Over half-billion dollars’ worth of crude oil is floating off the Venezuelan coast following US sanctions in January. According to World Oil, the country seems to be running out of space to store its sanction-stained crude forcing it to reduce output at a time when the world is thirsty for heavy, sulfurous oil. Tankers holding 8.36 million barrels of Venezuelan crude worth upwards of a half-billion dollars remain off its coast. Apparently, an armada of 16 ships holding cargoes belonging to state Oil Company Petroleos de Venezuela, Chevron, Valero Energy and Rosneft Oil were still on hold according to shipping reports and ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/venezuela-struggles-to-store-half-billion-dollars-of-sanctioned-oil/

Chevron Nigeria Limited recently advised the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN to direct issues concerning employees of its contractors to the contractors themselves because it has no business with internal matters of its contractors. This is in response to the MWUN 21-day ultimatum directing it to make a list of all the maritime companies providing marine services for Chevron for the purpose of unionizing their employees. In a statement signed by the General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs, Chevron, Esimaje Brikinn, the firm stated, “Chevron Nigeria Limited, operator of the joint venture between

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/we-dont-interfere-in-contractors-affairs-chevron-tells-mwun/

Crude oil exports from Nigeria and other West African Countries are expected to rise in March, a recent report by Reuters stated. For Nigeria, exports of her largest oil grades, Qua Iboe, is expected to rise to 253, 000 barrels per day from 215, 000 bdp in March. Bonny Light exports will rise to around 242, 000 bpd from 174, 000 bpd in March. There was however no a change in the price of Qua Iboe as it remained $1.85 to dated Brent from levels of last week. Reuters stated that West African crude differentials held steady on Monday, as Nigerian loading programmes were still emerging and an industry event in London kept activity muted.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/nigerias-crude-oil-grades-set-to-rise-in-march/

As the imports of US crude oil into Asia rises, the sale of crude oil from Nigeria and other West African countries may suffer in the months ahead due to strong competition, traders say. A crude oil trader was quoted by Punch as saying “What is more worrying is a structural change in the supply of US crude to Asia. It seems like more Asian buyers are increasingly terming US crude,” For Nigeria, this development comes when the country is struggling to clear its crude. Offer levels were said to be too high for several weeks shoving off European buyers.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/u-s-oil-exports-pose-strong-competition-to-nigeria-others/

Data released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC has shown that the Federal Government paid a total of N1.628 trillion in the joint venture cash call from January to November 2018. According to the corporation, dollar allocation to the joint venture cash call account took about $3.17billion while the naira took N496.703 billion. The corporation owns about 55 per cent of the joint venture, JV with shell and 60 per cent of all others which are funded by private oil companies as well as the federal government.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/fg-paid-n1-62tn-cash-call-in-11-months-says-nnpc/

Nigeria could consider a reduction in crude oil production in support of efforts to shore up the price of crude oil, President Muhammadu Buhari has said. Receiving the Special Envoy of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Minister of State for African Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Mr. Ahmad Qattan, in Abuja at the State house recently, Buhari expressed the country’s support for the reduction of output to boost prices. The president was quoted by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/buhari-says-nigeriall-consider-reduction-in-crude-oil-output/

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC recently disclosed that it supplied a total of 19,437,894,096.06 billion litres of petroleum products into the Nigerian downstream sector through its Direct Sales Direct Purchase, DSDP programme. The report was as released for the period of November 2017 and November 2018. According to the report, out of the total volume of petroleum supplied through the DSDP in the 13 months under review, the volume of petrol supplied was the highest and amounted to 19,242,475,780.64 litres while kerosene was 195,418,316.02.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/we-supplied-19-billion-litres-of-petrol-in-13-months-nnpc/

Deregulation would provide the right market template for investors and ensure maximization of investments. This was the consensus reached by some operators in the Nigerian’s downstream and midstream petroleum sector, recently. The operators said deregulation is critical to the viability and sustainability of existing and planned refineries.

Read more at https://theoilbloc.com/stakeholders-advocate-deregulation-for-viable-refineries-downstream-sector/

Some cooking gas marketers under the aegis of the Nigerian Association Of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers NALPGAM lost multi-billion naira investments following the postponement of the Nigerian general elections. This was revealed by the Executive Secretary of the association, Mr Bassey Essien who described the action by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC as hasty and not good. Essien said “The supply process of the cooking gas distribution chain on a daily basis involves several billions of naira investments and was affected by the postponement of the elections.”

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/election-postponement-costs-gas-marketers-billion-naira-investments/

The US has finally given Venezuela a clear escape route from its current sanctions which is fast crippling the South American country’s oil sector. But the solution is not going to come on a silver platter. The solution according to reports by international media might be to show Maduro the door as the Trump administration recently told Venezuela’s state-owned oil giant, Petroleos de Venezuela SA and President Nicholas Maduro’s associates to help bring down the authoritarian leader Maduro according to Bloomberg. “Those who take concrete actions to restore democratic order in the country will have sanctions lifted from

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/bring-down-maduro-end-sanctions-us-tells-venezuela/

It appears India is attempting to defy warnings issued by the United States to countries not to buy Venezuela’s oil amid the country’s current political mayhem. India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a strong statement signaling its dismay over the US pressure tactic, according to Sputnik News. The U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton, last week, issued warnings to countries and companies not to buy crude oil from Venezuela. His warning came following Latin American country’s Oil Minister Manuel Quevedo said during a visit to India that Venezuela wants to sell more oil to the Indian market.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/india-likely-to-defy-us-warning-against-oil-trade-with-venezuela/

The Abuja zonal office of Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR reportedly closed down 10 illegal plants selling liquefied petroleum gas, LPG commonly called domestic or cooking gas within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and its environs. The move is to reduce the incident of gas explosion in the state. Leadership reported that at least 10 plants were sealed by the agency in the first week of February adding that Intent Energy located along the Yanyan Abuja Expressway was one of the sealed plant.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/dpr-shuts-down-10-illegal-gas-plants-in-abuja/

The Turkish Government and investors from the country are interested in Cameroon’s energy sector’s production and distribution of electricity. This was disclosed by Turkey’s Ambassador to Cameroon, Ayse Sarac, during a courtesy visit to Cameroon’s Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Gaston Eloundou Essomba. Investing in Cameroon’s water and energy sector has much potential and would benefit Turkey, according to Eloundou Essomba.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/turkey-moves-to-express-interest-in-cameroons-energy-sector/

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu recently appraised and unveiled the achievements made by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). One of the outstanding achievements according to the minister was the establishment of technologies that will track online/real time of production volumes from the oil fields, terminals, the vessels taking them out for exports and their destinations. The technology enables the Federal Government to know oil production, tracks movement of vessels bringing in petroleum products and ensuring there is no round-tripping of imports and sharp practices which substantially push up the estimated daily fuel consumption in the country, according to DPR which currently monitors 19 oil fields online.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/?p=2675&preview_id=2675&preview_nonce=47c635f4d2&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=2680

The Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Countries, OPEC Mohammed Barkindo has enjoined members of the group and its 10 allies to join hands together to achieve their agreed output cut goals. Barkindo mentioned that initial production and supply data from the 24 participating countries showed various levels of conformity and urged them to implement these cuts in full and in timely fashion. Members had agreed in their last meeting in Vienna to slash output by 812,000 barrels per day with Russia and nine other non-OPEC allies committing to a cut of 383,000 barrels for the first six months of 2019.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/barkindo-seeks-opec-members-cooperation-in-achieving-output-cuts/

Sufficiency in domestic gas supply may be attained soon as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has taken the Final Investment Decision (FID) on the 4.3 trillion-cubit Assa North/Ohaji South Fields development. The investment decision on the field located in oil mining lease (OML 21), was made by the corporation on Wednesday, 14 years since negotiations began according to Premium Times. The field is operated by NNPC and its Joint Venture partners – Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Total Exploration and Production Nigeria (TEPNG) and Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/nnpc-takes-final-decision-on-assa-gas-field/

Ever wondered what goes into constructing and designing a transmission pipeline? From routing to coating and construction, pipeline construction takes a whole lot. Learn more in this video by CPA-About pipeline. See the short video here: https://theoilbloc.com/pipeline-construction-and-design/

Plans have been concluded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNEPC to take a Final Investment Decision, FID, on the $10 Bonga South West Aparo project. An undisclosed industry source told Vanguard Newspaper that “SNEPCO, NNPC, and others involved in the Bonga South West Aparo development have reached agreement on the key commercial terms necessary to move the development forward.” “This agreement covers related production sharing contract interpretation disputes. It also sets an incentivizing and fair framework for developing this world-class opportunity while further opportunities in the prolific Nigerian Deep-Water Oil and gas industry.

Read more at https://theoilbloc.com/nnpc-snepco-move-to-consider-fid-on-10bn-bonga-south-west-apora-project/

The governments of Uganda and Tanzania have agreed to sign the Host Government Agreement (HGA) for the East Africa crude oil pipeline construction by the end of June 2019. Ministers from both countries have engaged in prolonged discussions and negotiations before the agreement was finally reached recently. According to Daily News, The HGA will detail the rights and obligations of each party ―which include Uganda, Tanzania, and joint venture partners, Cnooc, Total E&P, and Tullow Oil.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/uganda-tanzania-closer-to-constructing-east-africa-pipeline/

South Sudan Oil Minister, Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth has said that the country is looking to boost oil production to more than 350,000 barrels per day by 2020. This projection is more than its current projection which stands at about 140,000 bpd. He said “We used to produce 350,000 to 400,000 bpd. We expect to go back to those levels by the middle of next year”.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/south-sudan-hopes-to-boost-oil-production-to-350000bpd-by-2020/

Chevron has announced plans to set greenhouse gas emissions target. The company stated this in a recent update of its March 2018 climate report. A greenhouse gas absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range. Increased greenhouse gases cause global warming including ocean acidification, smog pollution, ozone depletion as well as changes to plant growth and nutrition levels. Chevron considered the greenhouse emission target after discussions with investors and other stakeholders.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/chevron-plans-to-set-greenhouse-emission-target/

Italy and Greece have refused to buy Iran’s crude despite having obtained U.S. waivers to continue importing the country’s oil. Iran’s Oil Minister, Bijan Zangeneh, disclosed on Tuesday that only Turkey among the European nations purchases its oil. The minister expressed displeasure at Italy’s and Greece’s refusal to buy its oil saying that the two countries do not respond to “our correspondence” either. You would recall that the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Iran November last year granting waivers to eight countries to continue importing oil from Iran at reduced rates until early May 2019

Read more at https://theoilbloc.com/iran-blasts-europe-for-not-buying-its-oil-despite-u-s-waivers/

Players in the Nigerian oil and gas sector say that the industry particularly upstream will be affected by policy uncertainties, security, and a slump in the price of crude oil. The players in an outlook recently said the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Government Bill would affect the growth of the sector. They warned politicians to desist from

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/uncertainties-security-others-may-affect-nigerias-oil-sector/

The TransCanada Corp. $8 billion Keystone XL crude pipeline project since inception has faced staunch opposition from environmental groups and landowners and has been blocked. The U.S. Government has, however, challenged a federal court in Montana’s ruling that blocked the pipeline. According to Bloomberg, the U.S. State Department and Interior Department on Friday gave formal notice that they’re appealing a series of rulings in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/u-s-challenges-court-ruling-that-blocked-major-pipeline-project/

The negotiations between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and select investors on the commercial terms to consider in the revamp of the country’s refineries may have collapsed. The negotiations on the revamp of the refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, have lasted over a year but an agreement has not still been reached. The Chief Operating Officer (COO), Refineries, NNPC, Mr. Anibor Kragha said a lot of issues were affecting the refineries.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/nnpc-negotiations-with-financiers-over-revamp-of-refineries-halted/

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and the Federal Government have intensified efforts to end fuel importation this year. The state of the refineries and the infrastructures in place have been a major concern for stakeholders who feel Nigeria cannot achieve this goal. In this video, Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu outlines modalities for this to be achieved. Watch more in this video and hear his take on the issue .

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/kachikwu-speaks-on-ending-fuel-importation-this-year/

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC and the Federal Government have intensified efforts to end fuel importation this year. The state of the refineries and the infrastructures in place have been a major concern for stakeholders who feel Nigeria cannot achieve this goal. In this video, Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu outlines modalities for this to be achieved. Watch more in this video and hear his take on the issue .

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/kachikwu-speaks-on-ending-fuel-importation-this-year/

Reports say a truck loaded with 33,000 litres of Petroleum products yesterday fell at Barracks bus stop along the Mile2, Badagry Expressway, Ojo Lagos. The incident which left people scampering for safety happened in front of the Onireke Police Station, Barracks bus stop which is a sensitive part of the area. The petrol tanker spilled all its content which caused a great wildfire. As at the time of the report, Guardian was yet to ascertain the number of persons who died in the quagmire but many vehicles were badly destroyed.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/many-feared-dead-in-lagos-petrol-tanker-accident/

Total expects that its Egina project would contribute about 23 percent to Nigeria’s national oil production upon completion. This was disclosed by its Deputy Managing Director, Deepwater District, Musa Kida at its second Nigeria International Petroleum Summit held in Abuja. “With Egina, Total will be operating about 23percent of the national production and we are proud to be significant contributors in securing Nigeria’s oil and gas future. “Egina set unprecedented records of local content and capacity building”.

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/totals-egina-project-to-boost-oil-production-by-23-per-cent/

Some oil and gas stakeholders have raised concerns over the alleged ‘irregularities’ surrounding the ongoing renewal of over 42 oil licenses. Even though the Ministry of Petroleum had refuted the presence of sharp practices in the exercise, the stakeholders are not satisfied with the way the things are being done. The stakeholders insist that renewing the licenses without passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) remained a major setback for the country. Already, the Petroleum Act of 1969, as well as the

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/stakeholders-raise-concerns-over-ongoing-oil-blocks-renewal/

The Minister of Petroleum, President Muhammadu Buhari, has approved the renewal of 22 expired and expiring oil blocks. THISDAY reported that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) realized about $1 billion for the government from the blocks. The government received applications from holders of 25 oil blocks. Only 22 were however approved by President Buhari after the DPR’s reviews. Confirming the development, unidentified sources in the DPR and petroleum ministry explained

Read more at: https://theoilbloc.com/fg-approves-22-oil-blocks-earns-1bn/