WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2010-02-25 Time: 06:00:02 Posted By: News Poster
By Chika Amanze-Nwachuku, Ejiofor Alike and Onyebuchi Ezeigbo
Abuja – Outgoing Shell’s Regional Executive Vice- President, Exploration and Produ-ction, Africa, Ms Ann Pickard, yesterday raised alarm over Nigeria’s dwindling crude oil production since 2005, stating that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is a “cumbersome document, which could worsen the situation” if implemented.
Specifically, Pickard who spoke on “Nigeria’s position as a key player in global oil and gas markets,” at the ongoing Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) conference in Abuja, criticised the fiscal provisions of the proposed law describing them as the “harshest in the world”.
But in swift reaction, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said contrary to Pickard’s impression of bleak future on the oil and gas industry post-PIB and her criticism on the fiscal provisions of the proposed law, the PIB is investor-friendly and will be mutually beneficial to all players local and internationally.
The corporation, in a statement by its spokesman, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, described the anti- PIB comments as “misplaced and totally different from the realities of modern fiscal system”.
He said: “What Shell wants us to do is to keep subsidising the production of gas which they end up exporting to their home countries to guarantee their national energy security. As I speak Nigeria is still subsidising gas for export because the cost of producing gas is recovered from oil revenue. There is no country in the world that does not get value for its natural resources. But we are getting negative value from gas in Nigeria. The big question is if Nigerians are willing to forego subsidy from petroleum products which they consume, why should Shell or any other international oil company operating in this country expect Nigeria to keep subsidising the gas that they export to other countries? That and many more abnormalities are what the PIB is seeking to correct.”
On Pickard’s argument that the proposed bill will make the Nigerian Production Sharing Contract (PSC) the harshest in the world, despite the so-called high risk environment, the NNPC remarked that such statement is “360 degrees different from verifiable empirical evidence”.
He urged the National Assembly to accelerate the passage of the PIB stating that the country is losing additional revenue of $287 million in accruals to government from the three PSCs every month the PIB is not passed.
“Currently, Nigeria has one of the lowest government take in the world for PSC which stands at 42 per cent whereas the international average worldwide is 75 percent. In Angola, it is 78 per cent, in Norway it is 76 per cent even Ghana which has not even started is proposing about 80 per cent. What is even being proposed under the PIB is 70 per cent which is still less than what Angola is getting today. So how can that be harsh? For 10 years we allowed them to operate the Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, in Bonny without paying a kobo as tax to the government because of a tax holiday all to encourage investment. Now Nigeria wants to maximise its gas potentials to the fullest,” Ajuonuma explained.
He stated that the PIB is seeking to ensure that Nigeria and Nigerians reap the full benefits of their God given resources. “Research shows that 80 per cent out of every one US dollar invested in the oil industry, goes offshore. That is why PIB is talking about local content. Under PIB no oil company can import cooks and stewards from their country to work in Nigeria as expatriates”.
On the claim by Pickard that Shell missed an opportunity to make contributions in good time for the drafting of the bill, the NNPC described the claim as untrue.
“Many nations like UK, Alaska (US), Venezuela, Algeria, Russia, Alberta, Angola etc have changed fiscal system to respond to operational and economic realities without recourse to foreign interest or IOC’s. Yet it is an open secret that both Houses of the National Assembly conducted a robust public hearing to accommodate the ventilation of opinions and comments from all stakeholders,” Ajuonuma added.
Pickard had in her presentation noted that the country’s share of global oil production was also shrinking and has fallen by over 30 per cent since 2005.
She said: “Investment in the industry has been stalled. Final Investment Decisions are not being taken in deepwater and unlike Australia, no new LNG projects have been approved onshore. As a result, other countries are catching up with Nigeria fast.”
“Angola for example has eclipsed Nigeria in performance over the last decade. It has drilled more exploration wells than Nigeria every year since 1999 except one. In 2009 alone, the industry invested $8bn in Angolan deepwater-double the amount invested here. As a result, by 2020 Angolan offshore production is likely to be at least double that of Nigeria,” she added.
Pickard stated that new players are entering the market that will increase competition still further, stressing that Nigeria’s position in global oil and gas markets cannot be taken for granted.
She blamed the country’s abysmal performance to the inability of government to translate all the positives in the industry into a coherent policies and actions.
On the PIB, she said: “The simple, passionately stated priorities of government have been completely lost in a cumbersome document that lacks insight into the very basics of our industry. When I hear comments like ‘we won’t fiscalise criminality’ and we are better of leaving oil in the ground,’ I shudder. The PIB threatens to make the present bad situation worse. If passed in the form currently proposed its mistakes will take years to correct.”
“Nigerians will have to wait longer for the electricity they need to light their homes at night. They will have to wait longer for jobs they need to put food on the family table. The government will have to face difficult choices to balance the budget with less money available for the social services that people need,” she added.
Pickard, however, said she remained optimistic about the future of Nigeria’s oil industry because the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been commissioned by Federal Government to provide an independent objective analysis of the PIB.
“I am sad to be leaving Nigeria. This country has embraced me and given me much. This country has embraced me and given me much. But Australia is an exciting place for oil and gas right now. Investors are committing billions of dollars of new capital. Highly skilled jobs will be created. Technology will be transferred, absorbed and improved,” she said.
Pickard stated that instead of passing the PIB in its present form, the country should put a simple, efficient legislative framework that delivers national priorities and heralds a new era for Nigeria before the President for assent.
The Shell outgoing boss who also spoke at the opening of Shell Town Hall Meeting with selected women leaders in Abuja yesterday disclosed that the company has spent about $100million on security arrangement to protect its oil facilities from attacks by restive youths in the Niger Delta region.
She regretted that the operations of the company has suffered significant set-backs as a result of the militant activities in its areas of operation within the region while women and children in the area who have been mostly at the receiving end during these years of unrests have been subjected to all kinds of deprivations and social dislocation.
According to Pickard, Shell plans to enlist partnership with women leaders under the Shel Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) joint venture to foster development and empowerment of the oil communities.
She said under the programme funds will be provided for development projects and communities would allowed to decide how to deploy such funds to better their lives.
Also speaking at the forum, Shell Country Chair, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, said the company recognises the importance of role women in bringing lasting peace to the troubled oil-rich region, adding that it was for that reason that Shell has invited women to intervene in conflict resolution within its area of operations in the Niger Delta. He said it was high time the women were empowered to play more significant role in deciding the way forward in the effort to restore peace and development in the region.
“Before now, we have been engaging men and other community leaders in talks on how to engenda a peaceful environment for our operations but I think time has come for the women to be availed of the opportunity to contribute their suggestions to eeforts to find lasting solutions to the unrests and agitations in the Niger Delta area,” he said.
Confirming Nigeria’s declining crude production, in his speech, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, disclosed that onshore and shelve oil production had declined from the peak of about 2.5 million bpd in 2005 to approximately 1.5 million bpd this year.
He stated that the country stands the risk of further dwindling supply as the federal government moves to implement its flare out policy. He said local disruption to supply in Nigeria, Iran and Venezuela has almost immediate impact on the global price of oil.
The minister added that the question of security of energy supply was of global concern, as companies around the world believe that energy shortages and higher prices could lead to distabilisation of world economy.
Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Mohammed Barkindo, said in his presentation that the corporation was working with its joint venture partners to initiate more gas projects that would put out flares in the oil fields.
He said government had resorted to facilitating projects that would put out the flares instead of giving deadlines to oil companies.
Original Source: 
Original date published: 24 February 2010
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/201002240811.html?viewall=1