Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 1482 Location: The Post Peak Oil Historian
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:46 pm Post subject: Nigeria oil woes
Nigeria rebels threaten attacks on oil tankers
Rebels from Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta on Thursday warned oil and gas tankers to avoid the region or stand the risk of being attacked.
The rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said in an emailed statement it may conduct further attacks on oil facilities after gunmen caused the shutdown of production at Royal Dutch Shell's <RDSa.L> Bonga offshore oilfield earlier on Thursday.
The country's oil sector which recently witnessed a major setback in its operations following a nationwide strike action by the nation's senior oil workers, otherwise known as Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) following a dispute with ExxonMobil over the sack of some of their members by the oil giant have signified their decision to embark on another strike after talks with Chevron Corporation's local unit collapsed.
A union official who disclosed this said a strike action may start any moment from now as discussions have broken down."The discussions broke down," Jonathan Omare, secretary of the Chevron unit of PENGASSAN, told Bloomberg by phone yesterday. "A strike may start any moment from now," he declared.
SHELL HALTS PRODUCTION AT NIGERIAN OFFSHORE OIL FIELD AFTER ATTACK
Militants attacked Shell's main offshore oilfield in Nigeria on Thursday, forcing the Anglo-Dutch giant to shut down production and raising fears for the security of deep sea facilities in the region.
"We shut down production at the Bonga oilfield following an attack by unknown militants this morning," Shell spokesman Precious Okolobo said.
Bonga lies 120 kilometres (75 miles) offshore and has a daily output capacity of 200,000 barrels of oil and 150 million standard cubic feet of gas.
Separately, a vessel belonging to a French shipping giant Bourbon, sub-contracted by oil firms to ferry equipment and personnel, came under attack on Thursday from unknown assailants in the same area of Bonga, oil sector and diplomatic sources said.
Two Nigerians, the captain and an engineer on the vessel were wounded in the attack, they said.
The Shell attack set alarm bells ringing in oil circles as such facilities had been previously considered out of the reach of the armed groups who stage regular raids on installations closer to shore.
"It's very, very worrying," one oil company executive told AFP. "They've hit at the zone most likely to be able to guarantee production. That means that there's no longer any limit on attacks".
Just a few months earlier NNPC's spokesman Levi Ajuonuma had described Nigeria's offshore fields as "the thing that saves us".
link _________________ In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell
Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 1943 Location: kiwibush
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 4:57 pm Post subject: Re: Nigeria oil woes
Its a bloody disgrace that Nigeria's resources are carried off to the West so that the fat asses over here can galavant around in their SUV's, it's down right shameful however that we have meddled in their politics to the degree that the poor buggers are now landed with these clowns running the show. _________________ Bugger me, I hear oil's runnin out mate!
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 5:13 pm Post subject: Re: Nigeria oil woes
americandream wrote:
Its a bloody disgrace that Nigeria's resources are carried off to the West so that the fat asses over here can galavant around in their SUV's, it's down right shameful however that we have meddled in their politics to the degree that the poor buggers are now landed with these clowns running the show.
I have only been on this earth 25 years but I am pretty sure Africa has been in shambles since it was created. Long before the US was even the US.
Joined: Apr 12, 2007 Posts: 1172 Location: Central NC
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 5:20 pm Post subject: Re: Nigeria oil woes
joeltrout wrote:
americandream wrote:
Its a bloody disgrace that Nigeria's resources are carried off to the West so that the fat asses over here can galavant around in their SUV's, it's down right shameful however that we have meddled in their politics to the degree that the poor buggers are now landed with these clowns running the show.
I have only been on this earth 25 years but I am pretty sure Africa has been in shambles since it was created. Long before the US was even the US.
joeltrout
So how does that release the current perps from responsibility?
Give me a break. _________________ "The era of procrastination, of half-measures, of soothing and baffling expedients, of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences…"
Sir Winston Churchill
Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 1943 Location: kiwibush
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 7:25 pm Post subject: Re: Nigeria oil woes
joeltrout wrote:
americandream wrote:
Its a bloody disgrace that Nigeria's resources are carried off to the West so that the fat asses over here can galavant around in their SUV's, it's down right shameful however that we have meddled in their politics to the degree that the poor buggers are now landed with these clowns running the show.
I have only been on this earth 25 years but I am pretty sure Africa has been in shambles since it was created. Long before the US was even the US.
joeltrout
I'm sure that comforts you at night. Incidentally thats whats the English used as an excuse to screw the Irish for a thousand years. _________________ Bugger me, I hear oil's runnin out mate!
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 5:33 am Post subject: Re: Nigeria oil woes
So next month the Saudi's are supposedly preparing to add 200,000 bpd of either their heavy crude or new medium Khursaniyah crude. Meanwhile Nigeria is losing 200,000 bpd of offshore Bonny light. Not a very good trade.
But oil prices are down because the Chinese are reducing their subsidies. As an analyst on the BBC put it last night, people forget that the Chinese subsidies and price restrictions for refiners make it unprofitable for their refiners to produce. By increasing prices, they are also raising prices paid to their refiners. Since they've had quite a shortage problem recently in China, there's some reason to believe that the change might increase their consumption of oil.
At some point, I'm betting this drop in prices will be seen as a miscalculation and the promise of more hard to refine Saudi oil vs. the reality of less easy to refine Nigerian oil will carry the day. I think the $11 per barrel jump a few weeks ago was just this sort of snapping back to reality.
Posted: Fri Jun 20, 2008 4:38 pm Post subject: Re: Nigeria oil woes
americandream wrote:
joeltrout wrote:
americandream wrote:
Its a bloody disgrace that Nigeria's resources are carried off to the West so that the fat asses over here can galavant around in their SUV's, it's down right shameful however that we have meddled in their politics to the degree that the poor buggers are now landed with these clowns running the show.
I have only been on this earth 25 years but I am pretty sure Africa has been in shambles since it was created. Long before the US was even the US.
joeltrout
I'm sure that comforts you at night. Incidentally thats whats the English used as an excuse to screw the Irish for a thousand years.
2. Africa, in particular Zimbabwe, was the breadbasket of Africa under the British, until the 1960's - Look at it now.
3. Yes, the English did screw the Irish, but nearly 1000 years ago, we english then were a recently conquered nation ourselves, and before that, Romans & Vikings did the same to "us" - the Silurians, Iceni, etc.
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