Reps to probe Alison-Madueke, NNPC, Shell, others over $750m oil deals

House of Representatives is to probe Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dieziani Alison-Madueke, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Ltd, Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept, Septa Energy Ltd and some other entities over their alleged involvement in illegal allocation of seven oil blocs in the Niger Delta.
The loss to government from the said oil bloc deals amounts to $750 million.
The House decided to probe key players in the deals following a motion brought under Matters of Urgent National Importance by Victor Afam Ogene, who, while introducing the issue, cited Order viii, Rule 46/Rule 49 of the House to support his position. Ogene in the motion drew the attention of the House to last week’s protest staged at the National Assembly complex by representatives of oil-producing ethnic nationalities from Delta State. The protesters had alleged fraudulent allocation of some marginal oil fields, including oil mining leases (OMLs) 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 41 and 42.
The House at the end of the debate resolved that an ad-hoc committee be raised to handle the probe. The committee is to be given four weeks to conduct its investigations and report back to the House in plenary.

KazMunaiGas to boost reserves with $10 billion

KazMunaiGas, Kazakhstan's second-largest oil producer, said it would invest 1.5 trillion tenge ($9.9 billion) in exploration in the next 10 years as it aims to nearly double its reserves of crude oil and gas condensate.

KazMunaiGas Chief Executive Officer Lyazzat Kiinov said the company's current reserves stood at over 800 million tonnes of liquid hydrocarbons.

Larger reserves would boost the market value of KazMunaiGas and increase its output, Kiinov said. The company has said it plans to raise annual oil output by 60 percent to 35.4 million tonnes by 2022.

Kazakhstan, the second-largest post-Soviet oil producer after Russia and home to 3 percent of the world's recoverable oil reserves, plans to boost oil output to 82 million tonnes this year from 79.2 million tonnes in 2012.

KazMunaiGas controls London-listed KazMunaiGas Exploration Production (KMG EP), whose output and financial results are consolidated in the results of the parent company.

Kiinov did not say where the company would raise the funds to finance its exploration projects.

Oil slips to $103 on tepid growth outlook

Brent crude oil slipped to $103 per barrel as an uncertain outlook for growth in the world's two largest oil consumers, the United States and China.
Oil rallied from nine-month lows on expectations that stronger global economic activity would encourage more fuel consumption, but disappointing data capped the recovery.
Brent lost 16 cents to $103.00 per barrel. U.S. crude was up 15 cents at $93.15 a barrel.
Brent is more than 6 percent below its starting point in April, pressured by data suggesting the global economy remains on a fragile footing at best.

NERC Extends Tenure for Electricity Licences to 25 Years

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has revealed its intention to extend by additional 15 years, operational licences granted to companies that operate in the Nigeria’s Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

NERC said that the new provision had become necessary as it sought to mitigate the various operational risks associated with licences with short lifespan such as what it had granted to existing operators in the country’s power sector.

To this end, the commission explained that it would now guarantee a 25-year maximum tenure for licences it issues to companies engaged in electricity businesses in the country, after which further renewal of the licences could be granted upon due consideration.