President Buhari Tasked On Facilitation of FID By Brass LNG Management

President Muhammadu Buhari has been charged by the management of Brass Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to do all within his power to fast track and facilitate the shareholders in taking the final investment decision (FID) of the project according to a Vanguard news report.

A top management of the gas company, who spoke with Vanguard in confidence, also urged Buhari to make the process one of his priorities for the oil and gas industry. The source while responding to speculations that the entire project, located in Bayelsa State may be cancelled outright by the new government, said it would be foolhardy to do so considering that “the economics of the project remain very positive.”

The Brass LNG project has been in the offing since 2006, and about $2billion has gone down the drain without the shareholders taking the FID, complicated further by the pullout of America’s ConocoPhillips.

However, the source while insisting on the viability of the project noted that the management had decided to reduce the length of the gas pipelines that will move from the shore to the sea, to about 4.5 kilometers, which are all part of the cost optimization process for the project.

He also noted that, “The Shareholders are still very much interested; and are holding on to their equities to avoid distractions. To demonstrate their levels of commitment, they are still paying their financial commitments totaling $150million per annum used for the payment of salaries and running of the offices”. “Right now, they are in the process of re-evaluating the front end engineering design (FEED) which takes an average of six to eight months” he added.

PetroPlays International Basic Well Log Analysis (PetroPhysics) Lagos Training

Well logs are one of the most universal, comprehensive, and concise descriptive documents on which oil and gas information are recorded. They are therefore, an integral part of hydrocarbon exploitation tools and are used for formation evaluation. The different physical principles governing the behavior of modern logging tools will be discussed in this course. The knowledge of these principles is necessary for correct interpretation and application of log data. This three day Basic Well Log Analysis (Petrophysics) Interpretation Course will provide participants the basic understanding and interpretation techniques needed to interpret open-hole logs.

Seize this opportunity and register with us NOW.

LAGOS Training Date:   27th – 29th July, 2015

Venue: PetroPlays International Training Center

Time: 9am – 4pm.

Early Payment on Training Course Fee on or before 20th July, 2015: Thirty – Two Thousand Naira (N32, 000).

Late Payment on Training Course Fee: Thirty – Five Thousand Naira (N35, 000).

Training Packages Includes: PetroPhysics Software, Training Data, videos, Manual, Materials, and Certificate.

NB: 90% of the training duration is devoted to software training and interpretation.

Discounts applies, if you are attending both courses

Important Note: You are expected to come with your laptop (Minimum of 2GB RAM memory to be able to run the software) and a Mouse. Mini laptops are not encouraged neither allowed for this training.

We also offer Hotel Accommodation packages with 24hrs power supply at the rate of (N4, 000) per night.

PetroPlays International Advance Seismic Interpretation Training In Lagos

PetroPlays International is an Indigenous Upstream Training and Research Development Company that provides world-class graduate and post-graduate geoscience exploration & production continuing education skill solutions for human capacity building in the Nigerian petroleum industry.

This Advance Seismic Interpretation Training course assumes a basic knowledge of seismic interpretation and concentrates on the role of the seismic interpreter in the search for oil and gas. In addition to the training exercises focused on the theoretical and practical mapping of subsurface structures, we also look at direct indicators of hydrocarbons using techniques such as attributes analysis. The focus will be on real hands-on exercises, which should reinforce the contents of the course. This five day Seismic Interpretation Course is designed for young professionals and aims to provide essential knowledge on visualization, integration, and interpretation techniques that have been recently developed for seismic data. Seize this opportunity and register with us NOW.

LAGOS Training Date: 20th – 24th July, 2015

Venue: PetroPlays International Training Center

Time: 9am – 4pm.

Training Course Fee: Forty – Five Thousand Naira (N45, 000)

Enquiries: Contact Flora on 0803816668.

Training Packages Includes: Seismic Interpretation Software, Training Data, Manual, Materials, and Certificate.

MX Oil PLC Announces Investment In Aje Field Offshore Nigeria

MX Oil plc, the AIM listed has agreed to invest in an indirect, non-operated 5% revenue interest in the Oil Mining License (OML) 113, offshore Nigeria which includes the Aje Field which is an oil, condensate and liquids rich gas discoveries and it’s a prolific hydrocarbon jurisdiction with initial targeted peak production of 11,000 bopd to 19,000 bopd in phase 2. Four wells have previously been drilled on Aje and two have been production flow tested.

In addition, MX Oil announces the issue of 133,333,333 new ordinary shares via a placing at 4.5p per share to raise £6 million before expenses to provide additional working capital and funding for future capital expenditure and investment.

The CEO of MX Oil plc; Stefan Oliver in a statement said “we are highly pleased and encouraged by the reaction this acquisition deal has received from both existing and new investors, and we are pleased to now have institutions on our register, alongside our historic and supportive retail shareholder base.  Aje, as an investment, ticks all the boxes: compelling economics in the current low oil price environment; a defined development plan in place targeting near term production; considerable exploration upside; located in a prolific hydrocarbon jurisdiction close to existing infrastructure; and acquired at a highly attractive price.  

To have been able to secure this acquisition on these terms is testament to the MX Oil management’s ability to source and secure interests in assets with company-making potential.  We are looking forward to announcing a spud date for our Aje production well in the near term, and are excited by the prospect of bringing this field into production with our new partners and beginning to realize Aje’s excellent potential.

‘This is a game-changing acquisition for MX Oil.  It acceler

ates our transformation into a highly cash generative oil and gas investment company, and it provides a platform from which to fund the development of the conventional onshore concessions we are looking to secure in the Southern American Country of Mexico as part of the on-going Bid Round 1 licensing round.  In Mexico, we have already been granted access to the data room and we are currently carrying out due diligence alongside our local partner Geo on a number of blocks.  Concessions are due to be awarded in Mexico in December 2015, and we remain confident of winning two or more oil-producing blocks. Alongside expected production in Nigeria by January 2016, the next six months promise a great deal of positive news flow which should excite our shareholders, as we look to create a leading oil and gas company.’

More Investment Needed To Improve Indigenous Company’s Production Rate.

The inability of indigenous oil and gas companies in Nigeria to attract equity to fund their projects has made them unable to increase production from 2 million barrels per day (mbpd). This was reported by Ecobank’s Head of Energy Research; Mr. Dolapo Oni, according to Vanguard news.

Mr. Oni at the Nigerian Producers Forum held recently in Lagos, further explained that investors are particular about corporate governance, transparency and the ownership structure of a company, factors that are yet to be fully imbibed by most indigenous companies.

He also added that at the point the indigenous companies have to finance some of their projects through debts and play the exploration game. According to him, some banks had exposures of up to 40% to the oil and gas industry in 2014 which wasn’t really a safe one as that venture could make them vulnerable to unprecedented events in the industry.

In his remarks, he made it known that “in 2014 about N2 trillion was lent out to the industry, which can be equated to about $20 billion going by the exchange rate last year, he said the industry is dependent on debts”. “Presently, the industry requires between $25 billion to $30 billion investment yearly” he added.

Finally, he added that the Multinationals in the industry (IOCs) have shifted their base from shallow waters to offshore and deep water of which more of their assets would be divested. The three major reasons for the divestment by IOC’s includes; onshore fields, troubled blocks and assets that already lie close to marginal blocks operated by the indigenous companies.

Nigerian Government Needs Double of The Current Global Oil Price To Balance Her Budget.

As part of measures to survive the global economic recession caused by the long fall in oil prices, Deloitte in a report recently called “Oil and Gas Reality Check 2015”, which says that most OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) require oil prices of about $100 per barrel to efficiently balance their domestic budgets. The report “if prices remain low for an extended period of time, some of the OPEC nations risk travelling a slippery slope towards greater social unrest”.

Members of the oil cart

el estimating about 12, of which Nigeria has the fourth largest breakeven oil price at $122 after Libya ($184), Ecuador ($145) and Iran ($131). Kuwait has the lowest at $54, followed by Qatar ($60), United Arab Emirates ($77), Angola ($98) and Saudi Arabia ($106).

When the foreign currency reserves of Iraq, Iran and Nigeria were calculated it was less than &200bn. The report further gave reasons for the state of the reserves stating that; Iraq must continue to divert resources to its fight with ISIS (Islamic State); Iran has lost oil revenues due to Western banking sanctions imposed in response to its nuclear programme; and Nigeria’s oil production continue to fall under the assault of theft and lack of investment.”

Despite the optimism that global oil prices is increasing and stabilizing, Brent crude the global bench mark had on Monday dropped below the $60 per barrel threshold to around $57 for the first time in three months.

Nigeria To Use $1.8 Billion Of Gas Revenues To Cover Debts

Nigeria will share out $1.8 billion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) revenues between federal, state and local governments to cover a growing backlog of debt owed to workers across the federation, the finance ministry said late on Monday.

A state governor said last month (June) that collectively the states owed a collective 658 billion Naira ($3.3 billion) and have been unable to cover salaries.

Sterling Energy Nigeria’s Busiest Company on Rig Sites

Sterling Oil Explorations & Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) is a flagship company promoted by Sandesara Group to carry out the business in the global energy sector. SEEPCO has made a strong footing in Nigeria by putting the exploration block on production within two (2) years after signing the PSC (Production Sharing Contract). SEEPCO is the only private company with an Indian Patronage to produce oil from any OPEC country. 

Its flagship company, Sterling Biotech Limited, is listed on NSE and BSE in India, Luxembourg in Europe and Singapore in Asia. The company was awarded the Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 280 in 2006. It is the only one of the 77 companies awarded acreages between 2005 and 2007, to have reached first oil.

Indian owned independent giant Sterling Energy currently has the largest number of rigs in operation in Africa’s prolific Niger Delta Basin in Nigeria. Part of her activities in Nigeria is on five (5) wells operated by British Oil and Gas Exploration Limited (BOGEL) Durga Rig series, which are its own rigs brought into the country by the Sterling Energy. BOGEL Durga 1 is active on Okwuibome (OKW) 33H; BOGEL Durga 2 is active on OKW 5; BOGEL Durga 4 is active on Anieze -15 BOGEL Durga 5 is on OKW 35 and BOGEL Durga 6 is on OKW 42. Among Sterling’s two fields; Okwuibome and Anieze both in the oil mining license (OML) 143 that produces about 25,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). 

In the last two years, Seplat and NPDC have been the most active companies in drilling activities which have been reduced. Addax which maintained at least two rigs for most of the last ten (10) years have reduced it to one.

ExxonMobil Exiting Madagascar

In view of some disappointing results in Madagascar, resulting from lack of conviction by the potential of the oilfield. ExxonMobil Corp. ended its oil exploration program in the island nation, as reported by the Madagascan Minister of Mining and Petroleum Joeli Valerin Lalaharisaina through Reuters.

Although the potentials of the oilfield is not yet defined, but the results of investigations have shown that the oilfield was not interesting for a company of Exxon Mobil’s scale.” It could be said that medium-sized explorers may be interested in taking over the blocks.

In May 2015, ExxonMobil and her partner Sterling Energy on the Ampasindava decided to exit the block. The decision came after a detailed subsurface re-assessment of the prospectivity of the block and discussions with OMNIS.

President Buhari’s Ambition For Improving The Nigerian Power Sector Dampens.

Recent reports’ advising the presidency says that the FG’s ambition for improving electricity suppliers are “remotely realistic”. It could be recalled that during the 2015 presidential electioneering campaigns, the APC in her manifesto pledged to increase power supplies from its current state of 3,600 megawatts (MW) to 20,000 MW within their four years in power and to 50,000 MW within ten years that would meet the demands of about 170 million Nigerians. 

Chronic power shortages are one of the biggest constraints on investment and growth in Africa's largest economy (Nigeria). Fixing the problem was one of the key battlegrounds during campaigning ahead of a presidential election Muhammadu Buhari won in March 2015.

According to a 54-page report entitled “The Energy Blueprint” obtained by Reuters which said that; however reaching 20,000 MW by 2020 is “not even remotely realistic and setting unrealistic targets dilutes discipline”. A spokesman for Buhari said he had not seen the report, which is being produced for the government by power industry experts, but he said the government’s energy policy was still being put together.

The paper says Nigeria could produce 6,500 MW by 2020, which would mean matching India’s supply growth of 7 percent. This could rise to 8,500 MW if Nigeria could equal China’s 14 percent electricity output growth. Even these targets will require quick action on multiple reforms and billions of dollars of investment, it said.

In order for the Nigerian FG to attract all the investment required, it has to surmount some of the challenges such as; to free up credit to unlock gas supplies, reduce pipeline sabotage, end political interference in the private sector and install top management teams and to privatize the transmission network the report said.

Seplat Resumes Negotiations For New Asset Acquisition

Nigerian leading indigenous oil player in the Niger Delta rich oil region; Seplat Petroleum Development Company (SEPLAT) has resumed talks for the potential acquisition of an asset in the region and has made an agreement with the sellers to set aside a smaller pool of funds ahead of a possible deal amid the sharp recently global fall in oil prices.

Seplat which has found her place in the UK and Nigerian stock exchange market and co-founded by A.B.C Orjiakor is part of a consortium seeking to buy the asset and the details of the asset or seller is confidential as part of the deal negotiations from a major player in the region.

Some of the major companies operating in the region include Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN), Chevron Corp. (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), ExxonMobil Corp (XOM), Total S.A (TOT) and ENI S.p.A (ENI.MI).

Seplat said it has now set aside $74 million, made up of a returnable deposit with the vendors and money deposited in an escrow account, compared with $453 million set aside last year as its share of the consortium’s pre-deal commitments. The company said it now has access to $368 million in cash that was previously held in an escrow account. The company's stock price surged on the news, rising 7.4% in London to 116 pence, giving Seplat a market capitalization of GBP 642 million or $987 million.

Baker Hughes Announces June 2015 International Rig Count

Baker Hughes Incorporated is a leading multinational supplier of oilfield services, products, technology and systems to the worldwide oil and natural gas industry. The company has a statistics of over 53,000-plus employees today who work in more than 80 countries helping customers find, evaluate, drill, produce, transport and process hydrocarbon resources. 

With Baker Hughes monthly international rig count which was initiated in 1975, the company has announced recently the statistics of rigs currently exploring for or developing hydrocarbon fields worldwide. The rig count for June 2015 was put at 1,146 had a reduction of about 12 from the May 2015 count of 1,158.

Fynefield Petroleum Products Depot Begins Operation In Calabar

It’s a new dawn of downstream development in the city of Calabar, Cross River State Nigeria as Fynefield Petroleum FZE launches her 40 million litre capacity petroleum products depot which has commenced operation at the Calabar Free Trade Zone.

At the opening ceremony held on Wednesday 8th July, 2015 in Calabar the governor of Cross River State; Prof. Ben Ayade alongside his Delta State counterpart; Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa appreciated the management for bringing such a huge investment and source of employment to the state and the nation at large. The governor further lauded the milestone achievement of the company which will assist in easing the r

ate of products distribution across the country.

The facility which meets international standard compared to others like it, has a combined capacity of 40,734,724 litres with petrol storage capacity of 20,413,594 litres, kerosene storage capacity of 10,157,073 litres and diesel storage capacity of 10,164,057 litres.

While speaking at the occasion, Mr. Gabriel Ogbechie; the company’s managing director highlighted that the depot was built to improve the petroleum products distribution chain in the country, notwithstanding the fact that the facility can serve other states across the federation.

Prof. Ben Ayade while commending Fynefield Petroleum management for bringing the ultra modern depot to the Cross River State, saying they are glad the investment of over 3 billion Naira was made in Calabar which is a contribution to the state’s economy and the nation at large indeed is a very good decision, Although the depot facility would provide both small scale employment opportunities both directly to individuals and indirectly to truck drivers who will deliver products nationwide.

Mr. Ogbechie stressed on some of the challenges faced by the company in doing business efficiently in the area, like the road network from the location of the facility to other parts of the country and called on the government of the state to work hand in hand with the Federal Government in ensuring that the roads are adequately fixed to enable movement of tankers in making delivery to other parts of the country especially to the Northern states through the Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja road. Another challenge of concern raised by him was about the shallow depth of the Calabar River which makes it difficult for fully loaded petroleum products vessels to dock.