Emmanuel Kachiukwu Emerges New NNPC Boss

Reliable statement from the office of the president has confirmed that
that President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the new group Managing Director (GMD) of the  Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) on Tuesday. He takes over from Joseph Thlama
Dawha.

According to a back ground check, Kachikwu is a First Class Honours
graduate of Law from the
University of Nigeria Nsukka and the Nigerian Law School.

Previously, he has worked as an Investment Attorney in USA, as General Counsel with Texaco Upstream and Downstream in Nigeria and as Executive Vice Chairman of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited and General Counsel for ExxonMobil Nigeria affiliate Upstream and Downstream Companies in Nigeria.

Petroleum Geologists Reveals Untapped 750 Million Barrels of Oil From Dahomey Basin

Research by a team of professional petroleum geologists have discovered that there may be up to about 750 million barrels of oil and gas yet to be discovered in the
Dahomey Basin, according to reports by Daily Trust.

The Dahomey Basin, underlies the coastal plains of South-west Nigeria, Benin and Togo, where oil and gas exploration has significantly increased over the years.

The team of Nigerian geologists who carried out this fact finding research was led by Prof Samuel O. Akande of the University of Ilorin, the research team also found that the high presence of features such as source rocks and other organic contents are strong signs of hydrocarbon presence in Kano.

Highlights of the research was presented at the close-out seminar of the Annual Oil and Gas Research Grant Competition held in Abuja, recently. Details by Prof Akande reveals that he actually commenced the research 31 years ago traversing the entire Nigerian region looking
for hydrocarbon and petroleum source rocks.

Prof Akande also added that; “Considering the volume of such
rocks in the Dahomey Basin and
overlapping the outward area of the Niger Delta, we may be still having up to about 750 million barrels of oil and gas in the Dahomey Basin yet to be discovered and that is quite significant to us and interestingly when you compare these basins we now have key indicators.”

Nigerian & UK Companies Meets For SNEPCO-UKTI Summit

annual Nigeria-UK Supplier Engagement programme recently organised by Shell Nigeria Exploration Company Ltd (SNEPCO) in conjunction with United Kingdom Trade and Investment (UKTI) allowed about a 100 delegates representing 56 companies from Nigeria and the United Kingdom to explore various opportunities for collaboration, ThisDay reports.

The event brought together companies engaged in a wide variety of activities in the oil and gas industry including engineering, maintenance, fabrication and subsea support services.

The Chairman, Shell companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Osagie Okunbor, observed the increased presence of Nigerians in the diaspora in the UK delegation thereby highlighting the drive by Nigerians abroad to take up opportunities back home in the oil and gas industry.

The UKTI Director, Chris Maskell thanked Shell (SNEPCO) for the continued support on the Nigeria-UK Supplier Engagement programme. The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Contend Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Denzil Kentebe while speaking at a reception organised by UKTI for the suppliers, also lauded the SNEPCO initiative to foster partnerships that will help local vendors strengthen their technical capability.

 

Kaduna Refinery Commences Production

Great achievement has been recorded at the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC), as it is now refining about 60,000 barrels of crude per day following
the rehabilitation of two of the company’s production lines, according to a report by ThisDay.                    
        
The company said it was currently working with a target to release two million litres of petrol daily into the market by October.

The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Saidu Muhammed said on Friday that the company was on a phased rehabilitation,
with a target to hit 60 per cent of its local refining capacity, which is about 2 million litres daily, in the next few months, stating further that there is no reason why the company cannot achieve 6 million litres by early next year.

The company has an installed production capacity of 110,000 barrels of crude per day. The managing director said rehabilitation work on the remaining two production lines of the company would be completed by March 2016.

The Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), on Wednesday (29-7-15) announced that the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries had also resumed full production
after the phased rehabilitation.

Savannah Petroleum Partners With Niger Government

Savannah Petroleum PLC a UK oil and gas giant, via her unit in Niger, Savannah Petroleum Niger, and the government of Niger has signed a PSC (product sharing contract) for the R3/R4 license area. Savannah will pay a $28 million signing bonus to the government.

The  asset R3/R4 PSC is located in the area Savannah refers to as the Agadem Rift Basin and is in close proximity to the R1/R2 PSC area. Savannah has currently mapped 29 leads across the R3/R4 PSC area, with a range of mapped closure sizes similar to existing discoveries in the basin.

The minimum work program requires the acquisition of 750-sq km of 3D seismic and the drilling of two wells during the initial period of the exclusive exploration authorization (EEA), 500-sq km 3D seismic and two wells during the first renewal period of the EAA, and 250 sq km 3D seismic and two wells during the second renewal period.

According to Andrew Knott, CEO of the company who said: “The signing of the R3/R4 PSC is another landmark transaction for Savannah. We have now licensed c.50% of the Agadem Rift Basin, which the Board believes places the company in a very strong position for the future given our assessment of the scale, risk profile and cost structure of our assets.

The CEO further added that he would again like to thank the government of Niger for awarding the PSC to us, and for their support over the past three years. Savannah will now move to commence what we expect to be an aggressive exploration program over our licenses which we hope will deliver material benefits for all of our stakeholders over the coming years.”

NLNG To Acquire More Vessels

In Nigeria the country’s LNG (liquefied natural gas) producer, NLNG, expects to take delivery of four LNG carrier ships before the end of 2015. The company will also see an additional two in 2015 added to its fleet.

The company signed agreements with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2013 to acquire six LNG carrier ships. The addition of the six vessels brings the NLNG fleet to 23.

Exxon Mobil Increases Gas Investment In Nigeria

American multinational oil and gas giant; ExxonMobil, says it is committing $3 billion to gas resource development in Nigeria this sum is $1.2 billion higher than the $1.8 billion investments the company has committed to gas projects in the country in the last three decades, according to a Business Day reports.

Analysts have said this development will significantly boost electricity generation, encourage the sprouting of other anciliary businesses, including fertilizers, petrochemicals and methanol, leading to the creation of hundreds of job opportunities and the reduction of gas flaring.

The commitment was contained in the executive briefs of Nolan O’ Neal Chairman/Managing Director, ExxonMobil  Upstream and Affiliates in Nigeria, when he visited  President Muhammadu Buhari   and assured  him of the commitment of his company to the development and growth of the nation’s hydrocarbon industry as well as leading the industry’s effort towards end flaring through gas utilization and monetization of projects.

He further noted that the development of legislation and policies aimed at regulating and growing the domestic gas market would be greatly beneficial in meeting the  goal of eliminating all non-routine gas flaring. He noted that the core challenge for the Federal Government  is to  create a commercial environment that encourages the development of gas utilization projects to benefit all  stakeholders.