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Nigeria instructs offshore platform operators to reduce staff levels
NIGERIA
NIGERIA’S Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has ordered oil and gas pro- ducers to reduce staff complements at their off- shore drilling platforms.
On March 29, the department said in a statement that it had taken this step in the hope of restricting the spread of the corona- virus (COVID-19) pandemic. It quoted Sarki Auwalu, DPR’s director, as saying: “All travels to and from offshore/remote locations shall strictly be in line with the guidełines and procedure for travel to offshore/swamp locations and obtain- ment of offshore safety Permit 2019.”
Under the new rules, Auwalu said, oil and gas operators and drilling contractors may only send staff members who perform essential duties to offshore platforms. Additionally, he said, these companies must send all non-essen- tial staff back to shore.
According to the department, the restric- tions will also affect the length of offshore assignments. “Staff rotation less than 28 days/28 days is hereby temporarily suspended,” Auwalu said. “This implies that staff are required to stay a minimum of 28 days at these locations per rotation.”
Additionally, he said, Nigeria’s government must take the new rules into consideration when planning offshore inspections and over- sight. “Representation by government agencies at offshore/remote locations shall be limited to a maximumofonepersonperrotation,”hestated.
DPR is putting the new regulations in place at a time when low oil prices and sinking demand are raising questions about the fate of Nigeria’s offshore oil and gas deposits. Since drilling costs are relatively high in the offshore zone, investors will have to decide how to preserve the value of their assets when unfavourable market condi- tions make them unprofitable.
It is not yet clear whether these conditions will persist over the long term, but if they do, they will contribute to a decline in the country’s oil reserves. Nigeria’s exploration programmes have lost a considerable amount of momentum in recent years, not least because the govern- ment has not held a conventional offshore bid- ding round since 2007. ™
Underthenewrules,onlyessentialstaffmayremainoffshore(Photo:NigeriaDPR)
Governor of Rivers State rejects NLNG’s request for exemption from lockdown
NIGERIA
THE government of Nigeria’s Rivers State has rejected a request from Nigeria LNG (NLNG) and several other companies involved in the production, processing and distribution of nat- ural gas for an exemption from the lockdown regime imposed last week.
The lockdown drew objections from three Nigerian gas companies – NLNG, Nigerian Gas Co. (NGC) and Oilserv – and Total E&P, a sub- sidiary of France’s Total. These four firms joined with a local beverage maker, International Breweries, to send a special request to Nyesom
Wike, the state’s governor, seeking a waiver.
In a joint letter, the companies explained that their operations necessarily involved travel into and out of the state. NLNG and the other gas operators noted that they were involved in distributing gas around the country, and Inter- national Breweries pointed out that its beverage
deliveries were time-bound.
Wike responded to their request in the neg-
ative, saying that these companies’ business interests would have to take a back seat to public
health considerations. 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 13 01•April•2020