Don't do it westcoaster, coming to work and live in Nigeria is like the ideas people come with when they're drunk. In hind sight those ideas often prove to be decidedly bad
Life's too short to be spending it in a place like Port Harcourt. You may not believe it but money ain't everything. Had I known what I do know today I would have never come here.
China is seeking to massively expand its African oil reserves by bidding for up to a sixth of Nigeria's crude reserves, according to a leaked letter from the office of the President of Nigeria.
The move by CNOOC, the Chinese state-controlled oil giant, to acquire concessions in 23 prime blocks could create conflict with western oil groups including Shell, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobil who already own stakes in the blocks.
If all CNOOC’s bids were accepted they would double China’s oil reserves in Africa where China has sealed a number of successful oil-for-infrastructure deals in recent years in countries like Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The letter, dated August 13 and published by the Financial Times newspaper detailed talks between CNOOC’s representative in Nigeria, Sunrise, and the office of Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua.
While rejecting CNOOC’s initial offer – rumoured to be between $30bn-$50bn (£1.8bn-£31.4bn) and it added: “Your interest in all the listed blocks will be considered if your revised offer is favourable.”
It remains unclear from the letter whether the 49pc stakes CNOOC is seeking would come from the holdings of western oil major or their joint-venture partner, Nigeria’s state owned oil company.
A spokesman for President Yar'Adua confirmed that negotiations with Sunrise/CNOOC and “all other” industry stakeholders were ongoing, adding that “the federal government has not taken any final position on the issue.”
A cash-rich China has used the global financial crisis as an opportunity for a strategic expansion in oil and other commodities that it needs to fuel its rapidly expanding economy.
Nigeria’s parliament is currently debating a bill to restructure the country’s energy sector which is riddled with corruption and in desperate need of investment.
However any deal between Nigeria and China would have to overcome a number of political hurdles following a number of failed oil-for-infrastructure deals with the previous administration which became mired in damaging corruption allegations.
Those difficulties have led some analysts to speculate that the Nigerian authorities might be using the Chinese offer to extract more favourable terms from western companies already holding concessions.
China’s popular image in Nigeria was damaged by recent reports that China had requested permission to cremate 30 Nigerians who had died in Chinese jails after being arrested on fraud, immigration or drugs offences.
A committee of Nigerian MPs responded by calling on Nigeria’s government for a tit-for-tat investigation into the immigration status of the 20,000 Chinese estimated to be resident in Nigeria.
Abike Dabiri-Erewa, the head of the House of Representatives Committee on the Diaspora, told a press conference that Nigeria could no longer accept a situation where its people were being "maltreated and dehumanised abroad".
__________________ Senior Pilot
Rotorheads Moderator
American demand is down....and China is building a 30 Day Reserve....thus price is down for them and Nigeria's crude is high grade. Could be part of the reason. It pays to broaden your sources of crude when possible so future spikes in consumption can be accomodated. China is second only to the United States in consumpton of crude oil.
SASless-
If you put him to work as a deckhand so he can gain his additional Social Security points... he'll have no excuse at all... and it will keep his daughter from having to come up with clever job titles and descriptions for Bob on his U.S. forays.
Happy Birthday Bob, always thought you were one of the best, thanks for getting rid of that piece of Italian technology for me when I got shafted by a Bristow nonentity. I hope that things work out for you.
This is a great outfit. I have been with them for over 2 months and it is fabulous. The location is superb in the beautiful tropical beach resort of Warri, known amongst the jet set as the Monte Carlo of Africa.
The job is great. All new aircraft, excellent training (sim work in Florida), beautiful operations and maintenance complex and really excellent management, both ex-pat and local. We are treated well, live in brand new company housing with swimming pools, gyms, restaurant, bars and disco. The money is unbelievable and the schedule is 90 days on, 180 days off.
Outside of work there is loads to do in town and in the beach resort. Nightclubs, bars, classy restaurants, you name it. It is very different from the rest of Nigeria, or even Africa for that matter, and people are clammering to get hired here, and there are only a few jobs left.
The selection process is very competitive and highly regulated, so get your money paid so they can process you. The fees are to cover the basic selection and placement process. Then, like me, you can also be flying a brand new Nigerian Bell 419!
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