The Nation Newspaper

Category: Energy

  • Oilserv opens new office

    Oilserv Group has inuagurated a new corporate office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    The four-storey edifice sitting on a 500sqm area with a capacity to house about 150 workstations, 30 men state-of-the-art conference rooms and two six men ancillary conference rooms was inuagurated for business by Rev. Timothy Agbai.

    The complex is supported by a spacious car park, Jetty, messing facility and a base clinic all as part of the surrounding 34,000sqm.

    Oilserv Group Chairman/CEO,  Emeka Okwuosa, said: “I am excited about the commissioning of the new office complex because it is a project we have worked on for many years and today. It is a reality that cuts across time, form and age. The complex will play a significant role in enhancing our corporate culture and best business practices while creating an enabling environment to improve the level of collaboration and effectiveness among members of staff. This attests to what Oilserv stands for; working together to achieve a purpose.”.

    The Group Head, Operations Support, Cheta Okwuosa, an engineer, said: “With the completion of this project, our dream of an integrated and efficient approach to our operations as a group of companies has been realised to a large extent as we run majority of our corporate operations from a spot. This implies that our clients would soon attest to more efficient services from us.”

    The Corporate Communications Lead, Chioma Orji, said the development of the modern structure is a monumental progress and a testimony of good leadership and foresightedness geared towards improving operational efficiency.

    Oilserv Group is a consortium of Pan African Oil & Gas, Agriculture and Mining Companies. The Group provides services across diverse sector value chains in the sub-Saharan African region and expertise include upstream exploration and production, midstream storage and distribution, downstream sales and marketing (liquids, solids, gases, natural gas derivatives) as well as turnkey engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) services. The Group has strong presence in The Republic of Benin, Uganda and Ghana.

  • PwC seeks speedy disbursement of mining funds

    PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is seeking speedy implementation of the mining funds, including the solid mineral development fund as well as the World Bank assisted credit.

    The World Bank approved a $150 million credit to enhance the contribution of the mining sector to the economy. The fund is expected to help establish a strong foundation for mining sector development and enhance competitiveness by improving information, infrastructure and knowledge, strengthening of key government institutions, and fostering of domestic investment in the sector.

    The funds will help develop measures for formalising, regulating and inventoring artisanal and small-scale mining, facilitate the flow of mineral transactions, facilitate access to finance, technology and equipment, increase knowledge and support the mining and processing of the minerals in accordance with best practices with regards to environmental and social protections.

    Head, Mining Industry Business, PwC, Habeeb Adebayo, stressed the need for the management of the solid mineral development fund to be restructured so as to be able to help inject some funding into the mining sector.

    Adebayo, who spoke with The Nation on telephone, said: “We expect to see more improvements in the activities of the solid mineral development fund and ability of the fund to be able to see to some of the funding challenges threatening the sector.

    “We also have seen a couple of initiatives especially the mining diversification for economic development initiative that is under the World Bank.”

    According to him, previous years had been good for the industry and “we have had several initiatives by the Federal Government that seem to be kicking off. However, we expect to see those initiatives to fruition’’.

    “We also expect to see significant improvements with the state involvement in the mining operations. Being an election year, though, temporarily affects the industry, but we don’t expect it to take the industry backward. We expect that the improvement to be built would be quick irrespective of how the elections go.

    “We expect 2019 to see actualisation of a lot of initiatives of the mining sector that are being put together in the past. It is expected that significant marketing for the country’s mining industry, which we are currently witnessing will be extended to other sectors of the nation’s economy. Nigeria is also gaining interest from international community due to the licensing of the gold refiner, which the industry is quite excited about.”

    The refinery, which is expected to kick off by second half of this year, he said, will definitely see to the growth of gold industry. “It’s quite exciting and we expect to see more of these initiatives coming up in the year and also going forward,” he said.

    He agreed that the mining sector will help assuage whatever revenue shortages encountered in view of the fluctuating global crude oil price. There are indications crude price might vary in the coming years and consequently will affect the benchmark set for the nation’s budget. He advised the government to give adequate attention to the development of the mining sector.

    The mining industry, being one of those sectors that will help to bridge the revenue gaps, the government is expected to put in more efforts that will help to see the industry blossom by giving incentives to the private sector.

    He also noted that funding had continued to be a big challenge to a lot of players. Investors still complain about getting access to funds that will enable them have appropriate payback period. Unfortunately, most of those who apply for loans do not necessarily have the basic requirements that banks need to convince them that the money will be put to good use.

  • Nigeria, three others nominated for OPEC+ committee

    Nigeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have been nominated  as members of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC coalition, including Russia.

    The JMMC monitors and ensures compliance of members with production cut directives. The JMMC met in Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan, for its 13th meeting. The Committee reviewed the monthly report prepared by its Joint Technical Committee (JTC) and recent developments in the global oil market as well as immediate prospects for the remainder of 2019.

    The JMMC reiterated the critical role that the “Declaration of Cooperation” has played in supporting oil market stability since December 2016 and took note of the expressed commitment of all participating countries to ensure that such stability continues on a sustainable basis, as overall conformity reached almost 90 per cent for the month of February 2019, which is up from 83 per cent in the month of January.

    The Committee recognised the current, critical uncertainties surrounding the global oil market throughout 2019, and stressed on the shared responsibility of all participating countries to restore market stability and prevent the recurrence of any market imbalance.

    All participating countries at the meeting, individually and collectively, assured the Committee that they will exceed their voluntary production adjustments over the coming months.

    The JMMC also urged all participating countries, including those not present at the meeting, to achieve full and timely conformity with their voluntary production adjustments under the decisions of the 175th Meeting of the OPEC Conference on December 6, 2018, and the 5th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on December 7, 2018.

    In consideration that market fundamentals are unlikely to materially change in the next two months, the JMMC adopted a recommendation to forego the full Ministerial Meeting in April and instead schedule a JMMC meeting in May ahead of the OPEC meeting on June 25, during which a decision will be taken on the production target for the second half of 2019.

    The Committee also endorsed the adjustments of the baselines of three countries, Brunei, Daressalam, Ecuador and Malaysia.

    The JMMC thanked Azerbaijan President, Ilham Aliyev, for his hospitality and the support he has given to the “Declaration of Cooperation”. The Committee emphasised the unique role that Baku has played in the history of the oil industry and expressed its gratitude to all involved from Azerbaijan, particularly Minister of Energy, Parviz Shahbazov, for the excellent arrangements for the meeting.

    The JTC will continue its monthly meetings and the next meeting of the JMMC is scheduled to take place in May, in Jeddah, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

  • Meter manufacturers import equipment

    Indigenous meter manufacturers have begun to import equipment for meter production ahead of the commencement of operation of the Meter Asset Providers scheme this month, Meter Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MMAN) Executive Secretary, Muhideen Ibrahim, has said.

    In a telephone interview with The Nation, he said the firms, which intend to play as meter asset providers in the sub-sector, have imported materials on ground and are still importing more in order to perform well when MAPs operation begins soon.

    He said the development became necessary in order to assuage the feelings of Nigerians that they would not be able to close up the metering gap of 4.7 million people in the country and even do more.

    Ibrahim said: “Meter manufacturers are ready for the take-off of the new metering scheme known as meter asset providers. They have recruited enough personnel mostly technicians and other workers who are proficient in their jobs for the scheme. The reason is to ensure they do not fail the Federal Government and the consumers whom the scheme is meant for.”

    According to him, shortage of meters and liquidity are the bane of the power industry, adding that the problem is taking a toll on the activities of the operators in the sector.

    The operators in the sub-sector, Muhideen said, require huge funding to be able to operate well, noting that failure to get enough capital for operation would not allow them to play well in the market. He said the development, made prospective meter asset providers to canvass for a single-digit interest rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    Also, MOMAS Electricity Meter Manufacturing Company Limited (MEMMCOL) Chief Executive Officer, Mr Kola Balogun, said local manufacturers are ready for the scheme. He said meter producers and other operators have acquired capacity that is enough to translate to the success of the new metering scheme.

    “From all indications, operators, especially producers of meters, are ready to contribute their quota to the growth of the sector. Having applied to become meter asset providers, get the certification of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission(NERC) and went through the modalities for operating in that segment of the industry, I believe that they have what it takes to play well when the scheme kicks off soon,” he added.

    He said Power, Works and Housing Minister, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, has done well by looking at the needs of the sector and also provides means of solving it. He said with the operation of MAPs, an end has come to the metering challenge, unemployment and other problems in the metering sub-sector in Nigeria.

  • BEDC sponsors athletes for Special Olympics

    BENIN Electricity Distribution Plc (BEDC) sponsored two athletes to the Special Olympics world summer games in Abu Dhabi, which ends today. It started on March 8.

    The theme for the event  is: “Let me win, if I cannot win, let me be brave in my attempt”.

    It is aimed at driving respect, social inclusion and acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities in the society. It will mark the culmination of the 50th anniversary celebrations of Special Olympics and the beginning of the next 50 years of the inclusion movement.

    Speaking at the send off at Vigeo Holdings, Lagos State, BEDC Chief Agency and Channels Officer, Mrs. Felicia Nlemoha, commended the Special Olympics team Nigeria for its selfless service to the nation and development of the special children.

    “It is an achievement we should all be proud of because it gives the athletes a sense of belonging and acceptance in the society. We need to speak more on this initiative in order to attract more sponsors in the coming year.

    “We are identifying with the Special Olympics for the first time and will continue to partner SO in ensuring more special children are given a pride of place in the society especially in this era of social inclusion and participation. To the athletes, we are confident of your victory and you will come back victorious,” she added.

    The athletes are Mr. Godwin Friday from Edo State, who will be participating in football and Miss Adewoyin Bukola from Ekiti State, who will be playing table tennis. The donation was part of its corporate social responsibility in making the community safer for children through its safety sensitisation campaigns where the children are educated about safety rules and how to observe best safe practices in their homes, schools and society in general.

    The Chairman, Special Olympics Nigeria, Mr. Victor Osibodu, represented by Mr. Akindayom, said: “The 2019 Special Olympics World Summer Games will be the largest sports and humanitarian event in the world. It is expected to bring together 7,000 athletes, 3,000 coaches, 1,500 officials, 20,000 volunteers, 3,000 honored guests, 6,000 family members and over 500,000  spectators from over 170 nations.’’

  • Ibadan DisCo upgrades services, urges customers’ cooperation

    Ibadan Distribution Company (IBEDC) said it has upgraded its services and substantially improved service delivery.

    In a statement by Head Branding & Corporate Communication, IBEDC, Mrs Angela Olanrewaju, the firm asked customers to take advantage of the various complaint channels, which it had provided, adding it had fulfilled promises to customers in its franchise area for quality and improved service delivery. It urges customers to reciprocate the firm’s effort by paying their bills promptly and lodge complaints in a civil way whenever the need arises.

    According to her, IBEDC has just upgraded two distribution substations at Awujale and GRA distribution substations in Ijebu-Ode business hub under Ogun region of its franchise. It said the company upgraded the overloaded 200KVA 11/0.415KV transformer of GRA substation to 500KVA 11/0.415KV distribution Transformer.

    The firm said customers at Oke -Aje market, Igbo Electronic market,  JDPC & Lekan Bello  Avenue, Heritage Estate, Stadium road & Ijebu-Ode Club road had been experiencing incessant power outages as a result of the overloaded 200KVA transformer, adding that the upgrading has brought improved and quality supply to the community.

    Similarly, the company said it replaced the old and burnt 200KVA 11/0.415KV transformer, which plunged the residents of Igbeba under Awujale substation into darkness with a new one.

    “IBEDC, in fulfillment of her promises to all the company’s esteemed customers, ensured the replacement of the community’s transformer.

    “Also, in a bid to ensure that our esteemed customers get quality services the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) in Osun region have resolved the prolonged issue of irregular power supply in Ile-Ife and its environs.

    “For some years, Orile –Owu, Ikire, Wasimi and Sekona were experiencing erratic power supply due to some challenges with the indoor circuit-breakers at TCN Substation in Ile-Ife. However, with the collaborative efforts from both TCN and IBEDC, the troubled indoor circuit-breakers were successfully converted to outdoor circuit breakers, and regular power supply and even quality services are presently being restored to these localities and their environs.

    “With the commissioning of three newly installed out-door circuit-breakers on each of the six 33KV out-going feeders, namely: OAU, Iron and Steel, Ikire/ Wasimi, Orile –Owu, Ife- Township and Sekona will be having its separate and respective out-door circuit breaker. The latching of one feeder to the other is now a thing of the past,” the company added.

    The company urged its customers to reciprocate the good gesture through prompt and regular bills settlement to encourage the company do more, warning the communities to desist from tampering with the company’s installations but to always report faults promptly to its offices around them for prompt rectification.

    The company further appealed to the communities to always be vigilant and protect its installations from vandals.

  • Axxela achieves IMS certifications

    Axxela Limited, a gas and power portfolio company, has achieved a triple – implementation, evaluation and certification of Integrated Management Systems: ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, and ISO 45001:2018.

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) said Axxela is the first  company  in the oil and gas space to hold all three certifications simultaneously, underscoring its longstanding commitment to Environmental, Health, Safety and Quality (EHSQ) management.

    An Integrated Management System (IMS) collates all of an organisation’s systems and processes into one holistic framework, enabling it function as a single unit with streamlined objectives.

    Speaking on the issue, Axxela Chief Executive Officer, Bolaji Osunsanya, said: “We constantly strive to apply global best practices across all facets of our enterprise to maintain a high standard of quality, occupational health and protection of the environment. My commendations go out to the Axxela team for continually pushing the envelope, and as we advance economic empowerment and industrialisation across the region, these integrated certifications are testament to our collective efficacy as an organisation.”

    Axxela’s EHSQ Manager, Uche Okpala, also said: “We actively engage SON, the frontline certification body and Nigerian representative of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), to provide objective assessments of our management systems. Since 2009, our Quality Management System was certified in accordance with the requirements of ISO 9001:2008. This heralded subsequent efforts to consolidate this achievement with certifications in Environmental Management System (ISO 14001:2004) and Occupational Health & Safety (ISO 45001:2018). In keeping with the maintenance requirements of these standards, we have always maintained our certifications to the latest revisions, culminating in our most recent implementation, transition and certification across the three Integrated Management Systems.”

  • Baru praises Shell on deepwater operation

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, has praised Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), the deepwater arm of Shell Companies in Nigeria, for pioneering the deepwater sector of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

    NNPC is the senior partner of Shell Joint Ventures in Nigeria and represents the Federal Government in other operations, including deepwater.

    Baru described SNEPCo as a clear leader in deepwater whose performance is exemplary. “SNEPCo is a trail blazer. They set the pace with the Bonga floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO), being the first deep water exploration business in Nigeria,” Baru said while recieving ‘In pursuit of Excellence’, a SNEPCo publication, detailing the company’s entry into the offshore exploration in the Gulf of Guinea and how the venture has brought so much benefit to Nigeria. It also entails the development Nigerians’ local capacity and the growth of support industry, among others.

    SNEPCo Managing Director, Bayo Ojulari, who presented the 90-page book to NNPC leadership in Abuja, said the company was mindful of its pioneering role in deep-water exploration in Nigeria and would want others to learn from Shell group technical expertise to make Nigeria a leading oil and gas producing country.

    “We have documented lots of our efforts, which opened up Nigeria’s deep water and have contributed largely to the country’s oil revenue,” said Ojulari, who restated SNEPCo’s continued commitment to positive impact on Nigeria’s economy and the socio-economic welfare of the people through sustained social investments in education, health and sports.

    The company, with over 95 percent Nigerians as members of  staff, has helped to create the first generation of Nigerian deep-water oil and gas engineers and recently celebrated the 800-million-barrel mark in 13 years of operations.

    In recognition of its pioneering initiatives in Nigeria, SNEPCo was in early 2018 honoured as the best Nigerian oil and gas company in technology and innovation at the maiden edition of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) held in Abuja for pioneering in-country Subsea Tree Refurbishment, a remarkable feat in local capacity potential, which resulted in significant savings. This was the first time in the Nigerian oil and gas industry that a Subsea Tree was fully stripped down and refurbished locally with all its original functionality restored.

    The FPSO vessel’s capacity was upgraded in recent years, allowing SNEPCo to expand the field with further drilling of wells in Bonga Phases 2 and 3 and through a subsea tie-back that unlocked the nearby Bonga North West field.

    SNEPCo is the operator of oil mining lease (OML) 118 under a production sharing contract with NNPC. The co-venture partners in OML 118 are Total E & P Nigerian Limited, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited.

  • Content Board inaugurates Project 100 office

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote, has inaugurated Project 100 Management Office (PMO), an initiative launched by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu. The initiative was launched in January to promote serious-minded Nigerian firms that add value and create jobs by helping them secure funds from finance organisations.

    Members of the PMO are drawn from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). They will function within the NCDMB and  be supported by KPMG, an international auditing firm that has been working on the project.

    Wabote, an engineer, who spoke at the inauguration, which held at the NCDMB Abuja liaison office, said the members were carefully selected in view of the relevance of their functions in the delivery of the Supplier Development Programmes (SDPs) that will drive the growth of Nigerian service companies.

    He listed five key areas the PMO will focus on to include managing the ongoing process and refinement of Project 100 strategy, managing the selection, acceleration and graduation process of Project 100 beneficiaries and managing the implementation of initiatives for the various target beneficiaries.

    Other assignments include developing fact based documentation of performance of Project 100 interventions and impact on local content and managing wide relationships and partnerships with public and private sector entities that support the delivery of Project 100 initiatives and interventions.

    He urged PMO members to work assiduously to create a pool of high performing large scale enterprises that will impact positively on job creation, retention of industry spend within the Nigerian economy, development of skilled manpower, robust policies and access to credible data.

    Wabote also directed the members to identify the various areas of interest of the beneficiaries and provide them opportunities in collaboration with the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS). He added: “While we would engage in public tendering, we have to specially look for opportunities. We also need to engage Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and other organisations that carry out procurement outside the Nigerian Petroleum Exchange (NIPEX) System. Project 100 companies must be included in the bidders list of such organizations.”

    Making a presentation on PMO’s operating guidelines, General Manager, Research Strategy and Development, NCDMB, Mr. Abdulmalik Halilu, explained that the concept of Project 100 was to identify and grow indigenous companies from small players to large enterprises. He said the project hoped to support beneficiary companies to grow their annual turnover from about N100million to over N500million, increase job creation and their local content level, train more manpower and acquire cutting edge technology.

    He listed factors that determined beneficiaries’ selection to include their impact in the oil and gas sector, status of their registration on the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Joint Qualification System (NOGICJQS), compliance with Nigerian content and their level of regulatory compliance. Other considerations, he said, include their ownership status, compelling business plans submitted by the companies and their baseline commitments.

    Halilu said key performance indicators for Project 100 would include “percentage increase in business turnover, percentage increase in employment, percentage increase in local content level from contracts executed and percentage increase in personnel training and certification”.

    Support that would be provided for the beneficiaries, he said, are non-financial interventions and financial linkages. The non-financial interventions include policy interventions, access to market, capacity building, research development and business insight. The financial linkages include letters of recommendation to access intervention funds and highlighting collaborative opportunities between beneficiaries to enable them take on larger projects.

    According to the project execution timeline, the Project Management Office would begin in March 2019 to engage beneficiaries to revalidate expectations and thereafter develop execution plans for targeted interventions. From June 2019 to December 2020, the PMO would begin to implement targeted interventions.

  • Russia, Nigeria collaborate on nuclear energy

    Russian and Nigerian Government are collaborating to provide nuclear energy in Nigeria to help the country reduce power outages, improve industrial capacity and further grow its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), ROSATOM Central and Southern Africa Chief Executive officer, Dimitry Shornikov, has said.

    ROSATOM is a Russian Government-owned nuclear energy firm, and it specialises in the production and generation of nuclear electricity for countries in Europe and others.

    In an interview in Lagos, Shornikov said Nigeria’s power is one of the poorest in Africa, adding that the two power sources, namely gas and hydro are unable to produce electricity megawatts, the country requires for growth.

    According to him, a lot of misconceptions surround the production of nuclear energy, noting that it has been proved over time that nuclear energy is the safest of all energies produced globally.

    Nuclear energy, Shornikov said, is highly regulated and controlled, a development, which left credence to the fact that it is well managed and not prone to dangers contrary to the notions held by many Nigerians.

    He said the two forms of electricity are not affordable, adding that the development informed the decision by ROSATOM to partner with the Federal Government on how it can provide nuclear electricity in the country.

    Shornikov said: “When compared to the production of hydro and gas electricity with that of nuclear energy, they are expensive and unreliable. These problems are not present in nuclear energy.”

    He said it would be difficult to provide the cost of producing nuclear energy in Nigeria because sizes and configurations of the nuclear plants are not the same. This is not like gas turbine that is manufactured to generate a particular number of megawatts (Mw) of electricity.

    “There are lots of variables that need to be considered in the process of configuring nuclear energy plants. The variables are in relation to the size of the plant, the volume of energy the plant would produce,” he added.

    He said though the cost of producing nuclear may be prohibitive, its benefits outweigh the cost because it is environmental friendly, reliable and regular.

    Shornikov said: “The negotiations for the establishment of science and nuclear energy centre between Nigeria and Russia has reached an advance stage. The two parties are working together on how to proceed on the issue of establishing the centre in Nigeria.

    “On safety issues, one of the misconceptions associated with nuclear energy is lack of safety. My aim is to compare it with air travelling. Most people see air travelling as the most dangerous. However, it is the safest in the world. It is the most regulated and controlled sources of energy. There is the need to educate stakeholders on the importance of nuclear energy, brief them that it is the safest.

    “On cooperation with Nigerian Government, it started in 2009 but it is in 2017 that we signed an agreement on it, which set the tone for further discussion on production of nuclear energy and its plants.

    “Electricity stability and regularity is a big issue in Nigeria. There are concerns. There are power outages, which affect the country’s GDP. One source of energy that is available is nuclear energy. It is environmentally friendly compared to gas power.

    “When we talk about cost of generating nuclear energy, obviously it is high because there are variables that need to be considered. These variables lie in the configuration of the plant. On the issue of cost, it depends on the configuration of the size of the plant and the volume of nuclear energy expected to be generated.”