Angola rivals Nigeria for top spot in African oil exports

 

http://news.yahoo.com/angolan-oil-exports-rise-near-parity-nigeria-122511288--finance.html

 

By Emma Farge and Simon Falush

 

GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - Angola's oil exports will rise to around 1.74 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, a shipping list showed on Tuesday, leaving supplies virtually level with top African producer and fellow-OPEC member Nigeria.

 

Nigeria is normally the continent's top exporter but a series of theft-related supply disruptions on key grades such as Bonny Light and Brass River have depressed flows onto international markets in recent months.

 

In October, Nigeria is due to ship around 1.79 million bpd of oil, a shipping list showed, down from an average of over 2 million bpd last year, according to Reuters data.

 

The drop amounts to a potential $700 million in lost monthly earnings versus the 2012 average, based on current Brent prices.

 

In contrast, Angolan oil exports were up in October versus September when planned exports were 1.70 million bpd after repairs at the Saturno platform operated by BP.

 

The oil major lifted a force majeure on this grade earlier this month and the October shipping list showed it would load five cargoes compared to four in September.

 

A force majeure temporarily relieves a company from its contractual duties due to events beyond its control.

 

Still, Angolan exports are falling short of a target of 2 million bpd set for 2013. Oil Minister Jose Botelho de Vasconcelos said in December that was unlikely and he has since been quoted as saying it may take place in 2014 or 2015.

 

Nigeria has not yet released a figure for November exports although these may improve following Eni's lifting of its Brass force majeure on September 2.

 

Shipping lists are provisional and can be revised closer to the loading date for exports.

 

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/09/16/oil-drops-below-109-per-barrel-on-syria-deal/

 

By Lin Noueihed

* Brent, WTI crude fall by more than a dollar

* U.S., Russia back UN programme to destroy Syria's chemical weapons

* Coming up: U.S. industrial output at 1315 GMT

LONDON, (Reuters) - Global oil prices fell to a five-week low below $109 a barrel on Monday after the United States agreed to call off military action against Syria, easing supply concerns.

Benchmark front-month Brent futures touched a six-month high of $117.34 a barrel in late August amid worries that a possible U.S. military strike against Syria would disrupt Middle East oil supplies already hit by outages in Libya and Iraq.

But prices began to drop after Russia offered to help put Syria's chemical weapons under international control.

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to back a nine-month U.N. programme to destroy Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's chemical arsenal.

Brent crude for delivery in November dropped by $2.71 to trade around $108.99 at 0907 GMT, after hitting $108.73, its weakest level since Aug. 12.

The October contract expired on Friday, settling at $112.78.

U.S. oil for October delivery was trading down 82 cents a barrel at $107.39 at 0854 GMT after hitting a low of $106.48 earlier in the session.

"On the one hand you have a postponement of a military strike that alleviates geopolitical tensions and effects a downward force on oil. On the other hand, oil is supported as a risky asset class by the withdrawal of Larry Summers who was seen as the hawkish candidate," said Harry Tchillinguirian, oil analyst at BNP Paribas.

The decline in oil prices came despite weakness in the dollar, which typically makes dollar-denominated assets cheaper for holders of other currencies.

The dollar fell to a near four-week low against a basket of major currencies as investors bet that the U.S. Federal Reserve would take longer to end its stimulus programme after Summers, a former treasury secretary, withdrew from consideration to succeed Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Tchillinguirian said uncertainty over who would succeed Bernanke and the direction of U.S. monetary policy would likely boost demand for risky assets such as dollar-denominated oiland put a floor under oil price declines for now.

The Federal Open Market Committee is meeting for two days from Tuesday with expectations high that policymakers will decide to reduce the monthly $85-billion bond purchases as they begin to end the era of cheap money that has boosted fund flows into commodities.

Credit Suisse said in a note it expects the Fed to pare down the monthly bond purchases by around $20 billion.

"A series of recent economic data improvements points in this direction and the weaker-than-expected August labour market report is unlikely to keep the Fed from proceeding with slowly winding down its asset purchases," the investment bank said.

(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr in Singapore; editing by Jason Neely)

Africa's richest man signs loan to build Nigeria's largest oil refinery, fertilizer complex

Aliko Dangote

President of Dangote Group

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/05/africa-richest-man-signs-loan-to-build-nigeria-largest-oil-refinery-fertilizer/

LAGOS, Nigeria –  Africa's richest man says his company has received a $3.3 billion loan to build Nigeria's biggest oil refinery and petrochemical and fertilizer complex.

Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Group, said the project, expected to be completed in 2016, will lower Africa's dependence on the international market. Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer but has to import most of its fuel as it lacks refining capacity. He spoke Wednesday at the signing of the loan from 12 Nigerian and international banks.

Dangote Group says it is still seeking an additional $2.5 billion in development funds to augment the $3.5 billion of its own equity put into the $9 billion project.

The refinery will be built in Nigeria's southwest.

Nigeria is a top supplier of crude to the United States.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/09/05/africa-richest-man-signs-loan-to-build-nigeria-largest-oil-refinery-fertilizer/#ixzz2emQRU6Dh

Platts Survey: OPEC Pumps 30.28 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Per Day in August

 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101023767

 

LONDON, Sept. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Crude oil production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was 30.28 million barrels per day (b/d) in August, down 60,000 b/d from July, a just-released Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials and analysts showed.

 

OPEC crude output fell again in August as oil worker strikes and protests drove Libyan production below the 300,000-b/d level towards the end of the month. Overall, Libyan production was down 440,000 b/d from July to 560,000 b/d in August. Higher output from OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and Iraq was not enough to offset the Libyan production loss.

 

"The plunge in Libyan production draws attention to OPEC and what it can – and can't – deliver, and this report clearly shows where the problem areas are," said John Kingston, Platts global director of news. "Apart from sanctions-strapped Iran and Libya itself, a number of other OPEC countries are facing production challenges. This concentrates focus on Saudi Arabia, which the Platts survey estimates to have pumped 10 million b/d in August, and begs the question: will Riyadh be able and willing to maintain or exceed this level if the world needs more oil?"

 

Saudi Arabia boosted output by 220,000 b/d to 10 million b/d in August from 9.78 million b/d in July, while Iraqi output recovered by 170,000 b/d to 3.15 million b/d from 2.98 million b/d in July. There were also smaller increases from Ecuador, Iran, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Nouri Berruien, head of Libya's National Oil Corporation, told Platts on September 5 that output had averaged 560,000 b/d in August and had steadied at around 240,000 b/d in early September.

 

Protests by security guards have caused the closure of the Libyan ports of Marsa el-Hariga, Zueitina, Ras Lanuf and Es Sider, the crude pipeline linking the El Sharara and Elephant fields with the northern export terminal at Zawiya and the 10,000 b/d Brega refinery.

 

Benchmark Brent crude oil prices climbed above $117 per barrel in late August in response to the slump in Libyan production and amid expectations of military strikes on Syria.

 

The collapse of Libyan production and exports during the 2011 civil war eventually saw the

International Energy Agency (IEA) order oil to be released from emergency stockpiles, but the IEA has downplayed the likelihood of any similar move this time around.

 

A spokesman for the agency said on August 30 that the agency was concerned about the "harmful effects of high oil prices on the global economic recovery," was monitoring the market and stood ready to respond in the event of a major supply disruption.

 

However, he added, "the current situation does not call for an IEA response."

 

On September 9, Qatari oil minister Mohammad Bin Saleh al-Sada told reporters during a visit to Tokyo that OPEC was monitoring the Libyan situation closely but that there was no wider shortage of crude. Indeed, he said, the market appeared to be in a "healthy situation."

 

OPEC production had been above 31 million b/d for most of 2012, climbing as high as 31.75 million b/d in May last year, according to the Platts survey. It dipped to 30.65 million b/d in December and, apart from the occasional upward blip, has been falling since then.

 

OPEC, which is scheduled to meet next on December 4 in Vienna, has an official output ceiling of 30 million b/d but no formal individual country quotas.

 

For production numbers by country, click here. You may be prompted for a cost-free one-time-only log-in registration. An OPEC guide may be found at this link.

 

Platts OPEC and oil experts are available for media interviews; please consult Platts Media Center to schedule an interview. For other oil, energy and related information, visit www.platts.com.

 

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals, metals and agriculture information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets. Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency. Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the biofuels, carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, shipping and sugar markets. A division of McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), Platts is headquartered in New York with approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

 

About McGraw Hill Financial: McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI), a financial intelligence company, is a leader in credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics for the global capital and commodity markets. Iconic brands include: Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Dow Jones Indices, Platts, CRISIL, J.D. Power & Associates, McGraw Hill Construction and Aviation Week. The Company has approximately 17,000 employees in 27 countries. Additional information is available at www.mhfi.com.

 

CONTACT
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Kathleen_tanzy@platts.com

SOURCE Platts

Train from July crash in Canada carried mislabeled crude oil

Officials were surprised by the explosions because they were unaware that such volatile, unconventional crude was being carried by the train.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/9/12/lac-megantic-traincarriedmislabeledcrudeoilsafetyboardsays.html

 



François Laplante-Delagrave/AFP/Getty Images

 

The oil carried by a freight train that derailed and exploded in Quebec this year has been mislabeled and was more dangerous than previously known, Canadian officials said Wednesday, raising questions about the safety of increasing rail transport of crude oil products from shale and tar sands oil in the U.S. and Canada.

 

Forty-seven people were killed in the July disaster when the unattended train rolled away and derailed in the town of Lac-Megantic, near the Maine border. Several of the oil cars exploded, destroying the downtown area.

 

The train's shipment of North Dakota oil was mislabeled as a "Group 3" flammable liquid, when it should have been given a more explosive "Group 2" classification, the Canadian transportation safety board's chief investigator, Donald Ross, said.

 

Safety regulations for the transport of crude oil differ depending upon the type of oil and its flashpoint -- the lowest temperature at which it will ignite. Officials initially said they were surprised by the disaster because they thought the oil being transported was unlikely to ignite.

 

The announcement follows a report on the environmental effects of the disaster released last month by Quebec group La Societe pour Vaincre la Pollution (SVP), which showed extremely elevated levels of toxic chemicals and carcinogens in the area around the crash site. It also showed significant amounts of oil sludge at the bottom of nearby Chaudiere River and the lake the town is named after.

 

“These events are a wake-up call in the entire issue of our reliance on toxic fossil fuels,” SVP co-President Daniel Green said. “There is a human and environmental cost of extracting, transporting, refining and using them.”

 

Green told Al Jazeera that if routine sampling of the oil had been carried out, they would have known that this crude was much more explosive and ignitable than regular crude oil. "If people did their jobs, this would have been prevented," he said.

 

Green added that the mislabeled cargo could have resulted in more deaths and injuries, because first responders based their evacuation decisions on the type of oil involved.

 

A statement from the Federal Railroad Administration and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said shippers and rail carriers found to be out of compliance with hazardous materials regulations could be fined or placed out of service.

 

Green said tanker cars are designed depending on what is being transported in them. Extremely volatile propane would be transported in a tanker car that is specifically designed to withstand derailment and high temperatures.

 

U.S. inspection teams have been conducting spot safety checks of rail shipments of crude from the booming Bakken oil region since the disaster. The Bakken region underlies portions of Montana and North Dakota in the U.S., and Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada, and is where the unconventional crude that exploded in Lac Megantic originated.

Environmental risks

Green said that compounds from the oil can seep into the foundations of buildings in the contaminated area and begin evaporating -- and the vapor alone can pose a risk to human health.

 

Green said SVP found Benzopyrene, a carcinogen which can cause lung cancer if inhaled, in extremely high levels at the crash site. Benzene, another harmful pollutant found there, is associated with childhood leukemia.

 

SVP’s study, released on August 14, based on samples and tests on plants, water and soil extracted from the area, found extremely high levels of many types of chemicals. The study states that carcinogens, arsenic and oils were found at thousands of times the allowed maximum. 

The NGO said that unless the pollutants are contained in the next three months, annual ice break up and seasonal flooding will relocate toxins downstream – which could contaminate the river, drinking water and agricultural land.

 

Green said SVP filed a Freedom of Information Act request to get the measurements the government took from the area, but the government did not release information dealing with the concentration of toxins close to where the explosions occurred.

 

“They may be trying to avoid a panic, but these people have lived through hell and nothing will panic them now,” Green said. “There cannot be worse news than losing someone … and Lac Megantic is a small community, almost everyone knew someone who died in the disaster.”

 

The disaster raised questions about the increasing transport of oil by rail in the U.S. and Canada.

Much of that increase is from oil produced in the Bakken region. The train that crashed was carrying oil from North Dakota to a refinery in New Brunswick, Canada.

 

The train was operated by a U.S. company, the Montreal, Main and Atlantic Railway, but safety investigator Ross said New Brunswick's Irving Oil co. is responsible for the labels because it imported the goods.

In the first half of this year, U.S. railroads moved 178,000 carloads of crude oil. That's double the number during the same period last year and 33 times more than during the same period in 2009. The Railway Association of Canada estimates that as many as 140,000 carloads of crude oil will be shipped on Canada's tracks this year, up from 500 carloads in 2009.

 

With Al Jazeera and the AFP. With additional reporting by Renee Lewis.

Jubilee partners halt oil production

FPSO Kwame Nkrumah

 

http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/09/11/jubilee-partners-halt-oil-production/

 

The Jubilee partners have announced a planned halt of oil production offshore for 21 days. The suspension of production is to make way for routine maintenance of the Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platform, the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.

 

The facility, currently moored at the Jubilee Oil Field in a water depth of 1,100 metres, has been in service for three years and has so far produced 77 million barrels of oil as of the close of production activities offshore yesterday. The planned shutdown is slated for Friday, September 20, 2013.

 

The General Manager of Tullow Ghana, lead operator of the Jubilee Field, Mr Charles Darku, said, “We embark on this exercise as part of our culture of adhering to world-class standards of operational performance management to ensure that the vessel operates at its optimal level and over its projected life span.” He said the Jubilee partners were committed to adopting proactive preventive measures, rather than reactive, whereby the operator had to carry out any maintenance when there was a defect or breakdown.

 

Mr Darku said a critical aspect was the building of a robust industry which could be counted among the best in the world. Asked if it would not affect the target operation to rake in revenue for the partners and the state, he said the planned shutdown had been factored into the plan and forecast of production for the year.

 

“This is necessary for safety reasons and it is normal practice in these circumstances,” he said. Mr Darku said the maintenance activity would include vessel inspection and cleaning and replacement of safety critical equipment.

 

He said the move was in line with its obligations for external class certification and adherence to global maintenance and integrity standards used throughout the oil and gas industry.

 

The partners said there would also be a team which would be moving personnel between Takoradi and the location of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah to undertake the different aspects of the maintenance works.

 

He said the partners were undertaking the maintenance exercise with support services from a variety of upstream oil and gas service providers. The FPSO has the capacity to process 120,000 barrels of oil per day and has a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels, with an associated gas production capacity of 160 million standard cubic feet a day.

 

Source: Daily Graphic - See more at: http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/09/11/jubilee-partners-halt-oil-production/#sthash.QPL2cOsR.dpufhttp://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/09/11/jubilee-partners-halt-oil-production/

Ghana earns $1.4 billion in oil revenue.

 

 

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=285533

 

Ghana earned $1.4 billion from the commercial production and export of oil from 2011 to June 2013, the Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, has said.

He said 77 million barrels of oil had been produced as of September 10, out of which about 13 million barrels, representing Ghana’s share, went to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

The government invested the revenue in infrastructural development and other agreed purposes.

Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum on energy and petroleum revenue management in Takoradi yesterday, Mr Buah said the country earned $444.12 million in 2011, $541.07 million in 2012, while $422.76 million had been accrued as of the end of June 2013.

He said the Jubilee partners commenced the commercial production of oil in November 2010, producing 25,000 barrels per day, which increased to 80,000 barrels per day in October 2011.

The minister said while the partners expected production to increase further, the oil field rather experienced production decline from 80,000 barrels per day in November 2011 to 63,000 barrels per day in July 2013.

Mr Buah said the GNPC and the Jubilee partners had successfully carried out remedial works which had arrested the premature production decline and had since increased production to 110,000 barrels a day.

"This improvement is as a result of a successful acid stimulation operation performed on five of the nine Jubilee production wells,” he explained.

The country’s oil output was set to further increase with the recent signing of a plan of development for the Tweneboah, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) project and ongoing negotiations for the finalisation and signing of a plan for the development of the Sankofa oil and gas fields.

Investor interest soars

Mr Buah said the reduction of risk associated with oil production had resulted in an upsurge in investor interest in the country.

He said apart from 23 new oil discoveries, there were eight pending petroleum agreements, two of which were currently before the Cabinet, for oil exploration.