Industry News Production
March 23, 2021 No Comments

Shell and Eni acquitted in Nigeria corruption case

A Milan court has acquitted Shell and Eni and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi in a corruption case related to a $1.3 billion worth acquisition of an oilfield off Nigeria about a decade ago.

The court revealed its decision on Wednesday, 17 March 2021 after more than three years since the trial started.

Responding to the court’s decision, Italy’s Eni on Wednesday welcomed the judgment of full acquittal of all charges by the Court of Milan, stating that “there was no case”.

After almost three years of trial, the judgment by the court has finally established that the company, the CEO Claudio Descalzi, and the management involved in the proceedings have all behaved in a lawful and correct manner, Eni said in the statement.

“Today, Eni expresses its gratitude for the trust placed by its stakeholders throughout the course of the trial, particularly in upholding the company’s management and the conduct of its business and respecting its reputation”, Eni added.

Commenting on the Milan Tribunal’s acquittal of Shell of charges related to OPL 245 in Nigeria, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said: “We welcome today’s decision by the Milan Tribunal. We have always maintained that the 2011 settlement was legal, designed to resolve a decade-long legal dispute and unlock the development of the OPL 245 block.

“At the same time, this has been a difficult learning experience for us”, van Beurden added.

Reuters reported on Thursday that, following the judgement in the oil industry’s biggest corruption case, the Nigerian government was surprised and disappointed by the verdict and would consider whether to appeal once its lawyers had read the written judgment.

The case revolved around the acquisition by Shell and Eni of the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245, which covers a deep-water offshore area, approximately 150 km off the Niger Delta.

It is worth noting here that the prospecting licence for Block 245 expires in 2021 and the Nigerian Federal Government has not yet converted its prospecting licence into an oil mining lease (OLM). As a result, not a single oil barrel has been drilled to date.

As previously reported, the Italian prosecutor last year asked for Eni and Shell to be fined and some of their former and current executives, including Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, to be jailed in the long-running trial over an alleged corruption scheme related to the licence OPL 245.

News Power
March 23, 2021 No Comments

NNPC says to expect petrol from Port Harcourt Refinery after 18 months

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Monday that the Port Harcourt refinery being rehabilitated for $1.5 billion will start refining gasoline (petrol) within 18 months of the project.

The Group Managing Director (GMD), NNPC, Mele Kyari, who said this in Abuja on Monday, clarified that the approved fund was for complete rehabilitation and not turnaround maintenance.

According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Kyari said: “During rehabilitation, by the 18th month, part of this plant will begin to produce particularly the gasoline plants.

“What it means in a technical sense is that in 18 months, we will see production coming from that plant; we will follow it plant by plant until we are completely done,” Kyari said.

The NNPC GMD also said that the process of rehabilitation started about 10 years ago but was slowed down due to a number of mistakes and interferences.

He was hopeful the refinery would work optimally for the next 15 years after the rehabilitation.

Source: Daily Trust

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March 23, 2021 No Comments

Dangote expects Lagos refinery to be completed by end of 2021

President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote yesterday said the multi billion dollars and 650,000-barrel per day (bpd) integrated refinery and petrochemical project will be completed by the end of this year, just as granulated urea fertiliser plant at Ibeju Lekki corridor will begin production of fertiliser products next week.

This was even as the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu promised to support the ongoing multi-bilion dollars investments on the axis with massive road infrastructure to further open up the economy of the axis and create a more conducive environment for the industries springing up in the area.

The duo spoke with journalists during Governor Sanwo- Olu’s two-day working visit to the Lagos Free Zone, saying that the investments would turn around the state and the nation’s economy.

Speaking on the economic potential of the refinery, Dangote also added that though the Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility expected to generate about 230,000 indirect jobs would be completed by the end of this year, production of petroleum products would commence by first quarter of 2022.

The Africa’s richest man disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists after the tour of the project by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu who went on a two – day working visit with members of his cabinet to the burgeoning industrial hub located in Lekki area of the state. He also stated that the granulated urea fertiliser plant at Ibeju Lekki corridor will commence production of fertiliser products next week.

He said: “OK the fertilizer you will actually see fertilizer within the next one week. The refinery will be finished by the end of this year and product will start coming out by first quarter of next year. ”

He commended the governor for finding time out to visit the refinery during his working visit, saying: “First of all let me thank His Excellency for taking off about five hours to be with us today.

The governor has been around this area for the past two days. Really Mr. Governor we are very grateful for your support for making this place to be investors friendly and all the support you have been giving. Not only to Dangote but to almost everybody and I can assure that this place will be the hub of industrialisation in the country going forward.

On his part, Governor Sanwo-Olu said there is urgent need to assess the level of investment on the Lekki Corridor, saying efforts were being made to address the issues the investors are facing and avert haphazard development in the new Industrial hub informed the working visit.

Sanwo-Olu said the development of Lekki Port being propelled by the operators and owners of Lagos Free zone has gone up to about 60 per cent , saying the state government would ensure that the problems being experienced in Apapa port.

To regulate and guide against haphazard development, Governor Sanwo-Olu said agencies of government would be located in the axis to ensure that the right things are done.

“The ministry of Environment, Physical Planning, Waterfront and Tourism would also have a full presence here.

Physical planning are things we cannot afford to miss out. We need to ensure that the master plan of this area is kept and the new ones we need to look at we will certainly pick them up for approvals that is required so that government can indeed take the position,” he said.

Industry News
March 23, 2021 No Comments

Coronavirus fuels uncertainty as global oil consumption dips 9% in 2020

Global consumption of petroleum and other liquid fuels crashed by nine percent to 92.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2020, due to the coronavirus restrictions and lockdowns, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) has said, noting that this was the largest drop in EIA’s series in 20 years.

While it projected that the world will return to more normal consumer behaviour this year, and a continued recovery in economies is set to contribute to rising oil consumption in 2021 as the year progresses, the EIA warned that the effects of the pandemic continue to present challenges in forecasting global petroleum liquids consumption.

For January, a significant drop in Nigeria’s oil export has limited the increase of oil output from member countries of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC).

OPEC recorded oil output rise for a seventh month in January, a Reuters survey found, after the group and allies agreed to ease record supply curbs further, but an involuntary drop in Nigerian exports limited the increase.

Among the countries showing lower output, the biggest drop was in Nigeria after force majeure was declared on exports of Qua Iboe, one of the country’s largest production streams.

Operator of the facility Exxon Mobil said on January 22 that the force majeure has been lifted.

The 13-member OPEC pumped 25.75 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, the survey found, up 160,000 bpd from December, and a further increase from a three-decade low reached in June.

EIA expected in its January Short-Term Energy Outlook that global liquid fuels consumption will grow by 5.6 million bpd this year, or by six percent compared to 2020, and rise by another 3.3 million bpd in 2022.

It noted that the United States will contribute with a 1.4 million bpd consumption increase to the growth in 2021, the EIA forecasts.

Oil consumption will rise this year thanks to both economic growth and a return to more normal travel patterns by the middle of the year, which will also have a small effect on oil consumption growth in 2022.

Despite the expected growth in global oil consumption in 2021, EIA still forecasts it to average below pre-pandemic levels—at 97.8 million bpd, it would be 3 percent less than the 2019 level.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), for its part, cut its estimate for oil demand growth for this year by 300,000 bpd to 5.5 million bpd. The IEA expects oil demand to average 96.6 million bpd in 2021, after crashing by an all-time high of 8.8 million bpd in 2020, under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OPEC+, which groups OPEC and other producers led by Russia, agreed to pump more from January 1, and returns to output restraint again from February amid fears of a slow demand recovery. The latest supply pact has helped oil to an 11-month high above $57 a barrel this year.

“The increase is natural with the higher production ceiling from January,” an OPEC delegate said.

In January, the biggest supply increases came from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the group’s top two producers, reflecting their higher quotas. Iraq is still making almost all of its pledged OPEC+ cuts, having struggled to do so in the past.

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