MEND Order AFr to leave Niger Delta

29th Jul '09 by djpreston

2 comments 2101 reads

Seems as if AFR is getting caught up in the militant campaign.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4072:lukmans-company-afren-ordered-to-leave-ndelta-by-militants&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

Extract:

An e-statement by Cynthia White, leader of Martyrs’ Brigade and spokesperson for the JRC, said “AFREN Energy Resources must leave the Niger Delta immediately”.
The statement disclosed how the militants almost bombed AFREN but had to show respect for the late Aret Adams, whose company AMNI International has dealings with the AFREN Energy Resources. “We would have bombed AFREN’s Armada Perkasa FPSO which today sucks our oil via the Okoro Setu development field owned by AMNI International in the Eastern Obolo area of Akwa Ibom State”, White stated.

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emptyend

30th Jul '09

Another piece on it here:

http://www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2009/07/29/Nigerian-militants-threaten-Afren-Energy/UPI-29881248885907/

The Joint Revolutionary Council, which considers itself an umbrella organization of Nigerian militant groups, called on Afren to abandon its activities by Friday or face attacks on its personnel and infrastructure, the Platts news service reports....."Rilwanu Lukman is an ungrateful man," the militant statement read. "Afren Energy Resources must leave the Niger Delta immediately."

I must say that the market appears pretty relaxed about the prospect of serious problems. What % of Afren's assets are onshore and what % are offshore? The market has only come back from 59p to 54p this week......so far.

[ps.....never been an Afren fan - political risk unacceptable, IMO]

sg31

In reply to emptyend (post #1)

Update on the situation....

http://www.businessdayonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4118:why-we-are-after-lukman-by-militants&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18

“The ultimatum given to Afren has been terminated at about 2300 hrs yesterday (Tuesday).”

The perception of Rilwanu Lukman, minister of petroleum resources, as anti-Niger Delta in his policies informed the decision of region’s militant groups to issue Afren Energy Services, a company thought to be owned by him, a 72-hour ultimatum to shut down its operations in the area. The perception was bolstered by the minister’s recent announcement of the relocation of the University of Petroleum Studies from Effurun in Delta State to Kaduna, Lukman’s own state.

Cynthia White, spokesperson and leader of the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) comprising the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Reformed Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (RNDPVF) and the Martyrs’ Brigade, said the ultimatum has been lifted.
The ultimatum was “driven by the seeming anti-Niger Delta posture of the minister of petroleum of the Nigerian state, Rilwanu Lukman, as evidenced in his recent statements in which he gave lame and dumb excuses for the relocation of the petroleum university from the oil producing state of Delta State to a non-oil producing Northern City of Kaduna”, White said in response to enquiries from BusinessDay.
“The ultimatum given to Afren has been terminated at about 2300 hrs yesterday (Tuesday).”

She said Afren’s campaign in the Eastern Obolo area of Akwa Ibom State is “strengthened by its strategic alliance with a local company with strong Ijaw and Niger Delta interest.”
The rescinding of the quit order may have been made imperative by the strong business relationship between Afren and some indigenous service companies, including Century Energy Services.
“We commend the leadership and management of Century Energy Services for their resilience and forthrightness in these trying times. “That company, Century Energy Services, has over the years, provided strong leadership in corporate social responsibility, people development; and has shown a strong commitment to improving the lives of the people of the Niger Delta. They deserve all our support and that we will give,” stated White in an e-statement yesterday to BusinessDay.
Stating that there were “too many skills gaps to close in the oil industry,” White noted that these were trying times for the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta region.
“That which is ours must never be taken away from us. We have lost too much already. We cannot afford to loose more.”
“Our struggle is a just one and the onus lies on us to support all those who wish us well,” the militant leader claimed.
According to the JRC spokesperson, the management of Century Energy Services must “not be ignorant of the devices of leeches, serpentine and patronising elements who today parade the corridors of the current agitation in the Niger Delta because they seek access to high tables and heavy purses. They will be damned.”
Afren Energy had explained its link with the petroleum minister, saying he was “just its founding director... one of the three of the five founders of the company that were Nigerians.”
The company gave the names of the other two Nigerian founders as Constantine Ogunbiyi and Egbert Imomoh.

MEND Order AFr to leave Niger Delta

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Djpreston

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