Oil | Grandiose Parlor

For Diezani Allison-Madueke, it’s luck charm & connection

On April 9, 2010 / By Imnakoya / In Governance, Nigeria, Oil / 4 Comments

Deziani Alison-Madueke, Minister for Petroleum

Diezani Allison-Madueke is a beautiful, lucky 50 year old woman if you ask me. Among the the newly commissioned set of federal minsters, Diezani is not unfamiliar with the rigmarole of ascending ministerial desk as she took oath of office: Her newest portfolio at the Petroleum Ministry is her third. Continue reading…

Niger Delta: Yar’Adua calls for international help

On July 9, 2008 / By Imnakoya / In Conflict, Nigeria, Oil / 3 Comments

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua calls for international help on Niger Delta to solve the military crisis in the region.

Nigerian Economist Chudi Chukwuani retorts on VOA:

“The reaction here is that we are at a lost. The call is a clear failure on the part of the government to properly secure our national asset, to protect our sovereignty and our territorial waters. All of us know that the origin of the so-called Niger Delta militancy started from political thuggery.”

Listen in full:

Nigeria: Shut down gas-flaring oil wells!

On June 30, 2008 / By Imnakoya / In Environment, Governance, Nigeria, Oil / 8 Comments

“The Federal Government has said that it is ready to shut in oil wells and lose revenue if that was what would be required to achieve the 2008 gas flares out deadline”, in a statement credited to a senior official of the Department of Petroleum Resources, and reported by the Punch Newspaper.

nigeria gas flare in oil-rich Niger-delta

“The time has come for us to decide whether we are a nation or not. And if we are, we need to take some painful decisions. We should be able to leave these resources for our children unborn if we cannot utilise them today.”

Finally, it appears the government is coming to its senses.

I’m all for this. Just in April, I called for all onshore gas-flaring wells to be shut down until the nation is ready to do what is right.

There will be a loss of revenue, no doubt, and the oil producing companies are quick to point this out: A shut down will “cut Nigeria ’s production by about 870,000 barrels of oil per day, amounting to a revenue loss of $12bn at the price of $40 per barrel.”

But this isn’t too dear a price to pay for doing what’s right. Nigeria shouldn’t put its people in harm’s way and endanger the environment, just for a couple of million of dollars! Simple.

The oil companies have proposed a 2012-deadline for zero flare. In 1993, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) started pursuing the gas flares out policy without success.

Finally someone got the memo that the only option to solving nagging problems is simply to bite the bullet and face the problem head-long.

Shut down the darn wells I say!

On the web: Punch: Gas flares out deadline: FG set to shut oil wells

On Grandiose Parlor: Gas flaring, Niger-delta crisis

Nigeria Niger Delta Burns: Bonga and Escravos oil fields shut.

On June 21, 2008 / By Imnakoya / In Energy, Governance, Nigeria, Oil / 2 Comments

Nigeria crude oil production may decline by as much as 30% as the oil sector suffered two devastating blows on the Bonga and Escravos oilfields. The attacks occurred within the last seven days.

Bonga oil field

Royal Dutch Shell operates the floating Bonga offshore facility that produces about 200,000 barrels per day. Chevron produces 120,000 barrels per day from the Escravos oilfield. The output from the two oil fields is about 20-30% of Nigeria’s total crude oil production, which was about two milion barrels per day before the attacks.

The attack on the Bonga facility, located some 65 miles from land, marks a new era of Niger Delta militancy: It is the first offshore location attacked.

The attacks fields precedes the government plans for the Niger-Delta summit, an exercise designed to find lasting solution to a crisis that has become tougher and more complicated.

Whatever plans president Yar’Adua has for the Niger-Delta, now is the time to fast-track such and ensure it works. The days for mouthing empty policy statements are over, likewise is the era of scoring quick ceasefires and cash settlements.

President Yar’Adua has his job cut out for him, and his administration will now be judged on one yardstick: His ability to not only contain the insurgency, but build an environment in the Niger-Delta that makes militant violence unnecessary and unprofitable.

Yar’Adua and advisers must be focused on one end point: A fail-proof workable solution that addresses the root causes of the problems in the Niger Delta once and for all. This is the only solution.

Gas Flaring: Shut all onshore well rigs…temporarily

On April 6, 2008 / By Imnakoya / In Energy, Nigeria, Oil, Technology / 2 Comments

Natural gas is a by-product of the oil drilling, and Nigeria flares the largest quantity in the world. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) told the House Committee on Petroleum that meeting the government’s target to end gas flaring by 2009 is unrealistic without proper funding.

Even Shell said it would cost about $6 billion USD to end flaring at the 1,000+ wells its owns in Nigeria.

There are no easy options to stopping gas flaring, this has been made clear enough. What would have been the best approach is to use the gas domestically to power electricity plants. Even this comes with a several billion dollar price tag.

May be it’s time to just shut all onshore oil wells until Nigeria is ready to deal with the issue. After all, the people whose lives are being made miserable should matter most than some petrol$$$ or special interest groups…right?

Video below speaks to the issue gas flaring:

Links on Friday - 5

On February 23, 2007 / By Imnakoya / In Africa, Blogosphere, Business and Entrepreneurship, Conflict, Diaspora, Egypt, Environment, Ethiopia, Governance, ICT, Niger, Niger-Delta, Oil, Web 2.0 / 2 Comments

Benn Loxo Du Taccu: Groovy Naija

African Shirts: Plaut and Hearing - Embattled Nigerian Vice President’s interview on World Today

NYT: Egypt: Blogger Gets 4 Years- An Alexandria court sentenced a blogger, Abdel Kareem Nabil, to four years in prison for insulting Islam and Egyptâ€™s president through his Internet writings.

BBC: Oil worker shot dead in Nigeria

Via TechCruch: Tree-Nation is a Barcelona-based entity that wants to plant 8 million trees in Niger, in the shape of a giant heart. Their hope is that this re-forestation campaign will help the environment and the people of the country.Tree Nation

Meskel Square: Where have all the bloggers gone?

African Unchained: Investing in emerging markets

Nigeria: The Niger-Delta Scam

On February 21, 2007 / By Imnakoya / In Conflict, Governance, Niger-Delta, Nigeria, Oil / 7 Comments

If the insurgency in the Nigeria oil rich Niger-delta is allowed to continue unresolved, it will cumulate into a catastrophic event of epic proportions with dire consequences on the socioeconomic and political stability of the nation. This is not a dooms-day prophesy, or a forecast that requires some complicated regression analysis; it’s simple common-sense.

What bothers me most is the nonchalant attitude of those most affected by the event: the state governments and their legislatures (members of the House of Assemblies). It is apparent the feds have given up on the issue, or have simply ran out of workable solutions that could quell the violence, short of heeding the demands of the militia: granting the region more control of the black gold being sucked out of their lands, and the release of their leaders and colleagues locked-up in various jails.

While I do not subscribe to the tactics of the militia in the Niger-delta, I can relate to their circumstances given the devastation oil exploration has brought on their environment, and the relative and disproportionate underdevelopment of the region. However, I wish these militia could see how misguided their actions are.

Cogitations on sociopolitical and economic issues in Nigeria & Africa
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Grandiose Parlor

For Diezani Allison-Madueke, it’s luck charm & connection

Niger Delta: Yar’Adua calls for international help

Nigeria: Shut down gas-flaring oil wells!

Nigeria Niger Delta Burns: Bonga and Escravos oil fields shut.

Gas Flaring: Shut all onshore well rigs…temporarily

Links on Friday - 5

Nigeria: The Niger-Delta Scam

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