The Nation Newspaper

Category: Energy

  • ‘Government should encourage gas usage’

    To discourage the continued use of firewood for cooking and deforestation, with their attendant environment and health hazards, the government needs to make gas more affordable to the average Nigerians and ensure that operators access foreign exchange (forex).

    The General Manager, Dozy Oil and Gas, Isaac Isiguzo, stated this.in Lagos.

    He said the Federal Government’s encouragement of investors to go into manufacturing and packaging of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) would make Nigerians to shift from  wood to cooking gas.

    Isiguzo told The Nation in Lagos that the company was channeling efforts to curtail deforestation in line with the government’s initiative.

    He  said profit aside, it was patriotism that made the company key into the gas initiative, adding that the company was committed to partnering with the government to improve the life expectancy of Nigerians by switching to clean fuel such as LPG.

    He expressed worry that many Nigerians still depended on firewood, which is causing deforestation, adding that climate change and desertification are real.

     

  • NLNG awards scholarships to Nigerians

    NLNG awards scholarships to Nigerians

    Nigeria Liquefied and Natutal Gas Limited has awarded a total of 3,053 scholarships to 10 Nigerian students. This is part of the company’s education intervention programme for deserving students at post-primary, undergraduate and post-graduate levels of education.

    The beneficiaries – among whom is a visually impaired female Law Graduate from Bonny Island, NLNG’s primary host community,  were awarded the Overseas Post Graduate Scholarships at a ceremony  in Port Harcourt.

    The event was attended by the beneficiaries, their families and friends, as well as representation from the Rivers State Government and NLNG.

    This batch of the PostGraduate Scholarships beneficiaries brings to 48, the  number of such awards since the commencement of the scheme in 2013.

    The beneficiaries from all over the country, who emerged via a rigorous qualification involving more than 2,000 applicants, shall be pursuing further education in specialty areas in top universities in the United Kingdom.

    External Relations of Nigeria LNG Limited General Manager, Dr Kudo Eresia-Eke said: “The goal of the Nigeria LNG PostGraduate Scholarship Scheme is to provide support for the development of competent professionals who will bridge the specialists’manpower gap in the country, especially in high profile fields of Engineering, Geosciences, Environmental Studies, Management Sciences, Information Technology, Law and Medicine at Masters Level only.”

  • NCDMB to reduce contracting cycles

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) is to review tenders on strict timelines. This is to shorten the long contracting cycle, its Executive Secretary, Simbi Wabote, has said.

    He spoke at the Nigerian Gas Association’s conference in Abuja.

    He said the board would speed up its approval processes to ensure that Nigerian Content reviews and approvals did not delay the execution of projects. “We will strike a balance; we will not stop reviewing tenders but we will ensure that projects are executed speedily, so that Nigerians benefit and there are in-country value additions,” he added.

    He praised his predeccessors for their achievements, adding that NCDMB would review its performance since the enactment of the Nigerian Content Act in 2010 and to set agenda for local content value addition in the next five years.

    He noted that the Board would adopt a pragmatic approach adding that “our strategy will take into account the current realities in the industry, the job creation drive of the Federal Government and national aspirations for the oil and gas industry provided in the seven big wins document launched by Mr. President.”

    Wabote charged stakeholders, local service providers, particularly members of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) to embrace proposals for longer contract tenure of at least five years to support the reduction of the contracting cycle, capacity building and asset acquisition.

    He challenged PETAN to articulate a sustainable Community Content Strategy that would facilitate the participation of genuine community contractors in oil and gas projects so as to promote peace and tranquility in oil producing communities.

    According to him, Nigerian Content activities must go beyond the project phase and extend through the life cycle of projects.  He pledged to develop a policy on Community Content to integrate community contractors in ancillary activities supporting the oil and gas industry.

    Former Managing Director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Company (NLNG) Mr. Chima Ibeneche also reinforced the need for a properly articulated and executed Local Content policy, adding it would lead to cost reduction for operating companies.

    PETAN Chairman, Mr. Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, charged the Board to speedy the lending from the Nigerian Content Fund (NCDF) to deserving service companies in support of in-country value addition, calling for the abolition of call-off contracts.

  • ‘Why cooking gas price is high in Bonny’

    The price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also called cooking gas, is high in Bonny, Rivers State, despite hosting the headquarters of the Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited.

    The Nation learnt that infrastructural bottlenecks and   geographical terrains of Bonny are affecting the supply of the product to the town.

    It was  further gathered that LPG suppliers could not bring the product to Bonny because of its water-locked nature.

    A member of the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), who pleaded anonymity, said the price of cooking gas in Rivers State was higher than in Lagos, because the cost of transporting it to the area is high.

    The General Manager, External Affairs, NLNG, Dr Kudo Eresia-Eke said: “Bonny is an Island, the community is surrounded by water and this means accessibility to the community is by water and not road. So, the suppliers of cooking gas need to pay more to supply the product. Of course, they would factor the cost of transportation on the product they are selling to the residents. That is why I said that the cost of LPG is likely going to be higher in Bonny than Lagos.”

    According to him, NLNG supplies Lagos with LPG, and not Bonny, adding that smaller suppliers take the product to Bonny. He said there was no terminal in Port Harcourt and, as a result, LPG could not be discharged in Port Harcourt.

    “People buy LPG in Port Harcourt, from there they move it to wherever they are going to sell it. In the case of Bonny, the movement of LPG is done through the coast, a development that adds to the cost of transportation,” he added.

  • Forex scarcity forces Marketers to cut imports

    F10uel marketers are cutting   imports because of their inability to get foreign exchange (forex), which now sells for N480 per dollar in the parallel market, The Nation has learnt.

    The situation is worsened by other factors, such as increase in the landing cost of fuel, poor profit and margins.

    It was gathered that the scarcity of forex had increased landing cost  from N133.28 per litre to N135, which made marketers to reduce importats and rely on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for supply.

    It was further learnt that NIPCO and some oil marketing companies still import while many of the firms had either stopped or reduced their imports.

    An official of an oil marketing firm, who did not want to be named, said the issue was affecting members of the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).

    The source said NNPC was importing a larger percentage of fuel, because it had enough forex.

    The source said: “Problems, such as scarcity of forex, dwindling profit as evidenced by the poor margins being recorded by marketers, among others, have stalled efforts of marketers to bring in fuel. This informed the decision of the marketers to buy from NNPC.

    “Marketers buy fuel at N135 per litre as against N133.28. By the time the transport cost of N3 per litre and the bridging cost of N6.20 per litre are factored in, they (marketers) are left with very little profit, which in most cases is between N1 per litre and N1.50 per litre.’’

    MOMAN Executive Secretary Mr. Obafemi Olawore said the margins on litres of fuel were not enough. “The margins gained on imported petroleum products by marketers have never been adequate. By now marketers should be talking about impressive margins.”

    Olawore said he was yet to find out whether marketers were importing fuel or not. “I’m not abreast of the developments in the sector because I have been on leave,” he said.

    However, IPMAN factional leader Chinedu Okoronkwo refuted the claim.

    He said marketers were getting enough forex to import fuel, adding that operators were not complaining.

  • Govt, NAPE push for exploration in frontier basins

    The Federal Government and the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) are in discussion to woo investors into exploring for oil and gas in the frontier basins in Nigeria.

    NAPE President, Nosa Omorodion, said this in Lagos when the association outlined activities for its 34th yearly international conference and exhibition scheduled for November 13 to 17 in Lagos.

    The theme of the conference is “Stimulating upstream investments in Nigeria’s frontier basins.”

    Omorodion said it was imperative to look for oil and gas in other sedimentary basins outside the Niger Delta region to grow the nation’s reserves, which is fast being depleted. He said the association’s desire was to open up exploration, adding that it is economic realities that are preventing people from exploration, not fiscal terms as most people think.

    According to him, some years ago, when exploration was low, the government came up with some incentives, and signed memoranda of understanding  (MoUs), geared towards boosting oil and gas finds.

    ‘’It was at that time when we (Nigeria) attained astronomical growth in terms of reserves because people were incentivised to go and drill exploration wells.’’

    “The easy way out in a time like this is to open up our taps and produce but it is a big concern to us as explorationists because the replenishment rate doesn’t match our depletion rate which is a big concern. If we continue like this in the next 35 years we will completely run out of oil. The big chance discoveries especially the deep water, takes between eight and 10 years to bring them on stream. If you are depleting and not replacing, it is a big concern. If you make a discovery today, it will take an average of five or six years to produce it, so it is a huge gap,” he said, urging the government to give incentives that would attract investors into drilling new wells.

    On the need for the government to conduct a new licensing round, the NAPE chief said a new licensing round would be one of the topics to be discussed but that would be a subtle advocacy as a new licensing round is one way to stimulate the industry. However, he argued that even the oil wells we have as a country are not optimally explored. He said people are not drilling the wells they have because of low oil price.

    The President-elect and Chairman Conference Planning Committee, Abiodun Adesanya, noted that several issues confront the upstream section of the industry.

    He said: “We have issues such as Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) that has remained a lingering problem, shortfall in Joint Venture (JV) funding that has affected production, issues of job losses.

    ‘’Our members have lost jobs here and there, issues of vandalisation and security, which is currently waning following governments discussions with militants in the region. All these have affected us. There are times we were prevented from working, we have passion to do our jobs but with scenarios where workers are kidnapped, people are scared. As professionals we need to work, we don’t want job losses.”

  • Local content’ll boost defence sector, says NCDMB chief

    The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Simbi Wabote, has said the adoption of Local Content policy in the operations of the defence sector, particularly in the manufacturing and maintenance of security equipment and development of software, will boost the sector.

    Wabote made the statement when he delivered a lecture to participants of the Nigerian Defence College, Course 25, in Abuja.

    Speaking on the topic ‘Local content policies and national security: An assessment of the oil & gas sector,’ he charged military authorities to also consider adopting local content in the production of security clothing, construction of security vessels and include the policy in other security contracts, especially in offshore locations and maritime facilities.

    He pledged the support of the Board to the Defence community in developing a unique local content policy that would fit its operations.

    According to him, the implementation of local content in the oil and gas industry has yielded enormous achievements, including employment generation for thousands of Nigerians, skills acquisition, local manufacturing and asset ownership.

    He advised sectors such as power, telecommunications, and construction to adopt the policy.

    The NCDMB chief noted that countries, such as Ghana, Kenya, Gabon and Oman, have also adopted some of the local content models implemented in Nigeria. He described Nigerian Content as a national security imperative, noting that the oil and gas industry must depend on Nigerian-owned assets and personnel to avoid a scenario where the sector is forced to shut because foreign owned assets or expatriates have to be withdrawn due to insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea region, diplomatic tensions or outbreak of an epidemic in the country.

    He said expenditure on procurement of manufactured goods gulp over 50 per cent of contracts budgets, much more than other elements aqlike fabrication, construction and engineering. This, he said, informed the emphasis of Nigerian Content implementation on in-country manufacturing and domiciliation of industry activities because of their capacity to create employment, retain spend in the economy and contribute to national industrialisation.

    He explained that NCDMB is implementing the Nigerian Content Act using a four-pronged approach that focused on Manufacturing and Infrastructure, Human Capital and Technology, Supplier Development and Funding and Asset Ownership.

    Wabote expressed satisfaction that the Board’s participation at the Defence College event last year resulted in the partnership the military has forged with Oildata Wireline Services – an indigenous service company.

    The two parties collaborated in the deployment of fibre optic technology for pipeline monitoring and protection between Ughelli and Kwale, Delta State last year and the setting up of oilfield shaped charge manufacturing facility in Nigeria with the Defence Industry Corporation of Nigeria (DICON).

    Wabote explained that the Board was collaborating with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to implement the Cabotage Act as it pertains to the oil and gas industry.

    He noted that the number of Nigerian vessel owners in the oil and gas industry have increased to about 60 per cent – an improvement on what obtained in 2010 when the Act was enacted.

    He said the Board’s expatriate quota policy regulates the participation of expatriates in the industry through the issuance of biometric cards after confirmation that such skills are not available locally. The policy also assists the Board to electronically track their length of stay, compliance with provided succession plans and expected date of exit.

  • ‘Electrified walls ’ll check pipeline vandalism’

    The Federal Government should build electrified and non-electrified walls round  oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta region to protect them, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore, has said.

    This is coming on the heels of the Federal Government’s victory over militants, including pipeline vandals, in the region.

    Olawore said the walls would be different in structure, adding that the idea would help in warding off attacks against the pipelines. He said while one of the two walls would be in electronic format, the other would not, adding that the idea will curtail the activities of vandals.

    He said: “Two approaches or methods need to be adopted if government really wants to curb pipeline vandalism and other untoward practices that affect oil production and exploration activities in Nigeria. The first one is building of electrified wall round pipelines, while the second is building of wall that is non-electrified round pipelines. Electrified walls are found to be useful in many of the developed economies.”

    Olawore, who spoke at a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, said  government-owned assets including oil installations require maximum security in view of their strategic importance to the economy. He said the environment in which oil marketing firms and other organisations in the downstream subsector of the industry operate was more challenging, urging the government to do something on it for growth.

    According to him, the process of acquiring land for investments in the industry was cumbersome as well as hindering growth. “Apart from the fact that operators are finding it difficult to get land for investment purposes, they are also battling problems such as huge taxes and levies. They are paying different forms of taxes to the three levels  of government – Federal, state and the local government. The three tiers of government collect the same tax from operators,  resulting in multiple tax collection from the operators. The issue is affecting the industry’s capacity to record growth. By the time the operators factored in the cost of materials, taxes and other levies on their production, they are left with small profits,” he added.

    Also, the Chairman, Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Chinedu Okoronkwo, said oil marketers, among others, operate in a difficult environment caused by the recession in the economy. However, he said problems in the industry were surmountable, adding that operators will overcome them soon.

    The marketers,Okoronkwo said, were getting used to the government’s directive on fuel importation and buying of foreign exchange (forex) from multiple sources as well as recording growth.

    He said activities in the downstream segment were picking up, adding that marketers were free to import fuel into the country. “The prospect is bright for operators in the sector. With time, the deregulation would benefit all the operators. Before, many members of IPMAN struggled to get fuel to sell but now there is an improvement. I believe the gains recorded by marketers would trickle down on other players in the industry soon,” he said.

  • Midwestern Oil & Gas reaches 10m man-hours safety milestone

    •Production up to 30,000bpd

    An indigenous oil firm, Midwestern Oil & Gas Company Limited, owned by a group of Nigerian investors and the Delta State Government, has achieved operational safety milestone of 10 million man-hours without lost time injury (LTI).

    Its Executive Director, Technical, Mr. Victor Okolo, told reporters that achieving such a safety feat, especially in a challenging environment such as the upstream arm of the oil and gas industry is outstanding, adding that the 10 million man-hours operation without incidence of lost time injury was achieved on September 17. The company has 16 wells.

    Okolo said: “Midwestern Oil and Gas was incorporated in 1999. In 2001, we started our operations. In 2003, the firm was awarded 70 per cent interest in Umusadege field in oil mining lease (OML) 56 located in Kwale, Delta State. We were awarded the operatorship of that field with SunTrust Oil Company Limited as our joint venture partner that holds 30 per cent interest.

    “Midwestern O il and Gas was one of the 29 marginal fields the Federal Government put on offer at that time. The company currently has capacity to produce about 30,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from 3,000bpd. But we have other interests in OML 18, one of the divested assets of Shell Petroleum Development Company through Eroton Exploration & Production Company Limited.

    “We also operate a pipeline through Umugini Asset Company Limited (UACL), a pipeline company which constructed a 51.4km pipeline from Umusadege to Eriemu for injecting crude into the Trans Forcados Pipeline.

    “Our space is the upstream oil and gas and it is a challenging environment where we need to exercise a lot of caution in our activities, which spans drilling to production and crude export. All these activities have elements of risks attached to them. In conducting these operations, it is important that all the personnel who are involved in these activities, at a minimum, are able to go back home to meet their families and loved ones. This is what we have achieved as at September 17. 10 million man-hours have been performed without incidence of lost time injury (LTI), which is a significant milestone. 10 million man-hours is a lot of years in the life of a person but we appreciate that several people are working simultaneously in our operations and cumulatively were able to achieve it. These include our employees, contractors and vendors that provide services to us. Without their contributions we would not be able to achieve this.”

    He also noted that community relations were keen, adding that the cordial relationship with their host communities ensured peaceful coexistence and successful operation. The safety feat is also a celebration of contributions from our host communities, they are engaged in our activities. They provide services to us directly, through personnel and contractors.

    The Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Manager, Anthony Okoye, said the company was able to achieve the safety milestone because management’s commitment to safety was topnotch, adding the firm has a programme called management facility inspection, which enables the management to see what happens not just in Lagos but in the fields where the major hazards are resident. This programme enables the managment to look at the business from the beginning to the end, identifying the hazards and mitigating them.

    ‘’The firm is also in collaboration with International Human Resources Development Corporation, United States, to enhance the knowledge base of the personnel. There is saftey contractor management, this ensures that contractors play by the rule of the game.  Beyond all these, we comply with regulations. Don’t forget that oil and gas industry is one of the most regulated environments, we also have HSE controls internally,’’ he added.

  • Eko DisCo begins metering enumeration

    The Eko Electricity Distribution PLC has started enumeration and area mapping programme for deployment of smart electricity meters to customers in its operational area.

    Its Managing Director, Dr Oladele Amoda, who was represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Sam Nwaire, spoke at a town hall meeting with customers at the Apapa Business District of the company.

    In a statement by the General Manager, Corporate Communication, Mr. Godwin Idemudia, Nwaire said the enumeration and area mapping was being carried out in all the eight Business Districts of the company.

    He said the purpose of the exercise was to confirm it was committed to its meter roll-out plan, which would be deployed in phases. It would ensure that the access of smart meters by unmetered customers within Eko DisCo network, it said.

    According to him, though the exercise would be carried out in phases, every area would be covered in the end, adding that officers of the company have already embarked on a house to house inspection in designated locations for the commencement of the exercise.

    Nwaire appealed to all customers to cooperate with duly identified officials of the company who will be coming to their areas for the exercise. He deplored a situation whereby officials on their lawful duties for the company were harassed and molested in some communities under the guise of protesting against some issues between such communities and Eko DisCo.

    Nwaire reiterated the company’s commitment to promoting a cordial relationship between it and its customers though prompt attendance to all complaints and grievances by customers, adding that every area and community is vital to the attainment of the company’s corporate goal.