Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts
Showing posts with label oil. Show all posts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Video - Nigeria to fast-track construction of $25 billion gas pipeline to Morocco



The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline spans 5,600 kilometres and will likely shape Africa's energy landscape. Officials hope the pipeline will also become a major gas supplier to Europe.

CGTN

Related story: Possible Trans Niger oil pipeline leak investigated by Shell Nigeria

 

 

 

Monday, March 18, 2024

Video - Dangote refinery in Nigeria to import crude from U.S.



The announcement comes as the Dangote refinery intensifies moves to start pumping out refined products. The facility is targeting an initial processing rate of 350,000 barrels a day before ramping up toward its full capacity.

CGTN

 Related stories: Dangote wants to set up trading arm for Lagos mega refinery

Dangote oil refinery to help solve fuel shortage in Nigeria

 

 

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Video - Challenges arise as Shell plans exit from Nigeria



Shell oil faces obstacles in its planned exit from Nigeria. Environmental activists accuse Shell of trying to avoid responsibility for decades of oil spills in Nigeria's Niger Delta region. The activists want Shell to clean up the region and decommission its oil infrastructure before leaving the country.

CGTN

Related stories: Advocacy Groups Call for Halt to Shell's Planned Exit from Nigeria

Activists urge Nigeria to delay Shell’s $2.4 billion sale of assets in deeply polluted Niger Delta

Video - Nigerian oil spills agency investigates pipeline leak in Niger Delta

 

 


Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Dangote wants to set up trading arm for Lagos mega refinery

Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote is planning to set up an oil trading arm, likely based in London, to help run crude and products supply for his new refinery in Nigeria, six sources familiar with the matter said.

The move would reduce the role of the world's biggest trading firms, which have been negotiating for months to provide the refinery with financing and crude oil in exchange for products exports. The giant 650,000 barrel-per-day refinery is set to redraw global oil and fuel flows and the trading community is closely watching the way it will operate.

Dangote, whose wealth is estimated by Forbes at $12.7 billion, did not reply to several comment requests.
BP, Trafigura and Vitol among others have met Dangote in Lagos and London in recent weeks to offer loans for the some $3 billion in working capital the refinery needs to buy large amounts of crude, trading sources told Reuters.

The traders asked the refinery to repay loans with fuel exports but so far they have signed no deals as Dangote worries they would reduce his control of the project – and potentially his profit, the sources said. Dangote has also met state-backed firms in his search for cash and crude.

"He is going to try and do it himself," an industry source told Reuters. Sources told Reuters the new trading team will be led by ex-Essar trader Radha Mohan. He joined Dangote in 2021 as director of international supply and trading, according to his Linkedin profile. Two sources said the team was in the process of hiring two new traders.

The refinery took nearly a decade to complete -- and came in at a cost of $20 billion, some $6 billion over budget.

The plant has refined around 8 million barrels of oil between January and February and will take months to get to full capacity. So far, Vitol has prepaid for some product cargoes to help the refinery buy crude, while Trafigura has swapped some crude oil in exchange for future fuel cargoes, sources with knowledge said. Geneva-based Vitol and Trafigura declined to comment. 

By Julia Payne and Libby George, Reuters 

Related story: Anti-graft body of Nigeria visits Dangote Group in forex probe

Dangote oil refinery to help solve fuel shortage in Nigeria

Friday, March 1, 2024

Advocacy Groups Call for Halt to Shell's Planned Exit from Nigeria

Advocacy groups are calling on the Dutch oil giant Shell to halt its plans to divest assets from Nigeria's Niger Delta region unless proper cleanup and decommissioning of its infrastructure is complete.

This week, a Netherlands-based nonprofit released a report accusing Shell of trying to avoid responsibility for oil spills. The Center for Research on Multinational Corporations' report, entitled "Selling Out Nigeria — Shell's Irresponsible Divestment," said the Dutch oil giant's divestment in Nigeria must be suspended until clean-up and decommissioning of assets are complete.

The group accused Shell of trying to avoid responsibility for decades of oil spills in Nigeria's Niger Delta region that have polluted bodies of water and farmlands. It said Shell's assertion that it cleaned up polluted oil spill sites is flawed and cannot be trusted.

Faith Nwadishi, founder of Center for Transparency Advocacy, agrees with the report.

"The contract that they have signed that talks about the issue of remediation, protection of the environment and all of those things have not been done," said Nwadishi. "We should be looking at the contract and interpreting it accordingly — this is international best practice. This is what happens everywhere."

Shell operations grew controversial

Shell pioneered Nigeria's oil and gas explorations in 1937, but its operations have been subject to controversy and lawsuits from local communities.

Shell often blamed sabotage and vandalism by locals for busted pipelines, oil spills and environmental pollution.

In January, the company announced plans to sell its onshore operations to a local consortium of five companies for $2.4 billion.

Shell said the move would allow it to focus on more lucrative offshore businesses and that it was also proof that local companies are able to take on a larger share of Nigeria's oil and gas industry.

But Nwadishi said if the pollution issue is not addressed, Shell's exit could set a bad example for other multinationals operating in Nigeria.

"Once one person sets a precedent — especially the bad precedences — once they're set, you see other people following up," said Nwadishi. "When they do that, what it will mean is that they set a wrong template for other multinationals to do the same thing. And unfortunately, we have this judicial system that takes forever to take care of issues like that."

Law mandates funding for cleanup

Under Nigerian law, Shell is expected to provide funding for cleanup and decommissioning of its infrastructure before exiting.

But the report says the implementation of the law is flawed and said there is no sign that Shell is trying to comply with the law.

The company has not commented on the report but recently released a list of eight cleanup operations it plans to carry out in Nigeria this year, all for spills of less than 100 barrels of oil.

Emmanuel Afimia, founder of Enermics Consulting, said Nigerian authorities must take the Shell divestment plan seriously.

"Nigeria should implement the following measures: establish a robust regulatory framework that holds multinational corporations accountable for the environmental damage caused by their operations; ensure that affected communities are consulted and involved in the cleanup process and that their concerns and needs are addressed," said Afimia. "We need to monitor and evaluate the cleanup process regularly to ensure that it is being done properly and transparently."

VOA asked Nigeria's National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency for comment on the Shell issue but has not received a response.

Before Shell can sell the assets in question, it must get approval from the Nigerian government. The government has not said whether it will authorize the sale.

By Timothy Obiezu, VOA

Related story: Activists urge Nigeria to delay Shell’s $2.4 billion sale of assets in deeply polluted Niger Delta

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Activists urge Nigeria to delay Shell’s $2.4 billion sale of assets in deeply polluted Niger Delta

Local activists and international environmental groups want Nigeria’s government to delay approving the sale of oil company Shell’s onshore assets, claiming Shell is trying to shirk its environmental and social responsibilities in the highly polluted Niger Delta.

The London-based company is trying to sell its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company — which operates its onshore assets in the delta — to Renaissance Africa Energy Company, a consortium of local companies. Shell says the $2.4 billion divestment deal is part of a “wider reconfiguration of the Nigerian oil and gas sector.”

But the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), a Dutch non-profit, released a report Wednesday saying Shell shouldn’t be allowed to divest in the delta unless it takes “responsibility for its toxic legacy of pollution and ensures the safe decommissioning of abandoned oil infrastructure.”

Protesters have appealed to the government of Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, to halt the sale until environmental concerns are addressed. Lezina Mgbar, a 54-year-old healthcare worker and farmer who participated in a weekend demonstration in the country’s oil capital of Port Harcourt, said her Korokoro Tai community in Ogoniland has been “severely” affected by oil spills.

“In the morning, children and women have to travel far to get water, so children often cannot get to school on time, and our farm yields are poor,” Mgbar told The Associated Press. “We demand that Shell restore our land and clean our water before any divestment.”

Scientific studies have found high levels of chemical compounds from crude oil, as well as heavy metals, in the delta, where the industry largely drives Nigeria’s economy but can leave communities’ water sources slick with contaminants.

Activists say Shell has a history of poor divestment in the region. They point to a wellhead blowout in the Santa Barbara River, which flows through the Niger Delta, in 2021. The wellhead wasn’t producing but wasn’t decommissioned by Shell or its new owners, Aiteo Eastern E & P. The facility spewed crude oil and associated gas for 38 days and caused planet-warming methane to be released into the atmosphere, killed fish and devastated riverside farms.

Richard Steiner, an environmental consultant with a history of work in the Niger Delta, said the blowout on the Santa Barbara River highlights the risk of Shell and other oil majors transferring assets to new local firms without resolving legacy environmental and social concerns first.

“Many of the purchasing companies do not have the technical or financial capacity to manage these oil and gas operations safely,” he said.

Shell says it assesses the financial strength, culture and social and environmental performance records of companies it sells assets to. A spokesperson added that “mandatory submissions to the federal government allow the regulators to apply scrutiny across a wide range of issues and recommend approval of these divestments, provided they meet all requirements.”

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who holds the portfolio of petroleum minister, will ultimately decide the fate of the Shell-Renaissance transaction. His spokesperson did not comment when contacted on Monday.

SOMO’s report documents other cases of environmental pollution that were allegedly not addressed by Shell before past divestments. Two communities, Ogale and Bille in Rivers State, have been in court pushing to make the company address past environmental concerns.

Shell and other oil companies often blame third-party interference, namely militant attacks and vandalism by oil thieves, for spills. However, companies still must clean up regardless of the cause, according to Nigeria’s law.

The deal with Renaissance is the latest move by Shell to limit its onshore operations in Nigeria while focusing on deepwater operations. Other companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies, have been taking similar steps but without the scale of protests Shell, which is the most dominant in the region, has faced.

The civil society coalition that helped organize protests aimed at delaying the sale have petitioned Tinubu to adopt a set of principles to ensure more responsible petroleum industry divestments.

That “would help ensure a transparent process that would assess the capacity of the incoming companies, with meaningful community consultation throughout, address environmental pollution and deteriorating and abandoned infrastructure,” said Florence Kayemba, director of the Niger Delta-focused Stakeholder Democracy Network, one of the groups that came up with the principles.

Unlike in previous sales, Shell is transferring all its subsidiary shares to Renaissance, resulting in a change of ownership that would see SPDC continue to carry liabilities. Shell has said SPDC, with new ownership, will continue with the current staff and be responsible for remediation where spills have occurred in the past.

SOMO’s report noted the arrangement but said the energy giant is still trying to avoid its responsibility.

Audrey Gaughran, SOMO’s director, told the AP in a statement that “ensuring that the historical pollution, the lack of funding for safe decommissioning and poor financial transparency are fully addressed in Nigeria will be an important litmus test for a just energy transition across the world.” 

By Taiwo Adebayo, AP

Related story: Video - Nigerian oil spills agency investigates pipeline leak in Niger Delta

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Video - Nigeria bans exports of locally produced LNG to boost supply



The country's petroleum ministry says the ban will increase the amount of cooking gas for the domestic market, which will automatically reduce the price of the product.

CGTN

Related story: Shell successfully conducts first remotely controlled well completion offshore Nigeria

 

Shell successfully conducts first remotely controlled well completion offshore Nigeria

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has successfully completed the first remotely controlled well completion operation offshore Nigeria.

The operation was performed at the Bonga field, in 1,060 m water depth. The well completion operation was performed utilizing a Remotely Operated Controls System (ROCS) that has been supplied by Norwegian technology company Optime Subsea.

Optime Subsea's ROCS eliminates the need for both the umbilical, which traditionally connects the surface to the seabed for controlling the tubing hanger in subsea well completions, and the topside hydraulic control unit. This innovation not only cuts costs but also significantly reduces the amount of deck space required for these operations.

“We are very pleased with the performance of the ROCS. It means that we can perform well completion operations quicker, at lower cost, and with substantially lower CO2-footprint compared to conventional systems,” says Justus Ngerebara. Lead Well Engineer at SNEPCo.

Last year, SNEPCo took delivery of its first ROCS from Optime Subsea and have worked closely with Optime Subsea to integrate the system into its operations.

Using a ROCS means that operators can cut approximately 50 tonnes of equipment from their offshore transportation list, which means substantially lower CO2-footprint. It also means reduced operating time and less HSE exposure on the drill floor. In total, it reduces both CAPEX and OPEX for operators.

Optime Subsea has performed multiple ROCS operations in the North Sea and Gulf of Mexico, but this was the first in African waters. The operation was led by Optime Subsea’s operation in Nigeria, supported by personnel from the company’s headquarter in Norway.

“To be able to free up valuable deck space immediately after the operation, through shipping the ROCS to shore, is a significant advantage for the rig operator. We are delighted to bring this technology to Nigeria and very grateful for SNEPCo’s innovative and ambitious approach to subsea well completion operations,” says Rodger Hooker, Chief Service Officer at Optime Subsea.

Optime Subsea has offices in Notodden, Norway; Houston, Texas; and Lagos, Nigeria. Over the past decade, the company has established itself as a leading specialist on subsea intervention and controls systems globally.

ROCS details. When completing subsea wells, the tubing hanger is placed on top of the wellhead, as a seal towards the rest of the subsea well.

Normally the tubing hanger is controlled through a dedicated hydraulic umbilical which adds a large 20-30 ft control container. When running the umbilical, it is also clamped to the tubing for increased stability.

ROCS replaces these operations by remotely controlling a controls unit toward the wellhead. This allows for safer, simpler and more efficient operations.

ROCS is mobilized in a single basket, prepared and made up onshore, allowing it to be ready to run immediately when offshore, from a rig. Avoiding mobilization of 50 ton + of topside equipment

The ROCS is 100% universal and can be applied to any type of subsea well.

World Oil

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Video - Drop in oil production leaves government budget of Nigeria under stress



Despite missing OPEC's 1.5 million barrels per day target, Nigeria set ambitious sights in 2024, eyeing a daily production target of 1.7 million barrels. But the year is off to a rocky start. January 2024 oil production fell to 1.42 million barrels per day, a drop of 3,000 barrels per day from the previous month. Experts worry that the consequences could be dire.

CGTN

Related story: NNPC has no plans to raise petrol prices after devaluation

 

Thursday, February 15, 2024

New Dangote refinery in Nigeria to export first fuel cargoes

Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery has issued tenders to sell two fuel cargoes for export, the first from the newly commissioned refinery, trading sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The refinery, Africa's largest with a nameplate capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, was built on a peninsula on the outskirts of the commercial capital Lagos by the continent's richest man Aliko Dangote.

Nigeria has for years relied on expensive imports for nearly all the fuel it consumes but the $20 billion refinery is set to turn it into a net exporter of fuel to other West African countries, in a huge potential shift of power and profit dynamics in the industry. Dangote declined a Reuters request for comment.

The first cargo is 65,000 metric tons of low-sulphur straight run fuel oil, which Dangote has awarded to Trafigura and is due to load at the end of February, three of the sources said. Trafigura declined to comment.

At least one refiner said they had been offered the cargo by Trafigura without elaborating further.
The second tender is for about 60,000 tons of naphtha, three other sources said. Two of them added that the tender closes on Feb. 15. Loading details were not immediately available.

Sources told Reuters last week that the refinery was preparing to deliver its first fuel cargoes to the domestic market within weeks.

The two fuels on offer are typical products of running light sweet crude through a crude distillation unit (CDU) in a refinery without further upgrading capacity. It is expected to take months for upgrading units to be brought online, experts have said.

The refiner began buying crude in December last year and Nigeria's state-owned oil firm NNPC Ltd has been the main supplier. Dangote has also purchased some U.S. oil and is expected to receive 2 million barrels of U.S. WTI Midland in early March, according to LSEG and Kpler ship tracking.

By Ahmad Ghaddar, Reuters 

Related stories: Nigeria seeks operators for state-owned Port Harcourt oil refinery

Video - Nigeria eyes restart of four oil refineries by end of 2024

Friday, February 9, 2024

Nigeria to propose naira payment for local gas sale

Nigeria is proposing for gas producers to sell gas to local power plants in naira to solve problems of dollar shortages after a second currency devaluation in less than a year is expected to balloon costs and make it hard for firms to pay.

Nigeria has 24 gas power plants with a combined output capacity of 11,434 megawatts, but it only delivers around a third of its capacity to the grid due to issues with gas supply.

"Proposing domestic gas payment in naira is a key step toward stability, aligning with our economy's needs and promoting sustainable energy production," Power Minister Adebayo Adelabu said in a post on X.

Adelabu added that he plans to create legislative measures that will mandate naira payments for domestic gas supply.

Natural gas is sold in dollars to power plants because investments tied to building gas plants and pipelines are priced and paid for in dollars.

However, local operators have had difficulties making dollar payments since a currency crisis which has seen the naira lose significant value. The currency weakness is expected to force the price of gas in the domestic market sharply higher.

Nigeria has proven gas reserves of 206 trillion cubic feet which it has struggled to tap due to capital constraints. The government hopes it can fix the challenges by switching to naira payments and capping dollar prices.

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the local gas regulator, has asked producers to keep gas prices at $2.18 per million British Thermal Units (MMBtu) as per agreement with unions three-years ago. 

By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters

Related stories: No More Dollars: Banks in Nigeria to Pay Customers' Money from Abroad in Naira

Video - Nigeria caps foreign exchange position for banks

 

Thursday, February 8, 2024

NNPC has no plans to raise petrol prices after devaluation

Nigerian state-oil company NNPC said on Thursday it has no plans to raise petrol prices after a second devaluation of the local naira currency in less than a year, following speculation that it could increase prices to recover some of its import costs.

The official naira exchange rate last week plunged to as low as 1,531 per dollar from 900, well below black market levels, after the market regulator changed its closing rate calculation methodology, in a de facto devaluation.

The official rate had been drifting towards parallel market levels as forex shortages funnelled demand to unofficial sources.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), -- the sole importer of petrol because local private firms are unable to obtain foreign currency -- urged Nigerians to disregard the speculation about price rises, adding that "there are no plans for an upward review of the (petrol) price."

Petrol prices have not budged since last July when President Bola Tinubu scrapped a popular but costly fuel subsidy and lifted restrictions on currency trading which more than tripled petrol prices.

This was a move the president hoped would revive sluggish economic growth, but the reforms pushed inflation to a nearly three-decade high in December, worsening a cost of living crisis.

Tinubu has been under pressure from unions to offer relief to households and small businesses after he scrapped the subsidy that kept petrol prices low but cost the government $10 billion in 2022.

The president has said he was aware of the hardship caused by removing the subsidy and was monitoring the effects of the exchange rate and inflation on gasoline prices, adding that he would intervene if and when necessary.

Nigeria's main unions on Thursday gave a two-week ultimatum to the government to meet demands ranging from a wage increase to improved access to public utilities among others, and said it regretted government's failure to uphold pledges to cushion the effects of reforms. 

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Monday, February 5, 2024

Shell agrees to develop Nigeria gas field for Dangote fertiliser

Shell Plc has made a final investment decision to build a gas supply facility in Nigeria to feed a fertiliser plant owned by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote, the company said in a statement.

The new facility will supply 100 million standard cubic feet of gas per day from the Iseni field to the Dangote Fertiliser and Petrochemical plant for 10 years, according to the deal agreed by Shell and its joint venture partners TotalEnergies,Eni, and the state oil firm NNPC Ltd.

The $2.5 billion plant, Africa's largest urea complex with a 3-million-tonne output per year, accounts for 65% of Nigeria's fertiliser needs and can supply all the major markets in the sub-region.

"The agreement is a critical step in pursuing the development of the gas-rich Iseni field, which is part of the Okpokunou Cluster in Oil Mining Lease 35" in the oil-rich Bayelsa state, Shell's Nigeria chief, Osagie Okunbor, said in an email.

Nigeria holds Africa's largest gas reserves of more than 200 trillion cubic feet and is seeking to develop the reserves to boost supply to industries, power plants, and for exports.

Okunbor said the project will increase the delivery of gas to the domestic market and help stimulate economic growth. 

By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters



Thursday, February 1, 2024

Nigeria seeks to resolve disputed oilfield issues, denies criminal liability

Nigeria wants to resolve outstanding issues around the disputed OPL 245 oil block as it seeks to attract investment to its oil and gas industry and has held talks with Shell and Eni to discuss the matter, its oil minister said on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Petroleum Heineken Lokpobiri reiterated the government's position that there was no criminal liability on its part, or by the other parties, in the oil block deal, which has been embroiled in litigation for years.

Nigeria in November, withdrew a $1.1 billion civil claim against Shell (SHEL.L) and Eni related to allegations of corruption in the deal, ending all litigation around the oil asset.

An Italian court in 2021 acquitted Shell, Eni, the operator of the block, and company executives of corruption allegations in the acquisition of the field a decade earlier.

"For 28 years, there has been no investment there. Nobody has benefited from the block," Lokpobiri told reporters. "The President in his wisdom directed that we should resolve the problems around OPL 245."

Lokpobiri said the government is committed to resolving the issues surrounding OPL 245 in a way that benefits all parties and has held meetings, including in London last week, with Shell and Eni to discuss the matter.

Shell and Eni did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Video - Nigerian oil spills agency investigates pipeline leak in Niger Delta



Local communities reported the incident to the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd and the Nigerian Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency. The Niger Delta region has for decades suffered from oil spills with Shell facing legal battles for many of those leaks.

CGTN

Related stories: Possible Trans Niger oil pipeline leak investigated by Shell Nigeria

Shell's Trans Niger pipeline spill under investigation by Nigeria

Video - $12 billion needed by Nigeria to clean up decades-old oil spills

 

 

 

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Nigeria seeks operators for state-owned Port Harcourt oil refinery

Nigeria's state-owned oil company NNPC Ltd on Monday tendered for operators of its Port Harcourt oil refinery in the Niger Delta, which is expected to begin production in the first quarter of this year, the company said.

The refinery, which is undergoing an upgrade, will begin by processing 60,000 barrels per day (bpd), and NNPC expects to operate at the full capacity of 210,000 bpd later this year.

NNPC said in a public notice that it wanted to engage reputable and credible operations firms "to operate and maintain one of its refineries, Port Harcourt Refining Company, to ensure reliability and sustainability towards meeting the nation's fuel supply and energy security obligations".

The oil company said prospective operators should have a turnover of at least $2 billion since 2019, evidence of their latest credit rating and experience in running refineries.

NNPC said on Jan. 4 that it would complete test runs at the Port Harcourt refinery this month before resuming production.

The refinery, which was shut five years ago, is among state-owned refineries that have been mothballed for years, but which the Nigerian government is trying to revive to end the country's reliance on imported refined products.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe, Reuters



Shell to Sell Nigeria Onshore Oil Business for $1.3 Billion

Shell Plc agreed to sell its Nigerian onshore oil business to a consortium of local companies for more than $1.3 billion.

If approved by the government, the transaction would fulfill Shell’s long-term goal of extracting itself from a challenging operating environment in the Niger Delta region, while retaining a presence elsewhere in the country. Beyond the initial price tag, Shell said it will receive additional cash payments of as much as $1.1 billion on completion.

“This agreement marks an important milestone for Shell in Nigeria,” Zoe Yujnovich, integrated gas and upstream director, said in a statement on Tuesday. The deal is “simplifying our portfolio and focusing future disciplined investment in Nigeria on our deepwater and integrated gas positions”

The buyer of the asset, known as Renaissance, is formed of exploration and production companies ND Western, Aradel Energy, First E&P, Waltersmith and Petrolin, all of which are based in Nigeria, according to the statement.

The announcement comes after a labored sales process that had to be halted in 2022 after a court ruling ordered Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd. to pause its divestment plans pending the outcome of a court case related to allegations of pollution. Earlier this month, Nigeria’s Supreme Court upheld Shell’s appeal against this ruling.

Shell has pumped oil in Nigeria for more than half a century, but almost three years ago then-Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden signaled the company’s intention to exit its onshore oil positions. These operations have become increasingly difficult, with accusations of environmental pollution by local communities, as well as persistent oil theft that caused damage to infrastructure.

Following the sale, Shell will continue operating in the country through its deep-water oil business, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd. Another unit that provides gas to domestic industrial and commercial customers, Shell Nigeria Gas Ltd., will continue operating as will solar firm Daystar Power Group. Shell will retain its 25.6% stake in Nigeria LNG, which produces and exports liquefied natural gas.

By Laura Hurst, Bloomberg

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

Video - Nigeria eyes restart of four oil refineries by end of 2024



The Nigerian government says it is determined to not only end petrol imports but to also make the country a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year. It says its two other refineries will come back on stream by the last quarter of the year.

CGTN

Friday, January 5, 2024

Port Harcourt oil refinery to complete test run this month

Nigerian state-owned oil firm NNPC Ltd will complete test runs at the Port Harcourt refinery in the south this month, in a major step towards resuming operations five years after the plant was shut, the company said on Thursday.

"Testing will conclude shortly, ensuring the refinery's efficient operation. That phase will be completed this month," NNPC spokesperson Femi Soneye said.

The refinery, which is undergoing an upgrade, will begin by processing 60,000 barrels per day, and NNPC expects to operate at the full capacity of 210,000 barrels per day later this year.

Port Harcourt is among Nigerian state-owned refineries that have been mothballed for years, but which the government is trying to revive to end the country's reliance on imported refined products. 

By Isaac Anyaogu, Reuters

Anti-graft body of Nigeria visits Dangote Group in forex probe

Nigeria's economic and financial crimes agency on Thursday inspected Dangote Group's books as part of investigations into possible past misuse of foreign currency sourced from the central bank, two sources at the agency said.


The Dangote Group, which counts cement and fertiliser manufacturing and sugar refining among its businesses, is owned by Africa's richest man Aliko Dangote. Dangote is also readying a 650,000 barrels per day oil refinery that cost $20 billion to build.

Under former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele, the bank had multiple exchange rates and sold dollars cheaply to some businesses, including Dangote, to help them import raw materials.

A Dangote spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Two people at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Thursday's search at Dangote offices in Lagos, was part of an investigation set to be expanded to other companies.

"We went to the head office of Dangote Group today to look into their books on the ongoing investigation on the abuse of the extant laws that govern the foreign exchange transaction during the tenure of Godwin Emefiele as CBN governor," one of the sources told Reuters.

"Here, we are talking about multiple exchange rates and others. It is an ongoing investigation and it was the turn of Dangote Group today," said the source, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak on the issue.

EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale declined to comment.

A second source confirmed the investigation, adding that at least one other listed Nigerian conglomerate would be targeted.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

Related stories: Dangote refinery receives first crude cargo in Nigeria

Dangote oil refinery to help solve fuel shortage in Nigeria