India Replaces US as Largest Importer of Nigeria’s Crude

Crude Carrier vessel

China, Malaysia also amongst top importers

Chineme Okafor  

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday disclosed that India had displaced Nigeria’s longest and largest crude oil importer, the United States of America (USA) from its status as the top importer of Nigeria’s crude.

The NNPC also stated that China and Malaysia are closely next in the rank of top export destinations of Nigeria’s crude oil.

The corporation stated in a statement signed by its Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Ohi Alegbe, in Abuja that the United States which had traditionally taken the bulk of Nigeria’s crude oil but had in recent months drastically reduced its demand now takes just about 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) of the country’s crude oil.

It, however, explained that India now purchases some 30 per cent of Nigeria’s daily crude production which currently hovers around 2.5 million barrels per day (mbpd); when calculated, this amounts to 750,000bpd of crude oil purchased by India.

Alegbe quoted the Coordinator, Corporate Planning and Strategy of NNPC, Dr. Tim Okon, to have said at the ongoing 21st World Petroleum Congress in Moscow, Russia that the Asian countries had since replaced the United States in this regard.

Okon however explained that irrespective of the development, Nigeria would not ignore any market in its quest to remain competitive in the global oil and gas industry.

Just recently, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, who was incidentally represented at an official function by Okon, had disclosed that Nigeria no longer holds any tangible trade in crude oil with the United States of America, following the shale oil boom in the United States.

The minister explained at an interactive forum on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which is awaiting passage at the National Assembly that such development should as a matter of fact spur Nigerians to impress it on the legislators to pass the PIB as soon as possible.

She added that the delay in the passage of the PIB has not only impeded growth of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector but kept key decisions for the sector from been made.

Okon however said in Moscow that: “Asia is important and in that respect we have regards for all markets; the important thing is to make sure that you are selling the products that you have and you do not ignore any market.”

He equally noted that Nigeria’s participation in the congress was to access global business opportunities in the petroleum industry especially in the gas sub-sector as it seeks to position herself as a major competitor in the global hydrocarbon market.
Okon noted that as a natural resource rich country, Nigeria is working hard to do a better job in developing such resources and translating them to the wider economy.

He stressed that the country does not have preferential markets for its products and that PIB needs to be passed into law to enable the country to maximise its potentials in the oil and gas industry.

“I cannot talk about future incentives if the principal law that would give birth to it has not been passed but I want to say that the general intention is that Nigeria must compete in the market place and our fiscal systems are designed to be competitive that would lead to good outcomes for the country.

It is always helpful to do things in a timely manner and that is an important point to stress. Many of the countries that were trying to get new legislations passed like Ghana, Brazil, Mozambique and even Uganda have passed their legislation. So, I think timeliness is of the essence,” Okon stated.  

The World Petroleum Congress is often regarded as the biggest congregation of oil and gas experts on the global stage; it consists of exhibitions and break-out conference.

The NNPC noted that Nigeria’s participation at the global oil sector gathering was anchored on the theme “Harnessing Nigeria’s Gas Resources for Sustainable National and Regional Development.”

Nigeria ’ll soon have no major market to sell crude

As Nigeria continues to export her crude oil to major consumers in the world, President, Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, NMGS, Prof. Clifford Teme, in this interview with GABRIEL EWEPU, said soon the country will have no major importer of its crude, he therefore urged the government to diversify the economic base to solid minerals development.

Can you tell Nigerians briefly about your organisation?

My organisation is known as Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society, NMGS, and was founded on the 15th of January, 1961, but was inaugurated in December 17, 1962 in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, present day Enugu State.

At the point of inauguration, the President-General of Nigeria, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, became the patron, and since that time every other President or head of state had become patron of the association till date.

President Goodluck Jonathan is currently the patron of the association, and is one of the few societies in the country that has Mr. President as the patron, because no society in the country has such privilege to have the President as the patron.

What necessitated the establishment of this society?

When you are moving around, you see hills and rocks, these things contain a lot of minerals. Minerals are elements that build up all these rocks, and when you get these minerals well extracted, it gives rise to so many things, even gold. That is why the regional people now form the association. Now when they formed it, they formed it with metallurgists.

Metallurgists are those who go and wean these materials and put them in proper shape for commercial quantities. Initially it was called Nigeria Mining Metallurgical and Geological Society, but later on it was shortened to Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society.

We are here to extract the natural resources of the country from crude oil to solid minerals. Crude oil is an asset and number one consumer, America, has been playing tricks with us for a long time.

When they buy from us, they accumulate and they don’t use and they now have three times what we have. Now they are arranging with China to buy their own. So we don’t have anybody to buy our own, except some minor countries.

You see that it will affect the economy, that is why we are now going towards the solid minerals industry, which is the mainstay of countries, like Australia, South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, and others. They don’t have oil but they are managing.

Are you saying Nigeria should diversify its economy?

Yes, and we want to be in compliance with Mr. President’s transformation agenda.

Can you explain more about the transformation agenda in the minerals and metals sector?

The one that is very obvious that affects everyday life, is the production of power (electricity), and coal is the primary source of electricity apart from solar, wind, and so on. Many countries in this world use coal, like United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, and others use coal.

Talking about illegal miners, it is a serious menace in the mining sector, what is the NMGS doing to address the trend?

It is just like a cankerworm or cancer, and in one of our council meetings, we took a decision, and said if you pursue them you can’t win them, so we now made them to be recognised. Instead of calling them illegal miners, we call them artisanal miners and we give them certificates that makes them proud. COMEG is fighting and needs more people on the field to monitor, and in the next five years there will be no illegal miners.

As an organisation what are you doing to woo investors into the solid minerals sector?

Now that the news has gone round that crude oil will not be the order of the day, there are investors in this country everyday struggling to get a mining lease. They are trying to share the whole country into a mining lease, and they cannot share the country without knowing what is in the ground.

Do you think Nigeria has the manpower in the mining sector to harness the huge solid mineral resources?

We do have the manpower. We have 35 universities in this country producing geologists. Assuming every school produce 50 geologists, you can imagine the number.

Do you have data on young geologists employed in the mining sector?

The mining sector is just coming up again, so I cannot give the accurate figure because the number is increasing, and any number I give today can change tomorrow.

How are you regulating mining activities not to have negative impact on the people in host communities?
What we are doing now is, before you can mine, you have to study and find where the minerals are by drilling holes and by looking at core materials.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/04/nigeria-ll-soon-major-market-sell-crude-teme/#sthash.fggKlFxv.dpuf

Alison-Madueke: Nigeria No Longer Has Tangible Oil Trade with US

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke

By Chineme Okafor 

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has stated that Nigeria no longer has any tangible trade in crude oil with the United States of America, following the shale oil boom in the country.

Alison-Madueke said this yesterday at an interactive forum on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) which is awaiting passage at the National Assembly. She warned that the development should spur Nigerians to impress it on the legislature to pass the PIB as soon as possible.

The minister said this just as the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Dakuku Peterside, also disclosed that the National Assembly would in its consideration of the bill expunge a certain provision that allows ministerial discretion in granting extension to the three-year deadline to end gas flaring after the PIB is passed.

Represented by the Group Coordinator, Corporate Strategy and Planning of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Timothy Okon, the minister explained at the meeting with various groups in the Nigerian labour movement led by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), that the delay in the passage of the PIB had not only impeded growth of the oil and gas sector but had kept key decisions for the sector from being made.
The meeting was organised by United Consult Ltd to educate Nigeria’s labour unions on the content and implications of the PIB.

She said: “It is my firm belief that the PIB will put the petroleum sector on the path of robust growth. We anticipate that initiatives such as gas price reform, gas commercialisation framework and gas infrastructure are aspects of the bill that provide the basis for a vibrant economy.

“The global economy is changing and Nigeria must adopt a sustainable economic strategy. I know many of you must have heard of the shale gas and the shale oil revolution. This has literally knocked out Nigeria from the export of oil to the US.”

“So Nigeria must adopt new strategies. We must change our ways and policies that we may hold dear which may cause us economic stress in the future. This market called shale oil and gas has resulted in Nigeria seeking new markets for its oil.

“Nigeria needs to be economically competitive. And from the end of the petroleum sector, Nigeria needs to be energy competitive, and to be energy competitive, we must adopt policies that enhance the standing of the petroleum sector,” the minister added.

She equally noted that from the 1970s when the critical pipeline network that transports petroleum products in the country was built, no investment had been committed to improve on it until the present government initiated projects to upgrade and add to the network.

The minister added that inasmuch as crude oil continues to account for almost 80 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue earnings, the country must adopt reform strategies to keep the sector productive.
“These strategies have proven to be successful in the power sector and Nigeria is on the way of accessing capital investment in that sector. This sector is one of the sectors that will restore Nigeria's industrial capacity for job opportunities for all.

"So I would like to stress the importance of natural resources in economic transformation, and also it is important to diversify the economy to other important sectors,” she said.

While Nigeria’s export of oil to the US has significantly dropped, Argentina was reported to have recently ordered the country’s Bonny Light crude, with the first cargo expected to have arrived at the country’s Bahia Blanca Port in the first week of last month.

Argentina’s state-run oil company, YPF, had awarded a tender to buy a one million-barrel cargo of Bonny Light crude.
Meanwhile, Peterside who in his remarks, decried what he called the seeming lack of interest in the PIB by Nigerians, stated that the National Assembly committees working on the bill were taking time to come out with a comprehensive bill.

He reiterated the pledge made by the leadership of the National Assembly that the PIB would be passed into law before the end of the seventh session, adding: “We earn almost 80 per cent of our revenue from the oil industry and so any bill for the sector must be thorough and handled with the greatest amount of diligence and so the question should be how this will benefit us.”

Peterside added that gas flaring must stop three years after the passage of the PIB, irrespective of the ministerial exemption contained in the bill.

“In fact, the National Assembly is going to expunge that aspect that says operators can seek for an extension in gas flaring from the minister,” he said.