The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes slid

Introduced on 16 June 2005,  the new OPEC Reference Basket is currently made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Qatar Marine (Qatar), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

There is looming crisis between the Senate on one hand and ExxonMobil, Federal Ministry of Environment and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) on the other hand over the two recent oil spill incidents, involving the facilities of Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.

Indications to this effect emerged recently as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki, has directed the Ministry of Environment, NOSDARA and Mobil to immediately furnish his committee with up-to-date information on the two recent oil spill incidents that occurred in Ibeno and Idoho areas of Akwa Ibom State.

The committee chairman noted with displeasure in a terse statement that within the last one month, there had been reports of two oil spills within the proximity of Mobil Producing Nigeria and yet no official report was made to his committee.

Saraki said the frequency of the occurrence was a cause for concern.

He said the Senate was also worried over the frequency of the spills and what he called the lackadaisical attitude of NOSDRA, Ministry of Environment and Mobil. According to him, the three organisations were not providing necessary information to assist the Senate committee in carrying out its oversight function.

Saraki noted that the wanton degradation of the environment by oil companies necessitated the urgency to pass the NOSDRA Amendment Act 2006, which is currently in the final stages of becoming law.

 "It is only proper to update the law that will encourage all responsible parties to take extra care in reducing oil spills in Nigeria to the barest minimum," he said.

Saraki stated that NOSDRA should immediately furnish his committee with information on the aforementioned spill areas including but not limited to the following:   

"The initial report on the incidents and responses made so far to clean-up and contain the spill, preliminary findings as to the cause of the spills and the volume and preliminary findings as to the responsible party; findings as to the action of the responsible party to re-mediate the environment, preliminary findings as to action plan to caution the impact on the areas specifically affected and preliminary findings as to the impact on the livelihood of the communities so impacted."

Under the new programme, five Nigerians will benefit from an annual scholarship sponsored by Total in collaboration with the French Embassy in Nigeria with effect from the 2012/2013 academic year.

The agreement to formalise the programme was signed at the French Embassy, Abuja on Wednesday, December 19, 2012, between Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (TEPNG) and the Embassy.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive of TEPNG, Mr Guy Maurice signed for Total while His Excellency. the Ambassador of France, Jacques Champagne de Labriolle signed for the Embassy of France in Nigeria.

The programme started with a pilot scheme this year when a candidate was jointly selected and sponsored to study International Law in France.  The agreement makes provision for a four-man steering committee to manage the scheme on behalf of the parties.  The cost of each of the international scholarship is about 54,000Euros.   

Benefits to be enjoyed by the selected beneficiaries amongst others include a sum to cover travel expenses; academic fees if in a private university or institution in France  and living expenses for a period of ten (10) months (including food, housing costs and academic text or materials.

Other benefits include logistics support in obtaining necessary permits or visas for the selected students; and health insurance for each beneficiary (bourse de couverture sociale).    

There will also be 60 hours minimum language training in Nigeria for the selected students and school fees for beneficiaries selected into public universities in France.     

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Ambassador Champagne de Labriolle explained that the programme was borne out the need to contribute to the training of Nigerians in different fields. He thanked Total for its contributions to the development of the Nigerian society.

"Understanding changes in your environment is not a matter of specialisation but a matter of personal balance and culture", he said.

Also speaking, Mr Guy Maurice noted that such initiatives on the part of the company was a reflection of its confidence in the country and continuation of what it did in the past
 
The Quai d` Orsay educational cooperation between Total and the French Embassy started in 2011 and already operates in other subsidiaries.

Total has been collaborating with top rated institutions around the world as part of its contribution towards human capacity development in its host communities. It is the main sponsor of the Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS), a post graduate institution at the University of Port Harcourt run in collaboration with the prestigious Institute France du Petrole (IFP) France.

NNPC Suffered774 Pipeline Breaks Since August 2012