November 17th, 2006

American oil firm exits Nigeria early 2007

Following the decision of the United States oil services firm, Willbros Group Incorporated to pull out of Nigeria due to the Niger Delta crisis, the company has fixed its exit for first quarter of next year.
EJIOFOR ALIKE

The company had earlier this year made the strategic decision to sell its Nigeria assets and operations and relocate to North America where the market offers better opportunities and returns.

This decision, according to company sources, was because since the hostage incident of February 18, 2006 that involved its workers, attacks of oil workers and facilities by militants have affected its operations on a continuous basis.

But Edmund Daukoru, minister of state for petroleum resources and OPEC president recently debunked the company’s claims of planning to leave the country due to the Niger Delta crisis.

He said the company was being crippled by financial crisis and not the Niger Delta crisis.

Some staff of the company were recently charged to court for involvement in millions of dollars fraud.

The company has maintained that since the middle of June, its production operations in the Niger Delta area have been shut in.

Mike Curran, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We continue to make progress on our plan to exit Latin America and Nigeria as we refocus our attention and resources to North America and a few other selected international markets. In addition, we recently completed a private equity transaction and this, combined with our new credit facility, should give us the liquidity and flexibility to perform the increasing volume of projects we are currently pursuing or have in backlog.

"Finally, we are encouraged by the number of qualified bidders who have submitted proposals for the purchase of our Nigeria operations and assets, and we expect to reach an agreement by the end of the first quarter of 2007."

According to him, the increasingly difficult operating environment in Nigeria resulted in further contract cost increases beyond those anticipated.

He disclosed that the company has taken appropriate measures to minimize the impact that these disruptions are having on its financial results and may incur additional costs in the future.

The company, he said, continues to employ all available remedies under its contracts including negotiations, mediation and arbitration as appropriate.

He maintained that any resolutions in the company’s favour would have a positive impact on its revenue, operating income and cash flow from discontinued operations.

The company boss also disclosed that the company has taken actions to reduce its costs in Nigeria and will continue these cost cutting measures in the last lap of 2006.

Willbros Group Incorporated is a United States independent contractor serving not only Nigeria’s oil, gas and power industries, but also providing engineering and construction, and facilities development and operations services to industry and government entities worldwide.

PS: I AM REALLY ANNOYED WHY ARE PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT DOING NOTHING TO CALM THIS CRISIS, OOOO? IF ONE OIL FIRM GOES OTHERS WILL FOLLOW, IT SHOULD BE A WAKE-UP CALL!!!

It is a pity that this important piece of information falls on deaf ears! We just cast it aside and nobody even wants to discuss it even though we are all concerned more or less!

let them go.
soldier go, soldier come
God no go vex


when Shell decides to Exit, then we've got a problem.

it is good news,the earlier the pack there bags the better for us.no more reaping no more exploitation.since the dont contribute in anyway to the betterment of naija.which social services are the providing for the community,just like companies do abroad? nothing.oil is one product that doesnt need any advert.once the world economy keeps growing the demand for oil will continue to rise and oyibo will take any insult in exchange for crude.(like a child that smells honey)ask me why hugo chaves get basket mouth. the govt.should tell them to hit the road and never come back no more.

t is good news,the earlier the pack there bags the better for us.no more reaping no more exploitation.since the don't contribute in anyway to the betterment of naija.which social services are the providing for the community,just like companies do abroad? nothing.oil is one product that doesnt need any advert.once the world economy keeps growing the demand for oil will continue to rise and oyibo will take any insult in exchange for crude.(like a child that smells honey)ask me why hugo chaves get basket mouth. the govt.should tell them to hit the road and never come back no more.

hbrednic, I am not a great fan of the oil companies neither but if the Niger Delta region is bleeped up it is not only due to Oyibo but to our own incapacity to deal with it! Nigeria earned more than 500 BILLION DOLLARS to have built a place down there that would have send down shivers South Africa´s spine. evrybody could have lived in nice houses, go to good schols etc. by now, Oyibo oil comapnies also exploit oil in other African countries in asia or Middle East and they don´t Bleep up things the way they have done in Naija! It was our leaders who allowed everything!

Moreover, do you think if big companies go medieum sized comapnies form abroad will come??

You need to brsuh up on the complexity of economics, too!

It is not the task of an entrepreneur to "furniture your entire house when you just buy a single item!"

constantin,i must agree with u that our leaders are the core problem.in my reply to other posting, i said there must be a revolution to change the system,but what i am saying is that we have nothing to lose,if the american companies wants to pull out.not a question of big or medium size companies.there are a lot of emerging markets ( china,india,vietnam,brasil) thats driving the quest crude and will never be satified.brasilian petrobras recently went into oil exploration in angola.the market is there for crude, infact i believe we can even get a better deal from this countries.

oyibo should stop making shakara that they want to pull out,cos we know that they are not going anywere,especially now that china is showing a lot of intrest in africa.

furnishing the entire house ke? did they furnish any part of the house atall?i still maintain that if they want to go,we should get them a first class ticket.we no de shake.

MAN, please, do you think oil companies or any companies are there to give handouts!? Wherever the oil company comes from wheter it is local or foreign is there to make money and profit and one hing is for sure Asian or Latin American oil companies will behave worse than the Western counterparts! China is not a democracy and death penaly is the highest in the world! if the don´t pay attention to people´s right in their own country how will they do it then in a foreign country? so don´t jump at easy solutions! There are none!

Moreover, Shell or Chevron also exploit oil in the Middle East or asia (take Oman), and I have been informed that they are investing some money back (although it is not their task to do it, they do it just to create a "more social" image of themsleves), oil companies no matter if they are local or foreign will not pay for schools or roads or whatever, it is the task of us and our leaders to make it properly!!! but naija menatlity is only "i eat fufu and pepe soup so the rest can die"! this drives me wild, who is the governement? governement is also everyone of us!!!give a "small boy" a big job tomorrow and see how he will behave, he will make the same mistakes than the people whom he criticized when he was still a "small boy". this is Naija , these are many parts of africa, unfortunately!

I stay at the university of port harcourt which is neighbour to the wilbros operational base; with the kind of construction am seeing going on in that place, its either they are changing business or another company has taken over. The truth is that the leaders - political or military have conspired with this multinationals to continually enrich themselves and some members of their families to the detriment of the whole nation. I think its best they all left so that this our leaders can feel some of the heat we are under now.

constantin,you are only preaching.china is not a democratic country as you said,but the are doing business with america,infact for over ten years the are the country that recieved the highest foreign invest,and you must do it according to their on terms.dont know if u have ever been to the states,they have the highest number of inmates in the world cos they are used for cheap labour( second slavery).the so called democratic countries sustained the brutal aparthied reigm in south africa cos of business intrest,ignored the UN to invade iraq,ignored kyoto on earth warming to protect there industries,refused to open up there market for the third world on agricultural products,to protect there farmers who has for years been on subsidy to our detriments.bros just open your eyes,in a capitalist world,democracy is just a word on a piece of paper.the king of jordan said democracy means different things to different(people) countries.democracy or no democracy,if china or latin american comes with a better offer we should do business with them,once there is no UN embargo stating otherwise.

nobody is talking of a handout,they can start with giving schoolarships and sponsoring sporting events,the way companies are doing here.its a sure way of getting the hearth of the people.

once crude is concerned,i bet u this people(wilbros) are not going anywhere,even if u attack them with nuclear weapon.

Foreign oil worker killed in Nigerian hostage rescue

10.05am Thursday November 23, 2006

LAGOS - One foreign oil worker was killed and another seriously wounded on Wednesday when the Nigerian military launched a mission to free seven oil workers taken hostage from an offshore oil field, military sources said.

The sources said the five other hostages kidnapped earlier on Wednesday were freed in the operation, in which at least two militants were also killed.

Italy's foreign ministry said the dead hostage was British.

A spokesman for ENI , the Italian company operating the oil field, had earlier said the hostages were two Finns, a Briton, an Italian, a Filipino, a Pole and a Romanian.

"There was a rescue mission. Five hostages were rescued, one was wounded and one was killed in the cross-fire," one military source said.

He added the wounded man was receiving treatment on an oil platform.

The authorities earlier said gunmen in speed boats kidnapped the seven oil workers in a raid on an Italian oil production vessel off the Nigerian coast.

Eni closed down its 50,000 barrels-a-day Okono/Okpoho oilfield as a result of the attack, an industry source said.

- REUTERS

PS: ALL THIS ADDS MORE TO OUR COUNTRY´S GROWING NEGATIVE IMAGE ABROAD!!!!