The hold-up in the awards is not due to ExxonMobil, as this reporter and many others believe, but to a disagreement reported earlier between the two nations over which signature bonus fees to accept, Dimka said.
The JDZ has attracted large bids from companies that have little experience, and sometimes few resources, and that historically have made such bids on other concessions only to resell them to more substantial players.
But technical competence and deepwater experience are preferred by Nigeria, Dimka indicated, to larger quantities of upfront cash. Technical competence and deepwater experience can often result in fast-tracked drilling and early oil royalties that quickly exceed the bonus fees.
Here is the account of the conversation with Dimka emailed to ERHC On The Move:
Just got off of the phone with Sam D. had about a 12-minute
conversation with him.
The hold-up at this point is between the two states and signing bonus amounts in two blocks...obviously STP wants more up front. Nigeria (as Sam has said) has 40 years of Gas experience while STP has "nil". So STP does not really understand that the real $ is in production.
Block awards by the end of this month are "not likely." Sam is still very optimistic that it is moving forward and that these "minor" issues will be resolved quickly.
Once resolved XOM will be notified and will make their "decision". Sam says that XOM is not the hold-up and should not be the hold-up as they "already know what they want"..XOM is ready to get on with it as well...(indication was implied that XOM already has what it wants and I would assume that that is the Natural gas processing plant and electrical generation plant to be built in Nigeria...my opinion).
Sam stated that as soon as minor issues are resolved, XOM notified, then JMC will meet for award announcements.
Sam pointed out several things...
There is only one functioning JDZ (two exist, the other being senegal/guinea) but it is not functioning).
The JDZ is only three years old and has succeeded in awarding a block and signing a PSC....
That the negotiations are between a former British colony with much oil and gas experience and a former Portugese colony with limited OG experience.
I have been critical in the past of their timelines, but we need to go back and read Sam's article of 2/14 and get outside of our Western thinking and see that without major bloodshed, two very different countries are negotiating to share a natural resource and IT IS WORKING!
It is going to happen, because STP needs the $.
On another note, I asked about companies without deepwater experience and his answer was that they were dealt with in light of their partnerships....same info, so I believe ERHE is a player beyond their pre-existing rights...all is well.
Dimka has been promising the awards "soon" for more than a month now, and most recently in a Feb. 15 article for This Day, a Nigerian daily newspaper.
9 comments:
Joe nice news to bad its yesterday's news.
Joe, there is an update on RB. XOM was notified today by the JDA. They have one month to pick their options. Sources at the JDA are saying XOM will not take the full month since XOM pretty much already knows what they want. Awards soon Joe. You need to post the most recent news. You are behind. Take care and have a good weekend.
hey Joe Ive got some breaking news you might want to post. The Red Sox won the World Series. Oh and the Pistons won the NBA championship. Oh and the Patriots won the Super Bowl. Phil Mickleson won the Masters.
Since you are so great at posting "old news" I thought I would give you some more lol.
I got the post by email today, and I now understand it was already posted on RB yersterday. I regret any confusion regarding it. The original post was a typographical mess and had no date when it came to me. It well may have been superseded by other news, but I doubt it. I unfortunately presumed it was regarding a phone call made today. I have read the orangeandwhite0 post regarding Dimka and the supposed notification of XOM, but given that his last "update" from Barry Morgan was disavowed by BM, I am reluctant to address it further. It does seem rational, which may be a warning... :)
I used the entire quote, so it could not have been out of context. "Very soon" or "soon" is not next month. He said awards were "not likely" in February. In any case, I put no credence in what Sam Dimka says because he has not been accurate in the past. I do not believe him and I don't believe he is a good source for information. ArtK, no matter how much you know about oil and ERHE, you know very little about journalism; any reporter would have used the same headline I did since expectations of awards in february were running so high.
Joe,
BM did send orangeandwhite that email about ERHE most likely winning all 3 blocks. I saw the email. Watch and see as ERHE Sweeps blocks 2,3,4. BM was just trying to cover is butt afterward and you know that. You have an agenda and EVERYONE knows that. You need to report the current news. NOT OLD NEWS.
Joe since you think Sam is not a good source of information what is your hypothesis as to why that is? Is it because the situation is constantly evolving and changing so the original comment ends up being wrong? Or do you think he just tells people things just to keep them off his back?
Joe do you have an update on the whereaouts of BM? Last we heard he had gotten kidnapped at a Kinko's in Sao Tome, and was flown to Giligans Island where he was blindfolded by Mary Anne and tied with his hands behind his back to a palm tree by Ginger.
You ask if I disbelieve Sam Dimka "because the situation is constantly evolving and changing so the original comment ends up being wrong?" The answer to that is yes.
I have reported what orangeandwhite0 said about the post from Barry, and what Barry said about what orangeandwhite0 said. As a reader, you can't hope for better than that.
I am expecting verification of the latest orangeandwhite0 post from the horse's mouth tomorrow or Monday. I will post the response as soon as I receive it. Many thanks for all your comments.
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