Nigerian National Petroleum Corp News

Shell Petroleum Development Company has declared force majeure (FM) on gas supplies to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) export facility on Bonny Island, a spokeswoman said. "The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) declared force majeure on gas supply to NLNG on 8 August 2016, following a leak on the Eastern Gas Gathering System (EGGS-1) pipeline through which it supplies the bulk of its gas to NLNG," a spokesman said in an emailed statement. SPDC, Royal Dutch Shell's Nigerian unit, is a joint venture with state oil company Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. They supply gas to the LNG plant. The declaration may impact exports from the facility. Reporting by Oleg Vukmanovic

Royal Dutch Shell has asked ship owners exporting its Nigerian oil to sign a "letter of comfort" (LoC) to guarantee it is not stolen, according to an email from the company seen by Reuters. In July, state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) banned more than 100 tankers from Nigeria's waters, citing a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari, who wants to trace and recover what he calls "mind-boggling" sums stolen from the oil sector. Last month, the NNPC lifted the ban but asked ship owners to sign a letter of comfort to "guarantee to indemnify" it against any illicit use of their vessel. This led some owners to reject pending bookings.

Nigeria's state oil company has cancelled its contract for the delivery of crude to the country's refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna, it said on Wednesday. Oil sales account for about 70 percent of government revenue in Nigeria, Africa's top crude producer, but the country imports most of the fuel used by its 170 million inhabitants because of its inefficient, ageing refineries. "The corporation has cancelled the current contract due to exorbitant cost and inappropriate process of engagement," a Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) statement said, adding that the aim is to cut costs and improve efficiency. Overhauling the energy sector in Africa's biggest economy has been a priority of President Muhammadu Buhari…

Tender deals helped to liven up a lacklustre West African crude oil market on Thursday, though overall demand remained weak. Indian Oil Corporation bought four cargoes of West African oil, traders said, nibbling at an overhang of unsold September cargoes just a few days before Angola's October loading programme comes to market. Traders were watching to see whether there could be an impact on Chinese imports of West African oil after two huge explosions in the northeast Chinese port city of Tianjin killed at least 50 people, including at least a dozen fire fighters. One trader said there was no immediate impact for oil cargoes already in the area.

Pipeline vandals caused an explosion at a jetty near Nigeria's 210,000-barrels-per-day capacity refinery in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt, officials said on Monday. Ralph Ugwu, a spokesman for Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC), said the blast on Sunday did not damage refinery installations and had no impact on operations. "The explosion has nothing to do with the NNPC or the refinery but with some people who came to steal crude," Ugwu said. A local government official said at least seven people died in the blast. "From what I have been told, there are casualties. Seven persons were said to have lost their lives," Tamuno Williams, chairman of the local government, told journalists. NNPC and the police said they could not confirm whether there were casualties.

According to a September 21 report from the Associated Press, a top official at French oil major Total SA warned that a proposal to overhaul Nigeria's oil industry would hobble foreign investment, just as the firm prepares to bring a major offshore field into production. Analysts said the petroleum bill would sharply reduce the profits of foreign oil companies like Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Total, all of whom have subsidiaries operating oil fields in Nigeria. Government officials said the bill would allow more oil money to return to Nigeria's people. The bill also would require the government-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., which partners with all foreign oil firms, to seek profits like a private business and not rely on government subsidies.

Dockwise Ltd has been awarded the transportation and installation assistance contract of the OFP2 Topsides by Technip for the OFON Phase 2 project in Nigeria, field operated by Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp/Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd joint venture. The value of the float-over contract is in excess of $15m. The transportation and installation assistance work will be executed by Dockwise s open stern vessel Transshelf. The work is scheduled in 2010 for a period of 4 to 5 months.

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's biggest shipbuilder, said on Wednesday it will set up a shipping firm with Nigeria's state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) to deliver liquefied natural gas. Hyundai will own 49 percent stake in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) joint venture shipping company, to be named Nigeria Korea Marine (NIKORMA) Transport Ltd., while NNPC will own 51 percent. The shipbuilder will eventually deliver crude and oil products after initially focusing on LNG, Hyundai said. Earlier this year, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. said it will set up a similar shipping firm with NNPC, a joint venture called Nigeria Daewoo Shipping Ltd., which will transport merchant goods, crude oil and petroleum products. Source: Reuters

Oil major BP Plc has agreed to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the new Brass project in Nigeria to help meet growing demand in the U.K. and the U.S. The deal, to be finalized later this year, is for annual shipment of two million tons of LNG for 20 years starting in 2010. The Nigerian gas will be delivered by Brass LNG and used by BP, one of the world's largest suppliers of LNG, to supply multiple markets in the Atlantic basin. Demand for imported LNG, gas cooled for easy transport by tanker, is booming as Europe and the United States turn to the fuel to compensate for falling local gas production. The Brass LNG project is backed by Italian oil and gas company Eni, U.S. oil majors Chevron and ConocoPhillips and state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.