Alex Aidaghese, Current LLM Student, is Selected as 2011 Winner of the AIPN Scholarship; Will Travel to San Antonio for AIPN Spring Conference

Alex Aidaghese, a University of Denver Sturm College of Law student, has won a highly sought after scholarship from the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators to attend the group's 2011 Spring Conference in San Antonio.

Mr. Aidaghese obtained his Bachelor of Law from Edo State University in Nigeria and is currently pursuing an LLM in Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy. Mr. Aidaghese is also one of the spring 2011 winners of the prestigious Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Scholarship. Mr. Aidaghese has worked for the Office of the Edo State Commissioner for Energy and Water Resources as well as several New Jersey and New York law firms.

In his application to the AIPN scholarship, Mr. Aidaghese noted that, “An update on recent development in West Africa deep-water oil and gas exploration is one of the major papers at the conference. Winning the scholarship would provide me a huge opportunity to have firsthand knowledge of the latest developments in the region. I would be able to meet, network and interact with the major players in the petroleum industry who are presently engaged in exploration activities in Sub Sahara Africa, as well as those who might be willing to invest in the region, but need further education with respect to existing investment climate."

Lucy Daberkow, Associate Administrative Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Graduate Programs, said, “Alex is an accomplished attorney who is a true asset to our LLM program. His commitment to energy issues in Africa and his choice of course work in his LLM program made him the ideal candidate for this AIPN scholarship opportunity.”

Editor's note: In the above picture, Don Smith, director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy program is on the left, Mr. Aidaghese is in the middle, and Ms. Daberkow is on the right.

Reports From "Troubled Waters:" The Niger Delta

The Niger Delta has untold riches in the form of oil and gas.  But the "community relations" and social problems associated with extracting the oil are enormous.  The Financial Times recently published a story, and accompanying videos, entitled "Interactive Map: Nigeria's Oil Heartland," that is a must read for anyone interested in the vexing issues involving this often forgotten, but immensely important, part of the world.

Russia's Gazprom and Nigeria Agree to a Major Gas-Related Joint Venture

Gazprom, the Russian owned gas giant, and the government of Nigeria have agreed to set up a joint venture to develop the west African country's enormous gas reserves.

According to a story yesterday in the Financial Times ("Gazprom's $2.5 Billion Gas Deal With Nigeria Raises European Concerns"), Gazprom will invest up to $2.5 billion in exploration and development projects.   Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia hopes that the two nations will become "major energy partners."

You can imagine that this caused eyebrows to rise all over the European Union, which has had difficult relations regarding energy issues with the Russians over the past several winters.  The EU, whether it likes it or not, depends on free flowing gas from Russia to power its industries and warm its homes.  The last couple of winters, the Russians have either threatened to or actually turned off the gas spigots in their on-going spats with the Ukraine. Some of the gas involved was bound for the EU, and Brussels has not be thrilled about this.

This week's announcement of the Gazprom-Nigeria tie-up was characterized this way in the FT report:

"Gazprom's action to secure a foothold in Nigeria, where western groups have led the development of the oil industry for half a century, has given rise to concerns in Europe that Moscow is seeking to gain control of Nigerian reserves to tighten its grip on the European Union's gas supplies."

Now surely Moscow wouldn't be thinking the same thing, could they?  Of course they are.

There is also word that Gazprom is interested in helping fund at least part of the proposed trans-Saharan pipeline that would transport gas from Nigeria to Europe.

Curious, isn't it, that the EU seems rather subdued these days about Russia's so-called human rights violations.  A little concern about gas for the winter has a way of putting a damper on the EU's human rights campaigns.

And one more comment about Gazprom: Nigeria isn't the only place where the Russian giant is involved.  They have their fingers in many places in the world including Bolivia, Venezuela, and even the UK (where they operate a carbon trading firm).  We will be hearing more about Gazprom, particularly as the price of gas increases and they have even more money to invest.

Shells Settles in Saro-Wiwa Case

Royal Dutch Shell, the family of Nigerian environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, and the families of other activists who died in Nigeria's oil producing region in the late 1990s, have reached a $15.5 million settlement.

The case, which I blogged about on June 7, brings to an end a case featuring allegations that Shell played a role in the deaths of the activists. As part of the settlement, the plaintiffs agreed to move to dismiss all legal claims made against Shell.

The settlement will be shared by 10 plaintiffs, create a trust to benefit the Ogoni people who live in the oil rich but extremely polluted region, and pay the plaintiffs' lawyers' fees.

In commenting on the settlement, Shell said it had "always maintained that the allegations were false. While we were prepared to go to court to clear our name, we believe the right way forward is to focus on the future for Ogoni people, which is important for peace and stability in the region."

The Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented the plaintiffs, characterized the settlement as a "victory."

Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jr., the son of Ken Saro-Wiwa said, “In reaching this settlement, we were very much aware that we are not the only Ogonis who have suffered in our struggle with Shell, which is why we insisted on creating the Kiisi Trust.”

Perhaps this is a just and reasonable settlement. But the difficult issue of how natural resources firms can best operate in the communities where they work remains a perplexing one. And the issue of the Nigerian government's complicity -- or not -- in the whole matter also remains unresolved.

For a country so extremely rich in natural resources, oil has often brought pollution, violence, and destruction. The "curse of oil" some have called it.