, which produces 80 percent of its power using fossil fuels.
In the last six months, fuel has led to increased consumer prices on the Sao Tome market due to its high price on the international market. (macauhub)
Sao Tome and Principe’s inflation 21.1 percent in September [ 2006-11-16 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 16 Nov – The inflation rate in Sao Tome and Principe reached 21.1 percent in September, according to a statement issued Wednesday by the archipelago’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
The statement said that consumer prices rose 0.4 percent in September, or 0.7 percentage points less than the 1.1 percent rise recorded in August.
Year on year, prices rose 25.6 percent, or almost double the 13 percent rise posted in September 2005, against the same month of 2004.
According to Sao Tome’s INE, in the year ended September the greatest monthly price changes took place in February, March and April, with rises of 3.7, 4.3 and 5.1 percent, respectively.
In an explanatory note, INE said the level of inflation was due to fuel price rises, the increased value of the euro (currency used in commercial transactions), a fall in availability of fruit and vegetables and the cost of the presidential and legislative elections.
The constant increase in inflation has affected Sao Tome and Principe's capacity to fulfil the requirements of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of a macroeconomic balancing policy, which aims to obtain a pardon for the archipelago's foreign debt, valued at over US$300 million. (macauhub)
TUC urges govt to punish gas flaring coys after 2008
THE Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) wants the Federal Government to ensure that oil companies which do not end gas flaring in 2008 are punished.
A statement by TUC's General Secretary, Chief John Kolawole, recently in Lagos decried the "non-challant attitude" of operators in the sector to gas flaring, pointing out that the 2008 target date set by government is not far away.
"Nigeria has lost about N45 billion in the last 20 years because of gas flaring. This is a flagrant waste of economic resources, which has continued to deprive the country of the much-needed revenue,'' it states.
The statement adds that the much-needed revenue to re-plan and develop the Niger Delta could be derived from the gas that was being flared.
It states further that gas is now being used by major industries in the country instead of relying on diesel powered generators, citing Ajaokuta Steel Mills as an example.
It urges the government to monitor operators in the oil sector to see how far they have gone in curtailing gas flaring and oil spillage that has continued to degrade the environment and make them comply.
The statement also notes that the wave of impeachment saga does not portray the country and Nigerians as good democrats before the international community.
"The frequency of such impeachment either stage-managed or provoked, must be in line with the constitutional provisions,'' it said.
It cautioned politicians not to overheat the system to avoid violence that could pave way for the declaration of a state of emergency in some states.
The statement also urged eligible voters to register in the ongoing voter registration, noting that was the only weapon to vote out bad leaders and enthrone true and lasting democracy in the country.
� 2003 - 2006 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved).
World Bank and IMF study debt pardon for Sao Tome and Principe [ 2006-11-10 ]
Sao Tome, Sao Tome and Principe, 10 Nov – A delegation from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is currently in Sao Tome and Principe to study the country’s compliance with the conditions set out for the archipelago’s debt pardon, officials said.
Sao Tome and Principe’s foreign debt, valued at over US$300 million, was to have been dropped in September but was maintained due to the country’s failure to carry out taxation reforms and create a court of arbitration.
These demands were only recently fulfilled after the local government was threatened with exclusion from the program for Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).
Aken Kouwennaar, head of the World Bank and IMF delegation that is to remain on the islands for two weeks for official talks, said that Sao Tome and Principe “is the victim” of external factors that lead to abrupt rises in inflation with negative consequences for the population.
“We are going to analyze the impact of budgetary and monetary measures that have been taken, and if they gave satisfactory results in 2006. Inflation and price rises increase poverty. People’s income falls significantly and that is why measures are needed to reduce inflation,” he noted.
He added that the Government’s point of view was in line with that of the IMF and World Bank in terms of the measures needed to reduce inflation.
The deputy prime minister and minister of planning of Sao Tome and Principe, Maria Torres, said at the end of a meeting with the delegation that, “the debt pardon will not make the lives of the people of Sao Tome easier; they will have to continue tightening their belts."
“It will, however, free-up resources which, as they will no longer be used to pay the debt, will then be invested in order to generate wealth,” she said. (macauhub)
Addax provides N9. 4 million water facility in Imo, promises sustained service
From Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri
TO continue to improve cordial relationship between it and host communities, the Managing Director of Addax Petroleum Development Nigeria Limited (APDL), Mr. Martin Eldon has said that the company would continue to maintain the existing relationship between it and all host communities where it operates.
Eldon disclosed this at the weekend while commissioning 340 feet depth bore hole with two steel towers Geepee 5,000 litters overhead tank and 65 KVA Perkins engine electricity generator built for the Child Care Centre (CCC), Umuoba, Uratta, Owerri North, Imo State at a total cost of N9.46 million.
He noted that the social responsibility adopted by the company had paid-off, stressing that the management required same symbiotic relationship from the benefiting companies.
Eldon, who was accompanied by the Managing Director New Ventures, Mr. Less Blair and other top management staff of the company said the project was constructed 45 kilometers from Izombe where there is a flow station, stressing that it was because of the non profit, charitable and necessary service the center offered poor people in society, urging them to utilise the project well.
In his speech, the Governor of Imo State, Chief Achike Udenwa who was represented by the Commissioner for Petroleum and Environment, Chief Nnachebe Ojike noted that Addax had since it started operations in Imo in 1998 built solid corporate responsibility within the communities it operates in Oguta council. He noted the projects it had provide for the people of Eziorsu, Izombe as asphalt roads, water, electricity, science laboratory, classrooms and scholarships, employment and youth empowerment programmes.
While urging CCC management to utilise the water project well, he urged Addax to assist in rehabilitating 850- meter access road to General Hospital, Arondizuogu, Ideator North.
The director of the center, Monsignor Richard Onwuanibe thanked Addax for the gesture, asking for assistance in diesel and equipping science laboratory for the institution.
The director, who was represented by an Assistant Director in the center, Rev. Fr. Stephen Unamba promised to judiciously handle the project well.
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Texasspeculator. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I'm Trying To Get An Answer From Oily Not You. :-p
Oily; I Do Hope If ERHE Is Selling %'s To China It's Not For Chump Change.
China and African "(no oil contracts were signed)" countries sign contracts worth US$1.9 billion [ 2006-11-06 ]
Beijing, China, 06 Nov – China and ten African countries Sunday signed trade contracts worth a total US$1.9 billion, the president of the Chinese foreign trade promotion agency said.
The 16 contracts and agreements signed between Chinese companies and ten African countries include cooperation in the areas of natural resources, infrastructure, finance, technology and communication, said Wan Jifei, the president of the Chinese Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
The agreements were signed at the end of the Conference for Chinese and African Businesspeople, which took place Sunday in Beijing as part of the head of state and government summit of the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held this weekend in Beijing.
The largest Chinese-African partnership signed was, according to a copy provided to the press, the exploration and production of aluminum in Egypt, valued at US$938 million.
Cape Verde also secured the construction of a cement factory on the island of Santiago, at a total investment of US$55 million.
Amongst the other countries to sign agreements were South Africa, the Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana.
However, no oil contracts were signed, which is the sector that is most important for China-Africa relations, as the in 2005 the continent provided some 30 percent of China’s total oil needs. (macauhub)
November 6, 2006 CHINA has spelled out the political price of its massive new investment in Africa, reminding the leaders of 48 of the continent's nations gathered in Beijing of the importance it places on reunification with Taiwan.
Pledging $US5 billion ($6.5 billion) in loans and credits and a doubling in aid by 2009, President Hu Jintao on Saturday called for trade between the two blocs to reach $US100 billion by 2010. Beijing would also cancel more debt owed by poor African countries.
Mr Hu also promised China would further open up its market to Africa, by increasing the number of tariff-free products from the continent from 190 to 440, and establishing up to five trade and economic co-operation zones.
But while China makes no secret of its desire to become the key player in Africa and to get its hands on the continent's vast mineral and oil reserves, Mr Hu made it clear that Beijing was counting on the recipients of its largesse to reciprocate with diplomatic support. At the opening ceremony of the Forum of China Africa Co-operation, he said: "In all these years, China has firmly supported Africa in winning liberation and pursuing development," referring to technical and military help for various African nations.
"We in China will not forget Africa's full support for restoring the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations," he added. "Nor will we forget the sincere and ardent wish of African countries and people for China to realise complete and peaceful reunification and achieve the goal of building a modern nation."
The summit, in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, underscores China's deepening ties with Africa, whose countries form an important strategic bloc vote in world bodies.
"Our meeting today will go down in history," Mr Hu said.
While five nations with diplomatic ties with Taiwan failed to turn up, the countries - Gambia, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Swaziland and Sao Tome and Principe - are not among Africa's main powers.
Yesterday, China and Africa signed 16 trade deals worth $US1.9 billion, a Chinese official said on the final day of the summit. The commercial contracts and agreements covered cooperation in natural resources, infrastructure, finance, technology and communications, said Wan Jifei, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.