@No2atheism, I like ur reasoning, i was just reading ur post and got ur arguement. No foreigner will come to develop our country, they will only milk us dry. We are the ones dat can truly develop the country, who says Nigerian cant own a world class Oil company. Was it not before our vey eyes that globacom laid the transatlantic cable, an exclusive preserve of NITEL, hitherto, was it no the same company that started per second billing when MTN said it was not possible? Was it not the same man who took over National oil and turn it around as Conoil. We only need the enabling environment. Even the western world have come to realise the intelligence and "never say die" attitude of Nigerians, recently the UK ambassador said, the strenght of nigeria is in her energetic youths and not the Oil.
I meet some guys here of recent, when they heard i was from nigeria, they were very happy, They testified that Nigeria is richly blessed, they came to work in Apapa for three months and they all brought brand new cars when they got back to their country. They are all willing to be back in Nigeria anytime.

The Sly:

Nigeria. . . .Sometimes one wonder what to believe.
One minute, The news says this. . . . .The next minute, Its something else.

The government is posturing - it cannot prevent Shell from selling it's assets if there is no 'right of first refusal' in place.

I for one didnt believe that Shell would sell anything. . .Nigeria is a gold mine for them.

Perception is not always reality - what is a 'goldmine' in having production shut in for three years but needing to still pay operational costs and wages to your employees? Y'all better wake up - if Nigeria is a 'gold mine', what will you call the Iraq Oil and Gas deals? There's far more money to be made elsewhere and if Nigeria fails to get it's act together, they'll move elsewhere.

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??

See evidence above - two massive deals already. . . even at $2 per barrel margins, all the oil companies are falling over themselves to get into Iraq just due to the sheer size and ease of exploitation there. Some of those mega fields are by individually holding up to 20% of Nigeria's total reserves. . . the days of being a 'goldmine' might be over - a dormant asset for three years begins to bring a loss.

Shell is going nowhere . . . .You lot better zip that into your stomach.

Of course they aren't - BUT they will dispose of sub-optimal Nigerian assets. . . .you CANNOT force Shell to keep operating assets if they choose not to. The same FG was hurriedly looking to sell off to China, but now someone else wants to do the selling without them getting a kickback they want to pull up a fuss?

Just wait and see. . . .if Addax got shipped off to the Chinese without any hassle, if the Chinese bought into Akpo without any hassle by buying off some of Sapetro's share in the field, Shell will also sell if it wishes.

everyone is getting tired of doing anything in Nigeria

“You know we are a sovereign country; we make our laws for ourselves and for those foreigners, who wish to do business with us. We will take account of international norms and practices to ensure that our laws are favourable for investment. It is in our own interest to have laws that attract investment. So, we will do everything we can to make sure that the PIB, when it is passed into law, is a law that makes Nigeria destination for foreign investment. Now, if there is any group of investors, who feel that the laws we make do not serve their interests – the world is a very big place and as one goes, another comes. So, I am not really concerned about that,” he said. Ajumogobia also told Reuters yesterday that Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, had not informed the government of any such plans.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=162556

This is one of the few very sensible responses that I have seen from a government official in relation to these foreign operators who seem to think too highly of themselves.

Excellent!

if nigeria gains more control of her resources, the only problem i can see is maitenance. if we look towards saudi arabia in the 1970s when most of their oil was managed by western countries, we can see it was mostly barren desert. after they gained control of their oil (mostly thru nationalization), their nation saw rapid development and the living standard rose higher than ever before. now the nation is one of the wealthiest in the world, and they are constructing three huge economic cities to show off their economic might. hoepfully everything goes well with this, the people of nigeria deserve much better than we are getting.

The following news report . . . if true . . . shows why Nigeria needs to renegotiate its involvement with these foreign operators and why I can careless if Shell decides to leave Nigeria . . . cus at the end of the day, what matters is that Nigeria benefits favourably from any arrangement with any company whether foreign or local. . .

Is this true . . .  can it be true . . . or is this just one of those false sensational news reports all over again . . .

. . . $11 Billion Missing from JVC account involving Nigeria . . .

No2Atheism:

The following news report . . . if true . . . shows why Nigeria needs to renegotiate its involvement with these foreign operators and why I can careless if Shell decides to leave Nigeria . . . cus at the end of the day, what matters is that Nigeria benefits favourably from any arrangement with any company whether foreign or local. . .

That report is the a pile of dog turd - How did the government manage to pay wages, salaries and execute contracts if we spent MORE than was received?  How were monthly state allocations made if you spent all the revenue earnings on cash calls?

Besides, The JV cash calls are not only for production right now, but for development and financing of exploration activities which will either increase production or book reserves for future production. The level of ignorant commentary on the workings of the oil and gas industry are laughable.

In addition, the majority of production by JVs have been severely affected by the militant activities. The increasing majority of oil production comes from offshore production assets such as Bonga, Akpo and Erha. . . .and these are not under JVs but under production sharing contracts, PSCs.

Even the foreign multinationals re-invest upwards of 80% of their annual profits back into the business - Nigeria cannot clamour for higher production, increased reserves while at the same time seeking to increase revenue takings. It won't happen. These impacts are slowly being felt by fewer exploratory activity and lower than expected rise in oil reserves.