NIGERIA - ExxonMobil - John Chaplin.

The CEO of ExxonMobil Nigeria, Chaplin is another prominent executive whose views carry a lot of weight. He took over in July 2004 to replace Mike Fry after a 21-day ultimatum issued by the company's while collar staff. Before Fry's replacement restive workers had complained that they had not been favourably disposed to negotiate with him. The white collar oil union Pengassan, a powerful institution, had consistently campaigned for the removal of Fry, accusing him of stalling negotiations on personnel demands. It had said Fry had been promoting an influx of expatriate employees, putting the company's costs up to $2.70/barrel, compared to $2/b previously.

Fry rejected Pengassan's accusations and insisted that costs increased because of frequent unrest by the Nigerian staff. Fry, who has since been appointed as vice president for the Middle East, says the prospects for ExxonMobil's E&P and other businesses in Nigeria remain bright.

The company's JVA with NNPC is raising its capacity to produce oil and condensates from 600,000 b/d to 1.1m b/d before 2010. Most of its production will be in deep-water areas, away from regions where the local population is often restive and Nigerian workers cause trouble to foreign operators (see Gas Market Trends No. 6).

Fry had taken over from Paul Caldwell, who had been the CEO of Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN) since May 1997. Like Fry, Chaplin is seeking to convert ExxonMobil's JVA with NNPC into two separate PSCs or a single production sharing system, as Shell and the others have begun to do.

Chaplin is in charge of a wide range of operations in Nigeria, including ExxonMobil's new downstream ventures worth over $6 bn proposed to include a plant to produce and export LNG and a power plant (IPP) - both on Bonny island to be supplied with gas from the Oso field and a complex to produce methanol/MTBE. These are to be JVs with NNPC and private Nigerian companies.