Shell Has No Firm Date for Return to Full Crude-Oil Production in Nigeria

(Bloomberg) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe's
largest oil company by market value, has no firm date for when
it can return to full production in Nigeria.

Shell is the biggest international oil producer in Nigeria,
a country that has lost hundreds of thousands of barrels in
daily production from the western Niger Delta since early 2006.
Militants are demanding a greater share of surging oil revenue.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Shell finds new Nigerian oilfield

(Reuters) - "Aghata-1 well is a material exploration success for SPDC and Shell," said Basil Omiyi, the managing director of SPDC, a Nigerian arm of the Anglo-Dutch oil major.




"It has the potential to immediately increase oil production in the area, and also enabling us to find other potential exploration opportunities in similar geological settings," Omiyi was quoted as saying in a company statement.


Read more at Reuters.com Business News

Oil Falls From 10-Month High as U.S. Refineries Increase Gasoline Outputt

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell from a 10-month high
on expectations that demand will decline because of the
unexpected shutdown of units at U.S. refineries.

BP Plc is shutting the largest of three crude units at its
Whiting, Indiana, refinery, a person familiar with the plant
said. Units were shut at refineries in Texas and Kansas last
week. Oil rose last week on unrest in Nigeria, Africa's biggest
producer. U.K. authorities said a three-year-old British girl
abducted July 5 in Nigeria was freed yesterday.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Nigerian Militants Condemn British Girl's Kidnapping, Promise Punishment

(Bloomberg) -- The main militant group in Nigeria's
oil-producing Niger River delta region condemned yesterday's
kidnapping of a 3-year-old British girl and vowed to punish the
abductors.

``We will not condone attacks on children,'' Jomo Gbomo, a
spokesman for the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta, or MEND, said today in an e-mailed response to questions.
``We have directed that the abductors be found and punished.''


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Oil Rises Above $72 on Nigerian Supply Concerns, U.S. Gasoline Shortfall

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose above $72 a barrel in
New York, a 10-month high, on concern that unrest in Nigeria may
curb oil shipments and unexpected shutdowns at U.S. refineries
will cut fuel production.

Nigerian gunmen kidnapped a three-year-old daughter of a
British expatriate on her way to school in the southern oil city
of Port Harcourt, a police spokesman said. Five contractors were
seized yesterday from a rig operated by Royal Dutch Shell Plc's
Nigerian venture. Futures pared gains after the Energy Department
reported that U.S. oil and fuel supplies rose last week.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Cocoa Rises to Four-Year High on Political, Labor Turmoil in West Africa

(Bloomberg) -- Cocoa in New York rose to a four-
year high on speculation political tension in Ivory Coast, the
biggest producer, and labor disputes in Nigeria will disrupt
supplies of the beans used to make chocolate.

Three people were killed in a rocket attack on the plane
of Ivory Coast Prime Minister Guillaume Soro at an airport in
the central town of Bouake last week. Soro was unhurt. In
Nigeria, the fourth-largest producer, exports were disrupted by
a four-day strike in June that closed ports.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Oil rises above $71 on Nigeria strike fears

(Reuters) - Oil prices rose above $71 a barrel on Friday on fears a general strike in Nigeria could intensify and disrupt crude shipments from the world's eighth-largest exporter.

London Brent crude, currently seen as the best benchmark of world oil prices, settled up 96 cents at $71.18 a barrel, after trading as high as $71.50 during the day.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Crude Oil Falls Amid Speculation Nigerian Strike Won't Disrupt Its Exports

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell as some analysts and
traders speculated a strike in Nigeria would fail to affect exports
from Africa's largest producer.

Oil workers left Nigeria's export terminals yesterday as part
of a general strike protesting an increase in domestic fuel prices
and taxes. Oil traders and analysts doubt the strike has further
disrupted supplies from Nigeria. About a third of the nation's
output was already halted by political and criminal violence.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Nigeria Strike Continues After Government, Unions Fail to Reach Agreement

(Bloomberg) -- A nationwide general strike in Nigeria,
Africa's biggest oil producer, continued for a third day after
labor unions and the federal government failed to reach an
agreement over an increase in domestic fuel prices.

Peter Akpatason, the president of the National Union of
Petroleum & Natural Gas Workers, or Nupeng, said the next meeting
was scheduled for 9 a.m. today. Yesterday, oil unions withdrew
workers for export terminals in a bid to halt exports and intensify
pressure on the new administration of President Umuru Yar'Adua.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

Oil Rises, Approaching $70, as Nigerian Strike Spreads to Export Terminals

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose, approaching $70 a
barrel in New York, after Nigerian workers left the country's
export terminals, threatening shipments from Africa's biggest oil
producer.

Nigerian unions increased pressure on the government in the
second day of the strike, protesting increases in taxes and fuel
prices. The Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of
Nigeria, or Pengassan, will hold more talks with the government
today, said Lumumba Okugbawa, a spokesman for the group.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Brent Oil Rises on Concern Nigerian Strikes May Disrupt Export Shipments

(Bloomberg) -- Brent oil, a benchmark for two-
thirds of global supplies, rose on concern that strikes by
unions in Nigeria may disrupt exports.

Workers will be withdrawn from Nigeria's oil terminals
starting today, extending a nationwide strike to a second day, a
spokesman for the Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff
Association of Nigeria said yesterday. Africa's biggest oil
producer has lost more than 700,000 barrels a day, or a quarter
of output, since last year because of militant attacks.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Ex-Enron CFO to pay $300,000 to settle SEC charges

(Reuters) - The SEC said McMahon participated in a fraudulent
transaction involving the purported sale of an interest in
Nigerian power generating barges to Merrill Lynch and Co. Inc.
that allowed Enron to improperly report $12 million in
earnings in the fourth quarter of 1999.




Read more at Reuters.com Government Filings News

Crude Oil Falls More Than $1 on Report of Surging U.S. Gasoline Stockpiles

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell more than $1 a barrel
from a nine-month high after an Energy Department report showed
that U.S. oil and gasoline stockpiles increased.

Crude-oil inventories surged 6.9 million barrels to 349.3
million in the week ended June 15, the report showed. It was the
biggest one-week gain since the week ended March 19, 2004.
Gasoline supplies rose 1.79 million barrels to 203.3 million.
Prices gained the past two days on concern Nigerian shipments
would be disrupted further because of a general strike.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Crude Oil Falls From Nine-Month High After Report of U.S. Inventory Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil fell more than $1 a barrel
from a nine-month high after an Energy Department report showed
that U.S. oil and gasoline stockpiles increased.

Crude-oil inventories surged 6.9 million barrels to 349.3
million in the week ended June 15, the report showed. It was the
biggest one-week gain since the week ended March 19, 2004.
Gasoline supplies rose 1.79 million barrels to 203.3 million.
Prices gained the past two days on concern Nigerian shipments
would be disrupted further because of a general strike.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

West Africa seen topping 100 mln mobile users by 2011

(Reuters) - West Africa's booming cell phone market will double by 2011 to more than 100 million subscribers, driven by growth in the continent's biggest market, Nigeria, industry executives and analysts said on Tuesday.

With fixed-line telecoms infrastructure scarce in many parts of Africa, a fall in the cost of mobile handsets and in the price of calls has sparked a boom across the continent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Crude Oil Is Little Changed at Nine-Month High on Nigerian Strike Threat

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil was little changed at a
nine-month high in New York amid concern that a strike will curb
fuel shipments from Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer.

The strike will start tomorrow, according to John Odah,
general secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress. Union
representatives demanded that the government rescind a motor-fuel
price increase implemented last month.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Oil Approaches $70 for First Time in Nine Months on Nigeria Strike Planss

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil in New York approached $70
a barrel for first time since September after Nigerian unions
planned a strike this week, threatening supplies from Africa's
biggest oil producer.

Oil production is likely to be affected during the strike as
Nigeria's two main oil unions plan to participate, a labor leader
said. Nigeria produces low-sulfur, or sweet, crude oil, prized by
U.S. refiners because of the high proportion of gasoline it
yields. New York oil reached a record $78.40 a barrel on July 14
on concern that Middle East unrest would cut oil shipments.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Oil Rises to Nine-Month High After Workers in Nigeria Threaten to Strike

(Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to a nine-month high
after a coalition of labor unions in Nigeria, Africa's biggest
oil producer, threatened to strike this week.

Oil production is also likely to be affected during the
strike as Nigeria's two main oil unions plan to participate, said
Lumumba Okugbawa, deputy general secretary of the Petroleum &
Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, or Pengassan.
Nigeria produces low-sulfur, or sweet, crude oil, prized by U.S.
refiners because of the high proportion of gasoline it yields.


Read more at Bloomberg Commodities News

Oil prices may hit $80 a barrel

(Reuters) - Oil prices could surge to $80 a barrel this year because of tropical storms, rising demand for gasoline and disruptions in crude supplies from Nigeria, a senior Iranian oil official said on Sunday.

"The $80 price is a maximum forecast for oil in the current year but the average price of oil in the current year will be $66.20," Mohammad Ali Khatibi, deputy director for international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

OPEC Crude Oil Production Fell 0.5 Percent in May, Bloomberg Survey Shows

(Bloomberg) -- Crude-oil production in May by
members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
fell 0.5 percent, led by declines in Nigeria and Iraq, a
Bloomberg News survey showed.

Output slipped 150,000 barrels to an average 30.01 million
barrels a day, according to the survey of oil companies,
producers and analysts. Production in April was revised to
30.155 million barrels a day from 30 million estimated last
month.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News