EXXONMOBIL PESSIMISTIC ABOUT INCREASED NIGERIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 LAGOS 000189 SIPDIS DOE FOR GPERSON, CHAYLOCK E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/27/2018 TAGS: ENRG EPET PGOV VE NI SUBJECT: EXXONMOBIL PESSIMISTIC ABOUT INCREASED NIGERIAN OIL OUTPUT REF: A. 07LAGOS 750 ¶B. LAGOS 77 ¶C. LAGOS 75 Classified By: Consul General Donna Blair for reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) Summary. In a May 23 meeting, the number two executive at ExxonMobil in Nigeria said he's not optimistic that Nigerian crude oil production will increase significantly in the next few months. Mark Ward placed the blame on the government of Nigeria's failure to reinvest in onshore and near-offshore oil facilities and ongoing security problems along Bonny River; he urged the United States to help Nigeria find an immediate solution to ongoing violence in the area. He claimed Venezuela is pushing Nigeria to take a harder stance against international oil companies in general and ExxonMobil specifically, a claim we cannot verify at this time. The reasons behind Nigeria's falling production are nothing new, but concern over its support for the sanctity of contracts is growing. End Summary. ¶2. (C) Mark Ward, Exxon Mobil's Executive Director for Exploration and Production in Nigeria told Econoff that the decline in Nigerian oil production since the beginning of the Yar'Adua administration can be attributed to ongoing security problems in the Bonny River area. (Note: According the International Energy Agency, Nigeria's oil production fell sharply in the run up to the 2007 elections but recovered and reached 2.2 mbpd in September. Since September 2007, production has steadily declined. General industry consensus in Nigeria puts April's production around 1.81 mbpd. End Note.) According to Ward, Nigeria is also feeling the effects of a natural decline in production from aging onshore and near offshore fields aggravated by the GON's failure to fund the joint ventures responsible for producing oil and enhancing oil recovery in those areas. Ward also blamed declining production on a general paralysis within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and in particular within the National Petroleum Investment Management Service (NAPIMS), the NNPC unit that controls the joint ventures with the oil companies. (Comment: Paralysis in NNPC since the announcement of the reorganization is well known. NAPIMS is the crown jewel of NNPC and its fate in a reorganized state oil company has been the subject of much interest (ref A). End Comment.) When asked about the prospects for Nigerian production in the next six months, Ward said that beyond the anticipated boost from Chevron's Agbami facility scheduled to begin operation this summer, he was "not optimistic" about the possibility of any sustained increase. ¶3. (C) Ward dismissed as inaccurate press reports that President Yar'Adua had announced plans to force ExxonMobil and Shell to pay USD 1.9 billion in a dispute over cost overruns at their deep offshore oil facilities. He noted that ExxonMobil has been in high level negotiations with the GON on this issue for months and attributed the quote by Yar'Adua to bad advice from Emmanuel Egbogah, the Presidential Advisor on Petroluem who is leading the GON's push for tougher contract terms. Ward thought the statements were little more than a negotiating ploy and didn't believe they represented a real shift in the GON's policy. The dispute however is far from resolved and Ward said the GON had been taking far more equity oil from the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) than it was entitled to under the contract terms. (Note: PSC's, used in the development of the risky deep offshore fields, allow the oil companies to recover their significant exploration and development costs before the GON receives its share of oil. End Note.) While Ward noted the ongoing discussion with the GON, he said ExxonMobil stood ready to seek legal remedies should the negotiations fail. Venezuela Attempting to Influence Nigiera? -------------- ¶4. (C) According to Ward, there is a growing feeling within the company and industry that Nigeria may be slipping away from it tradition of respect for oil agreements. On a disturbing note, Ward accused Venezuela of trying to turn Nigeria, and other oil producers, against international oil companies in general and LAGOS 00000189 002 OF 002 ExxonMobil in particular as part of Venezuela's ongoing dispute with Exxon. Ward claimed Venezuela was encouraging Nigeria to develop its state owned oil company as an alternative to international oil companies and was offering Nigeria help in doing so. When pressed, Ward could not give examples of Venezuelan influence nor cite specific meetings between Nigeria and Venezuelan officials other than to say he thought a meeting between Venezuelan and Nigerian officials may have occurred in February 2008. He said others in the company could provide more detail and he promised to supply more information later. He also claimed Russia, through Gazprom, is similarly trying to influence Nigeria, but he agreed that Gazprom's actual presence in Nigeria is insignificant and he downplayed public statements by a Gazprom executive that gas deals were in the works (ref B). Bonny Attacks Threaten Output -------------- ¶5. (C) On security, Ward warned that ongoing attacks along the Bonny River are the single biggest and immediate threat to Nigerian oil output. He said the Nigerian navy was down to two boats it could use for escorting oil service vessels operating in convoys on Bonny River. Ward thought the best thing the USG could do to restore Nigeria's lost production was to help the GON rapidly increase its capacity to provide security on and near Bonny River. He noted the GON routinely requests the oil companies provide money and logistics to improve security in the area, something ExxonMobil is unwilling to do. According to Ward, the Lagos deep offshore support base, being developed as an alternative to the Onne offshore support base on the Bonny River, would not be ready in time to provide any relief to the current security problem. ¶6. (C) Comment: There is nothing new in the conversation with Ward to suggest that the declining oil production is the result of anything other than the oft-noted problems of bad security, failure to fund the joint ventures, and general paralysis in NNPC. What is new, or at least what is growing, is concern within the industry over Nigeria's regard for the sanctity of contracts. Earlier in the week, a group of British gas executives told Econoff they have noted a change in tone regarding contracts in Nigeria since October/November 2007. One executive attributed it to the example set by President Yar'Adua in the reversal of several non-oil deals agreed to under the Obasanjo administration. Many Nigerian politicians seem eager to shout " due process" while merrily overturning any deal done by Obasanjo that they don't like. We've heard dire warnings of nationalization before (ref C),however, Ward's assertion that Venezuela is actively meddling in the Nigerian petroleum sector is the most specific claim, but one we cannot verify at this time. End Comment. HUDSON