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Tag: Agip Oil

  • Court dismisses Fed Govt’s $110m suit against Agip over crude shipment

    The Federal High Court in Lagos Wednesday dismissed a suit by the Federal Government against the Nigeria Agip Oil Company Limited.

    The plaintiff claimed $110million from the respondent for allegedly under-declaring the volume of crude oil it shipped between January 2011 and December 2014.

    The Federal Government accused Agip of short-changing it to the tune of $55million.

    It prayed the court to compel the oil firm to pay the $55million with an annual interest of 21 per cent, as well as $55million as exemplary damages.

    But, Agip denied the allegations and urged the court to dismiss the suit.

    In her verdict, Justice Mojisola Olatoregun held that the plaintiff failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate the claims.

    She held that there was no evidence that the crude oil the defendant lifted was more than what was declared.

    According to her, it is trite and settled law that he who asserts must prove.

    She held that the exhibits before her did not convincingly show a shortfall in the shipment of 949,096 barrels of crude oil lifted by a vessel, MT Cosmos.

    “While I do not have any evidence to suggest that it is impossible for the defendant to carry undeclared crude oil from Nigeria, I have no evidence to show that MT Cosmos carried the excess 500,000 barrels of crude oil with same bill of lading,” she held.

    Justice Olatoregun added that the plaintiff failed to prove its case by supplying the requisite evidence, adding that the main purpose of final address is to assist the court.

    “It is trite law that whoever asserts must prove that the facts exists. No amount of brilliant address can make up for a lack of evidence.

    “The plaintiff failed to make out a case that 500,000 barrels of crude oil was offloaded in Pennsylvania.

    “The case of the plaintiff fails on the lack of proof on the preponderance of evidence.

    “At this stage, I do not find it necessary to proceed with the evaluation of the other reliefs.

    Read Also: Gunmen abduct Agip workers in Bayelsa

    “I, therefore, proceed to make an order dismissing this suit; it is hereby dismissed,” the court held.

    During trial, the plaintiff called one witness and tendered three exhibits, while the defendant also called one witness and tendered 12 exhibits.

    The court also dismissed a similar suit against Brasoil, seeking to recover $4.8million in alleged missing oil revenue.

    Similar lawsuits against Total E&P Nigeria Plc and Chevron Nigeria Limited are pending before the court.

    The Federal Government sued after a forensic analysis linking the decline in crude oil export and government revenue to the alleged under-declaration of volume of crude oil shipped out of the country by the oil companies.

    Three United States-based experts – a US citizen and Lead Analyst at Loumos Group LLC, a technology and oil and gas auditing firm based in the US Prof. David Olowokere; a counsel in the law firm of Henchy & Hackenberg, Jerome Stanley, and founder and Chief Executive Officer, Trade Data Services Company, State of Arizona, US, Michael Kanko deposed to supporting affidavits to the suit.

    According to them, millions of barrels of crude oil were allegedly exported by the defendants and sold to buyers in the US but the companies did not make due remittance to the Federal Government contrary to the terms of agreement.

    But the defendants denied the allegations.

  • Senate probes NNPC/Agip N34.423bn secret account

    Senate probes NNPC/Agip N34.423bn secret account

    The Senate on Tuesday mandated its committee on Public Accounts to carry out a holistic investigation into the activities of the operation of a N34.423 billion account belong jointly to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Agip Oil company.

    This followed the adoption of a motion on “Urgent need to investigate NNPC, Nigerian Agip Oil Company 1PP Security” sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West).

    Melaye in his lead debate prayed the Senate to notes with serious concern the operation of an account by the NNPC/Agip Oil Company;

    He observed that the account opened with the name NNPC/ Nigerian Agip oil Company IPP Security account with address NNPC Garki, Herbert Macaulay Way, is domiciled in First Bank Nigeria Plc with account number 2006367288

    He also observed that the opening balance was N31, 704, 807, 979.2 with a closing balance of N34, 423, 738, 086.4 as at 25th April, 2017.

    Melaye said that he is aware that there has been lodgment and withdrawals since January, 2017.

    He said that a lot of questions are begging for answers as regards this account a. The objectives of the account? b. The Signatories to the Account? c. Is the account known to the Federal Government? d. What are the sources of the account’s fund?

    The lawmaker said that he is convinced that there is an urgent need to investigate the rationale behind the operation of this account in the interest of the country

    The motion was not debated before it was referred to the public accounts committee to investigate.

     

  • Soldiers invade blocked Agip oil wells

    •Protesters chased away 

    Soldiers at the weekend stormed a site of three oil wells shut down by protesting indigenes of Ikebiri community in Southern Ijaw Local Government of Bayelsa State.

    The wells are owned by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

    The indigenes last Friday night shut down three Agip wells, accusing the company of neglect and refusal to re-award abandoned projects captured in a Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) they signed with Agip.

    ?They reportedly prevented oil production in wellheads 9, 14 and 11.

    It was learnt that troops from the Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Delta Safe (ODS), were deployed in the site to dislodge the protesters and reopen the wells.

    Ikebiri indigenes comprising youths, women and elders disrupted oil production.

    They carried placards with inscriptions, such as ‘Enough is enough’, ‘Like bird says no to Agip neglect’, ‘Stop divide and rule’, ‘Give us our Quick Impact Jobs’.

    The protesters were said to have locked the wells about 9pm on Friday.

    Despite the presence of soldiers, the indigenes vowed to continue disruption of Agip facilities?.

    The Chairman of Ikebiri Community Development Committee (CDC), Mr. Timiondi Fabofirghe, said the disruption was caused by the refusal of the company to re-award abandoned projects and include the community as beneficiaries in the Quick Impact Project.

    He said: “Yes, it is true that we shut down three oil wells belonging to Agip. We have tried legal and peaceful means to prevail on the oil company to sign a GMoU, but they refused.

    “The GMoU provides that a project is sighted and completed. But with a GMoU expiration, NAOC awarded Quick Impact Jobs with the exclusion of Ikebiri.

    “When we approached them, they said it was too late for the community to demand Quick Impact Jobs. But they did not inform us.

    “All we are demanding is immediate award of contract to complete the abandoned projects and immediate release of Quick Impact Jobs to the community.”

    An indigene, who is the state Secretary of Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Mr. Timi Igoli, confirmed the incident.

    He said instead of NAOC to discuss with the indigenes, they invited soldiers.

    His words: “Ikebiri, which is rich in oil and gas, has been neglected by Agip. The abandoned water project must be completed. NAOC built a hospital at Ikebiri 1 without beds and equipment. Patients sleep on the floor.”

  • Shell to start gas production in Niger Delta

    Shell to start gas production in Niger Delta

    Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch Shell has started gas production from the second phase of the Gbaran-Ubie project in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, the company said on Wednesday.

    The project is an expansion of the Gbaran-Ubie development which opened in June 2010.

    Shell, through its Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria subsidiary, said the project would reach peak production of around 175,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019.

    Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria is the operator of a Nigerian joint venture between state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Total E&P Nigeria and ENI subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company.

  • Bayelsa drags Agip Oil to court over oil spill

    BAYELSA State government has dragged Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Limited to a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt over an oil spillage from the company’s SBM Sirius, (offshore Brass) in Brass Local Government Area of the state. The government, in an originating summons, filed by the Bayelsa State Attorney- General and Commissioner of Justice, Kemeasuode Wodu, and obtained by newsmen in Yenagoa, demanded the sum of N1.6 trillion compensation for general and exemplary damages from the spill, which it said occurred on November 27, 2013.

    The originating summons, which is pursuant to Order 3 Rule 9 of the court, said the spill contravened the provisions of Regulation 13 of the Petroleum Regulation made pursuant to the Pursuant Act Cap P10 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. The Bayelsa government, in the suit is seeking an injunction restraining the defendant, its agents and or servants from further discharging onto or allowing petroleum (crude oil) to escape onto the waters of and around the said SBM Sirius, (Offshore Brass) facility.

    Another relief include an order directing the defendant (NAOC) to provide potable drinking water for the communities in Bayelsa State impacted by the said Petroleum spillage from the said SBM Sirius (offshore Brass) operated by the defendant.

    The plaintiff added that the defendant should be ordered to take all appropriate steps towards restoring the land, swamps, rivers and waters impacted by the spillage and pay compensation to all persons whose properties were destroyed. While averring that the spillage contravened relevant sections of the constitution, the plaintiff asked the court to declare that the action or conduct of the defendant in allowing or causing petroleum to escape from its SMB Sirius facility was as a result of its operational error into the waters of and around the said SMB facility which flowed into the sea and parts of Bayelsa State.

    The plaintiff also demanded a declaration that the defendant by allowing or causing petroleum to escape from its SBM Sirius facility as a result of its operational error, into the waters of around the said SBM Sirius facility contravened Regulation 13 of the Petroleum Act Cap P10 laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. The Bayelsa State government also want the court to declare that “the defendant is under a legal obligation to restore the lands, rivers, creeks and the entire environment impacted by the aforesaid petroleum (crude oil) that escaped from the SBM Sirius (offshore brass) facility on November 27, 2013 to their original state before they were impacted.” The plaintiff also asked the court to declare that the defendant was under a legal obligation to pay compensation to all persons whose properties were polluted in Bayelsa State by the said petroleum (crude oil) that escaped from the SBM Sirius facility.

  • Environmentalists seek probe of explosion at Agip oil field

    Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has called for probe into Sunday’s explosion that killed three persons at Agip Oil field in Bayelsa.

    The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) had on Tuesday confirmed that a pipeline blast at an oil field, operated by the Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) in Bayelsa, killed three people on Sunday.

    ERA/FoEN, an environmental rights NGO, made the call while reacting to the pipeline blast in Olugboro Community, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

    Mr Morris Alagoa, Head of Field Operation at ERA/FoEN in Bayelsa, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa on Wednesday that the explosion was one too many and urged the government to investigate the cause.

    He expressed regret that a similar explosion occurred in July 2015 at another oil field operated by the NAOC in Southern Ijaw area of Bayelsa.

    “The news of another tragic incident in the oil industry, which claimed three lives and several persons sustained various degrees of injuries, came to Environmental Rights Action (ERA) as a great shock.

    “While industrial and other accidents are part of the realities of our existence, some are preventable.

    “And, this is where, we in ERA, will not stop calling on the authorities and regulators of the oil industry to make safety and best practices the mantra of the industry; not just profit.

    “We are calling for a well-constituted panel of inquiry made up of professionals, stakeholders, Civil Society Organisations to investigate this incident, and the recommendations and report made public.

    “It is worrisome because; it is another sad commentary of the unsafe working environment and loss of lives.

    “This is more so considering the fact that it happened less than a year from the Azuzuama incident which claimed over 12 lives last July,” Alagoa said.

    Officials of Nigerian Agip Oil Company declined comments on the explosion.

    Mr Fillippo Cotalini, International Media Relations Manager at Eni, parent company of NAOC did not respond to an email seeking his comments on the incidence.

  • Communities threaten to shut five Agip oil wells

    Communities threaten to shut five Agip oil wells

    Communities in Biseni, Bayelsa State, threatened yesterday to shut five oil wells belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

    They said unless the state government prevails on NAOC to meet their obligations, the oil wells would be shut.

    The communities earlier closed the five oil wells, following Agip’s “failure” to fulfill what they called  community development obligations.

    The oil wells – 3,6,8,11 and 12 – were reopened on August 5 after a meeting between the communities’ representatives and Agip officials.

    The Secretary of Egbebiri II, Chief Solomon Ogiama, said NAOC officials failed to implement the agreements reached at the meeting.

    He said: “We are appealing to the government to wade into this so that we will not have to disrupt oil production, which has a direct bearing on revenue accruable to the state.

    “Agip officials pledged to  pay off outstanding debts to surveillance contractors once the wells were reopened, but nothing has happened.

    “Considering the timeframe they gave us during the meeting at their Port Harcourt office, they ought to have done a lot. We were assured that in a few days, they would pay contractors who were owed for up to one year.

    “The community leadership conveyed resolutions at the meeting to our people and now pressure is mounting on us. We urge the government to intervene.”

    NAOC Media Relations Office Manager in Eni Mr. Filipo Cotalini said the firm was probing the people’s complaints.

  • ‘Lack of capacity bane of local content devt,

    The divestments of oil and gas assets from Nigeria by some international oil companies (IOCs) may have affected indigenous operators who have long been clamouring for increased participation in the lucrative oil and gas industry.

    The local operators may not hold their own, much less fill the gap left by the IOCs due to lack of capacity and expertise, an oil and gas expert, Oliver Mordi, has said.

    He told The Nation in Lagos that though, continued divestments by the IOCs would encourage indigenous participation in the industry, the problem is that local operators do not have the competence to handle highly technical jobs.

    According to him, most of the technical operations of the IOCs are being handled by expatriates, while only a few Nigerians are into exploration.

    There has been a rash of divestment, mostly from onshore or swamp fields, by some IOCs. For instance, since 2010, when Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) commenced divestment in Nigeria, others, such as Total and Agip Oil, which are partners to the Anglo-Dutch oil company  followed suit.

    The United States’s oil firm, Conoco Phillips, also disposed its assets to indigenous oil company, Oando Plc. Same for Brazilian oil company, Petrobras.

    The decision of the IOCs to divest, according to watchers of the industry, is as a result of factors ranging from operational and security difficulties of operating onshore the Niger Delta region, portfolio rationalisation to regulatory uncertainties from non-passage of the hotly debated oil industry bill, the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). Iincessant crises between the host communities and the oil companies are said to have prompted the divestment for deep water prospect where there are fewer crises and less financial expenses on conflict resolution.

    However, the oil companies explain that they sold the assets in order to help grow the country’s petroleum sector. For instance, Mutiu Sunmonu, Managing Director of SPDC, said part of the reasons for divestment of his company’s assets was a deliberate measure to encourage indigenous participation in the upstream oil and gas industry. Hear him: “We want to create a new set of indigenous players in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry within the next 10 to 20 years from now, while the IOCs concentrate on more difficult issues and also allow us focus on material oil and gas fields.”

    But Mordi argues that as much as asset divestment by IOCs would encourage indigenous participation, lack of capacity and expertise by local operators may throw spanner into the works. He told The Nation that except a few indigenous operators such as Femi Otedola, Chief Executive Officer of Forte Oil Plc, Mike Adenuga, Chairman of Conoil, and Aliko Dangote, who has indicated interest to throw his hat in the oil ring, most local operators do not have the financial and technical capacity to hold their own in the industry.

    While attributing the increasing spate of divestments by IOCs to the fact that “the political economy of the operating environment was no longer conducive for the IOCs,” he said the PIB, when successfully passed, would encourage the growth of indigenous companies in the oil & gas industry. “The oil industry bill will support and favour an all inclusive local participation at all levels and in all strata of the industry,” he said.