Government & Regulations

Nigeria’s oil-rich Bayelsa State opens inquiry on spills

March 27, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Health, Safety & Environment, Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria | — Nigeria’s oil-rich Bayelsa state started an inquiry into the human and environmental impact of spills caused by multinational businesses operating in the region, opening a potential new conflict with companies that pump the bulk of the nation’s crude. The Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission is in charge of the inquiry, which will be led by the British Archbishop of York, John Sentamu. It’s the first time such an investigation will be launched by a Nigerian oil-producing state, indicating concerns about …

Nigeria assigning oil blocks to IOCs, Individuals unconstitutional – Falana

March 27, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Legal, Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria |  — Nigerian lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has said the practice of allocating crude oil blocks to individuals and International Oil Companies (IOCs) by the federal government is against the constitution of Nigeria, and should be stopped. Femi Falana, therefore asked President Muhammadu Buhari, to henceforth allocate oil blocks only to the federal and state governments, saying that those who got oil blocks often got more money from the blocks than Nigeria did. In a letter he …

Nigeria’s oil sector contributes 92.9% of illicit financial flows

March 05, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Management, Nigeria

Abuja, Nigeria |  — A report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and Trust Africa has disclosed how companies and persons doing business in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector contribute 92.9 per cent of the total amount of illicit financial flows (IFFs) the country records every year. Presented recently in Abuja, at a workshop, the report titled: ‘Averting Illicit Financial Flows in Nigeria’s Extractive Industry,’ stated that while it was generally difficult to measure IFFs as a result of their illegality; types of …

Ghana set to double its total oil production to 420, 020bpd in 2023

February 22, 2019 | Development / Production, Ghana, Government & Regulations

London, UK |  – Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Ghanaian Minister of Finance has said the overall crude oil production from Ghana is expected to more than double over the next four years. “Overall, crude oil production is expected to increase from 196,089 barrels per day in 2019 to 420,020 barrels per day in 2023,” he said, adding that, the first oil from the Aker fields is expected between the last quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021. The Aker Energy ASA has confirmed a …

Nigeria’s NNPC seeks $4.1bn to lift production output

January 22, 2019 | Budget & Investment, Government & Regulations, Nigeria

London, UK | – Nigeria’s state-owned oil company said it’s in talks with financiers to raise as much as $4.1-billion and will seek to sign service deals to increase production from three leases. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, or NNPC, is in discussions with Lagos-based Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production to raise $3.15-billion and CMES-OMS Joint Venture for $991.1-million, the company said in a statement. The funds will be used to develop oil leases holding more than 400-million barrels of crude reserves, which are …

Egypt to invest $9bn in refineries’ upgrade over four years

January 22, 2019 | Egypt, Government & Regulations, Refining & Processing

Cairo, Egypt | – Egypt plans to upgrade six oil refineries at a cost of about $9 billion over four years to increase domestic production to 41 million tonnes a year, the petroleum minister said. “We are trying to secure crude oil supplies for Egyptian refineries to increase local production of refined products,” the minister, Tarek El Molla, said during a conference in Cairo late on Sunday night, without giving further details. Egypt currently has eight refineries with a capacity of 38 million tonnes, of …

Report allegedly shows IOCs methods of stealing Nigeria’s crude oil

January 22, 2019 | Government & Regulations, Legal

Nigeria loses N995.2bn yearly to oil theft A new report on the age-long crude oil theft in Nigeria has revealed how International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the Niger Delta region steal and siphon large volumes of crude oil from the country undetected by her authorities. The report revealed the revenue losses over the last few years, and estimated that the country lost N995.2 billion annually to oil theft. According to the report, various strategies used include small-scale pipeline tapping, bunkering and over lifting. While all …

World Bank sees Nigerian 2018 GDP growth at under 2 percent

November 30, 2018 | Economy, Government & Regulations, Nigeria

Lagos, Nigeria | – The World Bank expects Nigeria’s economy to grow slightly less than 2 percent this year, largely driven by the non-oil industry and services sectors, as the approach of elections keeps foreign investors away, it said on Wednesday. Nigeria emerged from a recession last year but growth remains fragile, with the government borrowing both at home and abroad to help fund its budget. It has raised almost $9 billion from the eurobond market since 2017 to boost growth. “Nigeria’s emergence from recession …