business news
JUNE3,20 12
-Nigerian firm seals exploration deals with Kenya, the Gambia RASHEE D IHS IRlYU
UNITED Slates traded Nigerian oil
A
and gal finn, CAMAC EncrpJ. has sigl1ed two n~ exploration deals
"n Ken''1I and the Gambill as part of lhe expansill" I'tngl'1lmme for il3 business in Africa.
Accof'din~ 10 the Chairman of the company. Dr. "151' Lawai. CAt.tAC will al50 Ix- offering !rai'linK and skill d!'vt' lopmeni for African naljilO"ls in the counrries. Ilesaid ill II lel)Ort obtained OD Thursday thai the firm would create full} funded scbolaI5lllPf rur liIOlM or the nationals 10 study Pelrl·leum Engineering in the Unin!r.rity of H )uston, Texas State. Em(JO\'~ N_swire ~rted that the two African COl' 01 ries eqJressed their pride th at an Mricnn-owned oil company would ~ exploring lind producing from their naOons. lawai plais -d the Gambian leader for his sense of .i.<:i 3D and support. hinlinz that CA).tAC might f"(pand it.! im-estJnent in Gambia 10 POl' 'r S«1or areas.
Besides, Lawalsaid underlhe jJartM'~ip with the Ga mbia. CAMAC would explore slcill de\'eJoplllent and trnining or local Ga mblal15. The Ga mbian gO\~ment. the report said. had signed a production agIftmcnt with CMtAC Energy for two offshore: blocks in the West African nation, th .. first $Uch deal GambiA is signin& with a (oreign oil company, it said. It added thot CAMAC had announced a similar deal with the Kell)'1ln gO\'1!.rnment
with whom the company also signed production sharing contracts, PSC- on two newly cre.,ted deepwater blocks off Kenya in addi tion to two Lamu basin land blocks pfe\'IOU5lyawarded. Aroording to the report , In the Kenya deal, CAMAC lIIill be the opera lor lII;th 90 per a!'nt interest in all four PSQI and the Kenyan gO\oernmcn t hl'ls a 10 per cent carried inleresl prior to designation of a ny commercial d iscovuy. (:M.tAC expect! an indigenous company
to lake a minority interest later in that deal. The report also said in the Gambian deal. CAMAC earned 100 per rent in each of the two oil blcx:ks, but the Gambia National Petroleum Company WIl! &iven the right to elect to partic::ipate up to a 15 per cent mterest. folloWing appw\lIIl of a delo"t':iopment a nd production plan. CA1>IAC Enerv is also responsible rorall expenditures prior 10 s uch appllJ\"lll ~n if the GNPC elects 10 participate
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Maritime: Change agents must face challenges - Amiwero RASHEED BIS IRJYU
RON n.INE freight forwarde.r, Mr 1 ucky Amiwero. hIlS said pi!I'.pl{ working to impl'O\'e th e IIsincss clI\;ronmenl must brace (Of' cha1len.\e5. includmg threat to their
.N lives.
He said his (ersonal expe:rien~()\-'e:nime in course of COI,hlmung 10 policies for the
de\"elopmel1l 01 the maritime sector had led to his 8m'S1 an ! bl'1ltalisalion twice. The pf{~;denl. NatiomtJ Council uf Managing Oirt dor.<; of Licenst'd Customs Agents. wh" 5J: oke with our correspondent in I...agos on l1tutsday, however, said he ~inffi le;olule and would not be hlllmidatcd or detrrr-ed from hIS crusade for an imp""'.... 1 m.rillme industry. He Cited tI e molestation hI'! allegedly suffem:! in lhf" hands of the 111<.'11 of Nigeria Customs &,...i,ce Federal Operations Unil Zone A, l1.:ela 1.a:~0II recenU} O'"ct the issue
of benchmark loOlic:y Iknchm Irk '!II ~'~ueroliectin&W5Iem ...· I~R Rat II uti"", al'!! charged nn imponed oommodill· 5 "'I trdless of the \-<tlue of the product an.1 t"IIUlltn.- of origin Amiwel1' _aLt that he was having problerru witl he Customs because he dared 10 \\rilu I" the go\"t'-rnmenl against Ih!" mlroducli"1i of thP benchmark.. which be C(lnsid~""d tl5 expioilatn"f' and illegal. AmIW,,", 11~J aboUi 15 prqple had storml'd hilt olli:'1! in Lagos. manhandled him hefo!'!' hr w.JS whisked lum away and det;uned for file :la\'S. He said. nl~ look me down and chamed m,' te> 11 e lIilllx van ther brought. ·nll~y ~tri,·tt'd people from !lef'ing me for fi\'e dh'S withJllt any treatment,a~krCll!le .bout the I('lter on the benclun'ark i.q;UI". I said I "TOle it 10 the Prt!Sidenl. It'~ I )(lilt) issue. I am the subcommittee ch"itlMn on Valuation of cars and ~oods or the Presidential Task Force on Custom RI f,'rnts. I \vas a member oC the Presiril'ntilll CommIttee on Destination Inspection J Ie: u'lOO maritime umon I~der$ to support th,' ca I (or. better socIety. He said, ... ha"" changed mol"!' than 200 policies ,(}oj we made the difference you are 5el!'ini ill Ihe port loday_ WI!. don't compromi.-.e.He urgl'(! th! Federnl Gnvernment lo take II cue frotn Ghana in reorglmizmg th r
""'e\'
port.
· L-R Tremel Manager. Peacock Troveu Dlld Tou,..-. United Kingdom , loIr. Keil.h UOJJd; R epn!sf!ntuljVC! oj lIer IHqjesfy, 'he Queen of Englond, Deputy Lieutenont Col. Rode rick Morris; Group Executive Chairman. Peacock GraU/J ofCOlli ponies. ChiefSegun " 'lillips; Speaker of the Lon don Borough ofHnckney . CIl,. Susan Fqj",m . l"homus ; and Principal. Peacock Auiation Training Ccrfln!. Mr. Zenon Adamek, at tile QOjciol olJ1millg of Peacock GroulJ ill Hackn e y , London ... recently
Navy seizes vessel linked with oil theft RASHEED UISIRIYU
T
HE Nigerian Na\l' has Impounded a \-essel. lifT Floris. suspected 10 be carrying illegally refined 200,000 lilrcs of automotive gas oil. also known as diesel The naval IJersonnel. altathed to the Maritime GlJJlrds Command oflhe Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safely J\&eng'. also arrested thccapt8mo(the shIp and 10 other crew members NIMASA s:lId, In a stfltement o n Thursday signed ~ its Deputy Director, Public ~ Ialions. Hajia Lami Tumaka, Iha l the naval persollnel made th e arrest during their routine p,1trol o( the Lagos anchorage
.....
The
petroleum
product,
reponedly
loaded from AkMsa. a community ne:tr Brass. Bayelsa State, was found 10 be below '<landard when lested It said the captain of the ship could not produce lUI) documents showing the product it was ClIlT)ing, its poinl ofloading and the discharge destination. -During questiolling at the nead Office of NlMASA. the captain of th .. \~ Mr Martins Odedele con6nned tht> iIIeplity of lhe lransaction but claimed th AI he was an enu.'flency captain and so was unaware o f the i1Je&ality of the lrip u ntil he got 10 the \ocation,~ il said N lMASA said its im'eSligatioru revealed that the product wa5 -obviously (rom an iJlepl refining facihty as thto density o( the AGO and its flnshpoint are well below standard_AC'COrding to the agency, while Ihe caplain o ( th e vessel and its chief engineer ha\1!' been t.,ken to the Naval Bnse in Apapa pending further in\~&IItions, the '-essel
and the other nine crew members a~ being dctained by Offia!'fS o£the Mllritime: Guards Command at the Lagos anchorage. II lamented the ri5ing meidena!' orillegai refining activities with illl altenwtnl loss o( re\"enue to the gO\·ernment. - Investigations show thAt these illegal refineries get their cmde by bunke.nng oil f.,cilitics and Ihls
iIIf!!31 bllsinessconunues 10 nourish because Ihel"f' are: reAdy bU)"eJ3 who a~ partners in this crime. ~ it said. NI MASA. hQWe\-v, restaled I\~ RS'lh1!' to stem the tide byexpostngall iII,","1 activities in Nigena 's mantime The "sency promISed to contmue 10 enforce 11.5 Illllndate with the aim ofcurbmg criminal activities in Ihe nation's water<;.
FADAMA: Oyo ple d ges continued s upport for rural d evelo pmen t AJ(IN\VALEABOLUWADE
HEOyo State eo\'ernment bas said that it will continue to support loftv mitiatives aimed al adding \·.due to the economy or mral commumtll!S_ Thf' CommissIOner ror Ag.ncuhure. Natu",1 Resources and Rural Development, Mr. Abimhola Kolade. said IhlS on Thursday 011 the occasion of lhe sixth South·west wnal sllpelvision miSl;1011 FAOAMA III project held ill lhadan, 0)'0 State. The Commissioner. who was represeonted by the Peml3nenl Secretar)'. MinlSlry or Agriculture, Natural Re!Ioun:e:s and Rural ~"t'-lopl1ll'nl. Mr Kunle Adeduntan. said that the Fadarna project callle at an appropriate tillle wile n al1 acli\;ties of the donor assisted projeCts in the state were being hannoni.sed 10 prevent duplicatio n of projects. The third National Fadama d~oe lopmen l project is aimed at increasing the income of use:n of mnl land and wall"r resomce5 on a sustainable manner. based on communily driven dC\·elopme.nt with emphasis on st1lkeholders· particip,lIion at the oommunity level. nieCommissionersaid, ~A5 of l oda~'. 42
T
or
Fadnma Community Associations and 504 Fadama users groups with 8,626 members in the 20 participating local governments benefited from the project Among lhe projects a~ construction fe-eder roads, cuh'eltS. nlral markets. boreholes. VIP toilm and poulll'} ~I am hal)I'1lhat this project reeognlSe5 the place of women and youth and hIlS. thetefo~, de-cided 10 ghoe Ih('111 ~'Oice: by fully invohi ng Ihem ill the d("\1!'lopment of their oommunilie:s in the ~Iectlon and apprm-alofbene6ciaries.Kolade saidltml !hestate would rontlllue 10 support agriculture at all tim"- having di..!icO'1!'red the crucial role of the sector as a tool for developmenL lie hmted, ~It is delighlfulto inronn this gathering thai th~ state has dell.'rmlned 10 restore:, transform alld tqlOSition agriculture as tlle fOr'e:lflOSl industry that dri\"CS the stnte's economyThe commissioner, who listed the slate·s agriculture programme as introduction of 8(:hool agriculture: :scheme:. upgl1lding of farm :settlements, agriC\lhur.1 training centre and develollmenl of straleglc policy on agriculture, ad\'ised the beneficiaries of Fadam. schcoIDe to be committal