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Militants Threaten Entire Niger Delta Town
TTimes World Report
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Thousands flee Nigerian militants
The militant group responsible for the threat has not been identified
Thousands of Nigerians have fled the Niger Delta oil town of Bonny after militants threatened to behead people who are not originally from the area.
The unknown group attacked soldiers in the town two weeks ago, killing nine people including a pregnant woman.
According to a newspaper article widely circulated by residents, the militants said they would return on July 16.
Bonny Island is home to a major oil and gas export terminal but production has not been affected.
Meanwhile, a militant attack in the Bonny Island area has left five people dead, the AP news agency reports.
About 30 militants attacked a Navy houseboat and three militants, a navy officer and civilian were killed, said Col Chris Musa.
Panic
In Bonny, youth leader Kingsley Adonis Pepple said people took the militant's threat seriously.
"They were handing out copies of this article to people in the street. There was panic. People packed up their entire family into a boat and fled."
Several boats had capsized and people drowned, he said, although there is no confirmation of this.
Mr Adonis Pepple said he had contacted all the known militant groups in the area and had been assured the article was wrong.
He tried to tell people but they weren't taking any chances, he said.
The article said unnamed sources reported the militants' demand.
"Another source said that the hoodlums, after the face-off with the navy, entered town, shooting and giving ultimatum that all residents of the town who were from other places should leave the town before July 16 or risk being beheaded," the national Nigerian Tribune paper said.
The article was sent to many people in Bonny by family members begging them to get out before the deadline, Mr Adonis Pepple said.
Production resumed
Bonny is a city of over 100,000 people, many of whom work in the oil industry.
The new multi-million dollar Liquefied Natural Gas export terminal is nearby.
Shell announced on Tuesday that a pipeline leading to Bonny Island, attacked by militants two months ago, had been repaired and production resumed.
Militant attacks on oil infrastructure are partly responsible for Nigeria's oil exports being cut by around a quarter in recent years.
Militants have also kidnapped oil workers for ransom.
Some groups are demanding a larger share of the oil wealth, but others are criminal gangs who make a living from extortion and oil theft, Delta activists say.
British aid
Nigeria has seen several "communal crises" in recent years, in which one ethnic group attacks another seen as being "non-indigenous" to the area.
Hundreds of people were killed in Plateau state in 2004 in clashes between Christian militias and Hausa Muslims.
President Umaru Yar'Adua is meeting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London to discuss security issues in the oil-producing Niger Delta.
Mr Brown recently offered to help Nigeria bring an end to the violence and increase oil production.
Many in the region are afraid Mr Brown means to send military aid to the Delta.
Spanish truck drivers abandon fuel strike
Three Spanish truck drivers' unions halted a strike Monday that seriously disrupted supplies to factories and markets before losing steam.
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The unions -- Fenadismer, Confedetrans and Antid -- said they were temporarily suspending the strike started June 9 "so as not to cause more economic damage to the sector."
The groups represent mostly self-employed truck drivers, or some 12 percent of the sector.
Non-striking unions representing the vast majority of Spain's trucking industry reached agreement last week with the government on measures to offset soaring fuel costs, which was the reason for the stoppage. But this package did not include the strikers' main demand: guaranteed minimum rates for their services.
"The government has managed to cover up a bleeding wound in the industry but it has not been cured and sooner or later it will open up again," the three unions said in a statement.
The associations said they were open to further talks with the government and added there would be more protests.
The strike, part of a series of protests in Europe, initially hit supplies to wholesale food markets and factories across the country and looked set to paralyze the country. The truckers staged several blockades on main roads into Madrid and the country's second city, Barcelona, until the government called in riot police Wednesday and cleared the highways.
Businesses gradually resumed work as normal by the end of the week.
One minority group of truckers, the Transport Defense Platform, said it would stay on strike. Police moved Monday to prevent truckers from the group from protesting in Madrid by ordering vehicles not transporting or picking up goods to get off the road.
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The striking groups had argued for minimum rates on grounds they cannot compete with large trucking companies they said were better able to cope with diesel fuel prices that have risen 36 percent in a year.
The Socialist government argued that the demand interfered with free-market competition
Russian, Chinese Oil Firms Jostle for Ogoni
Russian oil giant, Gazprom, is among several foreign companies jostling to replace Royal Dutch Shell in Ogoniland following Federal Government's decision to award the oil fields to another company.
THISDAY was also informed that many Chinese companies have indicated interest in the oil fields, which hold proven reserves of over 10 trillion cubic metres of gas - one of the world's largest.President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua haannounced over a week ago that oil fields abandoned by Shell in Ogoniland 15 years ago would be given to another oil company this year - a decision, THISDAY learnt, may soon be challenged in court by Shell.
However, Section 25 (1) (a) of the 1969 Petroleum Act empowers the government to take over and re-award oil fields that are inactive.
THISDAY was informed last night that following government's six-month quit notice to Shell, the oil giant is planning to farm out the fields to Addax Petroleum, a Canadian company, in order to prove that they are not dormant.
Yar'Adua's decision to give up the fields to another company was said to be informed by his desire to address the power situation in the country through the use of gas to generate electricity. Gas is one of the cleanest sources of power.
In line with the policy of the Yar'Adua administration to involve host communities in the ownership of oil fields in order to address the issue of marginalisation, THISDAY has learnt that there is intense mobilisation by the communities in preparation to take up equity in the ventures.
Any new company that gets the oil fields is expected to begin production within a year.
Gazprom, although not an oil company, is said to be interested in gas production in which it has global acclaim.
Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world, accounting for about 93 percent of Russian natural gas production. With reserves of 28,800 cubic km, it controls 16 per cent of the world's gas reserves.
After acquiring the oil company Sibneft, Gazprom, with 119 billion barrels of reserves, ranks behind only Saudi Arabia, with 263 billion barrels, and Iran, with 133 billion barrels, as the world's biggest owner of oil and oil equivalent in natural gas.
Apart from its gas reserves and the world's longest pipeline network (150,000 km), it also controls assets in banking, insurance, media, construction and agriculture.
Shell is said to be preparing for a legal battle because even though it has not produced in Ogoniland since 1993, the proven reserves there is at the heart of the company's business interests.
Federal Government's withdrawal of the oil fields could affect Shell's market capitalisation and stocks, THISDAY can report.Shell closed its operations in the area in 1993 as a result of protests over pollution and lack of development.The protests were spearheaded by the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), whose leader Ken Saro-Wiwa was executed by the Abacha government in 1995.
"There is a total loss of confidence between Shell and Ogoni people," Yar'Adua said while on a state visit to South Africa recently."Another operator acceptable to the Ogonis will take over. Nobody is going to gain from the conflict and stalemate, so this is the best solution," he added.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had been named to take over the fields but it is yet unclear how the ownership will be structured if eventually a foreign company wins the fields.
It appears the NNPC may adopt the joint venture partnership structure.
Fuel costs push up US inflation
US inflation rose at its fastest pace for six months in May because of sharply higher energy costs.
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Consumer prices rose 0.6% last month, government figures showed, the steepest monthly increase since last November.Petrol costs surged by 5.7% last month, driven by the soaring global cost of oil which recently reached more than $139 a barrel.Rising inflation is a worry for the Federal Reserve, which has cut rates aggressively to stimulate growth.
Above expectations
May's figure topped market expectations and represented a jump from April's 0.2% rate.On an annual basis, inflation touched 4.2% in May, again above analysts' expectations.Gasoline prices rose at their fastest monthly rate this year while food prices rose 0.3%.
Excluding both fuel and food costs, so-called core inflation was up 0.2% on a monthly basis and 2.3% compared with a year ago.The figures increase the prospect that the next move in US interest rates could be up.The Fed has slashed rates in the past eight months as the economy has slowed dramatically but it will be mindful of evidence of growing inflationary pressures.But analysts said price inflation was largely confined to energy at this stage."It is not as bad as it looks," Lindsey Piegza, from FTN Financial, said of the numbers."We know oil is flying through the roof. Consumers are forced to eat the price. There is nothing they can do."
FG, Remington Sign $700 Million MoU On Gas Gathering
The federal government and Kingdom of Bahrain– based M/S Remington International Resources Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding {M.O.U] on gas gathering in the Niger Delta region.
This M.O.U, which will see M/S Remington investing $700m in feasibility studies on gas gathering in the Niger Delta region, brings to two the M.O.Us government has signed on gas gathering this week.
The federal government had Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gazex-Suntera consortium for gas gathering in the onshore and offshore of South Eastern Niger - Delta.
The Minister of State for Energy, Chief Emmanuel Odusina who signed the M.O.U on behalf of the Nigerian government said it was part of concerted efforts by the present administration to harness the nation's gas reserves.
According to him, "It is the first time in the history of the country that the federal government will be focusing attention on gas".
Odusina who Thursday also signed the Memorandum of Understanding with M/S Remington International Resources Limited, said the M.O.Us are generic and would translate into commercial agreements that will harness the country's gas resources for domestic use. He explained that the signing of M.O.Us with foreign firms did not translate into rejection of indigenous companies, saying that Nigerians and Nigerian firms capable of handling the gas projects should come forward, as government's doors are open to them. The president of M/S Remington International Resources Limited,E.J Mattern, said the project will cost his company between $600million to $700million and would be completed in two years.
"We have been in the United States,Canada,Venezuela and Egypt. We have a lot of experience to contribute to this country and instead of taking the resource out of the country, we will be developing it for the country," he assured.
Mattern said it is sad for Nigeria that its down stream sector lacked development.
Nigeria's removal of Shell hailed
Shell's removal from the controversial oil fields in Nigeria's Ogoniland has been welcomed by the son of executed anti-pollution activist Ken Saro-Wiwa.
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Ken Saro-Wiwa Junior, a spokesman for Nigeria's president, told the BBC it was a sign that the government was listening to the Ogoni people.Nigerian President Umaru Yar'adua said earlier that another company would replace Shell by the end of 2008.Shell pulled out of Ogoniland in 1993 following community protests.The campaign against environmental degradation and poverty led to Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution in 1995 after a hasty trial under Nigeria's military rulers.In protest, the European Union imposed sanctions until 1998 and the Commonwealth suspended Nigeria's membership for three years.The protests later spread to the rest of the oil-producing Niger Delta, with oil installations attacked, pipelines blown up and oil workers kidnapped.
'Win-win solution'
Mr Saro-Wiwa Junior said Shell's removal from Ogoniland would send a signal to the rest of the volatile region that dialogue was the way forward. "The federal government is willing to listen," he said.He said that environmental concerns were now being addressed through talks, pointing out that his his father had campaigned on a non-violent platform.But Mr Saro-Wiwa stressed that it was not the end of the struggle."Victory will be when we have sustainable development not just in Ogoniland," but in the whole of Nigeria, he said.He added that a "win-win solution" should now be found for all the parties involved.
No notification
On Wednesday, President Yar'adua said Shell would be replaced by another company by the end of the year.Shell suspended its operations in Ogoniland in 1993, leaving large quantities of oil and gas still in the ground.The government in Abuja says that nobody was benefiting from the current stalemate and it will choose a company acceptable to the Ogoni people.With oil prices this high, the government is clearly tired of the stand-off, the BBC's Alex Last in Nigeria says.Shell says it has received no formal notification of any government decision concerning its interest in the area.Negotiations may continue behind closed doors, our correspondent adds.
Nigeria oil blast site sealed off
The site of an oil pipeline explosion near a school in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos has been sealed off after the fire was extinguished.
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Nigeria's oil parastatal cut the flow of fuel to the broken pipeline and a heavy downpour helped firefighters bring the blaze under control.At least 100 people - many children - died, the Red Cross said, but officials said the death toll was lower.The explosion tore through the Ijegun suburb after a bulldozer hit the pipe.Efforts to find more bodies in the wreckage have been halted, says the BBC's Umar Elleman at the scene.Rescue workers are now trying to locate missing people who fled the area.
Stampede
Many people were killed in a stampede to escape the flames, aid workers said.After the blast, many schoolchildren discarded school bags and sandals as they tried to flee.Witnesses said the ground around the explosion was so hot that shoes melted."Many children have died - in fact you cannot even count them," witness Aderemi Salau told Associated Press news agency."Some of them were choked by the smoke, others crushed by the concrete fence of the school while some were suffocated in an attempt to rush out." But the Lagos state government has played down the number of dead.A spokesman said 15 people were killed and 17 injured.Two children were killed in the initial blast, they said.
Thick plumes of smoke
At least 36 people have been taken to a nearby military hospital, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Abdulsalam Mohammed said. A thick plume of black smoke could be seen rising from the fire from kilometres away on Thursday night, said our reporter.
Houses and cars were already burning and the flames were about to engulf two schools, he said.Residents of the neighbourhood were clearing out their houses, desperately trying to save some possessions before the fire spread to their homes, says our correspondent.Nigeria is one of the world's major oil producers and pipelines cut through many residential areas, both in cities such as Lagos and in oil-producing areas.Several of these have exploded, often when local people cut holes in them to steal oil.The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says there at least 400 acts of vandalism on its pipelines each year, reports the AP news agency.At least 40 people were killed in a pipeline explosion in December in Lagos last year.In 2006, some 400 people were killed in two blasts in Lagos.
FG Slams Tougher Sanction On Gas-Flaring Firms
Federal Government has threatened to increase fines on energy companies that continue to release natural gas into the air when producing oil, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Odein Ajumogobia (SAN), has said.
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"We certainly will increase the penalty for gas flaring," Ajumogobia, was quoted by Bloomberg News as telling reporters during a conference in Yaounde, Cameroon on Friday. "However, we are more interested in utilisation and monetisation of gas than penalties."
The Department of Petroleum Resources had planned to increase the fine for flaring gas to $3.50 per thousand cubic feet of gas on April 1, up from N10 (nine cents) per thousand cubic feet, a measure that is to be endorsed by the National Assembly. However, Ajumogobia did not say when, or by how much, the fines would change.
Nigeria flares more gas than any country in the world. Gas flaring is a process in which natural gas is vented into the atmosphere, potentially hastening the pace of global warming. Oil wells frequently produce gas as well, though often in small quantities, making it costly to gather and transport the gas. Nigeria, which has the world's seventh biggest natural gas reserves, flares 24.1 billion cubic meters of gas a year, according to the World Bank. The government has moved the deadline to end gas flaring to the end of this year. Oil companies such as Chevron Corporation and Royal Dutch Shell Plc have said that even the new deadline is unrealistic, citing lack of access to sites due to continued unrest in the Niger Delta region and a shortage of government-owned pipelines to transport the harvested gas.
"The demand for gas is so significant and profitable," Ajumogobia said. "There is a need to ensure a minimum threshold and that is what the penalty serves to effect."
The agency report also quoted the minister as saying that the 4,128 kilometre (2,566 mile) Trans- Sahara pipeline project is scheduled to begin construction next year, and be completed six years later. The project aims to transport gas from Nigeria to Algeria "to try and satisfy the huge demand from Europe," he said.
Sasol in black empowerment move
South African energy and mining giant Sasol has announced the final details of the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) sale of a 10% stake in the business.
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Sasol said it would sell 63.1 million shares worth 25.9bn rand ($3.19bn; £1.6bn) to black staff and investors, in the country's largest BEE deal. First proposed in September of last year, the deal is expected to be passed at a shareholders meeting on 16 May. The government-backed BEE scheme aims to increase black economic ownership.
Image overhaul
"We will make a difference by creating significant economic opportunity for more than one million potential beneficiaries ranging from individuals to rural women's groups who can invest in Sasol," said chief executive Pat Davies.
Under Sasol's BEE proposal, black employees will be eligible for 4% of shares in the company. In addition, a 1.5% stake is being marked for black investor groups, 3% for black members of the public and 1.5% for a new charity foundation. Sasol's image has traditionally been of a white, male-dominated corporation that grew rich during the apartheid years and therefore was often targeted by anti-apartheid campaigners for sanctions. But since Mr Davies took the post of chief executive two years ago, the company has undergone a rapid pace of change, with more diversity apparent in senior management.
Nigeria: Country's First Bio-Fuel Refinery to Create 406,000 Jobs
Nigeria's first Bio-fuel Refinery , Global Biofuels Limited, a subsidiary of NeGSt Global Integrated Company Limited, has concluded plans to create 406,000 jobs for Nigerians.
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Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Global Biofuels Limited, Dr. Felix Babatunde Obada disclosed this in an interview with THISDAY in Lagos, saying that seven states including Osun, Kwara, Kogi, Niger, Kaduna, Ekiti and Oyo will benefit from the project.
According to Obada , 58,000 jobs would be created in each participating state of the federation, adding that the project would gulp $560million to set up seven plants in the participating states, with each plant costing about $80million to complete.
Obada explained that in 2006, Europe traded 26.75bilion euros of Carbon Credit, and European sector is just 45 per cent of the entire sector, emphasising that if bio-fuel is not developed in Nigeria, the country would not benefit from the scheme.
"Smart banks in Nigeria are already setting up carbon credit desk to work with us in benefiting from the international trade package because this sector is to serve humanity and reduce carbon footprint in Nigeria," he said.
The Global Bio-fuels boss maintained that the biofuel industry is becoming a reality and developed economies such as United States of America and Europe are already stepping up their target usage of bio-fuels to significant levels. He said Nigeria must not be left out, adding "As I speak now, the target of USA is to produce 130billion litres of ethanol by 2025, because the European Union has set guidelines that 10 per cent of total motor fuel consumption by 2020 must be biofuels and many countries now have active policies in place to develop their domestic biofuel production."
He stated that the project would make Nigeria a responsible member of the Committee of Nations, saying a project like this would directly reduce the burden of fuel importation as, according to him, the outputs of the country's ethanol refineries would be used for blending fossil fuel, thus enhancing the standard of living of Nigerians.
THISDAY investigations reveal that in 2005, statistics showed that Nigeria consumed about 30million litres of fuel per day, indicating an urgent need to blend about three million litres of ethanol with 30 million of fossil fuel on a daily basis .
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has already endorsed the biofuel project, indicating willingness to partner with investors who are ready to go into the production since Nigeria has not produced ethanol yet.
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