Nigerian Times

13 May 2008 17:45 Africa/Lagos Pelosi: President Should Push OPEC for Increased Production, Abandon His 'Drill and Veto' Policies WASHINGTON, May 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement prior to President Bush departing today on a five-day trip to the Middle East, including a stop in Saudi Arabia on Friday: "The White House has indicated that President Bush will push Saudi officials for OPEC to increase production in an effort to bring down prices for American consumers. As the largest oil producer and exporter, Saudi Arabia is uniquely positioned to influence the price at the pump and the President must use his close ties to help consumers who are in desperate need of relief. "While I hope the President will return with concrete assurances that OPEC will take swift action to bring down prices, in the past the Administration's calls have been ineffective, making it all the more necessary for Congress to step in to...

9 May 2008 21:57 Africa/Lagos Platts Survey: OPEC Pumps 31.87 Million Barrels per Day of Crude Oil in April, Down 350,000 b/d LONDON, May 9/PRNewswire/ -- The 13 members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) pumped an average 31.87 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in April, a 350,000 b/d decrease from March, according to a Platts (http://www.platts.com/) survey of OPEC and oil industry officials released Friday. The sharp drop was largely the result of steep output losses in Nigeria. Excluding Iraq, the 12 members which participate in output agreements pumped an average 29.49 million b/d, 360,000 b/d down from an estimated 29.85 million b/d in March. "OPEC production has been relatively steady in recent months, but the sharp fall in Nigerian output shows how vulnerable overall supply from the group can be to developments in one country," said John Kingston, Platts global director of oil. "Given that spare capacity is also relatively...

I have decided to remind the stakeholders in all the oil producing countries and consumers of the following important report, because most of them missed it. 10 Jan 2008 15:26 Africa/Lagos Global Oil Supply Challenges Will Drive Crude Prices to US$150: CIBC World Markets LONDON, January 10/PRNewswire/ -- - Modest Russian Production Growth to be Gobbled up by Domestic Demand CIBC (CM: TSX; NYSE) - Consumers should brace for a 50 per cent jump in oil prices in the near future as global oil supply will increasingly have trouble keeping pace with demand, forecasts a new energy report from CIBC World Markets. The report predicts that surging demand in developing economies combined with accelerated depletion of existing supply and widespread delays in getting new oil fields up and running will see the global supply of oil fall as much as eight million barrels a day below International Energy Agency estimates by 2012. "Those projections ignore two fundamental forces that have, in recent ...

15 Jan 2008 19:09 Africa/Lagos OPEC's Total Crude Oil Output Rose to 32 Million Barrels Per Day in December, a Platts Survey Shows LONDON, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) produced an average 32.03 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil in December, according to a Platts survey of OPEC and oil industry officials January 14. This is up from November's rate of 31.65 million b/d. Production from OPEC's ten members bound by crude output agreements averaged 27.43 million b/d in December, the survey showed. This is 460,000 b/d more than in November and 177,000 b/d higher than the group's 27.253 million b/d target which came into effect at the beginning of November. "The increase in supply is certainly welcome to this market," said John Kingston, Platts Global Director of Oil. "It appears the group's on track to meet its January target, which is nearly 29.7 million barrels per day for ...

Congressional Hearing to Examine Why Many of the World's Poorest Countries Are the Richest in Natural Resources WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is being issued by Publish What You Pay United States: WHAT: Public Hearing -- House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services Hearing entitled "Transparency of Extractive Industries: High Stakes for Resource-Rich Countries, Citizens and International Business" WHERE: 2128 Rayburn House Office Building WHEN: Thursday, October 25th, 10 a.m. BACKGROUND: Natural resource-dependent countries almost always develop more slowly than non-resource-dependent countries, are more susceptible to the outbreak of civil war (i.e., blood diamonds) and experience a high incidence of corruption. This is often known as the "resource curse." The natural resource sector, including diamonds, oil, gas and other minerals, is one of the most secretive sectors, with citizens of many countries (typically ...