Page 30, THISDAY, Vol IS, No. S406
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
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Mobil Hinges Building of Refinery on Deregulation aging Director. Mobil O il Pic Mr. Adetunji Oyebanji, has said that e only way to get private operators to build refineries in Nigeria is if the downstream pelTOleum industry is fully deregulated. He stressed that the condition under which Mobil could invest
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in building of private refineries in the country is when the downstream sector is deregulat: ' ed. Oyebanji, who spoke at a recent forum in Lagos, pledged the company's readiness to embrace the Federal Govemmerit's policy on deregu-
ENERGY Stories by Chika Amallze-Nwac1ll1ku lation, pointing out that it is the surest way of addressing the perelUual peiroleum scarcity in the country. . 'We believe that deregulation is the best way forward for the oil and gas industry and the country because if the sector is deregulated, private operators would be able to build new refineries and there would be healthy competition", he said. He said Mobil would contin-
ue to operate as a profitable and resilient organisation that will compete effectively in a fully deregulated downstream industry. "Mobil Oil Nigeria is also an organisation where the way the company achieves results is as important as the results themselves", he said. The Mobil boss also solicited the support of the company's shareholders to realise its vision. He disclosed that cunenUy, Mobil has over 250 retail ouUets in Nigeria and will continue to invest in the economy of Nigeria by expanding its operations in the country. "1be business environment
and economy remain very chaJlenging; supply has' tightened and margins are not keeping pace with costs. "Major uncertainties remain in Ule world economy and in our country's economic environment. In spite of these chal-
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·vers "State Gov~mment has endorsed Masters Energy Tank Farm in Port an::ourt, saying the project is not only a huge investment that will boost the economy of the state, but will also enhance operntion in the downstream peiroleum industry.
Shell to Layoff 1/0.00 Employees in 2010
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"We have reduced underJy.ing operating costs by some $1 billion in the fourth quarter 2009, and by over $2 biUion in 2009 compared to 2008," he said. He said the company's fourth quaner 2009 results were impacted by the weak global economy, adding however, that oil prices have increased compared to a year ago. Voser, who said outlook for 2010 is not certain , noted tllat the company is not assuming that there w ill be a quick recovery as gas prices and refining margins declined sharply, because of weaker demand and high industry
By Efta/or Alike inventory levels. "Our strategy is on track, although the near-term industry outlook does remain challenging. We are taking steps to improve our performance, to bridge the company, and our shareholders, into a period of significant growth in the coming years," Voser said . He was optinlistic that Ule company is making good progress, stressing that the company intends to raise its competitive perfonnance. According to him, the Tr,msition 2009 programme, which was launched in nlid2009, has been completed. "We have reduced complex.ity in the company. and our new organisation, announced in July 2009, is now fuUy up and running. Our Upstream organisation is simpler and our new Projects & Technology organisation makes for better technical integration on bigger projects and a sharper innovation focus along the v3.lue chain ," he added . Voser last week confirmed tllat the company may sell more of its Nigerian assets.
"Nigeria is part of our total portfolio and if val ues are right we will always look at them and see if potential asset sales
years, we are in a position to tum the challenges to opportunities. "Nigeria remains endowed with an abundance of natural resources and human talents,
can actually give us more value than operating Ulem ourselves," he was quoted him as saying.
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Rivers State Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources. Dr. Dawari George, made the commendation during an inspection tour of the tank farm at Masters Energy City. Rumuolumeni , Port Harcourt. He said with the state of the arts facilities on ground. the tank farm can compete favourably with any of its kind anywhere in the world. 'The size and facilities at the tank farm are so mind blowing that government does not have any choice than to support the company to achieve its objective", he said. He said his visit was prompted by Ri vers State government's interest in the tank farm, adding that because of its size and quality facilities , the tank farm would serve as a strategic reserve site for oil products especially when the state's refinery project at ' Ndoni, Local Ogba/EgbeJNdoni Government Area comes on stream. He said: ' The state will have to take more than a passing interesting in what will be going on at Maters Energy. It is a huge investment that will have impact on the economy of the state and also oil the wheel of progress of its people as it will
provide employment, directly and ind irecUy to the people. Rivers State Government is very happy and proud of the company and will do everyUting possible to encourage its management and ensure that the benefits of locating such massive structure in the slate are not lost." The commissioner noted that the refmery project was embarked upon by Governor Rotinu Chibuike Amaechi's administration to ensure that peiroleum products are easily available to the people of the state at very affordable price. '''That is why the state government will be partnering with Masters Energy to use the tank farm as a strategic depot to fasttrack the pace of distribution of peiroleum products to the end users when the refinery is completed ," he said. Earlier in his address , the General Manager, South-8outh, Mr. Coltins Onyemelukwe, expressed the companis wiU ingness to partner the with Rive~ State Government and assured that the tank farm has more than enough capacity to serve the needs of the state" He however, drew the attention of the state government"to the poor state of public infrastructure such as roads, electricity as well as the insecurity on the wa~r ways, UlfOtigh which large vessels were to bring products.
Nigeria Yam Research Gets $lm Boost gena1s research on yam improvement in West and Central Africa (WCA) involving Cameroon, Benin, Cote d'lvoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo has received US$I million about (about€750,ooo) lifeline, thanks to the European Union-African,
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AGRIC ' By Crusoe Osagie
Caribbean and Pacific Science and Technology Program (EUACP). The support is coming anUd global reawakening on the importance of yam as a food security crop in Africa. The research project tagged , "Strengthening Capacity for Yam Research-for-development the so-called employment within Central and Westem Africa By Lillda Eroke OU~~~~!~~~"';;ffect of the (SCYReC)" aims to improve UJe t pro teccapacity for in yam research-forUle labour law that needs to be absence 0f empi oymen development the region. urgently reviewed is U'" reduntion laws and the inadequacies Specifically, it will help in dancy law. in our redundancy laws in an finding sustainable solutions, AnoUler """,, he said, is the atmosphere of terrible unemUuuugh science and technology, absence of employment protecployment as we have in Nigeria to the challenges facing the crop tion laws for the employed. can only be imagined" the body and exploit its tremendous potenThe labour leader said it was noted. tial for food security and poverty unfortunatethatgovemmenthas It th~refore caUed on the alleviation. not been able to put in place Federal Ministry of labour and Africa's leading resean:h part_ employment protection laws in Productivity and the National ner, the International Institute of organisations after 10 years of Asserobly to review the labour Tropical Agriculture (UTA) is to un-interrupted constitutional laws in Nigeria and "fix the mismanage and implement the prodemocracy. chievous loopholes linadequaject in coUaboration with a team "We had thought that with the cies that has been used to perpetof national partners in 13 advent of constitutional democuate injustice in employment research instiwtions in the six racy, the National Assembly relations". countries including the National would have taken time to review The Federal Ministry of Root Crops Research Institute, the labour laws or laws that Labour and Productivity was Umudike, Abia State. affect workers in line with also enjoined to ensure that the 'This is someUting good for Sectio~ 17(3) of the Federal Government ratifies the the region where yam plays an Constitution. fLO Convention 158 important role in nutrition and " It is obvious from the statisConcerning Temnination of econonlic weU-being of the peatics of tlle causes of industrial Employment at the Initiative of pie." says David Annang, lITAcrises in Nigeria that one area of the Employer, which came into SCYReC Project Coordinator. our labour .Iaws Ulat is in dire force on November3, 1985 and "We are hopeful that the project need of revIew ~s the redundan~om~bCa1e o~ pass It mto law In will tackle the many challenges cy law. Anotherrs the absence of lineW1thSec~on 120ftlle 1999 facing increased yam producemployn1l'Dt.prot<:eJ\O.O lawfQr;....• • ConsntulIon .. - - - - - - - -tioo;~ •.• - - - - - - '
rue Advocates Review of Labour Law
le Trade Union Congress (IUC) has called on the National Assembly and Ule ] Labour Ministry to cany out a critical review of the nation's labour laws, in order to align the country's labour laws with the international labour standan:ls . The Congress also urged the Ministry to consider fixing the loopholes and inadequacies that has been used to perpetuate injustice in employment relations by ensuring that the Federal Government ratifies the Intemational Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 158 relating to tenn1ination of ernploynJel1t at Ule initiative of tlle employer and pass it into law; in line with the 1999 Constitution. This, ruc said, will provide SOme succour to employees whose employments do not bave statutory flavour. Making the call during a courtesy visit to the State ConlroUer, Fedeml Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Rivers State, the State Chairman of ruc, Comrade Hyginus Chika Onuegbu, said a major aspect of
and given the enabling environment, the future is pronlising. We are proud of our safety perfonnance and remain committed to the goal of creating an incident-free work place in which 'no one gets hurt" , he stressed.
Rivers Okays Masters Energy Facilities
'&R: Presidenl of Ihe Nigerim, Labour Co-operative Society (NLCS), A IIUlji Yakubu Imam, MlITUlging Director of Feb Redline, Mr. Esan Suntfay and Ihe Seerel11ry GerreroI of NLCS, Chief Lauis Odeigah exc1Ulnging Ihe Memorandum ofUnderstmuJing (MoU) between NLCS and Feb Redlitre on tire proposed illlenr.ational cooperative conference to be managed by Feb Redline in Abuja
Oyal Dutch SheU said it is targeting a further underlying cost reduction of at east $1 billion, and a reduction of some 1,000 employees in 20 I0 as part of the plans to lay-off 5 ,000 employees from Europe's largest oil company. Commenting on the company's 2009 unaudited results , Royal Dut, h Shell Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Peter, said as a result of the company's actions in 2009. some 5,000 employees would leave Shell , representing a reduction of 10 per cent in the impacted
lenges, we are confident that with the strategic initiatives we have undertaken in the last few
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