NNPC, oil firms move to boost power supply – The Guardian

To engender a hitch-free supply of gas for power generation purposes in the country and facilitate crude transportation to Warri and Kaduna refineries, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mohammed Barkindo, has written a formal letter to the Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Godwin Abbey on the need to come up with a special security arrangement to secure the country’s pipelines.

The Guardian learnt at the weekend in Abuja that in the letter, Barkindo disclosed that the evacuation of condensate and failure to provide security were factors that could plunge the country in total power blackout and cause it to lose huge revenue that should accrue to it through the sale of oil on the global market.

But the NNPC at the weekend started the evacuation of condensate lying fallow at the facilities of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Warri, which has posed threats to power supply in the country.

The SPDC, last week, raised the alarm that it might be compelled to shut down its four gas plants in Utorogu, Ughelli, Oben and Sapele due to the non-evacuation of condensate from its plants, with dire consequence for the power supply situation in the country.

I didn’t blow up Shell pipeline, say Ex-militant leader, John Togo – Vanguard

Ex-militant leader, John Togo, has said there was no truth in the allegation that militants blew up a pipeline belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Bayelsa State, a claim the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND) also debunked yesterday.

Togo told Vanguard that he was committed to the post-amnesty programme of the federal government and was waiting for President Umaru Yar’Adua to recover from his illness and return to the country to unveil his package for ex-militants.

He said he was shocked at the rumour that he was the person behind the pipeline explosion, pointing out that there was no pipeline explosion in the first instance.

A source told Vanguard that some oil thieves unfastened a pipeline somewhere at Obotobo area of Bayels State to siphon fuel and could not lock it back after their operation, only for officials of an oil company to raise alarm that militants had bombed their pipeline.

Documents expose Shell’s deal with military in Niger Delta – The Nation

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) covertly worked with the security agencies to deal with Ogoni people, it emerged yesterday.

Some secret papers, including court documents published by The Independent on Sunday of London alleged that Shell provided the military and the police with logistics support and aided security sweeps of the Niger Delta.

Last week, Shell agreed to pay $15.5million (about N2.3billion as compensation for the 1995 execution of renowned playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders.

Saro-Wiwa’s son hails Shell’s N2.28b payout – The Nation

From his London base, Ken Saro-Wiwa (jnr) yesterday hailed the decision of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to pay $15.5million (about N2.28billion) compensation for the 1995 execution of his father and eight other Ogoni leaders.

But the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) said no amount could compensate for the loss of Ogoni lives.

Saro-Wiwa (jnr) told the Cable News Network (CNN) that the compensation would allow the bereaved families to move on with their lives, adding: “The settlement will allow the families to draw a line under the past.”