Null Pointer Exception on Executing Project using Maven2

Hello,

I have been getting a Null Pointer Exception on trying to execute a simple SoapUI Project using Maven2 on Ubuntu. Below is my pom.xml. It loads the project and then gets NPE on execution.

 <project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/maven-v4_0_0.xsd">
  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion> 
  <name>Initial Monitoring Test</name> 
  <groupId>monitor</groupId> 
  <artifactId>monitorMobileServices</artifactId> 
  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version> 
  <packaging>jar</packaging> 
  <description>Trying to get a test to work.</description> 
- <pluginRepositories>
- <pluginRepository>
  <id>eviwarePluginRepository</id> 
  <url>http://www.eviware.com/repository/maven2/</url> 
  </pluginRepository>
  </pluginRepositories>
- <build>
- <plugins>
- <plugin>
  <groupId>eviware</groupId> 
  <artifactId>maven-soapui-plugin</artifactId> 
  <version>3.6</version> 
- <executions>
- <execution>
  <id>Mobile Services</id> 
- <goals>
  <goal>test</goal> 
  </goals>
  <phase>test</phase> 
  </execution>
  </executions>
- <configuration>
  <projectFile>/home/src/test/resources/services-monitoring-soapui-project.xml</projectFile> 
  <host>www.x.com</host> 
  <outputFolder>${project.build.directory}/surefire-reports</outputFolder> 
  <junitReport>true</junitReport> 
  <printReport>false</printReport> 
- <projectProperties>
  <projectProperty /> 
  </projectProperties>
- <archive>
- <manifest>
  <addClasspath>true</addClasspath> 
  </manifest>
  </archive>
  </configuration>
  </plugin>
  </plugins>
  </build>
  </project>

here is the exception I get:

[DEBUG] -- end configuration --
[INFO] [soapui:test {execution: Mobile Services}]
soapUI 3.6 Maven2 TestCase Runner
16:03:15,773 WARN  [DefaultSoapUICore] Missing folder [/home/xx/./ext] for external libraries
16:03:15,773 INFO  [DefaultSoapUICore] Creating new settings at [/home/xx/soapui-settings.xml]
16:03:16,400 INFO  [WsdlProject] Loaded project from [file:/home/src/test/resources/services-monitoring-soapui-project.xml]
[ERROR] java.lang.NullPointerException
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ERROR] BUILD FAILURE
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] : com.eviware.soapui.maven2.TestMojo@1c63e8c
SoapUI Test(s) failed
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[DEBUG] Trace
org.apache.maven.BuildFailureException: SoapUI Test(s) failed
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoals(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:715)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalWithLifecycle(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:556)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoal(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:535)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoalAndHandleFailures(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:387)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeTaskSegments(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:348)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.execute(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:180)
        at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.doExecute(DefaultMaven.java:328)
        at org.apache.maven.DefaultMaven.execute(DefaultMaven.java:138)
        at org.apache.maven.cli.MavenCli.main(MavenCli.java:362)
        at org.apache.maven.cli.compat.CompatibleMain.main(CompatibleMain.java:60)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
        at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
        at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
        at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:616)
        at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launchEnhanced(Launcher.java:315)
        at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.launch(Launcher.java:255)
        at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.mainWithExitCode(Launcher.java:430)
        at org.codehaus.classworlds.Launcher.main(Launcher.java:375)
Caused by: org.apache.maven.plugin.MojoFailureException: SoapUI Test(s) failed
        at com.eviware.soapui.maven2.TestMojo.execute(TestMojo.java:118)
        at org.apache.maven.plugin.DefaultPluginManager.executeMojo(DefaultPluginManager.java:490)
        at org.apache.maven.lifecycle.DefaultLifecycleExecutor.executeGoals(DefaultLifecycleExecutor.java:694)
        ... 17 more
[INFO] ------------------------------------------------------------------------
[INFO] Total time: 3 seconds
[INFO] Finished at: Wed Aug 24 16:03:16 PDT 2011
[INFO] Final Memory: 17M/251M
[INFO] -------------------------------------------------

It would be great if someone can tell me what might be the reason that is causing the NPE?

thanks,
Hiren