118_
DAILY TRUST Friday, March 23,
2012
Business
Nigeria risks long term oil decline NIGERIA: oil tmldtEtion wiJlbegln &llifII5(Q1 lr.15! the guremmcnl can reducrpolitimluncatainty;mrmptionand crnninaJjty: iU5ing output ~ NIgmaS h1gh gnde aude. highly prizal by com-
reserws, whk:h due 10 mismanageIDelIl an:! iargdyuntappcd. Reuters'data show that while N'tgmanoilproductionfromonshore orsbaJlowinshorefiddshas&clined OVE£ the last IiYt ~ outpul from
~ us.anda,iMSCbu).~muld
offshore and dcep-Mler 6dds has
staDandemuhuplym'a'Sle.wtll'firJBtlxarnbillousdeveIopmmtplans of'AfiialJTn!lpopWousmdon. Oil 0UtpLIl from ageing onshtn 5dds in the N1~ Deha Is dectinlng. dall .pal by Reutm shows, and while deep ofbbore production hilS been Slcadi/y inI:rnsI:ng 0't'C" lhc Iasa &ade,iliud,klpbtcauductoaJ.ct of' newpropxn.. Enrrm' cornuItanlt \Yood MIckmlk rorer2St NlgerW oil prndtKtioncoulddropby20pera:nl.by2020. "Ni~ oil productioo fnm cwrently o:.mmmial {lI'1Jjtds will Ix 51~ WIlli around 201Si2016 bul then "ill drop off sharplywt1ess lmat.mmt inr:m5es.; .said Gail Andmon, Afrka uWyst at Wood
batdyrn.drupfortlxda:tintlMlQ of~vutoff.shonpoccnlbllw not becnrnlixd,dcspitemrlyoptimism. N"..... oilandpsC'8r1linpwen
MadtmDe.-nle~of'ns. ClIi~lne~bwauc-
racy, thetlmetakm pfngdedUons made,wiII<lI1tal:.r:lheirtdLN'p pmdtKcs an ~ of' around. 2.5 m1Illon barrels per day (bpd) cI oil and tipht gas liquids IIl'KI has the ¥OUitfs .vm.th largest gas
growinR.dcJubIc..cIipt. decade,., but thqr lu.ve b«n voIaUIe in reant t1!31l and shrank by 057 pamlL Ian tar, dab from the NU:ntl Butcw ofSbtisdalC'CDbyRN:elJlbowed IhlsDXllllh. The ambitious ~ Indus· tryBlll(Pffi) lOovemaul everything from. fifcaI termson proj«l!i 10 the stalCoocompany,hasbccnblocUd brpolitkalwnnglingrorfMyan. Duringthattime.oiImaJGn$;ly they ha\'e largely stopped Inva!.· inginblgn~aploralionprojects
because they ba~ no idea what it might end up costing them.. Widespread corruption and ri~ks associated. with oil theft and piracy are also making Investing less attractive. Despile dcterttnts, fordgn oil majors seem keen to ding onto producing 011 blodta they already
own. £non ag~ aZO-rear renewal of ils OlUhore oil licences IILSl monlh andShell, Olevron and En! are lobbying the gO\"EnUllent to sign-off on tbdrs· a sign they are still keen to maintain lhdral$llng i~mcI1l$lnNigeri ... cvenlfthey arm't maklngmany new ones. With pricn al SIlS. barrd Ihe~ would be huge inttrat in mOR offshore aplonUon. if the Invatment rnuncwurk was darl-
fled.
1be major exploration onshore has alreadr taken pia« and 1M potential there is likdy to be It'll
10 mu.Iler Nigerian plJy.ers, nJhu than roreign flmu. cspedaUysince alawthatravoun Indigmou.opt'f'-
atonwupassedlutyear. The PlB should set oul the lerms ror long-term Investment and pave the way for a rmh ofTshore licensing round, whkh could uncover billions ofbam:Is or oil It is supposed to break up the mte-oU company, NNPC. whose funding shortralls in joint vmluresha~also~oamajof'brake
on progrest. So many targets fur puslng the legislation ha~ Men mitsed that Investors are dlsiUu'Ioned.
-We have very hule rea50n to be optimistic about progress on
lhePIB,Momentumhuslalled; • strategist at a maJor European oil c.ompanysakl. asking nollo be i<kntifltd. The high price of oU man5
Shell. the biggest foreign oil producer in Afrids most populous nation, said lut month that the appetite (or uploring in Nigeria had W'lncd In rec~t y=n. but oll output of 4 million bpd could be easily achieved if
~lilldaraareunderlinJeprwurc
thepoUlicaland~rityenvlron-
Whlle-rnt revenuctlrUiii rematns
mcntd1ingtd. Total'. n~ daopwalU lJ!;2n project came orwream this month and h going to add IlIOUIId 180,000 bpd 10 production, bul it Is one or the last major offshore proFts coming off the productioolinc. II takes five: yun on aven.gt to d~lop deepwaler proj~l!i so time IJ running out ror Nigeria to nplace 011 resaves but investors ano ready to pump in moneylfbottlenccksareea.sed. -Nigeria bas the developed oU Inrr.r.suucture with pro\'en rtKrVeIandpotentia.lthalmahs it difficult to I~ said Kayodc Akindde of Lagos-basm in~mtnt firm -46 Pa.ra.l1els. -Nigeria neem to .seize this opportunity now as the invest· me:nls made now will come 0IlStfnm in the nat rew years 10 replace IOI1teoltbeaistingproduclion asfieldsdecline.... (RMm)
10 robust.
High mums lilt also encout19ing industrial saJt thdi In tht YUI Wdlands of Iht Niger Dtll-a, rising in the lui six mootiu. For· dgn oU firnu estimate around ISO,OOObpdiutokn.. IDue is IiltkqueltlOO thai we might see a faslu pace or roonn all around if oil prices were more pressured; said Ru.ia Khn, Head of Afria R.ncarcb at Standard Clw'1cred. Funding problems within NNPC and oU theR are problems rna! an: exaceroalt'd by deep rooted poliocal gn1l. Corruption within NNPCand the wider Nigerian energy sector have been highlighted in audits whkh havecrncrgedsincel public outcry ~r graft in January. roJlowing lhe cont.rovusial removal, then reinstatm.mt. orfuel subsl· dies.
FG sets aside N6bn for agric devt in North mE Federal
~mment
has Sd a.!Idt' N6 billion ror the improvemenl of agricullure in the North West zoot of'thtcountry. Vi« Pra;idenl Mohammed Namadl Sambo his said. He saki this Wt'dnesday in
"""'~ -Fedn-aI Gu.-emmenl 1.5 pois«I al pmvicIing dividends of'democncy tn the peopl~ and thalls why \lis undergoing vari~ owlr.lnsiormations In dectncity. ntU. educ:a1ion, agriculture and walt'! supMt.- he said
Fadama III: Kaduna communities get N350m grants From 0IristlIna l Atabl, bdllrul KAOUN" Stale Fadama Devdopm~nt Prol'ec1 has so rar disbursed over N350 mil ion to FadJma Community Assodations 15 grallt Ii ' Implement their various sub-projects 1(1 :r hanee: agricultural produclivity in tht' ;Inte. Some of the sub-projt:eu ext:euled by benefitting CClIllllUnilics iDdude con· structio n and J'e habilitation or over lO
kilometre roads, construction of 100 vt'getable market stalls in Blmin Gwarl, Sanga and Zarlll.oaJ Government A real, I slate:rnenl by the project's communia~ tion officer, Yunusa M . Abdullahi,said. It .Aid lht' disburlCmenl to communi· lies in the stale has reached 61 percent, as pari of effort tocradicatt' poYffIy in the nale. According 10 a liIaliernenl, J~ (5,496) of the 17.25-4 bendklaries are "-omen. It also noted that me stale r..danUi project
has assistN user groups with asse:1S IncludIng 1,()82lrrlgation pumps. 0(89 proc:nsing machines, 916 spn.ya-s and 65 1 work bulls among others. It quoted lhe Stale Project Coordinalor, Mr, Isyaku I. Oauda as calling on !.he communities wilh aJl'P"O'-m local developmenl plans to lodge their communIty cootributton in lltelr lMn.k..xounts to gd the proj«t51SS1SIance. WhUe urging be:nenlting communitin
10 ensure judicious ulilisation orthe assist ance given them, he thanked the stlte government and the 2J local gov'!'mments ror the pI~menl of lhelr counterpart contributions, The Fadama III project Is a World Bank lSSislcd project implemented in collaboration with Kaduna Sl2tegove:mment in all the 23 LGAs limt'd a' incteUlng the income or users or rural land and water resources on a sustainabl~ buis.