Cablegate: Nomination for July 25-29 Oil and Gas Industry

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

060412Z Mar 05

UNCLAS LAGOS 000346

SIPDIS

USDOC WASHDC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: NFATC ECON
SUBJECT: NOMINATION FOR JULY 25-29 OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
COURSE (PE 127)

1. (U) Post nominates Economic Specialist - Obilade,
Mayowa Olalonpe, as its candidate for the oil and gas
industry course scheduled for July 25-29, 2005 in
Houston. Ms. Obilade holds a Masters degree in
Economics and has been the Consulate General's Economic
Specialist for the past 12 months.

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Justification
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2. (U) The upstream oil and gas industry is the single
most important sector in the Nigerian economy with an
estimated proven oil reserves of 22.5 billion barrels
and 124 Tcf of proven natural gas reserves. Nigeria is
the fifth largest supplier of U.S. energy and much of
our bilateral relationship revolves around the sector.
U.S. energy majors Chevron Texaco and ExxonMobil are
primary players in the Nigerian oil and gas sector,
representing several billion dollars in U.S.
investments. Likewise, U.S. oil servicing companies
Schlumberger, Halliburton and its subsidiary TSKJ are
dominant players within the sector.

3. (U) The Nigerian oil and gas sector is currently
going through changes with the introduction of a new
local content policy, new gas policy and the gradual
move to deep offshore and ultra deep offshore
exploration. Drilling results in deepwater have been
encouraging. The average size of discovery is over 600
million barrels at an average water depth above 1,000m.
If these reserves come on line, Nigeria will add over
five billion barrels of oil to her national reserves
from deepwater activities alone. Success rate of
deepwater exploration in Nigeria is about 60%, one of
the highest in the world.

4. (U) The Consulate depends heavily on the FSN
EconSpec to monitor these developments. She works
closely with post's Energy FSO to develop
recommendations and to mediate differences between the
host government and U.S. oil companies. Ms. Obilade
regularly represents the U.S.G at local seminars and
workshops addressing key issues in the energy sector,
such as transparency initiatives and tax policies.

5. (U) The Oil and Gas industry training course will
deepen her knowledge and understanding of the U.S. oil
and gas sector. It will enhance her analytical and
reporting capacity and enable her to better assess the
impact of industry changes on U.S.G national interests.
We anticipate that the course will also improve Ms.
Obilade's technical expertise, allowing her to serve as
post's institutional knowledge base as FSOs rotate in
and out of Nigeria. We are confident that Ms.
Obilade's participation in the course would benefit
this mission, our Washington audience, and U.S.
companies operating in Nigeria.

BROWNE

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