Page 11 - AfrOil Week 16 2021

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

According to Reuters’ sources, officials in Abuja on this front, as they believe it will encourage
have decided to take these steps in the hope that development.
more IOCs will invest in Nigeria’s oil and gas “From a fiscal perspective, improving the
industry following the passage of the PIB. allowable deductions for tax purposes will be
Foreign oil and gas operators have expressed key,” he said. “The industry is also pushing for
a number of reservations about the current form royalty to be based on cumulative production as
of the bill, which the administration of President opposed to the flat 10% plus link to oil prices.
Muhammadu Buhari submitted to the National The high royalties and other front-loaded ele-
Assembly last August. ments will discourage investment in marginal
Some of their objections have focused deepwater fields which have been lying fallow
on royalty and tax rates. As Obo Idorni- for decades. Nigeria holds over a billion barrels
gie, vice-president of sub-Saharan African spread across several marginal deepwater fields,
research for Welligence Energy Analytics, told which could be developed under the appropriate
AfrOil in March, investors want to see reform cost structure and tax terms. ™

Déby’s death may strain Chad’s oil sector

CHAD CHAD’S oil sector may be headed for a rough fall to around 80,000 bpd in 2013. Yields have
patch, following the unexpected death of Idriss recovered somewhat and are now averaging
Déby, the country’s president. 140,000-150,000 bpd, but they have yet to move
Déby died earlier this week, shortly after a back to their peak.
visit to a site where the Chadian armed forces Meanwhile, Mahamat Déby’s grasp on power
were trying to contain an attack by the Front for may not be fully secure. The BBC said on April
Change and Concord in Chad (known locally as 21, citing Chadian press reports, that the late
FACT), a rebel group that is active in the north- president’s son had been injured in a shoot-
ern part of the country and in southern Libya. out with his brother Zakaria and other family
He was reportedly injured on April 18 and then members following a quarrel over the political
evacuated to N’Djamena, the capital city, before succession. The incident sparked rumours that
succumbing to his wounds on April 20. the interim president had been killed, but secu-
Representatives of the armed forces have rity sources cited by Toubou Media denied this,
talked up the idea that the president died saying that he had only been wounded. ™
heroically, while standing up for the territorial
integrity of the country on the battlefield. Other
sources said, though, that he had been killed
along with four generals while holding talks
with members of FACT.
The president died shortly after securing
his election to a sixth term in office. Following
his death, a military transitional council seized
power and named Déby’s son, Mahamat Idriss
Déby Itno, as the interim president. The council
has said that the younger Déby will remain at the
head of an interim government for the next 18
months, until stability is restored.
Some observers have argued that these events
are effectively a coup, since they bypass official
Chadian political structures. If so, they may
draw a sharp response from the Chadian politi-
cal opposition and stymie efforts by N’Djamena
to rein in the FACT attacks.
If Mahamat Déby remains in power (with
assistance and backing from MTC), he may
seek to derail the Chadian political opposition’s
effort to determine whether the late president
mismanaged oil revenues. This is a touchy issue,
since oil earnings account for about 90% of all
budget funds.
They may also have an impact on efforts by
N’Djamena to invest in the country’s oil produc-
tion capacity. Chad saw its crude output peak at Déby was killed shortly after winning re-election to a sixth
about 170,000 barrels per day in 2005 and then presidential term (Photo: Twitter/@ MIdrissDebyItno)

Week 16 21•April•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11