Proposed Nigeria oil bill taxes are fair – minister

on OCTOBER 1, 2012 · in FINANCE

12:25 am

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Taxes on deep offshore oil projects proposed by Nigeria are “competitive and considerate”, Nigeria Oil Minister, Diezani-Alison Madueke said, rejecting complaints by foreign oil majors that the levies are too high.

Shell Nigeria Managing Director, Mutiu Sunmonu warned last week that tax terms in a landmark Nigerian oil bill are so uncompetitive they risk rendering offshore oil and gas projects unviable, and could badly stifle investment.

Exxon, the second biggest offshore operator in Nigeria, has said it could not invest in more deepwater projects if the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) passes in its current form.

Petroleum Minister, Diezani-Alison Madueke

If Nigeria is to maintain current oil reserve levels and achieve ambitions of higher production, it will be dependent on offshore development because the onshore Niger-Delta has already been extensively explored over the last 50 years.

Both houses of Nigeria’s parliament have finished a first reading of a new draft of the bill meant to overhaul the oil industry in Nigeria, opening the way for lawmakers to debate the long awaited legislation.

The bill, which is meant to change everything from fiscal terms to the state oil firm, has already been delayed for five years, precisely because of these sort of disagreements between the administration, oil majors and lawmakers.

Billions of dollars of investment into exploration and production are on hold until it passes. Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke said the total “government take” in the draft – meaning its total share of oil revenues after all taxes and royalties – was 73 per cent, up from 61 per cent in current deals with oil majors.

“The proposed increase of government take to about 73 per cent is not only competitive but considerate when we look at the scale of other entities around the world like Norway, Indonesia and even Angola with even higher government take,” Alison-Madueke said in a statement.

She added that current deepwater terms were negotiated in 1993, when oil prices were just $20 a barrel. Oil companies argue the fiscal terms on oil drilling in Nigeria should be substantially better than in other regions to compensate them for the extra risks and costs posed by piracy, kidnapping, industrial-scale oil theft and corruption. An amnesty ended political militancy in the oil-rich Niger-Delta in 2009, but massive oil theft has continued unabated.

Nordic Partnership advises on setting up of New Energy Bank

New Energy Bank (NEB) has been founded to take advantage of extraordinary opportunities in the energy sector.  The use of fossil fuels will continue to be the dominant energy source for the foreseeable future; however high carbon emissions and sustainability issues means that their use will come under increasing social, economic and political pressure.   The trend for continued growth in the alternative and renewable energy sector will continue and NEB is positioned to lead this global trend by supporting suitable alternative energy projects in this rapidly growing market.  Such projects must provide strong returns and stand alone as bankable projects.  The NEB team have strong relationships with industry participants and an established track record in the alternative energy sector. 

Over the next 20 years, more than $11 trillion of investments are estimated to be required in the global electricity sector, with about half of that needed for power generation. Traditional fossil-fueled generation will continue to play a significant role in power generation, expected to make up 45% of world power generation in the same timeframe. In addition, growth in clean and renewable energy is expected to remain strong. Clean and renewable energy is rapidly moving into the mainstream alongside traditional sources of power, driven not only by concerns regarding energy security and the environment but also by the comparative stability and improving competitiveness of lifecycle costs for renewable generation sources. Therefore, beyond the broad investment opportunities in the traditional power sector, New Energy Bank  also sees an increasingly significant set of clean and renewables investment opportunities, plus a related set of energy efficiency plays such as the harvesting of energy from the recycling of wasted heat in existing industrial facilities.


Thanks in major part to Switzerland’s tough legislation regarding pollution, they made it to number one on the world’s most eco-friendly nations. Their long-term plans target cooperation between organizations and individuals. New Energy bank has chosen Switzerland as a neutral base for operations.



Founders of new Energy Bank 


http://www.newenergybank.ch 

Brics to launch development bank in 2013

Apr 25 2012 17:48 Reuters

 

    

Cape Town - A joint development bank planned by the Brics group of major emerging economies will be officially launched in South Africa early next year, Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Wednesday.

Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met last month in New Delhi to discuss setting up the bank, which would fund infrastructure and act as an alternate lender to the World Bank and other finance bodies.

“We are looking forward to this historic moment where we will have an opportunity to launch the Brics development bank in the first quarter of the year,” Nkoana-Mashabane told journalists.

She offered no details on funding.

For years the Brics countries have demanded more influence on global financial institutions long controlled by the United States and Europe. 

Ghana’s economy will accelerate by 8-9% in 2012 – African Dev’t Bank

Page last updated at Wednesday, February 8, 2012 18:18 PM // Leave Your Comment

Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade - AfDB's Country Representative in Ghana

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is forecasting that the Ghanaian economy will grow between 8-9 percent by end of 2012.

“The economy will grow between 8 and 9 percent in 2012,” Marie-Laurie Akin-Olugbade, the AfDB’s Resident Representative in Ghana told ghanabusinessnews.com in an interview at the Euromoney Conference in Accra February 7, 2012.

According Akin-Olugbade, the Bank agrees with the 9 percent growth target set by the Ghana government for 2012.

The Ghana government according to its 2012 budget is targeting a “real non-oil GDP growth of 7.6 percent; real overall GDP growth of 9.4 percent” with an average inflation of 8.7 percent as well as a gross international reserve of not less than three months of import cover for goods and services for the year 2012.

“We don’t have any significant departure from what the consensus seems to be 8-9 percent. Yes I think it will be around that level and we agree,” said Akin-Olugbade.

South African-based bank, the Standard Bank Group also says Ghana’s economic growth will ease to 8.25 percent by the end of 2012.

“Broadly due to our larger base influence, we see growth easing to around 8.25 percent year-on-year,” said the Group in its African Markets Revealed report released January 19, 2012.

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in October 2011 estimated that the economy will grow 13.6 percent in 2011 as compared to the growth of 7.7 percent in 2010 but Standard Bank says in its report “We see growth moderating to an annual average of 16.3 percent y/y in 2011, which is still above the government’s budget estimate of 13.6 percent y/y.”

Ghana’s unadjusted gross domestic product (GDP) growth has declined to 12 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2011 from the revised 17.6 percent figure recorded in the second quarter of 2011, the GSS said on Wednesday January 25, 2012.

By Ekow Quandzie