Presidency fires NDDC board

Following the report submitted by a panel led by Steven Oronsaye to investigate the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) after several petitions were filed against the Commission, the federal government had decided to dissolve the NDDC board.

This was revealed by Secretary to the Government of the Federation Anyim Pius m Anyim ,on 13th September. He stated that the decision to dissolve the board came on the heels of the report, which described the NDDC as 'acutely crisis ridden.'

It will be recalled that over the past few months, the managing director of the NDDC, Chibuzor Ugwuoha, had been at loggerheads with its management board, affecting the operations of the Commission and leading to calls for his removal. Consequently, Ugwuoha and other board members have been directed to hand over all property of the Commission in their custody to the director of administration and human resources, Osato Areyenka.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Fuel queues return to Abuja amid news of petroleum products scarcity

Lingering fuel queues have returned to Abuja amidst news of petroleum products scarcity in the capital city and other northern cities in Kano, Kaduna and Plateau States. The scarcity, which seemed to occur almost overnight since Saturday 30th April, has crippled local businesses because most commuters have been forced to queue up, in most cases overnight, for long hours just to purchase fuel.

No official explanation has been given for the scarcity or by those government agencies in charge of petroleum products distribution including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the Department for Petroleum Resources (DPR) and others.

Traders attribute the scarcities now the election has been concluded to the suppliers' inability to secure repayment of their arrears from NNPC or credit terms to enable them to obtain new supplies. Nigeria is currently insisting on more than 400 days credit before payment.

There are speculations that the fuel crisis might also be as a result of the post-election violence that occurred in Northern States and the effect of the consecutive public holidays and election restriction of movement, which affected the transport of petroleum products from the Lagos ports to other parts of the country and especially Northern Nigeria.

Another contributory factor for the fuel shortage is the news making the rounds that the Federal Government is set to increase fuel price from the current price of N65 per litre. There are speculations that fuel stations are purposely hoarding their current stocks so that they can make more profit, if or when the government does indeed increase the cost of fuel.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Nigeria: Mart Resources report encouraging initial test results

Mart Resources and its JV partners in the onshore Umusadege field, Midwestern Oil and Gas Company (operator) and SunTrust Oil Company, have reported encouraging initial results from the first zone tested.

The first test on the UMU-7 well was conducted on the XII(c) sand, a 17 ft oil zone, which flowed at a stabilised rate of 2,459 b/d of 36 API gravity oil through 2 7/8” tubing on a 40/64” choke at a flowing tubing pressure of 180 psi. Basic sediment and water (BS&W) was 15 per cent with a gas–oil ratio of approximately 21 scf per barrel.

Testing of the XIV sand is currently underway, with tests on the X and XVI(a) to follow. Further updates will be provided on these sands once initial testing has been completed.

The UMU-7 well has been completed using a dual-tubing string configuration with the XVI (a) and XIV sands completed in the 3 1/2” tubing string and the XII(c) and X sands completed in the 2 7/8” tubing string. As a result of the technology used, the four zones that have been completed can be opened and closed at any time.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates