NAIJAFEED

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Federal Government declares Shell can't sell oil fields

The Federal Government has said Royal Dutch Shell Plc has no powers to sell the assets it owns jointly with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Shell/NNPC Joint Venture covers 90 oil fields, spanning 30,000 square kilometres, 72 oil-pumping stations, 10 gas plants and two major oil export terminals at Bonny and Forcados, according to a company fact-sheet. Sunday Times of London had reported that Shell planned to sell fields valued at up to $5 billion as Nigeria prepares to impose harsher terms on foreign operators and hand greater control to domestic oil firms, through the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), currently before the National Assembly.

Potential buyers may include China's Sinopec and Nigeria's Oando Plc, the newspaper said. But the Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, said yesterday that the company would need government's approval to sell the oilfields. "It's not theirs to sell," Bloomberg news agency quoted Lukman as saying by phone from Abuja yesterday.

"They're holding concessions given them by the government," Lukman added. The minister insisted that Shell would require government's approval before pressing ahead with a sale, adding that no such request had been made, as far as he is aware. Wendel Broere, a spokesman at The Hague-based Shell, declined to comment, according to Bloomberg. Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Odein Ajuomogobia, also told journalists in Lagos yesterday that government was not concerned over plans by other oil companies to sell their assets in the country owing to the harsh terms contained in the PIB. He argued that the world is a big place; as one company is leaving the country, another one is coming into the country.

"You know we are a sovereign country; we make our laws for ourselves and for those foreigners, who wish to do business with us. We will take account of international norms and practices to ensure that our laws are favourable for investment. It is in our own interest to have laws that attract investment. So, we will do everything we can to make sure that the PIB, when it is passed into law, is a law that makes Nigeria destination for foreign investment. Now, if there is any group of investors, who feel that the laws we make do not serve their interests - the world is a very big place and as one goes, another comes. So, I am not really concerned about that," he said. Ajumogobia also told Reuters yesterday that Shell, Europe's largest oil company, had not informed the government of any such plans.

"It is indeed curious, if the reports making the rounds in this regard are true, that Shell seem so keen on renewing their expired shallow water leases. We certainly intend to make a formal inquiry," he said. Shell's operations were the worst hit by the activities of militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta that started in 2006. The reform bill presented by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to the National Assembly seeks to give the government greater powers over oil concessions while raising taxes paid by energy companies. Licences for 16 fields operated by Shell, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Total and Chevron Corporation in the past four decades are currently up for renewal.

Only ExxonMobil, world's largest publicly-traded oil company, has so far obtained a renewal for three licences while Shell and Chevron are continuing negotiations with the government.

THISDAY reported that worried by uncertainty in the PIB, more International Oil Companies (IOCs) had suspended new investments, especially in deep offshore, where the controversial PIB imposes stiffer conditions on the operators. It was gathered that the unresolved issues in the bill and the uncertainty over its passage have forced the IOCs to adopt a "wait - and - see" attitude on new projects, with some of the companies making moves to relinquish some of their assets.

Uncertainty over the content of the PIB was also a source of worry to both local and foreign operators, who identified the circulation of many versions of the bill, provision for higher royalty payments, multiple taxes on profits and revenue sharing as main areas of dispute. The operators are also opposed to the provisions, which allow the government to renegotiate old contracts, impose higher costs on oil companies and retake oil fields that oil companies are yet to explore. With these provisions, the deep offshore assets of Shell, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Total are being threatened.

This Day

Video - Oil War

Chinese in £3 bn battle to buy Shell assets in Nigeria

Monday, December 21, 2009

Chinese in £3bn battle to buy Shell assets in Nigeria

Two Chinese government-controlled companies are among front-runners in a £3 billion battle for control of oil assets in Nigeria that have been put up for sale by Royal Dutch Shell.

Both Sinopec and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) are understood to have expressed interest in the fields, which the Anglo-Dutch group has put up for auction as the violence-prone African nation prepares to impose tougher terms on foreign oil operators next month.

The sale of a string of onshore oilfields by Shell, the biggest foreign oil company in Nigeria, represents a significant shift in strategy by the oil giant since the appointment of its new chief executive, Peter Voser, in July.

Industry insiders said that Shell, which has been struggling for years to maintain production levels in Nigeria amid widespread sabotage, theft and piracy, had commenced discussions about the sale of a number of its smaller producing fields, as well as undeveloped blocks and fields in which production has been curtailed by security troubles.

Shell is not leaving Nigeria and is keen to keep the bulk of its operations in the country. Neither is it selling any of its offshore interests, which are less vulnerable to rebel attacks and piracy.

Insiders said the fields have drawn interest from a variety of international groups, as well as CNOOC and Sinopec. Indian companies are thought to be interested and UK-based independent oil explorers, including First Hydrocarbon Nigeria, part of London-listed Afren, are studying the opportunity.

An insider familiar with the talks said that Shell was likely to sell the fields in individual transactions in the first half of 2010. He said: “We are talking about a few different fields. These are smaller, onshore and more marginal assets that they are not really interested in developing themselves any more.”

Neither CNOOC or Sinopec could be reached for comment yesterday.

Shell is focusing on big developments such as the Pearl gas-to-liquids project in Qatar and the Perdido deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Times Online

Shell plans to sell about $5 bln worth of assets it has in Nigeria

Video - U.S. vs China for Nigeria's oil

China invests $6 billion in Nigeria

Top NDLEA official sacked for marrying driver

For finding love with a driver that works with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), a top female official of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Mrs. Udeoji Tochukwu Francisca has been sacked from service.

The agency in a sack letter to Mrs. Udeoji said her marriage to a driver Mr. Osondu Enwereuzor was not only embarrassing to NDLEA but a clear violation of paragraph 12.8(ii), schedule 1, part x of NDLEA regulation Act 2001.

But Senate on Thursday ordered its committee on public petitions headed by Senator Omar Hambagda to conduct full scale investigation into the circumstances surrounding the sack of the female officer.

The probe followed a recent petition sent to the Senate by the sacked NDLEA through Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia South) who told the stunned Senate on Thursday that the woman was specifically sacked by the agency for marring her heartthrob.

Mrs. Udeoji's trouble started in 2004 when she applied to the NDLEA for permission to marry her heartthrob, who was a driver with the NDDC.

Her letter was quickly referred to the NDLEA boss who in a letter signed by Assistant Commander, Mr. Ambrose Umoru ordered for a confidential report on the said driver with the NDDC.

The agency in the letter to the director of NDDC, Abuja liaison office, said the confidential report should be addressed to the commander NDLEA FCT command.

But NDLEA in a letter entitled, "notice of punishment" dated April 2006 asked Mrs. Udeoji to hand "all agency property in her possession to your state commander obtain clearance before you depart.

"Take notice that you have been found guilty of the following offence against discipline, unapproved single parent, contrary to and punishable under paragraph 12.8 of the regulation Act of 2001."

The punishment was sequel to another letter by the agency dated April 2004 in which it disapproved the request by Mrs. Udoji to marry the said driver.

The letter of disapproval was signed by Zirangey, assistant director administration and personnel.

But Abaribe in presenting the petition on the floor of the Senate last Thursday, argued that the decision to sack her was "gender discriminatory" and against her right as enshrined in chapter 4 of the 1999 Constitution.

After presenting the petition on behalf of the victim, the Senate President, Senator David Mark promptly asked the committee on public petitions to commence full investigations into the circumstances and ensure that it erases the possibility of miscarriage of justice.

In her petition, Mrs. Udoji said that she was a member of Course 7ASN of the NDLEA, and was employed in the agency in May 2001.

She said she was dismissed from the NDLEA on April 13, 2006 because she got married to a man who works as a driver with the NDDC. She said her husband was investigated by the NDLEA when she gave notice of marriage and found to be clean, but that she was dismissed because she got married to somebody of a junior rank.

In the letter by the NDLEA terminating her appointment, the agency accused her of committing "unapproved single parentage," which it said is contrary to paragraphh12.8(i)schedule1, part X of NDLEA regulations 2001(as amended).

But the woman further stated in her petition that she was aware of the rule in the NDLEA which forbids senior officers from getting married to their juniors but that her husband does not work with the NDLEA.

She stated in the petition: "I did not get married to somebody in the same organisation, my husband works with NDDC while I work with NDLEA."

Daily Champion

CNN covers Nigeria's drug war

Sunday, December 20, 2009

MEND resumes attacks

Citing delayed negotiations with government, due to President Yar'Adua's absence, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) yesterday breached its 56-day ceasefire by attacking a major Shell/Chevron crude pipeline in Abonemma, Rivers State.

The attack is coming on the heels of MEND's complaints that President Yar'Adua's over three weeks absence from the country has stalled the ongoing talks between the government and the group's appointed negotiators, the Aaron Team.

The group's spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, described the attack, which was launched at about 2am, as a warning strike.

He said five boats involving 35 of MEND's fighters armed with assault rifles, rocket launchers and heavy calibre machine guns, carried out the attack.

The Guardian could not independently confirm the MEND's attack.

A faction of the armed group loyal to repentant militant leader, Government 'Tompolo' Ekpemupolo, said its commanders were not aware of any attacks on oil installations.

In an online statement, Captain Mack Anthony, the spokesman to both 'Tompolo' and his (Anthony's) boss, Togo, said that the group had no hand in the reported attack.

MEND, he insisted, had not decided on any joint attacks in any of the Niger Delta States.

"Although we have our own grievances over how we were treated since we surrendered arms, if there is an attack somewhere, our General Commander, Government 'Tompolo' Ekpemupolo and my boss, Togo, are not aware," he said.

"But don't forget; there could be some pockets of misunderstanding resulting from communal differences against oil companies in the Niger Delta.

"The amnesty is not instrument of continued suppression by soldiers and multi-nationals. MEND is standing by the conditions of the peace deal," he stressed.

Tompolo had embraced Federal Government's amnesty programme, which the mainstream MEND scoffed at as doomed to fail.

Contacted, the Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) (Operation Restore Hope), General Sarki-Yarki Bello, said in an SMS that there was "no confirmation yet."

Similarly, spokesman of the JTF, Lt. Col. Timothy Antigha, explained that they were yet to verify any attack as alleged by MEND.

According to him: "There is no verification yet by the JTF that a pipeline has been sabotaged around Abonnema.

"If this unpatriotic act is confirmed to be true, at a time the Federal Government is doing its utmost to consolidate on the gains of the amnesty programme, then the criminals behind the act are enemies of the Niger Delta and, indeed, Nigeria; and they don't deserve any sympathy."

Shell spokesperson, Mr. Precious Okolobo, in an SMS, said: "We don't have reports of our facility being attacked, and cannot comment."

He had earlier told The Guardian on telephone that he did not have details of what might have actually transpired, promising that, "if I confirm, I will get back to you."

An official of Chevron said he had not been able to ascertain the true situation since he was in Houston, United States.

MEND'S mouthpiece, Jomo Gbomo gave reasons why the attack on Shell/Chevron pipelines was carried out yesterday in Abonemma in Rivers State.

According to him, the Federal Government had conveniently tied the advancement of talks on the demands of MEND to President Yar'Adua, who is currently receiving medical attention in far away Saudi Arabia.

However, he noted that the same government "has not tied the repair of pipelines, exploitation of oil and gas as well as the deployment and re-tooling of troops under the aegis of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the region to the President's ill health."

Gbomo said: "While wishing the President a speedy recovery, a situation where the future of the Niger Delta is tied to the health and well being of one man is unacceptable."

MEND accused the government, through the Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva, the Ministers of Defence, Gen. Godwin Abbe (Rtd) and Ministry of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili of disseminating propaganda aimed at foreign investors, claiming that the situation in the Niger Delta is under control.

This assertion, according to him, is far from the truth.

Gbomo also accused the government of offering bribes to a number of militants, who surrendered their weapons under its amnesty programme in the form of contracts.

He said while the government perceives these individuals to wield some kind of influence in the region, MEND wants to make it abundantly clear that all those who had capitulated were of no significance to the continuation of the struggle.

According to him: "MEND is committed to continue its fight for the restoration of the land and rights of the people of the Niger Delta, which has been stolen for 50 years."

Jomo added that while MEND remains open to dialogue, "the indefinite ceasefire ordered by the group on Sunday, October 25, 2009 will be reviewed within 30 days from today, December 19, 2009."

MEND had last week told The Guardian in an online interview that the absence of the President had made it impossible for the Aaron Team to meet with the government after the first exploratory meeting last month.

He said: "At this point in time, the fragile peace process is hanging on to the thin thread of a ceasefire. Our demands have not been addressed because there is dialogue ongoing.

"We expect that when the President returns or if we find ourselves with another President, the process must continue with the current tempo and enthusiasm or else peace talks may collapse and the unrest will resume."

The Guardian

Oil War - Video recap

Video - MEND threaten ceasefire

Shell plans to sell about $5 bln worth of assets it has in Nigeria

Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, is planning to sell oilfields in Nigeria valued at up to $5 billion, the Sunday Times reported, citing sources linked to companies interested in the assets.

The newspaper said the auction comes as Nigeria prepares to impose harsher terms on foreign operators and hand greater control to domestic firms.

The oil giant, which declined to comment on the report, is the biggest and longest standing Western oil producer in Nigeria.

But production has been hampered by insecurity in the oil-rich Niger Delta, government funding shortfalls and an uncertain regulatory environment.

The report coincided with a group led by Shell pledging on Sunday to spend tens of billions of dollars developing Iraq's Majnoon supergiant oilfield over the next two decades.

The Sunday Times said it understood Shell recently launched a formal sales process overseen by Ann Pickard, head of Shell Nigeria.

Chinese state-owned oil group Sinopec had requested information, it said, and Nigeria's independent oil group Oando and London-listed Afren could also be interested.

In Beijing, Sinopec was not immediately available for comment while domestic peer CNOOC -- reported in September as being in talks with Nigeria to buy large stakes in some of Africa's richest oil blocks -- declined to comment.

Shell has switched investment from Nigeria, which supplied 16 percent of its 2008 oil production, in response to growing violence from militants and a souring of relations with the government.

Reuters

Oil War - Video Recap

Nigerian militants blow up Shell and Agip pipelines

Video-U.S. vs China for Nigeria's oil