More than 270 Nigerians representing companies within and outside the country were among the participants at the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company of Nigeria Ltd (SNEPCo) business summit in Aberdeen, Scotland,which explored opportunities aimed at repatriating skills and experience to the oil and gas industry back home.

Donu Kogbara, Vanguard columnist, looked calm as she spoke to journalists who rushed to her residence as news of her release by kidnappers filtered into Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, yesterday morning.

THE announcement by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, that the nation’s four refineries would not be sold, has continued to draw knocks, as well as commendations from different strata of the country’s economy. A former Senate Committee Chairman on Petroleum Resources, Senator Lee Maeba, insisted that government is not in a position to run the refineries efficiently.

EFFORTS geared towards blocking leakages in the petroleum industry seem not to be yielding the desired results, as pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft had over the years served as a major setback in the sector, disrupting businesses, discouraging investments and increasing expenses. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in its Annual Statistic Bulletin 2015, disclosed that a total of N242.778 billion was lost to pipeline vandalism in different parts of the country.

THE low price of crude oil has taken a toll on the finances of Seven Energy International Limited, as the company posted a loss after tax of $53 million, about N10.6 billion in six months, between January and June 2015. The company, in its financial statement for the half year, HY1 2015, released to its investors and other stakeholders, disclosed that the loss, compared to a profit of $27 million, about N5.4 billion recorded in the same period of 2014, was primarily due to the fall in oil price.