Nigerian News De Jour - April 2, 1997
Mobolaji E. Aluko
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Nigerian News De Jour - Wednesday 2 April 1997
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COUNTING THE COSTS: UNREST THREATENS OIL EXPORTS
The communal unrest in Warri has cut daily crude output by at least 10
percent and threatened imminent disruption to exports as a result of
several installations damaged by villagers involved in local government
disputes. Shell, which produces about half Nigeria's daily output of 2.15
million barrels, and state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) said exports would be disrupted if repairs done to oil installations
were not effected soon. ``There are no cancellations yet, but if things
continue beyond where they are today there will be cancellations,'' an NNPC
official said. Nigeria depends on crude exports for more than 90 percent
of its foreign exchange earnings. Shell had warned customers that it may be
forced to cancel or delay exports early this month unless it could restore
the 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) of production lost almost two weeks ago.
``If we are talking about a possible force majeure from April 3, then
clearly we need to resume production quickly to avoid that,'' a Shell
official said. Shell had hoped for a swift and peaceful resolution to the
crisis which began when Ijaw villagers took 127 staff and contractors
hostage at six pumping stations west of the Niger river. World oil prices
edged higher on news of the threat of reduced exports from Nigeria, the
fifth largest producer in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) and a key supplier to refineries in the United States, Europe and
Asia. Benchmark Brent Blend crude oil from the North Sea gained 11 cents to
$19.40 a barrel by 1208 GMT. But industry sources said oil prices were
partially insulated by ample alternative supplies, most notably from Iraq
and the North Sea, and by an overhang of unsold Nigerian crude in late
March. Nearly two million barrels of Nigerian Forcados crude, the export
stream most affected by the disturbances, were handed back to Nigeria
earlier this month by term customers unable to sell them profitably in a
weakening market. ``We are hoping to resume production as soon as possible
but the first step is to repair the flow stations damaged,'' said a Shell
official. In the absence of detailed information about damage to the flow
stations, the oil company was unable to say how quickly it would be able to
return production to normal levels after the occupations ended.
SHELL PLEDGES TO RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT
Shell has explicitly written respect for human rights and the environment
into its new internal code of conduct, the company's Dutch Chairman, Cor
Herkstroeter, has announced. In a paragraph on the group's
responsibilities towards society in general, Shell subsidiaries pledge to
"express their support for the fundamental rights of the individual,
provided this falls within the context of the company's legitimate role".
The code also contains an undertaking to "strive to contribute to
sustainable global development". The group recognises the need to be
answerable to society for its actions, but also to its shareholders,
clients, employees and business partners, these five categories being
"indissociably linked". Shell believes that respect for human rights
should apply first and foremost to its own collaborators, while the
multinational's ecological fibre is above all emphasised in the paragraph
on clients, who must be supplied with "reliable products that are "as
environmentally friendly as is possible". In a speech to students at
Rotterdam's Erasmus University, Mr Herkstroeter was at pains to stress that
such concerns are no novelty, and that for twenty years Shell has
consistently renewed its code of conduct. The Chairman pointed out that
through its activities, Shell has always been conscious of the finite
nature of fossil fuels, and that its interest in sustainable development is
not therefore a fad. Shell has been criticised by human rights
organisations over recent years for its attitude towards the political
situation in Nigeria, and more recently by ecological organisations for its
plans to dump the Brent Spar oil platform at sea.
POLICE MAN KEY POINTS AS CURFEW RESTORES ORDER TO WARRI
Riot police continue to man strategic points in the city of Warri, where
the authorities imposed a curfew at the weekend following a week of
violence which left four dead. Markets and local businesses re-opened this
morning in the first sign of a return of calm after the unrest, sparked by
tensions between rival ethnic groups over government plans to switch the
location of local government offices. Leaders of the two feuding
communities continue to trade accusations on the pages of newspapers while
attempting to curry favour with the federal military government which
initiated the changes that sparked the disturbances. State owned Daily
times reported an "uneasy calm in Warri," but noted that 400 riot police
were still deployed around the city at key points.
CANADIAN OIL COMPANY TO EXPLOIT NIGERIAN OIL RESERVED VALUED AT $1b
NTI Resources Ltd., a small Calgary-based oil exploration company with
some big targets in Mongolia and Nigeria, has attracted much investor
interest in recent weeks. However, it is also raising more than a few
eyebrows among oil and gas analysts who wonder if the company merits such
a hefty market capitalisation. More than 4.6 million NTI shares changed
hands on the Alberta Stock Exchange in a single session when they resumed
trading after a seven-week halt. The shares rocketed from an opening quote
of 80 cents to close at $2.16. They have almost quadrupled since then. The
shares rose 15 cents yesterday to $8.20 -- more than 10 times their
pre-halt trading price. NTI's market cap on a fully diluted basis is $1.1
billion. Although analysts concede the firm's concessions are promising,
they say it is too early to call NTI a billion-dollar company. One
analyst, who asked not to be named, said the stock is ``significantly
over-valued''. Canaccord Capital Corp.'s Allan Knowles says it would be
reasonable to expect a company with NTI's market cap to have between 350
million and 400 million barrels of proven reserves. NTI has not given any
reserve estimates from its new OPL 460 concession in the Niger Delta, 25
kilometres off the coast of southern Nigeria. Drilling at five discovery
wells led to two ``significant hydrocarbon discoveries,'' at the property,
the company said this month. The project is a joint venture with junior
partner Peak Petroleum Industries Nigeria Ltd. Under their deal, NTI would
be entitled to 40% of the long-term proceeds from a first well and 30%
from any further wells. Another analyst said in order for NTI to net 350
million barrels -- and justify its current market cap -- the production at
the property would need to reach about a billion barrels. ``The stock has
raced ahead of itself,'' said Pacific international Securities Inc.
analyst Dick Oddy. ``Basically, it's all long-term potential.'' NTI
intends to have an exploratory drill on the site this summer and has
extensive seismic data on the property, according to NTI president
Chu-King Eng. The company is also exploring for oil in the Tamtsag basin
of northeastern Mongolia. Eng said the stock had been rising even before
the Nigerian concession was acquired. He said investors were likely just
as interested in the Mongolian concessions. But analysts say the stock is
clearly moving on excitement over the Nigerian concession.
NIGERIAN ECOMOG SOLDIERS BANNED FROM MARRYING LIBERIANS
Nigerian soldiers serving in the West African peacekeeping troops, Ecomog,
in Liberia have been warned not to marry Liberian women or risk being
discharged from the military, Major General Victor Malu, the force
commander who is a Nigerian has said. Malu spoke against the backdrop of
scores of children fathered by Nigerian soldiers from Liberian mothers.
``When I came to Liberia there was an association of Nigerian children and
they were recognised by Ecomog, but they can jump into the lagoon`` Malu
added. Nigerian soldiers constitute the majority of the 10,000 troops that
intervened in 1990 in the Liberian civil war. The war has now ended and
election to choose a new president is slated for May. State owned Daily
Times newspaper said the federal government was planning a census of
hundreds of children fathered by its soldiers in Liberia.
________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Olaiya E. Aina
Hey:
I have two American friends visiting (busines strip) Nigeria in
June/July. They want to know whether there is any car rental in
Nigeria.
Does anyone know?
Thanks,
Olaiya.
--
DR. Olaiya Emmanuel AINA,
Dept. of Elementary & Early Childhood Education,
University of Charleston,
Charleston, S.C.,
USA 29424
Phone & Voice: (803) 727-2006 (H)
Fax #: (803) 953-5407
Office #: (803) 953-7629
Email Adds: ai...@cofc.edu OR ai...@usa.net
Homepage on WWW: http://www.cofc.edu/~ainae
"IF WE STAND TALL, IT IS BECAUSE WE STAND ON THE BACKS OF THOSE WHO HAVE
GONE BEFORE US"
Dr. Olaiya E. Aina
Netters:
Ottawa pulls top diplomat from Nigeria
________________________________________________________________________
Ottawa
Canada’s top diplomat in Nigeria was spirited out of the country
Wednesday as Ottawa suspended diplomatic operations in the wake of
allegations that Canada is “fomenting terrorism” there.
The announcement was held back until acting high commissioner Janet
Graham, the sole Canadian left at the mission, and her husband were
safely on a plane en route to Ottawa.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy denounced the terrorism
allegations by ministers and officials of Nigeria’s military regime as
“totally outrageous propaganda.”
In an interview form California, he said the charges are aimed at
Canada because of the government’s high-profile attempts to garner
international support for sanctions in light of gross human rights
violations in the West African nation of 93.3 million people.
The U.S. embassy has taken over management of consular affairs for the
more than 500 Canadians who live in Nigeria.
The suspension came as Nobel prize-winning writer Wole Soyinka, in
exile in California, and 11 other Nigerian dissidents, most still living
in Nigeria, were charged with treason in connection with a series of
recent bomb blasts on army buses.
Cheers,
PHD-LAB
Hi,
There are some car rentals operating in many of the big cities. The only
one I can remember right now is Avis-Rent-A-Car operated by John Holt
Nigeria plc. If I can lay my hands on their address/phone numbers, I will
do a follow-up.
Cheers.
In article <3343EF...@cofc.edu>, ai...@cofc.edu says...
>
>Hey:
>
>I have two American friends visiting (busines strip) Nigeria in
>June/July. They want to know whether there is any car rental in
>Nigeria.
>
>Does anyone know?
>
>Thanks,
>