Oil & Energy

Shell, Community’s Rift Delays Work At Adibawa Fields

Published

11 years ago

August 17, 2015

A lingering face- off be
tween Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and its host communities at Adibawa oil fields has hampered oil spill response for a leak that occurred on July 12, further endangering the environment.
Shell said that the oil leakage from its oil fields located in Edagberi community in Rivers was caused by thieves who targeted the Well Head.
According to a statement from Mr Joseph Obari, an SPDC Spokesperson, members of the host community were frustrating the efforts of the oil firm to recover spilled crude and remediate the polluted environment.
“Following a reported spill at Adibawa- well-8 in the Eastern Niger Delta reported July 12, the statutory Joint Investigation Visit remains delayed.
“The Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ahoada West Local Government, Ikechukwu Obuzor is leading mediation after the leadership of the Edagberi Betterland community prevented the representatives of industry regulatory agencies, the Rivers State Ministry of Environment and SPDC from accessing the spill site at Adibawa well-8 for crude oil recovery and remediation operations.
“After a seeming agreement last week by the leadership of Edagberi Betterland community for oil recovery to commence, a group of youths demanding payment of money and employment refused SPDC Oil Spill Response team access to the site.
“SPDC regrets the continued delay to recovery of the spilled oil.
“On July 12, SPDC received reports of a spill at Adibawa- well-8 in the Eastern Niger Delta. The spill appeared to have been caused by an attempted theft of the wellhead.
“Upon receiving reports of the incident SPDC took containment measures including the construction of dykes, pits and the deployment of booms to prevent further impact on the environment.
“The leak was stopped on July 15, but attempts to conduct the statutory Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) on July 16 and 17 to determine the cause and extent of the leak were unsuccessful.
“Without the JIV, SPDC cannot carry out badly-needed clean up and remediation of the site.” Obari said.
However, Chief Sunny Jacob Ubele, paramount ruler of Edagberi community said on Friday that the allegations that the community denied SPDC access were false and baseless.
He said that the community cooperated with officials of the oil firm but expressed reservations when Shell officials attempted to manipulate the Joint Investigation Visit (JIV) procedure.
“It is very untrue that we denied them access, if we did how did they manage to stop the spill?, they had fixed a JIV on our meeting day and we told them to fix it for the next day.
“When we got there with them we found out they went to the site unilaterally and tampered with the evidences that would assist in arriving at conclusions, so we told them that we were excluded from that exercise.
“We pointed out to them that what they did constituted a JIV without community and we declined to sign the JIV reports because we were not part of it and the JIV was inconclusive.
“There is not truth in the allegations, today the council of chief met and restated that they should commence recovery of crude from the site, Ubele said.
The paramount ruler explained that the youths had merely insisted that the 10 persons from the community hired to provide labour were grossly inadequate.
“As we speak, all contentions have been resolved as the oil firm had increased the labour slots for the oil recovery efforts from 10 to 25 slots.
“They commenced recovery of spilled crude from the impacted areas on Thursday, “ The Monarch said.
John David, an Oil industry observer, condemned the neglect of the environment by the two contending parties for material gains.
“What we saw in the Adibawa site is condemnable and I do not spare any party of blames, How come Shell has lost goodwill with its communities that they will need a Council Chairman to broker peace? And Shell has a Community Relations Department under a manager.
“On the side of the community they thought they were holding the oil firm to ransom, but it is their own environment that suffered while they were agitating for labour jobs which is temporary and transient,” David submitted.
A visit to Adibawa Oil Well 8 location showed that members of the community were fetching the spilled crude from the well head.

Oil & Energy

Rivers PETROAN Elects 12-Member Executive

Published

1 month ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

The Petroleum Products Retail Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Rivers State Branch, has elected a 12 – member executive to steer the affairs of the association for the next four years.

The executive, elected during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the association, at it’s secretariat in Port Harcourt, and sworn in immediately after the election, was mandated to, among other things, tackle the adulteration of petroleum products as well as address irregularities in meter readings across the state.

The newly elected executive include, Pastor Ezekiel I. Eletuo as Chairman, Kanu Addeson C. as Vice Chairman , Dr. Ejike Jonathan Nnbuihe as Secretary, Fidelis A.Inaku as Treasurer and Lady C. N. Ekejiuba as Financial Secretary.

Others are Anaenye Anthony as Publicity Secretary, Arc. Kingsley O. Anyino as Organising Secretary, Nze Peter Ezenwa as Chief Whip, and Sunny Williams as Auditor.

Other members of the executive included Chidiebere Ronel Akwara as Welfare Officer, Ibe Chimaobi C. as Legal Adviser, and Emetoh Chizoba as Assistant Secretary.

Inaugurating the new leadership, PETROAN Zonal Chairman, High Chief Sunny G. Nkpe, charged the team to build on the achievements of the outgoing executive.

He urged them to collaborate with stakeholders in the petroleum sector to ensure industry stability and address issues of multiple taxation.

Nkpe who emphasized the need for transparency, accountability, and an open-door policy in administering the union, insisted these principles remained crucial in advancing the association’s objectives and improving members’ welfare.

The zonal chairman also commended the outgoing executive for their accomplishments during their tenure and for conducting a smooth transition process.

He further described their efforts as instrumental in strengthening the union’s standing in the state.

In his acceptance speech, the new Chairman, Pastor Ezekiel I. Eletuo, thanked members for their confidence and pledged to improve on the foundations laid by the previous administration.

He promised his leadership would be guided by transparency, accountability, fairness, unity, and integrity.

Eletuo called on all members to support the new executive in its efforts to elevate the association.

Also speaking, the immediate past Chairman, of the association, Sir Chilam Francis Dimkpa, expressed appreciation to members for their support during his administration and stressed the need for them to extend the same cooperation to the new leadership.

Dimkpa highlighted key achievements of his tenure to include capacity building for members, increased union visibility through media advocacy, and the establishment of stronger ties with stakeholders, corporate organisations, and individuals.

He also acknowledged the support of the state government, the Police, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

Stakeholders present at the event also delivered their goodwill messages.

Highlights of the event included administration of oath of office to the new executive and the presentation of certificates of return by the zonal chairman. .

By: Amadi Akujobi

Oil & Energy

FG Intensifies Efforts To Reposition Tourism Sector

Published

1 month ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

The Federal Government has intensified efforts towards reposition Nigeria’s hospitality and tourism industry for global competitiveness, aimed at strengthening regulation, professionalism and workforce standards across the sector.

This was made known last week when the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR) conferred fellowships, inducted professionals and inaugurated the governing boards of the Hospitality and Tourism Sector Skills Council of Nigeria (HTSSCN) in Abuja.

The high-profile event, held at Merit House, Maitama, drew senior government officials, regulators, tourism operators, cultural institutions, hospitality investors and development partners in what stakeholders described as a major institutional shift .

Government also formally inducted registered practitioners into various professional categories while also inaugurating the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors of the HTSSCN, an employer-led platform designed to align workforce competencies with industry expectations.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Hannatu Musa Musawa, said the initiative represented a strategic intervention to strengthen accountability, standards and institutional coordination within Nigeria’s tourism and hospitality ecosystem.

According to the minister, Nigeria’s vast cultural assets, tourism destinations and creative talents can only translate into sustainable economic value through professionalism, regulation and globally accepted operational standards.

She noted that tourism and hospitality industry remains one of the fastest-growing sectors globally, contributing significantly to employment generation, foreign exchange earnings and cultural diplomacy.

Musawa explained that NIHOTOUR Establishment Act has expanded the institute’s mandate beyond training, positioning it as a regulatory and certification authority for hospitality, tourism and travel practitioners in the country.

“No sector can attain sustainable growth without structure, standards, institutional coordination and skilled professionals,” she said, stressing the need for stronger collaboration between government agencies, operators, training institutions and private sector stakeholders.

In his keynote address, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NIHOTOUR, Abisoye Fagade, described the event as a historic turning point in the formalisation of Nigeria’s tourism and hospitality industry.

Fagade said the induction of practitioners, conferment of fellowships and inauguration of the HTSSCN governing boards marked the beginning of a new era of institutional governance, professional recognition and sector-wide coordination.

“Regulation and standardisation are no longer optional; they are economic necessities if Nigeria truly intends to compete globally,” he stated.

By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

Oil & Energy

Big Oil Reconsiders Previously Unattractive Destinations

Published

1 month ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

The Middle Eastern crisis has prompted a reprioritization among international oil companies. Previously unattractive drilling destinations are suddenly looking quite attractive—even Alaska.

The oldest oil and gas producing part of the United States has for years been out of the spotlight as the industry moves to cheaper and faster-growing locations. The only news of any substance about Alaska recently was the Biden administration’s approval of the Willow project, led by ConocoPhillips, which was set to boost the state’s oil output by 160,000 barrels daily, and Australian Santos’ Pikka project, set to start commercial production this year. That was years ago. Now, Big Oil is eager to drill in Alaska.

Earlier this month, a lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska attracted record bids, worth a total $163 million. Among the bidders were Exxon, Shell, and Repsol, with the latter already partnering with Santos on the Pikka development. And this may be just the beginning.

Related: Saudi Aramco Looks to Raise $10 Billion from Real Estate Asset Deal

The Bureau of Land Management offered 625 tracts across about 5.5 million acres for bid in the sale, revived at the end of last year by the Trump administration. No lease sales were held in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska under President Biden. Yet under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, there will be a total of five lease sales in Alaska over the next ten years.

“With the imminent start-up of the Pikka project on the North Slope, the reversal in the decline of oil production in the great state of Alaska is going to help put more oil in the Pacific area at an important moment,” Repsol’s head of upstream operations, Francisco Gea, said as quoted by the Financial Times. Gea called Alaska “a fantastic opportunity”. The Pikka project, which has a price tag of $4.5 billion, will produce up to 80,000 barrels daily.

It is indeed a fantastic opportunity, at the very least because it is nowhere near the Middle East and as such is a highly secure energy exploration destination. Canada is in a similar position, by the way: the head of the International Energy Agency earlier this month told an industry event Canada had a golden opportunity to step in as a secure energy supplier in a world that’s currently 14 million barrels daily short on supply because of the Middle Eastern crisis.

Security, then, is what has prompted Big Oil to return to the North—even Shell, which left in 2015 after writing off as much as $7 billion on an unsuccessful drilling campaign hampered, among other things, by strong environmentalist opposition. According to the Financial Times, the supermajor’s decision to partake in the latest Alaska lease sale was surprising for analysts.

However, according to chief executive Wael Sawan, the lease sale concerns a different part of the state. “It is a very, very, very different part of Alaska that we have gone to,” he told the Financial Times. “This is an onshore exploration opportunity in a very well-established basin that has been producing for some time… So this is not offshore Alaska where we have had the challenges in the past.”

Crude oil is not the only thing drawing the energy industry to Alaska in these times of oil and gas trouble. Gas is also a magnet—in this case, in the form of the Alaska LNG project. Interest in the Alaska LNG export project has spiked since the war in the Middle East choked 20% of global LNG supply and sent Asian buyers scrambling for expensive spot cargoes.

Glenfarne Group, the majority owner and developer of the facility, aims to sign binding offtake agreements with buyers soon and advance final investment decisions to later in 2026 and early 2027, company executives told media earlier this year on the sidelines of an energy conference in Tokyo.

“There’s a real interest, particularly with everything happening in the Middle East right now. Everyone would like to get those (preliminary deals) turned into long-term agreements,” Adam Prestidge, president of Glenfarne Alaska LNG, told Reuters in March.

Alaska LNG is designed to deliver North Slope natural gas to Alaskans and export LNG to U.S. allies across the Pacific. An 800-mile pipeline is planned to transport the gas from the production centers in the North Slope to south-central Alaska for exports. In addition, multiple gas interconnection points will ensure meeting in-state gas demand.

The latest Alaska developments show clearly how the Middle East war has put energy security back in the spotlight, making previously challenging locations desirable again. With an estimated 1 billion barrels of oil supply wiped out of markets since the war began, according to Aramco’s Amin Nasser, alternative supply sources have become urgently needed, and not just for the short term. Even if the Strait of Hormuz reopens soon—which at the moment seems unlikely—energy security will in all probability remain a top priority both for energy producers and for consumers.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com