 LATEST MAGAZINE ISSUE
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Welcome to our 95th issue. We are pleased to announce the online publication of our latest magazine issue, the Local Content Edition. Please click on the link in the left side bar to read it online. We will have it printed and ready for distribution at relevant conferences within the next two weeks or so.
Our next magazine issue will focus on Technology. Do make sure you get in touch if you have any new technology for the Nigerian oil and gas industry as we will be devoting extensive editorial space to coverage of technology that is available in-country.
Should you want more dedicated coverage then email us as soon as possible to secure your space and reach thousands of industry executives who want to know about your product or service. Do get in touch quickly as advertising space is always highly sought after in our magazines. We have a limited number of spaces and once they're gone they're gone.If you are involved in the offshore world then you must attend the FPSO Africa Conference taking place from the 9th to the 11th of June at Eko Hotel. I will be speaking on Day 2 of the Conference. Contact details are in our Events Section below. We now have a section on our website for listing of Training. There is no payment for listing in our Training section if you are the organiser of the training. Please email info@NOGintelligence.com to request more information on listing your training programme.
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US No Longer Imports Nigerian Crude
The death knell has finally sounded on United States of America imports of Nigerian crude following the rise of shale oil and gas, which has the US hurtling towards self-sufficiency in oil and gas.
The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Alison-Madueke has now confirmed that oil exports to the US are now practically at an end. Speaking through the Group Executive Director (GED) Corporate Strategy and Planning of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Timothy Okon, at an enlightenment workshop on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) she said that Nigeria had already begun to search for alternative markets.
Nigeria has had to look to Asia to fill the gap, particularly India and China. The situation still remains vulnerable, as shale oil recovery techniques improve and more high-energy consumers tap like China tap into the new technology.
US domestic production of shale oil and gas has grown dramatically over the last few years with growth in energy production expected to outstrip consumption growth and crude oil production expected to rise sharply over the next decade.
Statistics from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that U.S. crude oil production was expected to continue to grow rapidly between 2012 and 2014, increasing from an average of 6.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2012 to an average of 7.3 million bpd in 2013 and 7.9 million bpd in 2014. Total net imports fell to 7.4 million bpd in 2012, and last year, EIA predicted that imports would continue declining to an average of 6.0 million bpd by 2014.
In terms of Nigerian supply, the US was importing just over 1 million barrels per day in 2005, dropping to about 449,000 in January 2012. Nigeria was the 6th largest supplier to the US in 2012, behind Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, Iraq and Nigeria. At its peak, Nigeria was supplying 1.3 million bpd to the US. Latest EIA figures showed that Nigeria exported just 51,000 bpd in January 2014 to th US.
Speaking last year at a Lagos Oil Club event, Rob Folley, Economic Officer at the U.S. Consulate General Lagos said that with declining imports, Nigeria must ensure it remains competitive and he recommended the following steps:
- Pass an investment-friendly Petroleum Industry Bill
- Commercialize the natural gas sector
- Increase transparency and good governance
- Address insecurity
- Diversify the economy to shield against oil price shocks
- Invest in public goods -- infrastructure, education, and health -- to create an enabling environment for economic growth
Nigeria could however still have the last laugh, as the US government downgrades estimates for recoverable oil from the vast Monterrey Shale formation in California, which is now expected to yield only 4 per cent of the 15 billion barrels originally forecast. Whilst this source alone will do little to alter the short term outlook, there is strong speculation that the rise and rise of shall oil could begin to taper off within a few years. The sustainability of shale oil has come into question after it was discovered that shale production typically has high production in the first couple of years and then drops off thereafter. This will put pressure on the US government to find new shale oil plays urgently to be able to maintain its self-sufficiency.
One group that has become the casualty of the declining crude imports to the US and who might not be able to outlast the shale oil boom, is the tanker operators plying the route from West Africa to the US. The very large crude carriers (VLCCs) that have been transporting the oil from Nigeria to the US via the Suez Canal have been hit hard by the declining oil trade between the two countries. Suffering the most are the Suezmax crude tankers which, unlike the VLCCs are able to navigate through the Suez fully loaded but which only ply the Suez Canal route. The VLCCs usually have to discharge part of the their cargo to be able to pass through the Suez. Euronav, the third-largest operator of Suezmax vessels in the world, was said to have made a loss of $85.9 million in 2012 after daily rates fell to $11,356 in October 2013. Daily rates have been falling for many years since 2008 when it was $58,305.
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OPEC daily basket price stood at $104.73 a barrel Thursday, 5 June 2014
The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at $104.73 a barrel on Thursday, compared with $105.56 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. Prices are staying high as large-scale energy investors predict that prices wills stay above $100. According to new research by RBC Capital Markets, 76 per cent of institutional buyers and energy firms surveyed expect crude oil prices to remain above $100 for at least the next year. This comes as the Energy Information Agency reported that U.S. crude oil supplies were down by about 3.4 million barrels.
Introduced on 16 June 2005, 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).
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Eland Directors Put Their Money Where Their Mouth Is
Two directors of London Stock Exchange listed Eland Oil and Gas are putting their money where their mouth is, while at the same time boosting investor confidence in their company after spending over £100,000 buying the company's stock.
CEO of West Africa focused Eland Oil, Les Blair purchased 80,000 shares at an average price of 109.3p each, giving him a total shareholding of 680,349 shares in the company, which translates to a 0.48 per cent stake. Meanwhile, CFO of the company, George Maxwell bought 20,000 shares at an average of 109.9p giving him a shareholding of 420,000 making an overall 0.3 per cent stake. The duo has also been granted 250,000 share options in the company.
The company is also set to receive additional working capital following the exercise of share options by Solstice International Investments and Helios Natural Resources amounting to N7 million each.
Eland Oil recently went into production on their Opuama field, which is located on oil mining lease (OML) 40 with initial production of 2,500 bpd. They plan to quickly ramp production up to 7,000 bpd within a year. Their ambitious plans are now more likely to see the light of day following the share option exercise by Solstice and Helios which has yielded them £14 million. The facilities on the field are capable of producing 30,000 bpd.
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Visit of Top Military Brass to Yenagoa Sparks Allegations of Defence HQ Probe into JTF
There is growing speculation that the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has begun a probe into continuing allegations of collusion by the Joint Task Force with oil thieves and vandals. The speculation arose as a result of the arrival of the DHQ Chief of Training and Operations, Major Gen. Awala, in Yenagoa, where the JTF is headquartered.
Accusing fingers have been pointing at the JTF for some time, including one report, which accused JTF officers of collusion in oil theft, pipeline vandalisation and oil bunkering. The report said that undercover investigations revealed that higher ranking officers were part of the oil theft rings while lower ranking officers, they say, were charging passage fees from vessels involved in illegal operations.
Spokesman for the JTF, Lt Col Mustapha Anka denied that there was a probe, dismissing Major Gen. Awala's visit as routine.
Meanwhile industry watchers who are waiting for the allegations of corruption to be investigated are hoping that Maj. Gen. Awala is there to kick off a probe into the alleged misdeeds of the JTF.
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Shell CEO to Visit Nigeria Over Ogoni Clean Up
The Ogoni people are hoping that they have finally hit a nerve over their demands for the clean up of their land after the new Shell CEO, Ben van Beurden, said he will visit Nigeria to look at new clean-up strategies for Ogoni land. Shell has long been accused of dragging its feet over the clean up of the spills that have turned the Bodo Creek area into a desolate wasteland.
Following the damaging report by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) into the oil spills, which said that $2 billion will be needed to restore the land, Shell says it has set aside hundreds of millions of dollars but the vast sum remains unspent. Beurden is hoping to be able to win local hearts with details of a new initiative after the blistering criticism it received at its AGM over its failure to clean up the area properly.
The Bodo community is now seeking compensation over the devastation to their livelihoods and the matter is back in court after the failure of the parties to reach agreement on the quantum of damages. Shell has already admitted liability for the spills.
Following the UNEP report, the Nigerian government set up an agency, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Restoration Project (HYPREP), as a specialist Unit under the supervision Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources. HYPREP's remit is to carry out the recommendations of the UNEP Report on behalf of the government. Whilst HYPREP's work on the emergency measures is going on, critics continue to say that both the Government and Shell are not doing enough.
Shell denies this, saying that it has already implemented 22 of the recommendations directed at it by the UNEP report
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NOSDRA Assessment of Agip Oil Spill Damage Nearly Complete
Agip may be facing a hefty fine and payment of some large compensation claims following the revelation by the National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) that it will soon conclude its investigation into the damage that resulted from the oil spill from at Agip's Brass Oil Export Terminal in December 2013.
The Agency is said to be working with staff of Agip to accurately evaluate the damage caused by the spill, which saw large volumes of oil discharged into the ocean in the surrounding area as result of an oil leak. Large swathes of the coastline in the area were said to have been affected, leaving fishermen unable to carry out their livelihood.
NOSDRA says the clean up of the area affected by the spill is also nearing completion.
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CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
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Petroleum Ministry and NNPC Begin Capacity Building Programme
With the continued heat being directed at the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke by the National Assembly over spending on private jets and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over missing or not missing funds totalling billions of dollars, the government will be glad to see some positive headlines for a change. The Petroleum Ministry and NNPC are co-operating to boost indigenous capacity in the oil and gas sector according to a statement. According to the statement issued by Mr Ohi Alegbe, NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, the Ministry and NNPC have commenced a seven-week intensive training course known as Foundation Skills Training Programme for 34 technical officers in the ministry. The programme is aimed at developing young professionals for the entire oil and gas value chain. 30 officers will be trained initially and 64 others from geosciences, petroleum engineering, well and field engineering will be trained in the second phase of the programme. The Group Executive Director, Corporate Services, Dr Dan Efebo, called on the trainees to remain focused and work hard to justify the enormous resources committed to organising the programme.
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Big Men Documentary Opens Friday June 6th
Big Men, the documentary about the Ghanaian and Nigerian oil industry that took 7 years to make opens Friday June 6th in Houston. The film's central story follows a small group of American explorers at Dallas-based oil company Kosmos Energy. Between 2007 and 2011, with unprecedented, independent access, Big Men's two-person crew filmed inside the oil company as Kosmos and its partners discovered and developed the first commercial oil field in Ghana's history. Simultaneously the crew filmed in the swamps of Nigeria's Niger Delta, following the exploits of a militant gang to reveal another side of the economy of oil: people trying to profit in any way possible, because they've given up on waiting for the money to trickle down. So what happens when a group of hungry people discover a massive and exquisitely rare pot of gold in one of the poorest places on earth?
Boynton spent 7 years developing the film and was traveling between New York and Nigeria for nearly 2 years. She said: "I've never experienced a place like the Niger Delta. I think it's hard to go there without being changed by it."
Big Men stars Jim Mussleman, John Agyekum Kufuor, Nana George Owusu Asare. The film was written and directed by Rachel Boynton and executive produced by Brad Pitt.
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LATEST TENDERS
Chevron: Provision of Diving Support Vessel Closing date: 9th June 2014. Chevron: Provision of Export Terminal Tugs Closing date: 9th June 2014. Chevron: Provision of Platform Supply Vessel Closing date: 9th June 2014. NAOC: Provision of ICT Spares and Consumables Closing date: 9th June 2014. NAOC: Provision of Tetra IP Network Infrastructure Closing date: 9th June 2014. Shell: Provision of Drilling Waste Management (Skips Provision and Transportation) Closing date: is 11th June 2014. NAOC: Provision of Software Solution Services Closing date: 12th June 2014. NAOC: Provision of Fibre Optics Link Services Closing date:13th June 2014. NAOC: Provision of VDC Infrastructure and Support Services Closing date: 13th June 2014. TOTAL - Provision of Helicopter Transportation Services Closing date: 13th June 2014. TOTAL - Provision of Platform Supply Vessel Transport Services for (OML99) Closing date: 13th June 2014. TOTAL - Provision of Platform Supply Vessel Transport Services for (OML 102) Closing date: 13th June 2014. SPDC - Sale of Six Helicopters Closing date: 2pm on 13th June 2014. SNEPCo - Provision of Wellheads, Accessories and Services Closing date: 18th June. NPDC - Provision of Civil Construction and Survey Services Closing date: 20th June 2014. NPDC - Provision of Fabrication and Pipeline Repair Services Closing date: 20th June 2014. NPDC - Provision of Engineering Consultancy Services Closing date: 20th June 2014 NPDC - Provision of Facilities MaintenanceServices Closing date: 20th June 2014. NPDC - Provision of HSE Services Closing date: 20th June 2014. NPDC - Provision of Instrument and Electrical Maintenance Services Closing date: 20th June 2014. |
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Key Oil Leaders to Attend Local Content Summit
Ministers and top officials from national oil companies (NOCs) from 17 countries will take part in the 10th annual Global Local Content Summit this September in London.
Delegates from Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, Mozambique, Tanzania, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Sri Lanka are due to present their local content case studies at the summit, taking place from September 22-25.
The conference, hosted by Oil & Gas IQ - a division of global events company IQPC, will be a unique opportunity for local content leaders to discuss the development, implementation and measurement of their policy and regulatory frameworks, said a statement.
"With investment on the rise in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Americas, developing well-informed local content policies and strategies has never been so crucial," said Carly Greene, summit director.
Paulo Alonso, executive coordinator of Prominp for Petrobras, will moderate the summit, drawing on his expertise of Brazil's robust local content policy.
Speakers at this industry forum will include: Eng Irene Muloni, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda; Emmanuel Buah, Minister for Petroleum, Republic of Ghana; Eng Arsénio Mabote, chairman, National Petroleum Institute Mozambique; Eng DTPK Withanage, petroleum resources, development secretariat, Sri Lanka; Eng Ernest Nwapa, executive secretary, Nigerian Content Development; Paulo Alonso, executive coordinator of Prominp, Petrobras; Amer Sinani, local content manager, Petroleum Development Oman; Tam Brisibe, former senator, House of Representatives, Republic of Nigeria; and Lennox Sirjuesingh, president, Trinidad and Tobago Local Content Chamber.
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LATEST EVENTS
11th African Independents Forum
London, England
2-3 June 2014 http://www.petro21.com/events Oil and Gas Strategic Recruitment Forum Aberdeen, UK 03 June 2014 http://www.oghr.co.uk/events/recruitment Somalia Oil and Gas Somalia 9 June 2014 http://www.somalia-oil-gas.com FPSO Africa
Lagos, Nigeria
9-11 June
East Africa Oil and Gas Summit London, UK 10-12 June http://eastafrica-oil-gas.com |
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LATEST JOBS:
More details on our website
TRAINING:
Samsung Heavy Industries Intensive: Technical Training Programme
University of Port Harcourt Offshore Training Institute: M.Sc. Pipeline Engineering and M.Sc. Offshore Engineering
More details on our website
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Don't forget to join our mailing list if you haven't done so already. Remember, you won't have to look anywhere else for your weekly Nigerian oil industry updates, and it's free to join.
Best wishes 
Remi Aiyela
Editor-in-Chief
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