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Oil fraud allegations: I only carried out presidential order –Adoke

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BY: Oliseama Okwchukwu

The immediate-past Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, has reacted to news that EFCC is close to arresting him.

TheCable news quoted Adoke as saying he would fight the order in court because he had already been cleared of any wrongdoing by a “competent court of law.”

He said, “The honourable judge was misled by the EFCC to grant the warrant. Justice Binta Nyako ruled in April 2018 that I was only carrying out a presidential order in the OPL 245/Malabu transaction and that I had no case to answer. That naturally ends the EFCC case against me but the agency has chosen this path and I will use all legal means to exonerate myself.”

The EFCC had alleged that about $1.2bn fraudulently exchanged hands in alleged shady transactions over the highly lucrative Nigerian oil well, Oil Prospecting Licence 245, said to have been originally offered to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd. by the then Gen. Sani Abacha junta under controversial circumstances in 1998.

The EFCC on December 21, 2016, charged nine suspects, including Adoke (SAN), and others before the Federal High Court in Abuja with respect to the $1.1bn scam.

Other accused persons named in the case were a former Minister of Petroleum, Dan Etete, Aliyu Abubakar, Malabu Oil & Gas Ltd., Rocky Top Resource Ltd. and Imperial Union Ltd., Novel Properties & Dev. Co. Ltd., Group Construction Ltd., Megatech Engineering Ltd.

The anti-graft agency, in the case with charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/268/2016, accused Adoke of illegally transferring over $800m purportedly meant for the purchase of the OPL 245 to Etete, Malabu Oil& Gas Limited from a Federal Government account.

The EFCC also accused Aliyu, a businessman, who is the Chairman of A. A. Group and Rocky Top Services, of receiving $336,456,906.78.

The charges read in part, “That you, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN), on or about August 10, 2011 in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, aided Dauzia Loya Etete (aka Dan Etete) and Malabu Oil & Gas Limited to commit the offence of money laundering by facilitating the payment of an aggregate sum of $801,540,000 only to Dauzia Loya Etete (aka Dan Etete) and Malabu Oil & Gas through the Federal Government of Nigeria Escrow account with number 41451493, IBAN GB 30CHAS609242411493 with JP Morgan Chase Bank in London, which you reasonably ought to have known represented the proceeds of an unlawful activity to wit: fraud, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 as amended in 2012 and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act.”

Another case marked FHC/ABJ/CR/39/2017 instituted before the Federal High Court in Abuja on March 2, 2017 has Adoke and Abubakar (of AA Oil) as defendants.

The two defendants were accused of engaging in money laundering involving $2,267,400 in September 2013.

The third case filed before the FCT High Court with charge number CR/124/2017 has 11 defendants, including Adoke, Etete, Shell, Agip and Eni.

Others are Aliyu Abubakar (of AA Oil Ltd.), Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, a director of Shell, Ralph Wetzels, and three Italian directors of Agip Exploration Ltd. – Casula Roberto, Putatti Stefeno and Burrafato Sebastiano.

The defendants were particularly charged with conspiracy and official corruption in relation to their alleged acceptance of $801m from the oil companies in relation to the grant of OPL 245.

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Energy

NNPC, Dangote Strengthen Strategic Partnership

Bot partners reaffirmed commitment to Healthy Competition Towards National Prosperity, reports SANDRA ANI

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NNPC and Dangote partnership
Group CEO of NNPC Ltd., Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari receives the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote during a visit by the latter to the NNPC Towers, on Thursday

As part of ongoing efforts to promote mutually beneficial partnerships and foster healthy competition, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) and Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals (DPRP) have pledged to deepen collaboration aimed at ensuring Nigeria’s energy security and advancing shared prosperity for Nigerians.

This commitment was made during a courtesy visit by the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, and his delegation to the Group CEO of NNPC Ltd., Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, and members of the company’s Senior Management Team at the NNPC Towers, on Thursday.

During the visit, Dangote pledged to collaborate with the new NNPC Management to ensure energy security for Nigeria.

“There is no competition between us, we are not here to compete with NNPC Ltd. NNPC is part and parcel of our business and we are also part of NNPC. This is an era of co-operation between the two organizations.” Dangote added.

While congratulating the GCEO and the Senior Management Team on their “well-deserved appointments,” Dangote acknowledged the enormity of the responsibility ahead, noting that the GCEO is shouldering a monumental task, which he expressed confidence that, with the capable hands at his disposal in NNPC, the task is surmountable.

In his remarks, the GCEO, Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari assured Dangote of a mutually beneficial partnership anchored on healthy competition and productive collaboration.

Ojulari highlighted the exceptional caliber of talent he met in NNPC Ltd., describing the workforce as a dedicated, highly skilled and hardworking professionals who are consistently keen on delivering value for Nigeria.

Expressing the company’s readiness to build a legacy of national prosperity through innovation and shared purpose, Ojulari said NNPC will sustain its collaboration with the Dangote Group especially where there is commercial advantage for Nigeria.

Both executives also committed to being the relationship managers for their respective organisations through sustained productive collaboration and healthy competition, thereby envisioning limitless opportunities for both organizations.

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AVEVA is providing data management support for renewable natural gas projects

Reporter: Godwin Ezeh

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Caspar Herzberg, CEO of AVEVA

Key Highlights

●        AVEVA’s industrial information infrastructure has been selected by Archaea Energy to provide key data management support

●        AVEVA’s industrial software to optimize performance across Archaea’s RNG plants

AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software driving digital transformation and sustainability, has been selected by Archaea Energy, the largest renewable natural gas (RNG) producer in the US, to build a comprehensive operations data management infrastructure.

Using AVEVA’s software, Archaea Energy can collect, enrich and visualize its real-time operations data, enabling performance analysis across its growing network of plants.

Using AVEVA PI Data Infrastructure, a hybrid solution with cloud data services, the plants will be able to share data to highlight operational opportunities and optimize efficiency.

Caspar Herzberg, CEO, AVEVA, stated,

“Through this collaboration and the use of AVEVA PI Data Infrastructure, Archaea’s growing network of plants will have streamlined operations with accurate performance analysis throughout the expansion. AVEVA’s CONNECT software platform leverages industrial intelligence from a central location, making it easier to deploy additional digital solutions in the future.”

“As the largest RNG producer in the United States, we are dedicated to delivering reliable, clean energy,” said Starlee Sykes, chief executive officer of Archaea Energy. “This relationship will allow us to optimize operations and offer detailed performance analysis as we continue to expand across the country.”

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Boost for Nigeria’s Oil Production, As NNPC’s Utapate Crude Grade Hits Global Oil Market

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Utapate Crude Roadshow

…OML 13 Asset Eyes 80,000 bpd by End of 2025

In a major boost for Nigeria’s crude oil production, revenue generation and economic growth efforts, the NNPC Ltd has officially unveiled its latest crude oil grade, the Utapate crude oil blend, before the international crude oil market.

It would be recalled that in July, 2024, NNPC Ltd and its partner, the Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company (SEEPCO) Ltd introduced the Utapate crude oil blend, following the lifting of first cargo of 950,000 barrels which headed for Spain.

During a ceremony held at the Argus European Crude Conference taking place in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday, the Managing Director, NNPC E & P Limited (NEPL), Mr. Nicholas Foucart described the introduction of the Utapate crude oil blend into the market as a significant milestone for Nigeria’s crude oil export to the global energy market.

“Since we started producing the Utapate Field in May 2024, we have rapidly ramped up production to 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) with minimum downtime. So far, we have exported five cargoes, largely to Spain and the East Coast of the United States; while two more additional cargoes have been secured for November and December 2024, representing a significant boost to Nigeria’s crude oil export to the global market,” Foucart told a packed audience of European crude oil marketers.

He added that since its introduction into the global market, the Utapate crude oil blend has enjoyed a positive response from the international crude oil market, due to its highly attractive qualities.

Foucart said the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NEPL and Natural Oilfield Services Ltd (NOSL), a subsidiary of SEEPCO Ltd, boasts a huge reserves of 330million barrels of crude oil reserves, 45 million barrels of condensate and 3.5 tcf of gas. 

“We have a number of ongoing projects to increase our production from the current 40,000bopd to 50,000bopd by January 2025 and 60,000bopd to 65,000bopd by June 2025. Essentially, we are targeting opportunities to increase production to 80,000bopd by the end of 2025,” Foucart added.

He said the Utapate crude oil terminal is sustainable, affordable and fully compliant with the rigorous environmental regulations and sustainability principles especially those aimed at reducing carbon emissions and other ecological effects.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of NNPC Trading Ltd (NTL), Mr. Lawal Sade said the pricing structure of the Utapate crude oil blend is similar to that of Amenam crude as it is a light sweet crude which is highly sought after by refiners across the world due to its low sulphur content, efficient yield of high-value products, API gravity and other similarities.

He said in bringing the new crude oil blend to the global market, NNPC Ltd wanted to optimise value for both its producers and counterparties across the globe.

He added to ensure predictability and sustainability of supply, the NNPC Trading intends to run a term contract on the Utapate crude oil blend cargoes, principally targeting off-takers from the European and the US East Coast refineries.

Produced from the Utapate field in OML 13 in Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, the Utapate crude oil blend is similar to the Nembe crude oil grade. It has a low sulphur content of 0.0655% and low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, fitting perfectly into the required specification of major buyers in Europe.

The NNPC E&P Ltd and NOSL partnership is also committed to operating in a manner that is safe, environmentally responsible, and beneficial to the local communities.

The Utapate field development plan, executed between 2013-2019 and approved in October, included converting wells and facilities from swamp/marine to land-based operations.

The plan involved a multi-rig drilling campaign for 40 wells and the development of significant infrastructure such as production facilities, storage tank, a subsea pipeline and an offshore loading platform to facilitate crude oil evacuation and loading.

The entry of the Utapate crude oil blend into the market is coming barely a year after the NNPC Ltd announced the launch of Nembe crude oil, produced by the NNPC/Aiteo operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV).

This remarkable achievement signals the commitment of the NNPC Ltd to increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production and growing its reserves through the development of new assets.

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