Well, FG is holding on to Shell by every means .

[size=14pt]Nigeria Says Shell Will Need Government Approval to Sell Assets[/size]
By Dulue Mbachu

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria’s Oil Minister said Royal Dutch Shell Plc will need government approval to sell oilfields following a report that it plans to sell as much as $5 billion of assets in the West African nation.

Shell, Europe’s biggest energy company, is planning to sell stakes in several onshore Nigerian oilfields, the Sunday Times reported yesterday. Potential buyers may include China’s Sinopec and Nigeria’s Oando Plc, the newspaper said.

“It’s not theirs to sell,” Minister of Petroleum Rilwanu Lukman said by phone from Abuja today. “They’re holding concessions given them by the government.”

Shell’s onshore facilities bore the brunt of recent attacks by militants seeking a greater share of Nigeria’s oil wealth. Legislation before parliament will impose tougher conditions on international producers active in the country as Shell undertakes a global review of its operations to cut costs.

Shell would require government approval before pressing ahead with a sale, Lukman said. No such request has been made, as far as he’s aware. Wendel Broere, a spokesman at The Hague- based Shell, declined to comment.

Shell’s operations were the worst hit by an upsurge of armed attacks in the oil-producing Niger Delta that took place from 2006. More than 25 percent of Nigeria’s oil output was shut through pipeline bombings and kidnapping of oil workers. The violence has abated since an amnesty was implemented.

Greater Powers

An oil industry reform law presented by President Umaru Yar’Adua to parliament seeks to give the government greater powers over oil concessions while raising taxes paid by energy companies.

Licenses for 16 fields operated by Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. in the past four decades are currently up for renewal. Only Exxon has so far obtained a renewal for three licenses while Shell and Chevron are continuing negotiations with the government.

Shell is reviewing its operations around the world after the recession curbed fuel demand and dragged down prices. It may put a fourth refinery in Europe up for a sale and has already signed a letter of intent to sell its New Zealand downstream assets.

Nigeria, which vies with Angola for Africa’s top oil producer, has hydrocarbon reserves of about 36 billion barrels of crude and 187 trillion cubic feet of gas, according to the Petroleum Ministry. The West African nation is the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.

Shell is the oldest and largest international energy company in Nigeria, according to the company’s Web site. Its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Co., is the operator of a joint venture in which state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., or NNPC, holds a 55 percent stake. Shell holds 30 percent, followed by Total with 10 percent and Eni SpA with 5 percent.

The joint venture run by Shell covers 90 oil fields, spanning 30,000 square kilometers, 72 oil-pumping stations, 10 gas plants and two major oil export terminals at Bonny and Forcados, according to a company fact-sheet.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=a3VDvtfLQOSU

The FG might simply be blustering - they had no input when Addax was sold to the Chinese so they might not have a direct influence on selling.

While the FG can frustrate any new entrant, it will be difficult for them to prvet Shell making business decisions of divestment or investment.

FG - bunch of stupid noisemakers - they are also 'forbidding ' the banks from continuing with layoffs -

debosky:

The FG might simply be blustering - they had no input when Addax was sold to the Chinese so they might not have a direct influence on selling.

While the FG can frustrate any new entrant, it will be difficult for them to prvet Shell making business decisions of divestment or investment.

Shell might not wish to contend a court case with a sovereign body. I am quite the FG will be prepared to go that far. Reason? Shell can very decisively tip the balance of power in Nigeria by simply selling their concessions to a party of their choosing. . . Big politics de deh!

Its very very obvious that Shell's proposed exit is a negative sign. When foreign investors sold their stock holdings in many Nigerian companies before the great crunch people didnt take heed. For all the trouble Shell has had it still remains a hugely profitable company. for them to pack up ready to sell and run it means that they have done their projections and see doom on the horizon.

I think the Nigerian Government has done well by blowing the cover. Shell is trying to pull a fast one.

After exploiting us for so long, now that it seems that Nigeria is finally attempting to negotiate a fair deal from its resources they want to run away.

Its their choice to do so, but we have to make the imminent terms of trading in Nigeria public so that potential buyers understand what they will face.

Our legislators should not also be bullied by Shell's move because we will always find those to sell oil to and work with.

I can see that they have foresaw doom in the future, Is ok they have alot of money and they ready to smile back home.

The flames of sHELL are flames of HELL.

Minister debunks claim on sale of Shell

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia, has debunked the claim that Royal Dutch Shell is planning to sell oil fields in Nigeria.

Several newspapers had at the weekend reported that Europe’s largest oil company planned to sell oil fields valued at up to $5 billion as the country prepared to impose harsher terms on foreign operators and handed greater control to domestic oil firms.

“Shell has not informed the government of any such plans. It is indeed curious, if the reports making the rounds in this regard are true, that Shell seems so keen on renewing their expired shallow water leases. We certainly intend to make a formal inquiry.” Ajumogobia said.

Shell, the longest-standing foreign oil firm in Africa’s biggest oil and gas producing country, has declined to commenton the issue.

It operates onshore through its Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) joint venture, in which state oil firm Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) holds 55 percent and Shell holds 30 per cent.

“I am not aware of any talks with NNPC regarding the sale of Shell assets in Nigeria. Shell cannot on its own unilaterally say it wants to sell anything that does not belong to it alone,” NNPC spokesman, Levi Ajuonoma said.

The reports came as the Federal Government considered controversial legislation to overhaul its energy sector, which would redefine its relationship with foreign oil partners.

http://www.tribune.com.ng/22122009/news/news10.html



Nigeria. . . .Sometimes one wonder what to believe.
One minute, The news says this. . . . .The next minute, Its something else.
I for one didnt believe that Shell would sell anything. . .Nigeria is a gold mine for them.
A place where there is no tight regulation. . . . . . .They even know the exact music your government likes dancing to, Which is ''Bribe''
You think its that easy to sell off their assets just like that? Then where would they go? Iraq? is that easy??
Shell is going nowhere . . . .You lot better zip that into your stomach.

The Sly:

Minister debunks claim on sale of Shell[/b]http://www.tribune.com.ng/22122009/news/news10.html



Nigeria. . . .Sometimes one wonder what to believe.
One minute, The news says this. . . . .The next minute, Its something else.
I for one didnt believe that Shell would sell anything. . .[b]Nigeria is a gold mine for them.
A place where there is no tight regulation. . . . . . .They even know the exact music your government likes dancing to, Which is ''Bribe''
You think its that easy to sell off their assets just like that? Then where would they go? Iraq? is that easy??
Shell is going nowhere . . . .You lot better zip that into your stomach.

Exactly the reason why I was trying to people that Nigeria has more to gain if Shell leaves cus it means we can renegotiate the contract with someone else and have more profit and more environment restrictions against the new company.

The reality is that most oil companies in Nigeria are making money cus there is less regulations on them . . . the money they would have used ot satisfy the regulation is merely just turned into profit.

Those kinds of profit cannot be obtained in the West were regulations are a source of easy cash for the regulators. . . from any company that breaks those regulations.

The link provided by Debo shows that is a global downsizing hence its normal for them to probably want to sell off less profitable assets (i.e. less profitable to Shell) . . . but not necessarily less profitable to other companies.

I believe Nigeria can handle their Resources.

Anybody talking otherwise is been ignorant,our own companies should acquire these Assets.We have competent hands

We should forget selling to China.we should acquire these Assets.

Can we not see what they are doing to us.

What the militants are doing ,we would thank them some day,Most times when i read these issues concerning us it really hurts me Because we have been allowing these people to out smart us .Why

they should sell those Asssets to Nigerian companies .

If we let the contrary happen .we would never leave this hole that we are in .100yrs is not for ever.

i hate to hear about oil, its makes me sick because it is the cause of our downfall in nigeria

,

Is there any government operated institution in this country right now that is being run efficiently

I just wondered,

Oil companies are here for the money, there is no reason why they should give a Fu ck about us,

But our govt doesnt gove a fu ck about us either, and lets face it, we've harmed ourselves worse than shell and the rest have ever harmed us,

Niger Delta isnt in its present condition because of the foreign companies, its like that because of the greed of our leaders, our government and our traditional rulers, So dont blame it all on the west. I can assure you that as soon as the govt gets control of those assets, the people in govt will try to transfer either the assets themselves or the profits to their private accounts, this is Nigeria after all.

I'm sick of people painting the west as evil, every place in the worls today was colonised at some point and not necessarily by the west, the slave trade would never have been possible if not that our leaders were in it too. (Jaja of Opobo was a slave trader did you know that?) , our problem is corruption and until that stops getting assets back from foreign companies is just another turn in the circle we're constantly navigating.

All this talk, Shell did this, shell stole your money, shell is hell,

shell in nigeria is 40% foreign, 60% nigerian government

so who is killing who? for every business deal in shell, the government gets 60% of the money

irrespective of all that, HOW MUCH is the nigerian government owing shell??

afterall shell is in here for business[b], if the nigerian government was not benefiting form them, they would have sent them packing SINCE!!!!!![/b]

All these talks about indigenous companies, as much as we would love it to be, lets face facts
we are nigerians, something as little as road constructions given to indigenous company, what comes of it .
We are toooo interested in making QUICK profit to consider quality, SAD, but TRUE

Someone that knows shld pls tell us,
How much does it cost to drill an oil well,
how much does it cost to lay the pipe that will send the oil to export terminal
How long does it take to recover this amount spent, 2-3yrs?

And you think a nigerian company will wait that long to make its end meet?,

(even when they manage to do, someone will break the pipeline or government will them tell them to construct roads, schools, hospitals, give scholarship etc for the community they are working in after they have paid tax and given government at lest 30% of their proceeds?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)


Pray tell, Which nigerian company WILL DO THIS

I agree with you o9999. Waiting for the ignorant "Know it Alls" to answer your questions. Some of these folks are so oblivious. I know a well costs at least $15M to drill and I mean a simple vertical well. Which "Indigenous" company can drill several of these exploration wells (some of whicjh end up being dry wells) and wait for years to gain the returns (while being owed by the Federal Govt who cannot always meet their 60% investment quota)

@o999 and Dentale, shell is going no where but even if they were what rubbish are you talking ?
The $1 billion Adenuga used to lay fibre optic cables from Nigeria to the New world came from your village thrift societies ba ? Not to mention the 3 plus years it took.
Last time i checked Adenuga was a Nigerian yoruba not a beninoise or Togolese one.

I knew global come will come into play,

When did Adenuga lay the optical fibre?
How old was Globalcom by then? ( hadn't he licked his mega profit be then?)
What was the position of his 2 banks by then (Equitorial trust bank and Devcom bank?)

How long does it take to recoup your investments in telecoms?

how many drop calls have you had in Glo and still had to pay (that is equivalent to drilling and hitting a dry hole and still get PROFIT! for drilling) [size=8pt][/size]how much was a call being billed? when did per second billing come into play and how long had Globacom operated before then?
What license was he given to operate with? you want more?
(at least i know about the telecomms section)

You can take chances in telecoms highest you have bad network and people will still pay for it.

Such FREE money DOES NOT come in oil and gas,
You must invest HEAVILY and PRAY you hit reasonable oil,


Ok Globacom,
i asked a simple question, what has the indigenous companies done with road construction

Dentale:

I agree with you o9999. Waiting for the ignorant "Know it Alls" to answer your questions. Some of these folks are so oblivious. I know a well costs at least $15M to drill and I mean a simple vertical well. Which "Indigenous" company can drill several of these exploration wells (some of whicjh end up being dry wells) and wait for years to gain the returns (while being owed by the Federal Govt who cannot always meet their 60% investment quota)

- Very valid and genuine points . . . and i agree

- Yes you are correct with your points . . .and i agree


Nevertheless you also have to concede that the same points that you raised in relation to Nigeria and the problem and cost of prospecting for oil and gas is likewise true for other countries . . . ie. drilling or prospecting for oil is not a guarantee that it would be found nor is it a guarantee that what is found would be of commercial value. At the end of the day, its all about Cost Benefits . . .this same risk and cost is present in the Global Oil and Gas industry hence its not really just a Nigerian thing.

Notice that, same problem of drilling without success can also occur in foreign countries. . . yet that does not mean that those countries still do not enforce and impose strict regulations. Yet the same foreign oil companies still manage to declare profit despite the strict regulation and despite the cost and risk of exploration present in other oil countries. . .

Hence in terms of Nigeria, risk of exploration cannot be used as an excuse for giving foreign operators an opportunity to suck Nigeria dry . . . considering that there is less regulation in Nigeria, hence the cost savings obtained from having less regulation would more than make up and even increase their overall profit becus . . . paying less due to regulations implies that the overall operating cost in Nigeria compared to the west is also bound to be less.

In reality, the only main problem being faced by Foreign operators in Nigeria is the issue of Niger Delta unrest . . . apart from that, corruption and lack of proper regulation makes Nigeria a very profitable environment for foreign operators such as Shell.

By the way, I have not even mentioned the fact that Nigeria's crude oil is very good, hence meaning that it sells more on the internation market due to its reported low sulphur content.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Once again, I concede and admit that the sheer financial muscle required by Oil and Gas prospecting is not yet full available in indigenous firms. . . nevertheless since Rome was not built in a day and also since Shell and co were not built in a day, then my conclusion remains that: having more indigenous Upstream Operators is not a bad idea . . . once it is established that Shell and co seek to want a deal that is not favourable to Nigeria as a whole.


Petrobras and Petronas are good examples of non-european oil and gas companies which are also bound to have started somewhere . . . its just mere neo-colonialistic to assume that Indigenous firms can never be as good as foreign firms . . .  yes it takes time, i agree, nevertheless that does not mean it can't work.

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Lets analyse this thing:

- Small Indigenous company needs funds for Oil and Gas. . . they approach banks for funds.

- Banks realise they are two small to provide the funds alone . . . consequently, consolidation becomes a natural progression for those banks in order to be able to meet the financial demand of the oil and gas industry. . .

- Since this loan is obtained from within the Nigerian economy, this ultimately leads to improvement in the Nigerian banking system. . . because it means that big and stronger banks emerge to fund oil and gas operations.

- Bigger banks and More oil and gas projects means CBN becomes able to legally print more fiat money . . .to give to the newly emerge Bigger banks to lend to the now growing Indigenous operators. . . 

- Consequently what this means is that there is less capital flight from Nigeria as the money is simply circulating within the Nigerian economy instead of going offshore. . .

- At the end of the day, after deduction the losses from banks and failed drilling projects, you realise that the cummulative effect of having Upstream Indigenous Operators is that it means their is bound to be growth in that area of the Nigerian economy, which in turn makes the Indigenous companies stronger enough to take on even more bigger projects.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Ask yourself the simple question:

Question: WHY DO YOU THINK ANGOLA'S ECONOMY HAS IMPROVED TREMENDOUSLY ?

Answer: Because there is a boom in the Angola's Oil and Gas industry . . .


This means that if Nigeria finds a way to create a boom for the local Oil and Gas industry, logic dictates that this in turn should create a boom for the local economy while reducing capital flight from the country.

o999, If you think Globa com will recoup $1 billion dollars of investment in the next 5 years at best you don't know what you're saying. Do you even know how much more facilities have to go into the ground before the fibre optic services will spread round Nigeria, Ghana, Togo , Cote d' voire etc ? When my brother and i told another brother who had been in Australia and Singapore about the submarine cable he told us we probably misunderstood the story cos it was technologically impossible to achieve, that's history now.
About your road construction, do you think the roads you drive on were manufactured in China and delivered to up. Most indigenous contractors go through hell to get contracts and the few who do have bribe their way with virtually the whole contract sum nothing is left to build the roads.
PS: ask anyone or go read yourself about the Nigerian who has won a contract in "Iraq" to build a monorail system for them worth half a billion dollars(tentatively). That same man's proposal is still lying somewhere in one Nigerian ministry after years of submission.

Petrobras is GOVERNMENT OWNED!!!!! its equivalent in Nigeria which also indigenous is guess NNPC

@No2Atheism, i still dont get how they are milking nigeria DRY when they get ONLY 40% of the proceeds?
if there is a milking dry, it is the person with 60% and guess who that is?

Its is good for nigerians to build OUR OWN!!!!!
But do we have anyone who can and IS WILLING do it TO THE MINIMUM STANDARD AT LEAST?
1 mistake in oil and gas can be extremely disastrous,

ok talk about nigerianizing it,

in order to include nigeria in everything, the government makes the oil companies buy their parts from nigeria,
What do nigerians do now? go and produce FAKE parts, when you put it in, in 2 weeks it leaks because they have not put in the required rubber
, WHO IS TO BLAME HERE? WHO IS MILKING OR KILLING US HERE?

another example of nigerian content.
the oil companies gives a nigerian company a work to do for them,
the nigerian company turns around and instead of using nigerians or doing it here, send the work ABROAD to be done and the completed work parceled down for them
now, WHO IS MILKING WHO?

Adammac was to construct the OGGS line how many years ago,
He is still owing workers TILL DATE, (how many houses / cars has he bought since)
WHO IS MILKING WHO?

Fact is,
We pray that Nigeria gets to a stage where WE manage OURs
but rejoices that IOC are selling out AT THIS OUR STATE OF AFFAIRS is equivalent to cutting your nose off ur face cos you have a dripping /running nose

@edoyad

- Take it easy . . .don't go off on the guy.

- Take time to explain politely to them how it is good for Nigerian economy for Indigenous companies to grow and increase in the areas of the Upstream Oil and Gas sector.

- Most people do not realise that Globalcom for all their problem have actually helped Nigerians and Nigerian economy by virtue of the fact that their own company is Nigerian and hence does not really need to be involved in Capital flight.

- MTN is not Nigerian hence at the end of the day . . . MTN is in Nigeria to make money, they are not in Nigeria to make Nigeria better.

- If not for Globalcom, probability is that MTN would still have been fleecing Nigerians even as we speak.

- There is no need to attempt to point that about Petrobras, simply because my basis of mentioning them has nothing to do with whether they are public or privately owned.

- The point I wanted to make is that Petrobras is[b] indigenous to Brazil[/b] . . .yet they are capable of competing with the Foreign operators . . .

- I did not mention NNPC cus in reality corruption in the public service would make NNPC useless to compete . . . with Shell and co . . .hence why the only sensible option to for now in Nigeria is to focus on the Private Indigenous companies and not the Public Indigenous companies.

- I have already said and agreed with you the risk involved in Oil and Gas . . . nevertheless the presence of risk is not enough to mean that Private Indigenous companies should not start having increasing stake in our Oil and Gas industry.

- Rome was not built in a day . . .

- Shell did not start taking such risks in one day, my hunch is that they also started small and gradually grew to the level of taking on big risk. Hence nothing stops Indigenous companies from adopting such techinque . . .moreover its not like I am asking for Indigenous companies to go to outher countries . . . we are still talking about just Nigeria and nothing more.

Good riddance, Bad nonsense. Let them leave ASAP. Their home government keep on shouting "green Projects" while these companies are busy desecrating and spilling, even though its due to our laxity. After, how many years of exploration are they now threatening us or what. Local firms will take over and develop with time and even employ the so call expatriates and we will be better for it. There are Oil companies owned by Nigerians based in Houston, Texas and its reputed as the biggest black corporation. If the WILL is there, impossiblity is nothing for NIGERIANS. Maybe if, we leave the oil for sometime, we will be more creative as our government seems to be to docile and short of revenue generating ideas. Many countries are surviving without crude oil. Above all, i doubt if they have the right to sell this oil fields as it is a JVC (Joint venture) with nigerian government.S

follyg:

Good riddance, Bad nonsense. Let them leave ASAP. Their home government keep on shouting "green Projects" while these companies are busy desecrating and spilling, even though its due to our laxity. After, how many years of exploration are they now threatening us or what. Local firms will take over and develop with time and even employ the so call expatriates and we will be better for it. [b]There are Oil companies owned by Nigerians based in Houston, Texas and its reputed as the biggest black corporation. [/b]If the WILL is there, impossiblity is nothing for NIGERIANS. Maybe if, we leave the oil for sometime, we will be more creative as our government seems to be to docile and short of revenue generating ideas. Many countries are surviving without crude oil. Above all, i doubt if they have the right to sell this oil fields as it is a JVC (Joint venture) with nigerian government.S

Can u expanciate more on the highlighted part . . .

Petrobras is GOVERNMENT OWNED!!!!! its equivalent in Nigeria which also indigenous is guess NNPC

ehm not quite true. . .even though the brazilian govt has a stake in petrobras
it is still publicly traded and its shares can be bought on the New york stock exchange and the exchange in sao-paolo
its also run as a for profit corporation and pays dividends to its shareholders

Petrobras’s management and board of directors
Petrobras’ stock ownership is as follows: 32 percent is owned by the federal government, 40 percent by private owners, and the balance by Brazil’s National Bank of Social and Economic Development, the Social Labor Fund, and other minority shareholders.

State ownership stake, however, does not hinder Petrobras’s commercial management.

Petrobras is managed more as a commercial entity than a state company. Although it is controlled by the state, its behavior and business orientation is ruled under practical and sound commercial practices. A few basic tenets rule its behavior.

1. The state seeks to preserve the company’s independence because Petrobras’s efficiency allows the state profits and benefits.
2. Petrobras treats state and private interests governing the company more as convergent forces than divergent ones.
3. Petrobras is pragmatic, realistically regarding market conditions, changes in supply and demand, the competitive landscape, and technology breakthroughs. Those factors in turn determine E&P plans, refining projects, new fuels development,
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=525

furthermore Petrobras is today valued at around $100bln.  . .i guess the PIB bill should be passed A.S.A.P and NNPC should be unshackled from the corruption that is deep within it

follyg:
Above all, i doubt if they have the right to sell this oil fields as it is a JVC (Joint venture) with nigerian government.S

which raises the questions:

- Which asset are they intending to sell in the first place.

- Does shell have any majority ownership of any block in Nigeria or is it in joint ownership with Nigeria or Nigerians.

as for shell. . .i believe that if they want to sell,N.N.P.C should buy the fields from them
again nnpc should go private and the nigerian people should be reserved at least 20% of the shares
perhaps another 10% for the oil producing regions
this will end militancy once and for all,as they now become shareholders instead of bystanders
they will have interest in nnpc doing well and increasing production
cause that means that its stock will go up and more dividends for them
its really easy,but too much ppl are benefitting from the status quo

which raises the questions:

- Which asset are they intending to sell in the first place.

- Does shell have any majority ownership of any block in Nigeria or is it in joint ownership with Nigeria or Nigerians.

even in a joint venture it probably has the rights to sell. . .
perhaps it does have a clause of right to first refusal with n.n.pc

anyway i dont think n.n.p.c has $5billion to buy the assets unless the govt comes to its aid

paddy_lo:

ehm not quite true. . .even though the brazilian govt has a stake in petrobras
it is still publicly traded and its shares can be bought on the New york stock exchange and the exchange in sao-paolo
its also run as a for profit corporation and pays dividends to its shareholders

Petrobras’s management and board of directors
Petrobras’ stock ownership is as follows: 32 percent is owned by the federal government, 40 percent by private owners, and the balance by Brazil’s National Bank of Social and Economic Development, the Social Labor Fund, and other minority shareholders.

State ownership stake, however, does not hinder Petrobras’s commercial management.

Petrobras is managed more as a commercial entity than a state company. Although it is controlled by the state, its behavior and business orientation is ruled under practical and sound commercial practices. A few basic tenets rule its behavior.

1. The state seeks to preserve the company’s independence because Petrobras’s efficiency allows the state profits and benefits.
2. Petrobras treats state and private interests governing the company more as convergent forces than divergent ones.
3. Petrobras is pragmatic, realistically regarding market conditions, changes in supply and demand, the competitive landscape, and technology breakthroughs. Those factors in turn determine E&P plans, refining projects, new fuels development,
http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=525

furthermore Petrobras is today valued at around $100bln.  . .i guess the PIB bill should be passed A.S.A.P and NNPC should be unshackled from the corruption that is deep within it

- Good point about Petrobras . . .

- Although in reality my response to @09999 was on the assumption that he was right cus personally i did not know much about Petrobras except that they were a Brazilian oil and gas company.

- I would correct and take back my "thank you" to @09999 as pertaining to Petrobras.

- My main mention of Petrobras was in a general sense, in that[i] if Petrobras a brazilian company could succeed as an Upstream Operator . . .then nothing stops Nigerian firms from doing the same.[/i]

- Good point about Petrobras . . .

- Although in reality my response to @09999 was on the assumption that he was right cus personally i did not know much about Petrobras except that they were a Brazilian oil and gas company.

- I would correct and take back my thank you to @09999 as pertaining to Petrobras.

- My main mention of Petrobras was in a general sense, in that if Petrobras a brazilian company could succeed as an Upstream Operator . . .then nothing stops Nigerian firms from doing the same.

yea i didnt really wanna get into u guys arguement,just wanted to correct the assertion that Petrobras was just like n.n.p.c
although i do wish n.n.p.c was more like petrobras lol

paddy_lo:

even in a joint venture it probably has the rights to sell. . .
perhaps it does have a clause of right to first refusal with n.n.pc

anyway i dont think n.n.p.c has $5billion to buy the assets unless the govt comes to its aid

- Off course it has the rights to sell hence I am not really bothered about their rights to sell.

- I am more concerned about Nigeria as a country and less bothered about Shell . . .

- I simply want local companies to take over the block or asset that Shell seeks to sell . . . if it is determined that they are actually legally permited to sell those assets in the first place. . .

- My analysis given earlier shows my understanding that it helps Nigeria's economy in long run when local companies start investing in Oil and Gas . . . as Upstream Operators . . .

@Noathesim, google CAMAC holdings and Kase Lawal