Page 8 - AfrOil Week 42 2019

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil
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“Nobody can bring out that kind of money,” he remarked. “I mean, we can’t get $62bn. We can maybe get something from them, but not $62bn. It’s an opportunity we have lost.”
In the meantime, he said, Nigerian author- ities are continuing to negotiate with several major IOCs, including Chevron (US), Eni (Italy), ExxonMobil (US) and Royal Dutch Shell (UK/Netherlands). He did not reveal any details of the discussions or say when the par- ties might reach agreement.
He did state, though, that Abuja was tak- ing action to protect its interests in the future. Specifically, he said, Nigerian legislators are debating amendments to the 1993 law that are designed to optimise the state’s revenues from oil and gas projects.
“We have to ensure that this bill is passed,” Sylva said. “With this bill now, there will be
some adjustments in the fiscal regime, and we believe that the government will get a lot from the oil companies, especially their [deepwater offshore] exploration activities.”
He was speaking several days after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari speculated that the amendments might generate an additional $500mn for the federal budget in 2020 and $1bn more in 2021.
Members of Nigeria’s Senate approved the new legislation last week.
According to Reuters, Abuja submitted its demands to IOCs earlier this year, saying it was entitled to do so because the 1993 law provided for the terms of production-sharing contracts (PSCs) to be revised whenever crude oil prices topped $20 per barrel. Shell and Chevron have reportedly chosen to fight the claims in court, the news agency said.™
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Gunvor, Swiss prosecutors strike settlement deal on African corruption case
COTE D’IVOIRE/CONGO
GUNVOR, one of the world’s largest crude oil trading companies, has settled a criminal case in Switzerland regarding its activities in Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Congo. Swiss fed- eral prosecutors had accused the trading firm, which is headquartered in Geneva, of engag- ing in corrupt activities in the two African countries.
The Swiss Attorney General’s Office announced the deal last week, saying in a state- ment that it had ordered Gunvor to pay a set- tlement of CHF94mn ($95.4mn). This sum includes a fine of CHF4mn, or 80% of the legal maximum of CHF5mn, as well as gross profit plus interest earned from its operations in Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Congo between 2009 and 2011, it said.
“The Geneva commodities trader has been convicted of failing to take all the organisational measures that were reasonable and necessary to prevent its employees and agents from brib- ing public officials in order to gain access to the petroleum markets in the Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast,” the statement said.
Swiss prosecutors began probing Gunvor’s activities in 2017, citing questions about the company’s possible “organisational deficien- cies.” One of those individuals targeted in the investigation was Pascal Collard, a former employee of the trading firm. In 2018, Collard finalised a plea deal that included an admission that he had paid bribes in order to secure con- tracts for Gunvor and a statement to the effect that the company’s senior management team
had been aware of and sanctioned the bribes. For its part, Gunvor declared last week that none of its divisions or employees were involved in investigations or legal proceedings. It also responded to the Swiss Attorney General’s Office by saying that there had been “no con- scious or desired involvement of employees or members of management in these activities” in
Cote d’Ivoire and the Republic of Congo.
Swiss authorities have focused on Gunvor’s receipt of crude oil cargoes from Cote d’Ivoire in 2009-2010 and the signing of several deals with the Republic of Congo’s national oil company (NOC) SNPC in 2010-2011. These agreements included a three-year oil supply contract in 2010 and pre-payment agreements for oil cargoes
worth $125mn and $500mn in 2011. ™
Gunvor has been ordered to pay a settlement of CHF94mn (Image: HHIC)
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 42 23•October•2019