ExxonMobil Signs Agreement on 500MW Power Plant

Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited (MPN), operator of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and MPN Joint Venture, has signed a Seller’s Representative Agreement (SRA) for the Qua Iboe Power Project, located at Mobil’s Qua Iboe terminal in Akwa Ibom State.

The proposed power project includes the construction of a 500megawatt-capacity power plant as well as a 56-kilometre transmission line connecting the plant to the national grid at Ikot Abasi, also in the state.

MPN’s General Manager in charge of Public and Government Affairs, Mr. Paul Arinze, said in a statement that the signing of the SRA was “a critical part of the overall commercial framework that enables MPN to undertake power activities and facilitates the sale of power by MPN to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc for itself and on behalf of the NNPC.”

Also speaking on the agreement, the Managing Director of Mobil Producing Nigeria, Mr. Mark Ward, said the project “is a tangible demonstration of MPN’s commitment to Nigeria and supports the president’s priority of providing electricity to the country.”

Nigerian crude oil exports to fall in March

Nigerian crude oil exports are set to fall by around 2.9 percent in March from February in the face of slack demand, data from traders.

Africa's top oil exporter is due to export around 1.95 million barrels per day (bpd) compared with a revised 2.00 million bpd due to be exported in January, provisional shipping list data from traders compiled by Reuters showed.
Nigeria will export around 368,000 barrels per day (bpd) of the benchmark Qua Iboe grade crude oil in March on 12 tankers, down from 407,000 bpd in February when exports were set to recover after dropping in previous months due to a force majeure.
Some 215,000 bpd of Forcados will be exported compared to 244,642 scheduled to be exported in February.
However due to slack demand, not all of the February cargoes attracted buyers and three of the March cargoes were held over from February.
Flows of West African crude are being closely watched as production in the United States and Canada are growing, while demand in Europe is falling due to increased energy efficiency and lacklustre demand.

FAAC: Excess Crude Accounts hits $9.6bn

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) lodged N161.59 billion to the Excess Crude Account (ECA), bringing the new balance to 9.66 billion dollars.
The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Jonah Otunla made this known to reporters at the end of the technical sub-meeting of the FAAC for the month of November.
The accountant-general also commented on the recent demand by the 36 state governors for the withdrawal of one billion dollars from the oil savings account. He said that the federal and state governments would be guided by the “principle of consensus’’ to resolve the matter.
Earlier, Otunla had told reporters that the country’s mineral and non-mineral dropped to N569.46 billion in November compared with N640.76 billion realized the previous month. A breakdown of the figures showed that a total sum of N483.2 billion was generated as revenue from mineral resources, while N86.2 billion was derived from the non-mineral sector. He attributed the drop to several disruptions in crude oil production and lifting operation in the Niger Delta. He noted that during the period a Force Majeure was declared by Exxon Mobil. Otunla said that leakage and fire outbreaks at Trans Niger, crude oil theft and maintenance work at oil terminals at Qua Iboe, Brass and Forcadoes also affected crude oil production.

Mobil Lifts Force Majeure on Qua Iboe Oil Exports

Mobil Producing Nigeria has lifted its force majeure on Qua Iboe crude exports. The oil giant, on November 20, declared the force majeure on oil exports attributing it to the difficulty in meeting projected oil lifting, due to the repair work on a section of its pipeline affected in the November 9 oil release offshore Akwa Ibom.

The force majeure is a legal step that protects a company from liability when it cannot fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control.

The US oil major operates two offshore oil blocks and a 960, 000 barrels per day crude export terminal, off the Akwa Ibom coastline. The company had shut down the affected facility to prevent damage to the environment.

Nigeria plans stable crude oil export from Bonga

There were indications that Nigeria would export five cargoes of Bonga crude in January, the same number of cargoes as December, according to the preliminary loading programme.
Three of the cargoes will be of 997,500 barrels capacity and two of one  million barrels. Also, Nigeria plans to ship four 950,000 barrel cargoes of Usan crude exports for January, one more than December, the loading programme showed.
This is the first shipping plan to be released for Nigeria’s oil exports in January. The other grades, including the country’s benchmark, Qua Iboe, were not yet available. The nations is scheduled to export six cargoes of Bonny Light crude in January, one less than a revised plan for December. The country will also ship two cargoes of EA Blend, one more than is scheduled to load next month, with one of the December shipments deferred until January, a separate programme showed.
The nation plans to export about 2.12 million barrels per day in December, unchanged from volumes in November, which hit a six-month high. Although, the nation experienced a temporary slide in oil productions that was due to floods, but the situation was quickly normalized and oil production was restored to about 2.4 million bpd.