CRUDE OIL PRICE: Brent Dated $66.81 WTI Dated $59.

69

OIL AND GAS DAILY PRESS CLIPPINGS

20150516
 Nigeria: Obasanjo Hands Over Report On Strategic Devt Plan to
Buhari – AllAfrica.com

 Nigeria: Controversy Trails Sale of OML 40, 42 – AllAfrica.com

 Nigeria: PIB - Reps Slash Host Communities' Funds to 7.5

Percent – AllAfrica.com

 Elcrest, Neconde, Win Operatorship; NPDC Staff Push Back? –

Africa Oil and Gas Report

 Buhari support group backs NNPC probe – The Sun News

AllAfrica.com
Nigeria: Obasanjo Hands Over Report On Strategic Devt Plan
to Buhari
Signs that ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo subtly amassed support for the election of General
Mohammadu Buhari as the Nigeria's next president and also wants him to succeed in office
became evident Thusday when he handed over a report of a strategic development plan to
Buhari.

The reports contained templates that would assist the incoming government to rapidly achieve
its objectives of taking the nation a notch higher.

Top on the list were Education, Power sector, Economy, Security and Infrastructure.

The development followed a research work embarked upon by the Centre for Human Security of
the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library on major social challenges facing Nigeria 4 months
ago.

The event which took place at the Buhari Support Organization, BSO's office in Abuja featured
the chairman, governing board of the Centre for Human Security of Obasanjo Presidential
Library, Professor Akin Mabogunje, who was incidentally the chairman of the committee, former
Minister of Finance and Committees vice chairman, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu who present volumes of
the report to Buhari and Dr. Christopher Kolade who headed the power committee.

Speaking to Journalists at the end of the brief ceremony that was held behind closed doors,
Mabogunje said the report contained policy documents that would help the president-elect
restructure Nigeria, revealing that Buhari was full of thanks for the documents.

He said: "Centre for Human Security of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Liberary has being
working on a number of critical issues for the development of this country and they have now
sent a delegation of those who've been involved with the preparation of those policy documents
to talk to the president-elect and get him to appreciate what is being done to help his
administration. That's why we are here.

"We've looked at education, security, economy, power and Infrastructure. Those are the areas
we've made recommendations and which we hope the new administration will be able to work
on.

"He (Buhari) was very happy that we've been thinking about how to help him hit the ground
running and he expressed his appreciation for what we've been doing."

Giving details of the reports, Dr. Kolade explained the long, medium and short terms goals of
the report.

According to him, the strategic plan hoped to raise the country's power generation to 10,000
MW within a short period of time.

Expanding thoughts on the development also, the Buhari's media spokesperson, Mallam Garba
Shehu said "the whole idea was that Obasanjo set up his own think- tank with the aim of

Saturday, May 16, 2015 pg. 2

carrying out a study on challenges facing the country in five key areas of Education, Power
sector, Economy, Security and Infrastructure. The study was commissioned four months ago so
that the outcome will be made available to the incoming administration after the election."

He also stated that the president-elect expressed gratitude to Obasanjo for their kind gesture,
however regretting that the outgoing regime of president Goodluck Jonathan had not done
anything close to that.

"An appreciative President-elect expressed gratitude to Obasanjo and his team, describing their
intervention as a great impetus for the incoming government.

Buhari regretted that the out-going government that is supposed to give him tips on how to take-
off has done nothing so far. He thanked the Obasanjo for their gesture, assuring them that his
incoming administration will be needing their advice as time goes on", Shehu said.

Mallam Ahmed Joda, chairman of Buhari transition committee refused to speak in his capacity
as the transition committee chairman when asked by Journalists to make input.

"I am here not in the capacity of the chairman of the transition committee. I am here because I
am a chairman of one of the committees of the centre that consider security issues at the
Obasanjo centre for human security", he said.

AllAfrica.com
Nigeria: Controversy Trails Sale of OML 40, 42
Government through the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to Neconde Energy Nigeria Limited
and Elcrest Exploration and Production Limited.

To this end, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN,
and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, of the Nigeria
Petroleum Development Corporation, NPDC, Benin, Edo State branch, have threatened to shut
down production in the oil leases if the transfer is not reversed.

Reuters reported that the unions gave a deadline of today for the government to reverse the
transfer or they will shut down exploration activities in the entire oil leases.

The unions had accused the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, of
stripping the two oil blocks from NPDC, a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation, NNPC.

In 2011, the Federal Government assigned 55 per cent equity in eight assets divested by the
Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC to NPDC. The company had since retained the
operatorship of most of the assets which included: OMLs 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 40, 41 and 42.

However, over the past one year, NPDC and Neconde Energy, joint owners of 55 percent and
45 percent stakes respectively, have been engaged in unresolved crisis over the operation of
the OML 42. Despite the dispute, the Petroleum Minister had on February 5th, approved the
transfer of operatorship of OML 42 from NPDC to Neconde.

Saturday, May 16, 2015 pg. 3

The Neconde Chairman, Dr. Ernest Obiejesi, had alleged that NPDC lacked the capacity to
continue as operator of the oil block following the decline in production level from 30,000 barrels
per day, bpd, achieved as at the period of acquisition from SPDC, the previous operator of the
onshore block to 13,000 bpd in 2014.

AllAfrica.com
Nigeria: PIB - Reps Slash Host Communities' Funds to 7.5
Percent
The House of Representatives yesterday opted to slash the contribution fund suggested for the
oil producing companies to the proposed Petroleum Host Communities Fund (PHCF) to 7.5
percent, about 2.5 percent less than the 10 percent initially suggested in the Petroleum Industry
Bill (PIB) that is currently being considered by the House.

The House adopted this position following resumption of debate on the PIB and directly
objected to the initial proposal that the oil producing firms' annual net profits to the PHCF be 10
percent. The fund is for the purposes of development of the areas and other Corporate Social
Responsibilities engagements.

Like the clauses 2 and 6 (2) which had generated heated debate penultimate day, the
contributory funds equally generated heated debate along regional interests, as the non-oil
producing areas had in the past, accused the Niger Delta region of "asking for too much."

With the 13 percent oil revenue derivation, and the establishment of the Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC), lawmakers from non-oil producing states had seen the
demand as unreasonable while debate on the general principles of the Bill lasted, and many
other contested issues led to the setting up of a special adhoc panel by the House of
Representatives, to review the Bill.

Chairman of the adhoc committee and Chief Whip of the House, Ishaka Bawa, while expressing
concerns on the likely challenges to future investments in the oil sector, suggested a reduction
of the proposed percentage, as according to him, host communities are certainly going to
increase in the nearest future, given the recent discovery of oil in many places in the North,
which he said would raise the stake on investors.

"Whatever we do, we must take into cognizance of the implications of the impact this is likely to
have on future investments in the sector," he said; explaining that oil producing communities
would soon extend to all the states in the North west and North east, except Sokoto and Kebbi,
a suggestion that led to a motion being moved that the percentage be slashed from 10 to 7.5.

Africa Oil and Gas Report

Elcrest, Neconde, Win Operatorship; NPDC Staff Push Back
Just as the NPDC branch of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association
(PENGASSAN) was pushing back on the Nigerian Government’s granting of operatorship of the
Oil Mining Lease(OML) 42 to Neconde, the Minister of Petroleum went ahead to grant the
wishes of Elcrest for operatorship of OML 40.

Saturday, May 16, 2015 pg. 4

Neconde and Elcrest purchased 45% stakes in OMLs 42 and 40 respectively from Shell, TOTAL
and ENI in 2012, but the operatorship of the assets were not granted with the purchases. The
two companies, along with First Hydrocarbon Limited, Shoreline Resources and NDWestern,
who bought stakes in OMLs 26, 30 and 34 between 2011 and 2012, have lamented NPDC’s
lack of capacity to continue as the operator of the acreages they purchased from the Shell-led
consortium.

Their argument is that they could have gotten more production out of the fields than NPDC was
doing as operator. The government appears to have finally agreed with them and the perception
in the industry is that the remaining three companies will soon have their prayers for
operatorship answered. The employees union, however, is asking for a reversal of the two
operatorships that have been granted.

PENGASSAN commenced a limited-two hour per day -strike on Monday, May 4, 2015, which
lasted until May 11, 2015. It then gave a three day warning that should end by midnight of May
14, 2015.

The Sun News

Buhari support group backs NNPC probe
An Abuja based Buhari support group has called for a total overhaul of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by the incoming Muhammadu Buhari administration. The body
is also demanding that the Corporation be stopped from doing the twin jobs of being the official
oil and gas industry controller, as well as an active player in the oil industry.

The call was made by the President of the Board of Trustees of the Buhari Presidential
Grassroots Movement (BPGM) , Dr. John Kennedy Osuala, while addressing the press during
the 2015 National Summit on Anti-Corruption Success Strategies for Buhari’s in-coming
government in Abuja recently.

Dr. Osuala explained that such total overhaul of NNPC by General Buhari as former Petroleum
Minister and Chairman of NNPC, will streamline and strengthen the activities of the organization
to reduce corruption to the barest minimum; install a regime of strong private sector ef-
fectiveness, and efficiency, and create an open channel, for both Nigerian and foreign investors
to bankroll huge short, and long-term projects, and other transactions in the nation’s oil and gas
sector.

The group’s leader in a statement by Jonathan Ikoroha “insists that to curb corruption in the oil
and gas sector in the country, what Nigerians demand very urgently from the in-coming Buhari’s
regime, is beyond probing the alleged missing 20 billion dollars, but a thorough, systematic, and
painstaking probe of the leadership and management of the NNPC since the return of the
country to civil rule.

It further stated “that the NNPC as it is presently constituted, has a well-deserved notoriety in
the eyes of all Nigerians, as a largely ineffective, inefficient, and unreliable organization that is a
tendentious conduit pipe, for siphoning Nigeria’s oil and gas resources, into a few private
pockets, to the utter detriment of millions of our citizens.

Saturday, May 16, 2015 pg. 5

“To comprehensively reduce corruption in the NNPC therefore, Dr. Osuala urges the in-coming
Federal Government, to open up the NNPC so that many Nigerian businessmen can come in,
and invest as well as endorse the petroleum industry bill, into law to correct a lot of problems
facing the industry; which include, but not limited to partnership between the NNPC and
multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria, lack of knowledge of the actual quantity of
crude oil being produced, and total dependence on whatever information given to it by its
foreign partners.”

The body further asked Buhari , “to take a philosophical as well as a sociological approach, in
identifying and closing the numerous pipes, through which billions of dollars disappear from
NNPC coffers , with a view of authenticating the disappearance of these mind-boggling sums of
money, exposing and punishing the culprit, restoring public confidence in the NNPC, and using
the proceeds judiciously to grow the economy for the welfare and well-being of all Nigerians.”

Saturday, May 16, 2015 pg. 6