{"id":519912,"date":"2010-04-07T17:54:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-07T21:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16711557.post-5371333235889011375"},"modified":"2010-04-07T17:54:17","modified_gmt":"2010-04-07T21:54:17","slug":"diezani-allison-madueke-appointed-as-oil-minister-in-nigeria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/519912","title":{"rendered":"Diezani Allison-Madueke Appointed as Oil Minister in Nigeria"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Diezani Allison-Madueke was appointed as the Oil Minister of the recently reconstituted cabinet of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She was assigned to the post by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.<\/a>
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

Female minister directs Nigeria oil overhaul<\/p>\n

By Tom Burgis in Lagos
Financial Times
April 7 2010 17:55<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s first female oil minister has been in her post barely 24 hours, but already the demands on her allegiances are many and conflicting.<\/p>\n

Diezani Allison-Madueke was the surprise choice to take the helm in sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s biggest oil and gas exporter when Goodluck Jonathan, acting president, unveiled his cabinet on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

The team has 12 months to make its mark before the next election. The new minister\u2019s principal task is to bring the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill \u2013 the most ambitious overhaul in the industry\u2019s 50-year history \u2013 into law. <\/p>\n

At stake are tens of billions of dollars of potential investments, and reforms that could breathe new life into an industry that provides 80 per cent of the government\u2019s income and one in eight barrels of crude that the US imports. <\/p>\n

Yet such is the scope for renewed lobbying from foreign companies, including Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, and opponents of reform that senior industry figures fear more delays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PIB is definitely unlikely to pass [through the national assembly] in its current form before the elections,\u201d Osten Olorunsola, Shell\u2019s regional vice-president for gas, told the Financial Times. \u201cNot passing anything would magnify the overall level of uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shell\u2019s competitors suggest the Anglo-Dutch group should be feeling smug. Ms Allison-Madueke is the daughter of a Shell employee and spent some 14 years working for its Nigerian joint venture, rising to become head of external relations. <\/p>\n

Some industry groups are said to have lobbied for her appointment, reasoning that her background would make her sympathetic to oil companies\u2019 claims that the bill\u2019s tougher terms would jeopardise $50bn of planned investment.<\/p>\n

Yet many of Ms Allison-Madueke\u2019s advisers will argue that the country has made enough concessions to the companies already and the proposed law would simply bring Nigeria\u2019s over-generous terms into line with those of other oil producers. <\/p>\n

Mr Jonathan\u2019s cabinet changes owe much to the succession struggle sparked by the prolonged illness of Umaru Yar\u2019Adua, who remains the nominal president despite having been incapacitated since November. <\/p>\n

Many Yar\u2019Adua allies have been removed, among them the outgoing oil minister, former Opec boss Rilwanu Lukman, and Mohammed Barkindo, erstwhile head of the national oil company that reformers hope to transform from a byword for patronage to a commercially-driven profit-machine.<\/p>\n

Her detractors say the Cambridge-educated Ms Allison-Madueke lacks her predecessor\u2019s clout, noting the limited impact she had in two previous ministerial posts. Critics say that she was promoted because she comes from Mr Jonathan\u2019s home state of Bayelsa, in the heart of the delta.<\/p>\n

Some in the delta, where militants have long demanded a greater share of the oil revenues, expect a daughter of the region to look after her own.<\/p>\n

Dimieari Von Kemedi, a senior Bayelsa official, said activists would push the new minister to go ahead with a proposal to grant 10 per cent of the net profits of petroleum ventures to the delta\u2019s communities.<\/p>\n

Foreign oil groups, seeking to renew leases to prime oil blocks, are locked in tough negotiations. A bidding round for oil assets is planned. Cnooc, a Chinese oil group, is seeking swathes of Nigeria\u2019s crude. From Bayelsa to Beijing, Ms Allison-Madueke\u2019s next moves will be closely watched.
<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diezani Allison-Madueke was appointed as the Oil Minister of the recently reconstituted cabinet of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She was assigned to the post by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos Female minister directs Nigeria oil overhaul By Tom Burgis in LagosFinancial Times April 7 2010 17:55 Nigeria\u2019s first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4243,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-519912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}