Vanguard, By Sina Babasola Monday, June 23, 2003

IBADAN—THE opposition Alliance for Democracy (AD) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday denounced the fuel price hike with ASUU saying the price increase was based on "false economic argument." The AD in a statement by its national director of publicity, Mr Opeyemi Bamidele regretted what he called "the utter lack of a visionary policy by the PDP - controlled federal government which after four years of ‘governance - by-experiment’ has failed to revamp and revive the ailing oil industry." He said: "today, after almost a N100 billion has been sunk in the last 4 years by the federal government to revive the 4 refineries, the average capacity utilisation is still an abysmal 50%.

"It is to the utter shame of the PDP policy makers as they return to the jaded old policy of "robbing" the poor Nigerians to pay for the deficiency of the NNPC monopoly in fuel supply and distribution. Nigeria has dangerously turned from being a net exporter to a net importer of petroleum products and the three previous increases in the prices of petroleum products in the last 4 years has not improved nor reversed this ugly trend. "The PDP-controlled federal government, in the absence of a dynamic and innovative leadership, lacking creativity, has led Nigeria into a precarious economic capacity.

"If what the duo of Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, Chairman of Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and President Olusegun Obasanjo told Nigerians last week are true, then the annual loss of (N250bn) or $1.8bn by the NNPC due to importation of fuel and the supposed annual subsidy on petroleum products are enough to have built a minimum of 5 modern, efficient petroleum refineries, each producing 100,000 barrels per day in the last four years of "experimental governance". This additional volume would have been enough to cover the shortfall due to rising demand and ageing refineries. "This lack of proactive and visionary policy has turned the PDP-controlled federal government today into a reactionary and short-sighted regime.

"If the landing cost of imported PMS (petrol) fere on board is N28.54 per litre as disclosed by Chief Gbadamosi, it means that petrol is relatively far cheaper in the countries from where we imported it than when compared with the old price of N26.00 per litre in Nigeria. "With the exclusion of Venezuela which is in an economic slump and war-ravaged Iraq, Nigeria under the prodigal leadership of the PDP remains the only OPEC-member country which imports refined petroleum, even though Nigeria is not war-ravaged nor in economic slump. "We hereby call on the architects of this provocative hike in fuel prices to go back and do their homework well before coming to the court of public opinion.

The Philladelphia Enquirer, Posted on Thu, Jun. 19, 2003 By Jennifer Lin Inquirer Staff Writer

Last week, after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security awarded long-awaited and highly competitive grants for port security projects, many in the maritime trade were baffled by the windfall for Citgo Petroleum Corp.

The odds of anyone's getting a grant were no better than one in five. Even then, most of the winners were awarded less than $1 million. But Citgo, the profitable U.S. subsidiary of the Venezuelan national oil company, hit the jackpot: a $13.5 million grant to upgrade security at its refinery in Lake Charles, La.

That's more than the combined 24 grants for the Delaware River port system.

More than the nine grants for Los Angeles, the busiest container port in the country.

More than the 17 grants for every other private business or port authority in Louisiana.

So why did one company get so much money, and where is it going?

The Homeland Security Department won't say, citing security concerns.

Neither will Citgo.

"We will not discuss any of the items that the money will be used for," said Kent Young, a spokesman for Citgo at the company's U.S. headquarters in Tulsa, Okla. "That was a condition of our application, that it be held in confidence."

In addition, Young preemptively said the terms of the grant award would not be available through the open-records provision of the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). "It is my understanding that it is not subject to FOIA," Young said.

The secrecy shrouding the Citgo grant points to a larger problem with the billions in taxpayer money being directed to fight the war on terrorism, according to Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, a nonprofit government watchdog group in Washington that tracks budget issues.

"This administration equates secrecy with security," Bass said. "It's our firm belief that access to information will actually make us feel safer. Once the public knows what steps are being taken, there's not only a better feeling about security, there's accountability to assure that we are safer. We can verify that various steps have been taken."

Mark Hatfield, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the Homeland Security Department, defended the confidentiality of the grants because of the sensitive nature of the projects.

"You don't want to tell people where the hole is before you have it plugged," Hatfield said.

The size of the Citgo award also raised eyebrows among other oil companies, as well as port officials, because of the fierce competition for scare federal dollars for port security. For the latest round of port funding, the Homeland Security Department received 1,112 applications for the $245 million to be handed out.

Some maritime groups that lost out in grants were dismayed to see one company get so much.

"There are so many things that are not getting funded," said Doug Dillon, executive director of the Tri-State Maritime Safety Association, a nonprofit group in Newport, Del., that did not get funding for a project to increase vessel tracking on the Delaware River.

While the nation's airports have ramped up security since 9/11, the 361 seaports across the country have not received the same level of federal support for security improvements. Many lawmakers and maritime officials believe that the nation's port system is the weak link in homeland security.

With ports, the two biggest threats are terrorists using shipping containers to plant bombs, or sabotaging refineries or tanker ships.

The government's own concern about the vulnerability of chemical plants and refineries was evident in the large number of port security grants going to private companies in those sectors.

In distributing $245 million last week in port security funding, the Homeland Security Department directed 15 percent of the money to refineries, tank terminals and pipelines.

Citgo received the most money, with grants totaling $15.7 million for facilities in Lake Charles; Paulsboro; Savannah, Ga.; and Corpus Christi, Texas.

Sunoco Inc. was second, with a combined $5.1 million in grants for plants in Philadelphia and the Houston area.

Hatfield, a TSA spokesman, said the process for awarding the grant money was strictly prescribed. The grants were determined by a committee made up of officials from TSA, the Coast Guard, and the Maritime Administration of the Department of Transportation.

"The awards are made strictly on the merits of the proposal," Hatfield said.

He said Citgo had conducted a security assessment of its Lake Charles refinery in December 2001 and again in April 2003. "They did the groundwork, and that put them further ahead," Hatfield said.

While not disclosing the specifics of the Citgo grant, he said the money would be used to control access to the company's refinery facilities. He added that under grant guidelines, the money could be used to buy such equipment as identification-card readers, lighting systems, or perimeter cameras.

Citgo, which earned $140 million in the first quarter of this year, had received a previous TSA grant in 2002 to buy a patrol boat and to build a boat ramp and boathouse for its Lake Charles facility. The company is part of Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., the national oil company of Venezuela.

In Lake Charles, the Citgo grant took many in the port community by surprise. Located in southwestern Louisiana, the port stretches 35 miles from the Gulf of Mexico up through the Calcasieu River Waterway to the city of Lake Charles.

In addition to Citgo, the region has two other refineries, plus river terminals for receiving liquefied natural gas, a volatile cargo that raises the security risk for the waterway.

Jim Robinson, director of navigation and security for the state-run Port of Lake Charles, said he knew nothing about the Citgo grant, other than its enviable size.

"I could contract a private security company to provide round-the-clock surveillance for the entire waterway for two years on that size of a grant," Robinson said. "But I doubt that's what they're going to spend it on."

Vanguard By Victor Ahiuma-Young Tuesday, June 10, 2003

FOR some time now government officials have been giving indications that the government...

 FOR some time now government officials have been giving indications that the government has concluded arrangements to put on sale the four Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refineries and its subsidiaries, despite the fact that a Technical committee set up by the Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to look into the grievances of organised labour in the wake of a two- day nation wide warning strike by the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and its Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) is yet to conclude its assignment.

The workers are not taking these government officials statements lightly and have continued to warn that they would not accept any unilateral government action on the refineries or NNPC subsidiaries.

In this chat with Energy This Week, Acting General Secretary of PENGASSAN, Comrade Bayo Olowoshile gives insight on what workers in the sector consider as the dangers in the government ill-advised planned privatisation of the refineries or NNPC subsidiaries.

Excerpts.

WHAT is the association’s stand on the issue of privatising the refineries now that government appears to have concluded all arrangements to privatise them despite a technical committee set up to look into workers grievances?

Our position is that any position that government is going to take is going to be such that cuts across all the interest groups and stakeholders , essentially the interest of the nation at large. That is exactly what we are doing in the committee. We as a trade union working along with other interest groups in the committee have been making useful contribution to the committee. We have been working well with all members of the committee believing that we will be able to come out with a very enduring and satisfying position that will enable the nation move the NNPC and the down stream sector forward. We believe that whatever we achieve in the committee will serve the general interest of every body. That is what we want to hold on to. But recent publications and statements by government aides is really giving us concern and it has been very disturbing and unfortunate.

When government has been spending tax payers money and taking the time of people in the committee who are working on something that will benefit the entire nation and we have another people working on parallel line, at cross purpose to a committee which the vice president of this country set up to take care of all interests, it is a very wrong approach. It sends a very bad signal to every body. What it means is that government is not yet democratic, it is not carrying Nigerians along. We want the government to stop its officials or aides from making inflammatory statements and heating up the polity as well as making people believe that government can take unilateral decision without considering every interest group. We are not going to take it and we maintain that any thing short of the out-come of the committee’s report will be unacceptable to the workers.

Have you now been convinced that only privatisation can solve the problems of NNPC refineries and ensure steady fuel supply?

Well, we believe that the committee has gone beyond believing that privatisation is the only way out of revamping and resuscitating the refineries. The problem of the refineries was not because the refineries were not privatised. This is the practice all the world over. The best and most performing refineries in the world are the ones that are public or state owned. We can take the Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and a host of other countries in the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) that are doing quite well as examples. We believe that the problem in NNPC is more of government inflicted than the society inflicted. This was because of the kind of leadership we had in the past. That is what we are trying to correct now. Thank God we are now in a democracy that gives people the opportunity to sit together and look at issues to find out the best way forward. We know that NNPC had suffered government negative interference. They had suffered from lack of funding and they had also suffered undue government manipulations. All these have been the bane of the corporation. The issue of privatisation is obviously not the way forward. If you don’t look at the core values that guide a business and believe that selling is the best way, then some thing is definitely wrong. We know that even the so-called private companies, without the enabling environment, without security of the lives and property, no body can do a good business. There are other factors that we need to consider. There are the social factors that must be attended to before we can really have a way forward in Nigeria. Privatisation is not the solution. Government is saying that it does not want to go into business because government has no business being in business. Government is saying it wants a private sector driven business, especially in the commanding heights in the economy because of World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Not just because it has convinced itself that privatisation can drive this nation forward. There are other issues that government needs to attend to. The main issue is about how we can really reform the system, how we can make the system work effectively and efficiently so as to make Nigerians have some confidence in Nigeria and in the system. That is the first thing. The moment we are able to do that then, there will be a lot of attraction for new investments. Until we are able to do that, whatever that is happening, whether privatisation or any other name the government chooses to call it, will still drag this nation backward. So, we don’t believe that privatisation is the solution. What has been happening in other areas that have been privatised? Has there been any progress in those sectors? We should look at other factors that are associated with societal ills and other stagnating forces which have made the environment not to be attractive or conducive for new investments. To even invest in Nigeria, Nigerians don’t believe in Nigeria. They would rather believe in capital flight, and investing their money elsewhere . So when Nigerians themselves do not believe in the system, how do you expect outsiders to come and invest in an environment where you as a Nigerian do not even believe in. We need to look at this basic problems first and see how best to solve them. We also need to look at the social problems. Nigerians do not have jobs. Thousands of people are graduating from schools no work to do. There is the problem in the Niger Delta where the people are angry over continued government neglect despite being the source of the major stay of the nation’s economy. No social and infrastructural facilities in their region and they see the system as hopeless. Government needs to give this people hope and selling NNPC refineries definitely is not that. The government has to look at how best to make Nigerians have confidence in the system so that we can have an enduring and hopeful society where everybody will be proud of.

Some have argued for commercialisation and autonomy of NNPC as well as the participation of private refineries to compete with public refineries instead of privatisation. What do you think?

We seriously believe that commercialisation of the NNPC should have been the best and more ideal solution to our problem. You cannot bring a foreigner to make your country the way you want it to be. The moment we think or believe that the problem can only be solved through bringing foreign investors to come and re-shape Nigeria for us, we are still existing in the falsehood of neo-colonialism and imperialism. At the end of the day, the direction of government, the national focus and identity will be lost. Take the case of the GSM operators, up till today, government has not been able to ensure that they bring down their tariff in spite of low quality of services. The Nigerian GSM is the costliest in the world over. Go and find out. Nigerians pay through their nose to service their GSM phone. We believe Nigerian government should be careful in accepting and implementing the World Bank and IMF neo-economist blue-print. It is like they are bringing more problems into the country. Workers in the sector believe that government should first see how best Nigerians can manage the system to satisfy all stake holders. The commercialisation and autonomy of the NNPC should have been the most ideal option. There has to be a built-in system or mechanism that will monitor the activities of NNPC to conform in line with the aim and objectives set for them. When there is a failure, government can always know who and what is responsible. The question people should ask is, what happens where our legislators and executives make mistakes as they have been doing, are we advocating that foreigners should be imported to take over from our legislators and executives? We believe that is only by giving the best amongst us the opportunity to perform and learn through the system over time that the system can change for the better. USA, Britain, France and other countries did not start today. They achieve what they have achieved today because of the environment and doing it over time. Today, we are taking them as our benchmark. It does not work like that. Give NNPC autonomy and allow it to operate, set target for them, find a better way of measuring their performance and make corrections where necessary. NNPC should also be allowed to seek strategic partners for technical, financial and managerial support to move the corporation forward. The solution, like I said, is not through privatisation. The problems of Nigeria is with Nigerians and not from outside. Therefore, the solution also is in Nigeria and not from out.

The issue of corruption is obviously seen as the bane of NNPC. The president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole at your last delegates conference in Abuja charged workers in the industry to expose and help to fight corruption in the system. Has the association taken up the challenge?

PENGASSAN is one association that have so much respect for disciplined workforce. We believe that ethnical values in every system is the only way that can see the system through and progress. We have always had opportunity to organise necessary training for attitudinal and behavioral reforms. We have lined up more programmes that will bring both the NNPC management and the rank and file of staff to have basic orientation and necessary change to approach duties. We believe that with time, we will be able to make a gradual shift from negative perception people have towards public assets, utilities and corporation. We believe that by the time we are through with this, in about two or three times, we should be able to have a new and progressive thinking in the system. That will definitely move the system forward.

Reuters, 06.10.03, 4:22 AM ET  MADRID, June 10 (Reuters) - Spanish oil and gas company Repsol YPF <REP.MC> plans to invest around $700 million in Venezuela in the next five years and increase its oil production there by 20 percent, a company spokesman said on Tuesday. Repsol now produces around 100,000 barrels a day in Venezuela and expects this to rise to 120,000 barrels, he said, confirming Spanish newspaper reports. The investment extends Repsol's production interests in Latin America. The Spanish company bought Argentina's YPF in 1999 and now produces three quarters of its oil in that country.

Julio Godoy PARIS, Jun 9 (<a href=www.ipsnews.net>IPSNews) - Prosecution has demanded heavy jail sentences for former bosses of the oil giant Elf Aquitaine over their dealings in Africa. Prosecutor Catherine Pignon asked a Paris court to sentence André Tarallo, formerly the company's top manager for Africa affairs, to eight years imprisonment and to impose a fine of 5.8 million dollars. This is the first move by the prosecution against the top bosses of the company. Tarallo, 76, who came to be known as Elf Aquitaine's 'Monsieur Africa', managed the company's business in Africa for 20 years from the late seventies. The prosecution demand came following lengthy investigations begun in 1994 into suspect dealings of the former state oil company between 1989 and 1993 both in France and abroad. ”Your culpability demands exemplary punishment,” Pignon told 37 accused. Pignon called several deals by Elf executives ”systematic opportunism”, and said its ”illegal embezzlement (of the company's funds) were not casual affairs.” Prosecution sought a similar sentence against Alfred Sirven, former director- general of Elf, and a five-year sentence with a fine of 400,000 dollars against Loik Le Floch Prigent, the former CEO (chief executive officer). ”These three people (Le Floch Prigent, Sirven, and Tarallo) took care that the corruption system worked smoothly,” Pignon told the court last week. The prosecution has accused the three executives of embezzlement of 350 million dollars of the company's funds for personal enrichment or to pay for illegal commissions to politicians. Tarallo stands accused of stealing at least 50 million dollars, and of misusing his position in handling the company's African affairs. Elf Aquitaine was founded in 1965 by Gen Charles de Gaulle as a state- owned company. The company was privatised in 1999 following reports of rampant corruption. It was taken over by another French giant, TotalFina. Experts and former executives say French secret services controlled Elf Aquitaine from the start, and took on the task of creating conditions to the advantage of Elf in oil-rich former colonies. ”The secret services' control over Elf Aquitaine led to coups d'état in several African countries, especially in Gabon and Congo Brazzaville,” Francois-Xavier Verschave, author of several books on French African policy told IPS. Loik Le Floch Prigent has presented the defence that bribery and influence peddling are a part of oil operations all over the world. ”The whole oil system functions in an opaque way,” Le Floch Prigent said during the hearings. ”The obscure affairs at Elf didn't begin with my presidency, nor did they end when I left.” He also claimed that all French heads of state since 1965 knew that Elf Aquitaine paid illegal commissions to guarantee easy access to oil sources. French investigators had until recently avoided looking into Elf's African affairs. This policy changed early last year. Prosecution found that Tarallo maintained several bank accounts with names such as Tomato, Salad, Langouste, Colette, or Centuri in tax havens around the world, including Panama, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Colette is the name of his wife, and Centuri is his native village. Tarallo claimed during the hearing that he managed these accounts on behalf of African heads of state. He particularly named Omar Bongo, President of Gabon. Asked by judge Michel Desplan why he had named accounts after his wife and his village and not after Bongo, Tarallo said he gave these names in order to recall them more easily. Bongo, who rules the former French African colony since a coup d'état in 1967, denied any benefits from Tarallo's accounts. Bongo told the weekly Jeune Afrique that Tarallo had used him as ”an umbrella to protect himself.” Bongo said that Tarallo had tried to use the umbrella too long, and by now ”it has got holes.” He added: ”Tarallo is soaked now.” Tarallo's lawyers reject the prosecution's case against him. ”He is simply innocent,” his lawyer Guillaume Le Foyer de Costil said after the hearings last week. Lawyers defending Le Flock Prigent and Sirven have also called the prosecution case against their clients ”unjustified”. The prosecution has sought lower prison sentences and fines for the other accused over their dealings in Venezuela, Spain, Germany, and in several Eastern European, Central Asian and African countries.