Government & Regulations

Nigeria loses $750m to oil theft in 2019 — NNPC

February 19, 2020 | Company Operations, Government & Regulations, Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria | – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says the nation lost about 750 million dollars to oil theft in 2019. The NNPC Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday according to Nigerian local newspaper, The Vanguard. Kyari said this when members of the Executive Intelligence Management Course 13 of the National Institute for Security Studies (NISS) visited the NNPC Towers. He decried the growing activities of oil thieves and pirates which he described as a threat to …

Nigeria moves to recover 35,000bpd lost to Shell JV, Belema oil dispute

October 01, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Nigeria, Politics & Social Unrest

Port Harcourt, Nigeria |  – The Nigerian government says it is determined to continue to extract over 35,000 barrels per day of crude oil output lost to a community dispute in the Niger Delta region. A dispute between Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Joint Venture partner, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Belema Oil and communities around oil mining lease (OML) 25 in Rivers State led to the disruption of operations in the area. Apart from the shutdown of the Belema Flow Station, about 35,000 barrels …

US warns Europe not to develop barter system to evade Iran sanctions

July 26, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Legal, Middle East, Nuclear

As the remaining signatories to the Iran deal — China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, and the EU are due to meet in Vienna on Sunday London, UK | – American officials have issued a warning to European nations that they risk falling foul of sanctions on Iran if they press ahead with a barter system that could allow the export of Iranian oil. Last week, Russia signalled it was interested in joining the mechanism, known as Instex, as part of an effort to resuscitate a …

Nigeria has no plans to renew expired oil block licences

July 25, 2019 | Company Operations, Government & Regulations, Licensing & Concessions, Nigeria

NNPC withholds payments to Eni Abuja, Nigeria | – The Nigerian government  has no immediate plan to renew the expired oil block licences, particularly those belonging to international oil companies (IOCs)  operating in the country, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr Mele Kyari, has said. Nogtec Abuja bureau gathered that the IOCs operating some oil blocks with expired licences in various locations in the Niger Delta had been making enquiries on when the government would renew the licences. Commenting on …

Nigerian court dismisses govt’s $55 million oil export claims against Eni, Petrobras

May 10, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Legal, Nigeria

Lagos, Nigeria | –  A Nigerian court on Wednesday dismissed government claims that subsidiaries of Eni and Petrobras illegally exported crude oil to the United States, but a lawyer representing authorities in the West African country said an appeal would be launched. Crude oil sales are the mainstay of Africa’s biggest economy, making up two-thirds of the country’s revenue and around 90 percent of foreign-exchange earnings. In a lawsuit filed in 2016, Nigeria alleged that a number of companies exported a total of 57 million …

Uganda launches second round of competitive bidding for oil blocks

May 10, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Licensing & Concessions, Uganda

Kampala, Uganda | –  Uganda has launched a second round of competitive bidding for five oil exploration blocks in the west of the country, where it has already discovered commercial crude reserves, the energy ministry said. In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the ministry said a total of 4,928 square kilometres would be offered in the new round. Energy Minister Irene Muloni, speaking at an oil conference in Kenya’s seaport town of Mombasa on Wednesday, invited investors to take up the blocks, the …

Sonangol boss fired by Angola’s President as fuel runs dry

May 10, 2019 | Angola, Government & Regulations, Management

London, UK | — Angolan President Joao Lourenco fired Sonangol EP Chairman Carlos Saturnino as he revamps the company amid persistent fuel shortages in the southern African nation. The presidency appointed Gaspar Martins to lead the state-owned company with a new board after incumbent members were dismissed, according to a statement late Wednesday. Lourenco met with oil industry officials on Tuesday, vowing to end shortages at gas stations across the country that imports almost all of its fuel. Lourenco appointed Saturnino chairman in 2017 and …

Mozambique to establish sovereign wealth fund to govern gas revenue

March 27, 2019 | Economy, Government & Regulations, Mozambique

London, UK | – Mozambique’s government plans to establish a sovereign wealth fund to manage income from future gas production, President Filipe Nyusi said. The state will also allocate a fixed portion of revenue to the state budget to fund infrastructure development, poverty reduction and economic diversification, Nyusi said in a speech on Wednesday in the capital, Maputo. Companies including Eni SpA and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are developing gas discovered nine years ago in deep waters off the coast of Mozambique, one of the world’s …