Nigeria Launches Licensing Round for Marginal Oilfields
Nigeria has launched its first licensing round for marginal oilfields in nearly 20 years, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said on Monday, despite court rulings last week that barred some of the fields from being auctioned.Marginal fields are smaller oil blocks that are typically developed by indigenous companies. The new licensing round is the first marginal field round since 2002…
Nigeria: Union Suspends Strike after Exxon Workers Freed
A major Nigerian oil union has suspended planned industrial action after 21 Exxon Mobil Corp. employees quarantined last week after their arrest for violating coronavirus-related movement restrictions were freed, it said on Sunday.The governor of southern oil hub Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, on Friday said Exxon Mobil workers were arrested after entering the state from…
Nigeria Announces Offshore Oil Worker Restrictions to Battle Coronavirus
Nigeria's petroleum regulator has ordered oil and gas companies to reduce their offshore workforce and move to 28-day staff rotations as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, according to a circular seen by Reuters.Health experts fear a widespread outbreak in Africa's most populous country, which has about 200 million inhabitants, and the country is keen to protect oil production…
Pipeline Fire Kills Three in Lagos
A fire on a pipeline owned by Nigeria's state oil company in the commercial capital Lagos killed three people on Sunday, a Reuters witness said.The blaze broke out in the Abule-Egba district of the southwestern megacity. Residents said it started shortly before 8 p.m. (1900 GMT).A Reuters television camera operator counted three dead bodies at the scene. The fire burned nearby houses and vehicles.Another witness…
Foreign Oil Workers Kidnapped in Nigeria
Gunman kidnapped two foreign workers from an oil rig in Nigeria's Delta region on Saturday, the military said - the second abduction there in less than a week.The attackers raided the rig owned by Niger Delta Petroleum Resources at around 8 a.m. (0700 GMT), the spokesman for the area's military operations, Major Ibrahim Abubakar, said.Troops were searching surrounding swamps, he added.The Niger Delta produces the bulk of Nigeria's crude.
Nigerian Opposition Candidate Seeks to Boost Oil Investment
Nigerian opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar will seek to boost investment in the country's oil sector if he becomes president next year, according to a draft copy of his manifesto.He plans to reconsider the introduction of bidding rounds for marginal fields and oil blocks, privatize government-owned refineries and issue new licences for greenfield investments in crude refineries, the draft said.The country is scheduled to hold a presidential election in F
Nigerian Lawmakers Probe Corruption Allegations
Nigerian lawmakers have set up a committee to investigate allegations of corruption at the state oil company contained in a letter from the minister of state for petroleum. In the letter from Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu to President Muhammadu Buhari, dated Aug. 30 and confirmed by the oil ministry, the minister said the conduct of the head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) lacked transparency.
Nigeria's State Oil Company Signs Deals with Chevron, Shell
Nigeria's state oil company said on Thursday it had signed agreements with Chevron and Shell to boost crude production and reserves. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said a joint venture agreement with Chevron Nigeria Limited would see the development of proven and probable reserves of 211 million barrels. It said a joint venture with Shell Petroleum…
Nigeria Bill Aims to Break Up NNPC
The long-awaited oil governance bill passed by Nigeria's upper chamber of parliament proposes breaking up the state oil company into three commercial entities supported by a regulatory body and a fund to oversee the distribution of money. The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, passed on Thursday by the Senate, is part of planned reforms that make up the sprawling Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)…
Nigeria's Senate Passes Oil Governance Bill
Nigeria's Senate passed a long-awaited oil governance bill following its third and final reading, it said on its official Twitter feed on Thursday. The Petroleum Industry Governance Bill is part of proposed reforms that make up the sprawling Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), aimed at overhauling the OPEC member's energy industry. The PIB, which has been discussed for over…
Nigerian Oil Labour Union Calls for Exxon Mobil Shutdown in Delta
A Nigerian oil labour union on Friday called for the shutdown of all Exxon Mobil Corp facilities in the Niger Delta, a union representative said. Reuters was unable to independently verify whether union members had shut down the company's facilities. Oil sources said there had been no impact on production. Madubuezi Azubuike, who chairs the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in Rivers state…
Workers Strike at Exxon Mobil in Nigeria
Nigerian workers at U.S. oil major Exxon Mobil Corp have gone on strike in protest over the sacking of workers, oil labour union officials said on Thursday. Nigerian labour unions have criticised oil companies for sacking workers in the last few months and held a number of strikes. Abel Agarin, who chairs the Lagos zone of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN)…
Nigerian Court Adjourns Shell, ENI Dispute until March 17
A Nigerian court case in which Royal Dutch Shell and Italy's Eni are seeking to have a government seizure of a long-disputed oilfield lifted has been adjourned until March 17, a judge said on Monday. The court in January ordered the temporary seizing of assets and the transfer of operations of the OPL 245 field owned by Shell and Eni, among others, to the federal government on request of the EFCC financial crime agency.
Blast Hits Oil Pipeline Feeding Forcados Terminal in Nigeria's Delta
A blast on Tuesday rocked a pipeline operated by Nigeria's state-run oil firm that feeds the Forcados terminal in the southern Niger Delta energy hub, a spokesman for Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) said. The explosion occurred while the pipeline was being repaired following an attack last week, NNPC spokesman Garba Deen Muhammad said. A week ago, community leaders from the restive region…
Blast Rocks Forcados Pipeline
A blast rocked a pipeline operated by Nigeria's state-run oil firm NNPC that feeds the Forcados terminal in the southern Niger Delta energy hub, a community leader and security source said on Tuesday. The explosion occurred while the pipeline was being repaired following an attack last week, they said. A week ago, community leaders from the restive region, the source of most of Nigeria's oil…
Nigeria Peg Oil at $42.5, Production at 2.2 mln bpd
Nigeria is assuming an oil benchmark price of $42.5 per barrel for 2017, $45 in 2018 and $50 in 2019 for its budget calculations, the budget minister said on Monday. Nigeria, an OPEC member, has been hit by a series of attacks on oil and gas facilities in the southern Niger Delta energy hub since January that have cut oil production, which was 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) at the start of the year, by 700,000 bpd.
IMF Predicts Nigeria's Economy Will Contract in 2016
Nigeria's economy, the biggest in Africa, is likely to contract by 1.8 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday, as the country grapples with the impact of low oil prices. The sharp fall in global prices since 2014 has led to a prolonged economic crisis since the crude sales make up around 70 percent of government revenue. The IMF's projection for this year…
Nigerian Oil Union Agrees to Suspend Strike
A Nigerian trade union representing oil workers has agreed to suspend a strike that some feared would lead to fuel shortages and disrupt crude production, a petroleum ministry official and another at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said on Wednesday. The strike by about 10,000 members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN)…
Nigerian Oil Trade Union Suspends Strike
A Nigerian union representing oil workers has suspended a strike that some feared would lead to fuel shortages and disrupt crude production, one of its leaders said on Wednesday. The strike by about 10,000 members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), which includes refinery workers and office staff, began on Thursday over issues that include oil sector reforms and pay.
Nigerian Militants Say They Blew up Exxon Mobil's Pipeline
Nigerian militant group Niger Delta Avengers, which has claimed responsibility for the majority of a recent spate of attacks on oil and gas facilities in the country, said late on Monday that it blew up an Exxon Mobil Corp facility. The militants, whose attacks briefly pushed Nigeria's crude production to 30-year lows in spring, said they want a greater share of the OPEC member's energy wealth to go to the impoverished southern Niger Delta…
