The Nation Newspaper

Tag: shell

  • Baru praises Shell on deepwater operation

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, has praised Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), the deepwater arm of Shell Companies in Nigeria, for pioneering the deepwater sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

    NNPC is the senior partner of Shell Joint Ventures in Nigeria and represents the Federal Government in other operations, including deepwater.

    Baru described SNEPCo as a clear leader in deepwater whose performance is exemplary. “SNEPCo is a trail blazer. They set the pace with the Bonga floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO), being the first deep water exploration business in Nigeria,” Baru said while recieving ‘In pursuit of Excellence’, a SNEPCo publication, detailing the company’s entry into the offshore exploration in the Gulf of Guinea and how the venture has brought so much benefit to Nigeria. It also entails the development Nigerians’ local capacity and the growth of support industry, among others.

    SNEPCo Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari, who presented the 90-page book to NNPC leadership in Abuja, said the company was mindful of its pioneering role in deep-water exploration in Nigeria and would want others to learn from Shell group technical expertise to make Nigeria a leading oil and gas producing country.

    “We have documented lots of our efforts, which opened up Nigeria’s deep water and have contributed largely to the country’s oil revenue,” said Ojulari, who restated SNEPCo’s continued commitment to positive impact on Nigeria’s economy and the socio-economic welfare of the people through sustained social investments in education, health and sports.

    The company, with over 95 percent Nigerians as members of  staff, has helped to create the first generation of Nigerian deep-water oil and gas engineers and recently celebrated the 800-million-barrel mark in 13 years of operations.

    In recognition of its pioneering initiatives in Nigeria, SNEPCo was in early 2018 honoured as the best Nigerian oil and gas company in technology and innovation at the maiden edition of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) held in Abuja for pioneering in-country Subsea Tree Refurbishment, a remarkable feat in local capacity potential, which resulted in significant savings. This was the first time in the Nigerian oil and gas industry that a Subsea Tree was fully stripped down and refurbished locally with all its original functionality restored.

    The FPSO vessel’s capacity was upgraded in recent years, allowing SNEPCo to expand the field with further drilling of wells in Bonga Phases 2 and 3 and through a subsea tie-back that unlocked the nearby Bonga North West field.

    SNEPCo is the operator of oil mining lease (OML) 118 under a production sharing contract with NNPC. The co-venture partners in OML 118 are Total E & P Nigerian Limited, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited.

  • Shell inducts 30 graduates for internship

    Thirty engineering graduates have been inducted into the fifth batch of the Shell Nigeria internship programme, a four-year-old scheme designed to help young graduate engineers upscale their skills in readiness for employment in the energy sector.

    The programme, run in collaboration with the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), places the interns with various oil and gas service companies for one year.

    Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Nigerian Content Manager, Mr. Olanrewaju Olawuyi, described the programme as a critical intervention in bridging the manpower gap in the industry and enhancing local capacity.

    Olawuyi, who spoke in Port Harcourt at the induction of the new interns and the graduation of 30 interns of the fourth batch of the programme, said: “Out of the 140 graduates so far trained through the programme, 65 per cent are now gainfully employed in the oil and gas industry. I am excited at the successful feat of the candidates, I encourage the incoming interns to make the best use of this unique opportunity.”

    PETAN President Mr. Bank Anthony Okoroafor said: “The objective of the programme is to give young graduates the opportunity to have one-year-on-the-job training in their respective disciplines thereby enhancing their employability. The success of the Shell/PETAN internship scheme has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria.”

    One of the beneficiaries, Miss Ugonna Queen Ochuba, said: “The Shell/PETAN internship was my first on-the-job training opportunity. The internship did not just give me the opportunity to be hands-on but also helped to boost my skills and experience in my discipline.”

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Manager Capacity Building, Mrs. Angela Okoro, commended the Shell/PETAN deal. She said: “This is one of the capacity development initiatives that the Board is replicating.”

    General Manager, Business and Government Relations of Shell Nigeria, Mr. Bashir Bello, said: “Every year, the Internship supports fresh graduate talent through exposure to rich technical on-the-job work experience to equip them with practical industry experience, which will then position them favorably for employment opportunities after the programme.”

    Shell/PETAN internship was conceived as part of the collaboration roadmaps to support efforts at closing gaps i manpower in critical disciplines, such as Geology and Engineering.

  • Shell inducts 30 graduates for internship

    Thirty engineering graduates have been inducted into the fifth batch of the Shell Nigeria internship programme, a four-year-old scheme designed to help young graduate engineers upscale their skills in readiness for employment in the energy sector.

    The programme, run in collaboration with the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), places the interns with various oil and gas service companies for one year.

    Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Nigerian Content Manager, Mr. Olanrewaju Olawuyi, described the programme as a critical intervention in bridging the manpower gap in the industry and enhancing local capacity.

    Olawuyi, who spoke in Port Harcourt at the induction of the new interns and the graduation of 30 interns of the fourth batch of the programme, said: “Out of the 140 graduates so far trained through the programme, 65 per cent are now gainfully employed in the oil and gas industry. I am excited at the successful feat of the candidates, I encourage the incoming interns to make the best use of this unique opportunity.”

    PETAN President Mr. Bank Anthony Okoroafor said: “The objective of the programme is to give young graduates the opportunity to have one-year-on-the-job training in their respective disciplines thereby enhancing their employability. The success of the Shell/PETAN internship scheme has gone beyond the shores of Nigeria.”

    One of the beneficiaries, Miss Ugonna Queen Ochuba, said: “The Shell/PETAN internship was my first on-the-job training opportunity. The internship did not just give me the opportunity to be hands-on but also helped to boost my skills and experience in my discipline.”

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Manager Capacity Building, Mrs. Angela Okoro, commended the Shell/PETAN deal. She said: “This is one of the capacity development initiatives that the Board is replicating.”

    General Manager, Business and Government Relations of Shell Nigeria, Mr. Bashir Bello, said: “Every year, the Internship supports fresh graduate talent through exposure to rich technical on-the-job work experience to equip them with practical industry experience, which will then position them favorably for employment opportunities after the programme.”

    Shell/PETAN internship was conceived as part of the collaboration roadmaps to support efforts at closing gaps i manpower in critical disciplines, such as Geology and Engineering.

  • Shell faces prosecution in Holland over Nigeria’s OPL 245 deal

    Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell seems to be in trouble with the law in Holland after Dutch prosecutors said they have uncovered ‘prosecutable offenses’ in their investigation of the company’s acquisition of Nigerian offshore oilfield OPL 245 in 2011.

    Italy’s Eni and Shell bought the OPL (Oil Prospecting License) 245 offshore field for about $1.3 billion from Malabu Oil and Gas Limited owned by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Dan Etete, in a deal that spawned one of the oil industry’s largest corruption scandals.

    Of that amount, almost $1.1 billion is believed to represent bribes paid to a London bank account that ended up going to various Nigerian politicians, including Etete.

    “Based on the investigations still underway, the prosecutor has determined that actions which can be prosecuted criminally took place,” said Valentine Hoen, a spokeswoman for the Dutch public prosecutor’s office.

    Shell itself confirmed that it had “been informed by the Dutch Public Prosecutor’s Office that they are nearing the conclusion of their investigation and are preparing to prosecute Royal Dutch Shell Plc for criminal charges directly or indirectly related to the 2011 settlement of disputes over Oil Prospecting License 245 (OPL 245) in Nigeria.”

    Shell is already facing trial in Italy along with Eni over the matter.

    Italian magistrates suspect the two oil groups used bribes to obtain rights to OPL245, estimated to hold nine billion barrels of crude, for $1.3 billion.

    Last December,an Italian judge, Giusy Barbara, found that Eni and Royal Dutch Shell were fully aware that their purchase of the OPL would result in corrupt payments to Nigerian politicians and officials.

    The Milan judge made the comment in her written reasons for the September conviction of a Nigerian, Emeka Obi and Italian Gianluca Di Nardo, both middlemen in the OPL 245 deal, for corruption. They were jailed for four years.

    “The management of oil companies Eni and Shell … were fully aware of the fact that part of the $1.092 billion paid would have been used to compensate Nigerian public officials who had a role in this matter and who were circling their prey like hungry sharks,” Barbara said in her reasoning.

    “It was not mere connivance, but a conscious adhesion to a predatory project damaging the Nigerian state,” she added.

    She also said money was given to some Eni managers.

  • Shell: Nigeria’s tax claims may delay Bonga Southwest

    Oil major, Royal Dutch Shell, yesterday said Nigeria’s claims that it was owed billions in taxes could delay the development of a major oil field off the coast of the West African nation.

    The Federal Government had ordered several International Oil Companies (IOCs) to pay nearly $20 billion in taxes it alleged are owed to local states, industry and government sources told Reuters.

    Shell, the largest investor in the country, would likely dispute the charges, Shell’s Head of Upstream, Andy Brown told Reuters on the sidelines of the International Petroleum Week conference.

    He said: “It is something that has gone through the courts in Nigeria which relates to an original clause within the original PSCs (Production Sharing Contracts),” he said in an interview. We will have to take it seriously but we think it has no merits.”

    The outstanding tax issue will delay the Final Investment Decision (FID) on developing Shell’s Bonga Southwest deepwater oil field, one of Nigeria’s largest with production expected to reach 180,000 barrels per day (bpd), Brown said.

    “We’ll need to resolve that before we ever FID the Bonga Southwest project,” he said, adding that Shell has made progress with the government on some basic terms for operating the field, but a decision on its development was now unlikely to be made in 2019.

    “Bonga Shouthwest’s FID may slip into next year.” Brown said.

    In the Gulf of Mexico, he said Shell planned to move swiftly to develop the Whale discovery, which it announced in January 2018. Shell holds a 60 per cent stake in the field and Chevron the remaining 40 per cent.

    “We’re going to crack on with the development of this project,” he said, without giving a specific timeline for the development except to say it would be “fast”.

    He said the field had the potential to be developed into a new production hub for Shell in the Gulf of Mexico, saying Shell and many of its peers have been cutting costs sharply for developing large offshore fields to compete with cheaper sources of oil such, as the US shale.

  • Shell invites bids for Bonga FPSO

    Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has opened Invitation to Tender (ITT) for the development of the Bonga South West Aparo (BSWA) oil field.

    The project’s initial phase includes a new Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, more than 20 deepwater wells and related subsea infrastructure. The field lies across Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 118, 132 and 140, about 15km southwest of the existing Bonga Main FPSO.

    The ITT is for engineering, procurement and construction contracts for the 150,000 barrels per day project in the Gulf of Guinea.

    “This is a new vista for deep offshore oil and gas exploration in Nigeria based on a revised commercial framework embraced by government and the project investors,” SNEPCo’s Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari said, a day after the execution of the Heads of Terms by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), SNEPCo and its partners, revising the terms of the OML 118 Production Sharing Contract.

    Ojulari said: “SNEPCo has concluded OML 118 negotiations with the NNPC. We now have a clear commercial framework, supported by the government and project investors, toward a potential Bonga South West Aparo Final Investment Decision (FID).”

    He described the conclusion of the commercial framework as a key milestone for the project and the development of Nigeria’s deep-water oil and gas industry. “The new framework marks the start of the second generation of deep-offshore exploration and development, not just for SNEPCo but for all players in Nigeria’s deep water. This is a model that we see being replicated in the industry to further unleash Nigeria’s potential in deep-water exploration.”

    On the estimated project cost, SNEPCo’s General Manager for BSWA, Adam Bradley said: “The release of ITT will allow ourselves, government and investing parties to understand the actual costs for the initial phases which we expect will be very competitive.”

     

  • Shell, partners sign 300m cubic feet gas FID

    Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and its Joint Venture partners yesterday in Abuja, signed the Final Investment Decision (FID) agreement for a 300 million cubic feet of gas.

    The ceremony was witnessed by the Managing Director of Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Mr. Nicholas Terraz and the Managing Director of Nigeria Agip Oil Company Limited, Mr. Lorenzo Fiorillo.

    SPDC had announced taking FID last December on the Assa North Gas Development Project which is one of the Seven Critical Gas Development Projects of the Federal Government.

    Read also: $165m Blue Water Estate berths in Lagos

    The project, located in South-eastern Imo State, aims to position Nigeria as a regional hub for gas-based industries while complementing Federal Government’s aspiration for gas sufficiency for domestic consumption, power generation, and gas-based ammonia and urea fertilizers for farmers.

  • Shell to develop $10b Bonga field

    OIL giant Shell’s Bonga South West/Aparo (BSWA) deepwater project, located in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 118 in the Niger Delta, is set for development, it was learnt yesterday.

    This is coming on the heels of the output of 200,000 barrels per day from Egina field operated by Total, which began production last month.

    The BSWA deepwater project, which according to the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, will cost $10 billion with numerous value addition in-country, including job creation, skills acquisition and capacity development for Nigerians.

    Kachikwu had last year directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) to commence the tendering process for the execution of the project.

    A top industry source told The Nation yesterday in Lagos that the stakeholders have to take the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the project and will soon announce invitation to tender for the BSWA project.

    The source, which was at the stakeholders’ meeting, said: “Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), the deepwater arm of Shell in Nigeria, has concluded OML 18 negotiations with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    “We now have a clear commercial framework, aligned with stakeholders and the confidence to move forward the Bonga South West Aparo FID. This is a key milestone for the project and the development of Nigeria’s deep water oil and gas industry.

    “SNEPCo is pleased to announce NNPC and its unit partners involved in BSWA development, have reached agreement to on the key commercial terms necessary to move the development forward.

    “This agreement covers related production sharing contract interpretation disputes. It also sets an incentivizing and fair framework for developing this world class opportunity whilst opening further opportunities in the prolific Nigerian deepwater oil and gas industry.

    “We look forward to realising the significant benefits to the Nigerian state, the Nigerian deepwater oil and gas construction contractors, their workforce and the investing parties as we progress towards the investment decision, construction and start up.

    “Following the OML 118 Heads of Terms agreement, we are pleased to announce the release of the BSWA Invitation to Tender, where Nigerian and international companies on the agreed bid list are requested to bid for the various contract packages that make up engineering procurement and construction (EPC) of the BSWA project.

    “This is an important step that will allow ourselves, the government and investing parties to understand the cost of the project and if within expectation, take the project to a final investment decision.”

    On when the FID will be taken, the stakeholders identified competitive bidding as the first stage, followed by evaluation and sanctioning activities.

    “We are now working on details of the plan. We are expecting a very competitive cost. It will become when bids are received, they said when asked about the project cost,” the source said.

    On April 17, last year, President Muhammadu Buhari attended a meeting with a delegation from Royal Dutch Shell Plc, led by its Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden, in London, where a decision was reached that the oil giant and the NNPC would begin the implementation of projects that have been on the drawing board for several years.

    The project is expected to add 225,000 barrels per day of crude oil to Nigeria’s production.

    The BSWA also extends into OMLs 132 and 140, operated by Chevron, where it is called Aparo. The project includes the construction of a new floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility.

    SNEPCo is the operator of the BSWA project with NNPC, Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Total E&P Nigeria Limited, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited, Texaco Nigeria Outer Shelf Limited, Star Ultra Deep Petroleum Limited, Sasol Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited as shareholders.

  • Shell, Total cut gas supply to GenCos over debts

    Four gas generating companies (GenCos) have shut down production as a result of their failure to pay gas debts owed Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Total, as well as their inability to access fresh loans for gas, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    Consequent upon the liquidity issue that has now exposed the GenCos to over N1trillion shortfall, some of the GenCos have now resorted to securing credit facilities from commercial banks to sustain their production.

    The Executive Secretary, Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC), Joy Ogaji, who spoke on phone yesterday, said the power plants shutdown production due to lack of access to take loans.

    Asked to mention the four power generating firms that have stopped production, she declined, stressing that the companies would not want their names mentioned because of it is political season.

    She said: “Some of the GenCos that can access loans have resorted to taking loans to buy gas. Others that don’t have access to such loans are shutting down. Shell and Total have shutdown some of the power plants; they want the power plants to pay them.

    “From what we got, it is about four plants. Some of them don’t want their names mentioned. You know it is political season now.”

    Meanwhile, at 6:00 hour of yesterday, power generation was 4,069.90Mw. It was 4,092.1Mw on December 29 last year and 3,806.0Mw as at January 2.

    According to the Minister of Power Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, the power sector now generates 7000Mw as a result of the N701billion Power Assurance Guarantee.

    But Ogaji had on Monday raised the alarm over the liquidity challenges facing the electricity generation companies otherwise known as Gencos , saying that their current shortfall has exceeded N1trillion.

    Speaking with The Nation on phone, she noted that the N701billion Power Assurance Guarantee, which the Federal Executive Council approved for the companies in the first quarter of 2017, has been exhausted.

    According to her, there was a high hope that the Federal Government would make the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) pay at least 80 per cent of their invoices but the government has not realise it.

    She said: “The major problem that the generation companies are facing now is that of liquidity. The N701billion is over. The government has not succeeded in making the DisCos to pay at least 80 per cent of their invoices. The N701billion got finished in December. We don’t know how the Gencos will survive.”

    Insisting that the major problem confronting the companies is that of liquidity and not gas supply, she noted that the GenCos have not exhausted their present allocation of gas to power.

    The inability to pay for the gas, according to her, is responsible for the low utilization of gas.

    Continuing, she said “we have neither been able to pay for gas nor provide the gurantee.”

    The Executive Secretary, who was asked how the increase in the fine or penalty for gas flaring has affected the supply of gas for power, described the regulation as a welcome development, which does not in any way make any difference in the gas to power.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola had late last year told reporters in Minna, Niger State that owing to the Power Assurance Guarantee payment to Gencos, their monthly payment had risen 20% to 80%, bringing their production to 7,000mw.

    Meanwhile, the Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mr. Mohammed Gur Usman had in December told reporters in Abuja that the recent increase in the penalty for gas flaring by the Department of Petroleum Resources ( DPR) would lead to increase in gas to power to further boost power supply in the country.
    But Barrister Joy Ogaji insisted yesterday that liquidity and not gas is the problem of the companies.

    Meanwhile, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Company, Dr. Marilyn Amobi Company Managing Director, whom The Nation asked on phone whether the Federal Government is planning another phase of power sector intervention for the GenCos, requested our Abuja correspondent to write a letter to request for the information.

  • Shell: Bonga oil production hits 800m barrels

    Crude oil production from the deepwater asset of the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), Bonga field, has reached over 800 million barrels.

    Shell’s Media Relations Manager, Bamidele Odugbesan, in a statement, said the feat was achieved in 13 years of production from the field, adding that it confirms the oil giant as a pacesetter in offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Guinea.

    In its review of the performance of the Bonga Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) vessel for 2018, SNEPCo’s Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari, expressed satisfaction with the consistent availability and optimal performance of the vessel which began operation at the Bonga field in OML 118 in 2005. Its is under a production sharing contract with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    “We are relentless in our pursuit of excellence on all fronts, and this we have consistently demonstrated with the management of Bonga to the satisfaction of our government and co-venture partners,” Ojulari said in Lagos yesterday.