Indigenous Oil Companies Targets 100,000 bopd From IOC’s Divestment

Some indigenous oil and gas companies are looking at producing between 90,000 and 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd)in five years time as stated by the Group Managing Director (GMD), Obijackson Group and Chairman of Neconde Energy, Dr Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, according to reports by The Nations.

The Obijackson Group is a leading brand with interests spanning oil and gas, maritime, telecommunication, aviation, health, and electricity. The group owns Nestoil and Neconde Energy, the operator oil mining lease (OML) 42, which has a joint venture with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Azudialu-Obiejesi said indigenous oil firms, such as Seplat, Neconde, Nestoil and Oando are producing between 30,000 and 70,000 barrels of oil per day, adding that the firms are aiming at 100,000bpd and ultimately becoming big players in the industry.

Furthermore he said that when this happens, the indigenous operators would find it easier to go into other African countries, such as Ghana, Kenya and Angola, to buy oil fields and develop them. Azudialu-Obiejesi said the development could also place indigenous oil firms in vantage position to become oil majors.

He added that with the foreign-owned oil firms for offshore, the coast is clear for indigenous firms to increase their oil production, and further invest in other parts of Africa.

Dangote Gas Pipeline Project Begins Seismic Data Collection

Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man who has a net worth of $15 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in a bid to quadruple gas supply rate in Nigeria, said that seismic data exploration work has commenced for the multi-billion dollar gas pipeline network project he is embarking on, Business Day reports. 

Major international reputable firms such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) a member of the World Bank group has shown keen interest in this project and preliminary meetings have been held by the parties, Dangote informed Business Day reporters.

Dangote said the pipeline will be capable of carrying about three billion standard cubic feet (scf) of gas daily when completed, in a country where economic growth has long been held down by the inability to send gas to its thermal power stations.

While Nigeria has gas reserves of about 180 trillion cubic feet, more than any other African country, most of what’s produced is flared or exported because of a lack of infrastructure to transport it to local companies and households.

The Dangote Group has plans to start laying the pipelines before the end of the year, with the first one to become ready by mid-2017, “we are making steady progress on the project and foresee no major hitches, Dangote said”.

When the project is completed, major oil producing companies operating in Nigeria, like the Royal Dutch Shell Plc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. would benefit from using the pipeline because they currently have little incentive to sell gas produced from their fields, Dangote added.

NSCDC Acquires New Drone To Combat Oil Pipeline Vandalism

The Commandant-General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Muhammadu, has said that the corps had procured a drone to combat oil pipeline vandalism, Premium Times reports.

Mr. Muhammadu, while addressing newsmen in Abuja, noted that the new drone which would be put to test soon would be enabled with a Global Positioning System (GPS) and fitted with an infrared camera to document activities of vandals and makes it easier to prosecute offenders. 

“In 2014, Nigeria lost over N1.2 trillion to oil theft. The government continues to incur heavy costs in a bid to repair vandalized pipelines. “At the end of 2014, there was a record loss of 50,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil daily. “We must find new ways to fight vandalism. NSCDC has now found a new way to fight back,” he said.

Muhammadu also said the drone flies at an altitude of about 150 meters (492 feet), watches for more than 80 minutes at a time, and moves quietly through the sky at up to 54km (33 miles) per hour and that the agency’s new procurement would allow it monitor vast areas in a short period of time.

He said the unmanned aerial vehicle was designed to document evidence of vandalism and help the NSCDC apprehend vandals while in action.

NCDMB, NUC Synergizes To Link Oil Industry With Nigerian Universities

Partnership talks are currently on going between the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) to link the oil and gas industry with the university curricula so that both sectors can improve their operations for the benefit of the economy, The Nation reports.

The management of both agencies met in Abuja, they agreed to the initiative tagged “Adopt A Faculty (AAFac) programme and a committee was constituted to develop a detailed action plan within four weeks.

Mr. Denzil Kentebe, Executive Secretary of NCDMB, described the AAFac Programme as a capacity development initiative of the Board intended to use academic institutions as a catalyst for local content development.

 

Kentebe, said the programme is aimed at facilitating partnerships between the academia and the oil and gas industry to align the university curriculum to industry technology and skill requirements to enable them train their students in courses and programmes relevant to the needs of the industry.

The Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof Julius Okojie, praised the Board for initiating the programme and engaging the commission first rather than going to various institutions. He said Nigeria has 142 universities with 610 academic programme, assuring the commitment of NUC to partner with NCDMB in the implementation of the AAFac.

Ecuador Declares Interest To Buy 100,000 Barrels of Nigerian Sweet Crude

According to a recent report by Daily Trust, a firm working for the government of Ecuador has said it has plans to discuss with the NNPC over a potential investment to buy light sweet crude from Nigeria amounting to about 100,000 barrels.

The NNPC recently commenced an open tendering process for the 2015/2016 Crude Oil Term Contract for the purchase and sale of Nigeria’s crude oil.

 Ecuador which is the smallest member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to Victor M. Rojas, president of Power-Tech Engineers, a company that provides engineering services for Ecuador’s refinery has said that the country is looking at a potential to tender to do business directly with the NNPC for as much as 100,000 barrels of Nigerian low sulfur content crude.

Domestically, Ecuador produces around 500,000 barrels of oil per day, they produce the heavy sour Napo and Oriente grades of crude, of which the Nigerian crude is sweeter and lighter than. This is the reason they are looking at importing low sulfur Nigerian crude grades. The oil producer could be importing oil for the first time since a 1987 earthquake that destroyed pipelines in the country.

In an attempt to maximize diesel and gasoline production, Ecuador’s state oil company, Petroecuador was recently reported to have issued a tender to import 30 million barrels of light sweet crude, pending when its Esmeraldas refinery comes back on stream later this year.