Page 15 - DMEA Week 43 2022

DMEA NEWS IN BRIEF DMEA

business new europe bne/IntelliNews

However, Southwark Crown Court’s Judge Peter
Fraser has rejected Nigeria’s claim, stating that
only the SFO and the defence is allowed to make
arguments.
As argued by the SFO, individuals or entities
not involved in the case do not have the right
to address the court, even if, like Nigeria, “they
consider themselves to be the victims of crime.”
Furthermore, SFO representative Alexandra
Healy asserted that there was “no link between
the bribes paid and any loss suffered;”
In June, Glencore Energy admitted to pay-
ing over $28mn in bribes to secure preferential
access to oil between 2011 and 2016 in Nigeria,
Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and
South Sudan. In November, they are expected to
receive a significant fine.
bna/IntelliNews, October 27 2022
Nigeria must become more

transparent about oil sector prices on global markets. The state-owned com- with an expected lifetime production cycle of

to prosper, IMF says pany has also been unable to stop rampant oil 10-12 years. Developers of the field plan to pump
theft.
natural gas to Egypt via pipeline to be trans-
Nigeria must be more transparent about the state One of its responses to these shortcomings formed to LNG at existing facilities for export.
of its oil and gas sector if it wants to become more has been to make changes in its management Revenues generated from operating the field
prosperous, the International Monetary Fund ranks. The company was restructured earlier will be transferred to the Palestinian Authority
(IMF) has said. In a recently released report, the this month in order to add an additional five vice in co-ordination with Israel.
IMF noted that the newly restructured state oil presidents to the management roster. The new bna/IntelliNews, October 27 2022
and gas champion, Nigerian National Petroleum appointees, some of whom also serve as execu-
Co. Ltd (NNPCL), must make transparency a tive directors of NNPCL, have been charged with
priority in its reporting. improving the firm’s performance. REFINING & FUELS
“Strengthening transparency is crucial if bna/IntelliNews, October 26 2022
Nigeria is to receive maximum benefits from the Revamping, modernising
oil and gas sector,” the report says. “In line with
good practices, it is important for [NNPCL] to COMPANIES and liberalising Angola’s
disclose all revenue transfers and remittances
to the federation account by providing com- Egyptian and Palestinian downstream sector
plete and timely information that ensures the
accountability of its receipts and expenditures.” companies to form joint While Angola represents sub-Saharan Africa’s
The report, titled “Good Governance in largest oil producer, the country’s remarkable
Sub-Saharan Africa: Opportunities and Les- venture to exploit Gaza upstream achievements have yet to be replicated
sons,” also emphasised the need to strengthen in its downstream sector – which has long been
oversight over NNPCL itself. The national Marine natural gas field impeded by insufficient capital investment – that
oil company should be under the mandate of is, until now. Angola’s downstream market is in
the auditor-general to verify that spending is Egypt and the Palestinian Authority are on the the midst of major transformation, owing to a
in accordance with the Ministry of Finance’s verge of finalising the agreement to develop Gaza state-led agenda to expand refining, storage and
instructions, the document said. Marine natural gas field by the first quarter (Jan- distribution capacity and position the country
“The Nigerian authorities must acceler- uary-March) of 2023 located in offshore Gaza, as a leading exporter of petroleum products in
ate their anti-corruption efforts to maintain Egyptian Petroleum Minister Tarek El Molla was the region.
momentum against both entrenched challenges quoted by Bloomberg El Shark as saying. The most prolific development in the sector
and evolving threats,” it added. A new joint venture to develop the field is in is the planned expansion of Angola’s domestic
Additionally, it said, the company should con- the works with the sovereign Palestinian Invest- refining capacity by 360,000 barrels per day
sider enhancing and integrating its transparency ment Fund and United Contractors taking up (bpd). This includes the construction of several
practices to include reporting on environmental, 55% of the equity and with the remaining 45% new refineries in Cabinda (60,000 bpd), Lobito
social and governance (ESG) considerations. being owned by state-owned Egyptian Natural (200,000) and Soyo (100,000 bpd), along with
NNPCL has come under increased scrutiny Gas Holding Co. (EGAS), who will be the oper- the recent completion of an additional gasoline
since its incorporation as a limited liability com- ator of the field. production unit at the existing Luanda Refinery,
pany in September, especially in light of Nigeria’s Gaza Marine is located 22 km offshore Gaza which is set to cut the gasoline deficit in the mar-
decreasing crude production and the drop in oil and contains estimated reserves of 1 trillion ket by 20% and quadruple the refinery’s gasoline
export revenues, despite increased petroleum cubic feet (28.3bn cubic metres) of natural gas production capacity to 1,200 tonnes per day.

Week 43 27•October•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P15