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By Jimitota ONOYUME PORT HARCOURT: TOTAL E&P has handed over the Obiozimini Beach Road it constructed in Obiozimini community to the people of the area. Speaking at the commissioning ceremony in Obiozimini, Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Area, the General Manager, JVA Field Operations, Total, Mr Jean Clude Vachet, said the road was economically viable and important to people of the area and the local government. Continuing, he said the road would further help to attract development to the area even as he assured that the oil giant would maintain its warm relationship with its host communities. “This road will provide access to the great Sombreiro River with its quality of sharp sand. The beach road will not only provide resource for building construction within the Egi communities and beyond, but will also be a ready loading bay to feed the upcoming float glass industry. This will provide excellent business opportunities for entrepreneurs and help in creating jobs for our teemi...

By Chris OCHAYI The Minister of Power, Professor Chinedu Nebo has said that the contributions of donor agencies and development partners are critical to the ongoing reforms in the power sector. Nebo who made the remark while speaking at a get-together in honour of Ambassadors David Macrea and Pierre Fehye of European Union, EU, in Abuja acknowledged the valuable collaborators in driving the nation’s power reform. According to him, “our development partners have pledged important roles in advancing the goal and ambitions of this administration in the power sector.” “Already the EU has demonstrated this commitment, thanks largely to the leadership role these envoys have played, he said. It is on record, he said, that the support has influenced the ongoing collaboration between the EU and GIZ in developing and implementing a €36 million grant, which EU is providing the some of €27 million for the development of renewable energy sources in Nigeria. While calling for continued support from ...

By Michael EBOH Oil and gas firms’ operating in the country borrowed about N3.443 trillion from banks in Nigeria in a two- year period between 2011 and 2012. According to data obtained from the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, of the N15.424 trillion facilities given out by the banks to operators in the economy during the period in review, the oil and gas sector received the highest portion, accounting for 22.32 per cent of the total. The NDIC, in its annual reports and accounts, disclosed that as at the end of 2012, the exposure of oil and gas firms to banks in the country stood at N1.913 trillion, while the oil firms borrowed N1.53 trillion from the banks in 2011. The amount borrowed in 2012 is 24.84 per cent improvement above the N1.53 trillion borrowed by the oil firms in 2011. In 2012, the exposure of oil firms to the banks, according to the NDIC, represents 23.47 per cent of the total loans extended to key sectors of the economy, while in 2011; it amounts to 21.03 pe...

By Victor AHIUMA-YOUNG NATIONAL Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, has dismissed government claims that over 70 percent of the workers of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, have been paid their terminal benefits in preparation for private sector’s investors takeover of the assets of PHCN, saying the government is economical with the truth. The Federal Government had on Wednesday last week said it had paid the severance benefits of over 70 per cent of the workers as it worked towards concluding the privatisation of the power sector, declaring that it would conclude the payment before the end of this week. However, a union leader who spoke on condition of anonymity told Sweet Crude that the government was simply telling lies. [caption id="attachment_230153" align="alignnone" width="412"] *File: Workers of PHCN[/caption] According to him, a “sizeable number of workers in Port Harcourt zone, are yet to receive the part-payment being made. Pockets ...

One of the most significant challenges facing insurers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is their ability to grow profitability and differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive operating environment, a report by A.M Best has said. The GCC is host to three insurance hubs servicing the Middle Eastern & Northern Africa (MENA) region – the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) and Bahrain. According to the report, competition among market participants continues to increase, despite the slowdown in the pace of new entrants into the market in recent years. Many local companies, in an effort to diversify their profiles and utilise capital more efficiently, are attempting to expand outside their local markets and grow their presence and franchise in the region. This is adding to competitive pressures further. The report stated “The MENA region has experienced regime changes and political unrest in the wake of the Arab Spring, which beg...

By Jimitota ONOYUME PORTt Harcourt - The newly appointed Acting Managing Director, Niger Delta Development Commission, Mrs. Chris Atako, has put contractors on their toes, as she expressed disapproval with the quality of some of the jobs being done. At the students’ hostel project constructed by the Commission at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Nkpolu, Rivers state, Atako, who was visibly angry with the quality of the ‘job, told the contractor that he had to shore up the quality. She said that she had no option than to condemn what she saw when it was clear that it did not meet the contract specifications. “I am disappointed with the standard of job, this contractor has no competence to handle this job, and I direct that you correct all the defects.  We are particular about standard and finishing, there is no compromise,” She therefore directed the Commission’s engineers supervising the project to work with the contractor to see that the errors identified were co...

By Jimitota ONOYUME OIL theft is not new in the Niger Delta, but its rising index in recent times is constituting serious worries to government, security agencies and other stakeholders in the oil and gas business in the country. The Chief of Army Staff, Lieut. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, met with his top officers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to critically look at  how to nip the crime effectively and tackle the problem. Ihejirika told  SWEETCRUDE before the meeting that he was in the state to, among other things, discuss with his men on how best they could achieve concrete success in the anti bunkering crusade. [caption id="attachment_251637" align="alignnone" width="412"] File Photo: Nigerian Navy[/caption] The Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC and Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr Mutiu Sunmonu, has consistently lamented the negative impact of oil theft on the nation’s economy. At an interactive session with m...

By Victor AHIUMA-YOUNG NIGERIA Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has decried the exploitation of petrol station workers by their employers, saying the workers must be unionized to check employers’ abuses. NUPENG’s General Secretary, Comrade Isaac  Aberare, who spoke at the Delegates Conference of Petrol Station Workers, PSW, branch of NUPENG, in Benin City, Edo State, lamented that the potentials of the PSW Branch had not been fully tapped, insisting that if the  potentials were tapped, PSW would be a force to reckon with . According to him, “the focus of the leadership that will emerge from this conference should be directed to the organization of Petrol Station attendants in all the nooks and crannies of the country. “There is no place in this country, even the rural areas where you do not have petrol attendants. They are in thousands and yet they have not been fully unionised or integrated into your fold.  This is a big challenge that you have to put on the drawing...

The European Parliament is set to stop the purchase of stolen oil from Nigeria in Europe. Any crude oil meant to be sold in the European market is now to be accompanied with a certificate of origin. This was one of the landmark decisions taken at the meeting of the members of the African, Caribbean, Pacific Parliaments and their European Union counterparts (ACP-EU) at the conclusion of their three-day regional meeting in Abuja last week. Mitchell Rivasi (Acting Co- President ACP- EU) and Joyce Laboso (Co- Secretary General) told reporters that the need to stop the huge loss of Nigeria’s oil to organised syndicates of oil thieves necessitated the decision. The Federal Government said last week after the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting that 400, 000 barrels of oil, an equivalent of N7.3million, is lost daily to oil thieves. Rivasi Said: “We want to ban European refineries from buying un-certificated oil. 400, 000 barrels a day is a huge loss. We need to get traceability of oil to...

BY MICHAEL EBOH With Agency Report Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Monday, said it will acquire the divested assets of International Oil Companies, IOCs, in Nigeria. The NNPC has also borrowed about N224 billion ($1.4 billion) from the international financial market to settle the N496 billion ($3.1 billion) indebtedness of its subsidiary — the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company, PPMC — to importers of petroleum products into the country over the last three years. Speaking on plans to acquire the divested interests of oil majors, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, Group Managing Director, NNPC, said in a statement that it is prepared to take over and operate the assets sold off in Nigeria by foreign oil companies. He said, “With the divestment of the oil majors, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, comes across as the major option for indigenous participation that will replace companies like Shell and other companies that wanted to divest their equities.” He disclosed t...

A long standing dispute with Nigeria LNG and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over alleged unpaid taxes has led to a naval blockade of its export terminal, which has now run into a second week. The company declared force majeure from June 28, because it is unable to meet its contractual obligations due to circumstances beyond its control. NIMSA initially blockaded the company’s Bonny Island terminal on Friday June 21 st with two vessels. The NLNG vessel, LNG Imo and one chartered vessel, Torm Thames , are stuck in the terminal and another Nigeria LNG vessel, LNG Oyo is still waiting outside in the Bonny Channel. NIMASA issued ship detention orders on June 22 nd for three Nigeria LNG vessels, LNG Enugu, LNG Oyo and LNG Imo, which bars them form entering or leaving the Bonny terminal. In a statement released last week the company said, “The potential implications of this current action by NIMASA on NLNG operations are enormous and would impact negativel...