The Nation Newspaper

Category: Energy

  • Shell awards scholarships to 60 Niger Delta pupils

    A new batch of 60 pupils from the Niger Delta has been awarded the special secondary schools scholarship of The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Joint Venture’s Cradle to Career, covering tuition and  other bills for six years in four of the topmost private secondary schools in Port Harcourt.

    Brookstone Secondary School, Jephthah Comprehensive College, Archdeacon Brown Educational Centre (ABEC) and Bloombreed High School in Port Harcourt will receive 60 beneficiaries yearly from difficult terrains of the Niger Delta on scholarship for their secondary education, after a two-week orientation  with introductory courses in academics, character and psychology.

    The pupils are the seventh set of beneficiaries and they bring the total number of beneficiaries since inception of the Cradle to Career programme to 410.

    SPDC Managing Director and Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, represented by the General Manager External Relations said: “This year, the first set of beneficiaries completed their secondary education and the report we have is that about all of them recorded excellent performance in the school certificate and unified tertiary matriculation examinations. It means the aims of the programme are being achieved.”

    Speaking at the ceremony in Port Harcourt, the SPDC chief said Shell and its joint venture partners had sustained the scholarship initiative despite the economic challenges because they see education as a right for every child and not a privilege.

    Dr Patricia Ogbonnaya, Mrs Elizabeth Alagoa and Dr Moses Onoriode Bragiwa, representatives of the Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states Commissioners for Education, extolled the scholarship scheme for complementing their governments’investments in education. They praised the transparent selection and the human capital development benefits of the programme to the region.

    “SPDC has a passion for investing in people and we are happy to report that students in the programme have over the years been on the top of their classes in their respective schools. We thank Shell and their joint venture partners for helping to ameliorate the problems of the Niger Delta,” said Dame Christie Toby, the proprietress of one of the implementing schools.

    The SPDC JV launched the Cradle to Career initiative in 2010 to provide for bright indigent students and improve on the positive results of its other portfolio of scholarship schemes for local and international undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

    Shell Companies in Nigeria support education through scholarships and other initiatives. In 2015, SPDC Joint Venture and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo.) invested $10.1 million in scholarships.

    Grants were awarded to 930 secondary school pupils and 638 university undergraduates last year, with a total of 10,401 (secondary) and 3,532 (university) grants given over the last five years.

  • OPEC output rises as Nigeria, Libya boost supply

    OPEC crude production rose to a record in September, according to a Bloomberg survey, driven by returning output from Libya and Nigeria, members who will likely be exempt from last week’s deal to cut supply.

    According to the survey, overall production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) increased by 170,000 barrels a day from the previous month to 33.75 million barrels a day, the survey of analysts, oil companies and ship-tracking data showed. Nigeria and Libya added a combined 190,000 barrels a day, which compensated for a drop in output from Saudi Arabia and Angola.

    Production from Nigeria and Libya is returning after internal unrest crippled the countries’ oil infrastructure. Together with Iran, they will likely be exempt from a preliminary deal agreed by OPEC in Algiers September 28 to cut production for the first time in eight years in an effort to revive prices. West Texas Intermediate crude capped the biggest monthly gain since April following the news.

    Libya will reach 600,000 barrels a day by the end of this month, according to Ibrahim Al-Awami, head of Libya’s National Oil Corporation’s oil measurement department. The country with Africa’s largest crude reserves produced an average of 340,000 barrels a day in September, up from 260,000 in August.

    Nigeria increased production by 7.9 per cent to 1.5 million barrels a day. The returning barrels came as a delivery halt was lifted on Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Bonny Light stream early last month. Bonny Light was one of four Nigerian grades under force majeure – a legal clause that allows companies to halt shipments without breaching contracts – for reasons including attacks by militants and saboteurs who seek to thwart export-pipeline operations absent a share of the revenues.

    Iran’s production rose by 10,000 barrels a day to 3.63 million barrels a day. The rapid increase in output that followed the easing of sanctions in January has slowed in recent months, as production has neared pre-sanctions levels.

    Oil output in Saudi Arabia – the world’s biggest crude exporter – dropped by 60,000 barrels a day as temperatures retreated from mid-summer highs, triggering a drop in domestic air conditioning usage. Angolan production dipped 40,000 barrels a day.

    OPEC agreed to limit output to a range of 32.5 to 33 million barrels a day, reversing a two-year-old policy to pump at will. The group will reveal more details about this agreement, including each country’s targets, when it meets at the end of November in Vienna.

  • ‘More revenue expected from mining sector’

    With the approval of the mining sector roadmap by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and discovery of mineral resources in various parts of the country, the Federal Government is expected to make more revenue from the sector, the National President, Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), Sani  Shehu, has said.

    He told The Nation that the roadmap would state the government’s  regulations in the sector. They would guide operators  in international best practices, including ethics, health, environment, and climatic issues. In all, they would guide operators and regulators and on how to move the sector forward.

    But the mining body advised the government to stop further importation of raw materials that could be sourced locally, adding that the country has adequate raw materials for the local industries. When these materials are used, they would create employment and sustainable revenue generation for the government.

    Shehu, who spoke on phone, said with the discovery of more mineral resources, there would be huge increase in revenue for the government, and development in the states where minings are taking place.

    The mineral resources would attract foreign earnings, which would go a long way in assisting the economy to withstand the pressure on it. Therefore, the earlier the roadmap was implemented and minings kicked off, the better for the economy, he added.

    He said: “On the whole, we hope that the mining industry considering the development that is coming up will be in a position to assist the government in terms of revenue generation and also for massive employment for Nigerians.

    “We are expecting the implementation of the provisions of the road map. We hope additional activities would be created in the sector and with the discovery of mineral resources many parts of the country that would encourage foreign investors to come and invest in the country.”

    He urged the government to resolve the issues of licence renewal, collection of revenue from miners, multiple taxation, adding that it is only the ministry that can collect royalty and other taxes and levies from the sector.

    There is also inter-agency rivalry between some of these agencies, such as environmental levies. He said regulatory issues had also been a very big challenge, adding the association does not have any statutory power to handle it. He urged the government to streamline the regulatory agencies that oversee the mining sector.

    He said the association would continue to support the government efforts to grow the sector as well as re-orientate its members in harnessing the benefits accruable in the industry.

    He said: “We intend to grow ourselves and to grow the industry, we want to create activities in the mining sector and we want to go mechanised,” adding that manual mining will not take the industry anywhere.

    ‘’We also facilitate international visits for our members to South Africa, China, Canada and other parts of the world in search of improved ways of mining as well as organising visits with foreign investors.

    ‘’The body has been able to solve some community issues and is actively sensitising people on the need to mine in line with international best practices, among others.

  • Forex scarcity: NNPC remains major fuel importer

    Despite the increase in  pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) or petrol to N145 per litre from N87, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) still retains its status as the sole importer of the product, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore has said.

    He spoke with The Nation on the sideline of the inauguration of four PMS storage tanks at Mosimi depot in Ogun State.

    He said marketers were shunning  importation because of the inaccessibility of foreign exchange (forex), leaving the responsibility of importation for NNPC alone.

    Olawore said: “The truth is that NNPC is  importing more than anybody because it has easier access to forex than everybody. Our intention is that once the sector is fully deregulated, we will increase our importation. They (government) only increased the price of petrol and that is not deregulation. You don’t deregulate with fixed price, you allow the price to float. Even though we see some floating of prices as some people sell below the N145 per litre price band, you have to verify if the quantity delivered and quality delivered are satisfactory. The DPR has to do that or you also can check fuel outlets, as a consumer, to know if you buy fuel that will knock your engine.

    “Frankly, we are hampered by unavailability of forex. The fuel we are importing is through the intervention of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources who has kindly agreed with the international oil companies (IOCs) to give us forex. I can only speak on allocation but not on the actual importation.”

    Speaking on the reconstructed and rehabilitated storage tanks in Mosimi, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru said rehabilitation of tanks 11, 12, 13 & 22 at the depot, by Messrs. Adano Engineering Company Nigeria Limited, fits into one of NNPC’s 12 key business focus areas, the restoration of oil and gas infrastructure.

    Baru said: “It is pertinent to point out that this project has not only restored the original combined storage capacity of 87.70 million litres for the four tanks, but also increased it by 220,000 litres. This combined storage capacity represents over 54 per cent of the total storage capacity for PMS otherwise known as petrol at Mosimi depot and has significantly enhanced strategic storage capacity of PMS nationwide.

    “It is noteworthy that the completion of these tanks and the gauging/metering technology adopted has underscored some of the corporation’s key business focus areas namely: reduce waste and stop leakages; push for best practice efficiency in operations; drive delivery and execution; and maximise profitability.”

    The NNPC chief further said: “We wish to recall that Mosimi depot was constructed in 1978 for the storage and distribution of petroleum products to the western part of the country. Unfortunately, tank 13 was gutted by fire in 1997; while tanks 11, 12 and 22 have worked satisfactorily for 23 years but their respective floating roofs collapsed at different times in 2001 which made them unserviceable.

    ‘’The non-usage of these decrepit tanks imposed operational constraints to products storage and distribution in Mosimi area which in turn negatively impacted on the turnaround time of product vessels at Atlas Cove Jetty with concomitant huge demurrage charges to NNPC operations.

    “It, therefore, became necessary that tank 13 should be reconstructed and tanks 11, 12 & 22 be rehabilitated to restore the operational capacity of Mosimi depot and overall profitability of the corporation.”

  • CAPMI withdrawal: NERC, others assure customers of meters

    Subscribers to the recently- outlawed Credit Advanced Payment Metering Implementation (CAPMI) scheme should not lose sleep as plans have been made to provide them meters.

    Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Chairman, Dr. Anthony Akah, the Managing Director, Electricity Management Services Limited (EMSL), Peter Ewesor and Chairman, MEMCOL Nigeria Limited, a meter manufacturing company, Mr. Kola Balogun told The Nation that customers who paid for meters under the proscribed CAMPI would be given meters.

    Akah, in a statement made available to The Nation, said the 11 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) had been directed by the Commission to provide meters to customers who had made their financial obligations to the scheme, and improve installation of meters to their customers, among other obligations.

    He said the obligations to customers, including improved power supply were part of the Performance Agreements (PAs) they (DisCos) signed with NERC, the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), among others when they were taking over power companies unbundled from defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    Akah, in a statement entitled: ‘CAPMI winding down and alternative to customer metering’, said globally, DisCos are tasked with the responsibility of providing meters to customers, and that those in Nigeria cannot be an exception.

    The NERC chief said: “It is expected that DisCos would meter all the customers who have so far paid for meters under the CAPMI scheme,  and should  not collect any form of payments for meters between now and November 1, 2016, when the scheme would cease to exist. Also, there is the need to improve on the implementation of the meter roll out plans as contained in the Performance Agreements signed by all the Electricity Distribution Companies. The plans were sequel to the approval by the Commission of the Multi Year Tariff Order (MYTO) 2015, which was designed to cover all the cost required for efficient operations by DisCos.”

    According to him, the DisCos had performed below expectation since they deployed about 500,000 meters between November 2013 and June 2016. He said the development made the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde  Fashola to cancel the scheme.

    He said audits by the Commission revealed that most electricity customers were not metered 45 days after paying for meters as stipulated by the Performance Agreement, adding that the DisCos were selling meters to customers under the guise of implementing the CAPMI.

    Ewesor said subscribers to the scheme would get meters, since it was the Federal Government that abolished it.

    He said whenever a government discontinued its project, it would  cater for the people that had participated in it.

    Also, Balogun said it was either the DisCos provided meters to the people who subscribed to the scheme or pay them back. He said  the foreign exchange market was unstable, adding that DisCos would either pay the differentials or ask customers to pay it in the event that they discover that the cost of importing meters has gone up relative to the money paid by the subscribers.

    Balogun said: “This is business. If the DisCos have paid meter manufacturers abroad and are yet to get the meters, they have every right to collect their money back and pay customers back. The issue of money lying idle with the meter producers abroad while those who own the money (electricity consumers) are unable to get meters does not arise.’’

    He urged the government to allow local manufacturers to produce meters for the DisCos to fill the vacuum created by the cancellation of the CAPMI scheme.

  • IFC, DFID partner to improve SMEs’ access to electricity

    International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group and United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID), are partnering to facilitate the deployment of off-grid and embedded solar systems in commercial and industrial sectors of Nigeria.

    According to Ejura Audu, an official of IFC, the ultimate goal is to help corporate organisations and small and medium scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) to have better and more reliable access to electricity, utilising the country’s abundant solar resources, adding that this would contribute to Nigeria’s economic growth and greenhouse gas emission reduction.

    Through this deal, IFC’s Off-Grid and Embedded Solar Market Development and Finance Programme, and DFID’s Solar Nigeria Programme will launch a new programme for solar market development and finance.

    One of the major components of the partnership is the provision of technical support and financial instruments to financial institutions.This will help them develop business solutions for the emerging solar market, especially solar PV technology investments in Nigeria.

    The programme is being launched at a workshop that will share market study findings, present the key components of the programme implementation phase, and collect feedback from stakeholders.

    DFID Nigeria’s Head of Office, Ben Mellor, said: “The UK Government is committed to helping to increase investment in off-grid energy and accelerating the delivery of solar energy systems that will help improve access to energy for more businesses. As access to energy is one of the most critical business needs in Africa, particularly Nigeria, the UK’s Department for International Development is determined to assist in bringing solar technology financing solutions to smaller businesses and corporates and we are working with IFC to help implement these solutions.

    “IFC has been at the fore, creating and facilitating solutions to help increase access to energy at the home and corporate levels in Nigeria,” said Eme Essien Lore, IFC Country Manager for Nigeria.

    “The solar market has the potential for quick wins in bringing access to electricity for more businesses as it takes less time to install. It also enables production of electricity at the point of need, which eliminates transmission losses to a great extent. We are working with DFID to accelerate access to electricity for more businesses and help contribute to economic growth in the country,” she added.

    The programme is part of the World Bank Group’s Energy Business Plan for Nigeria where each World Bank Group institution (IFC, IBRD and MIGA) will leverage their competencies and products to provide solutions for projects and sustain the power sector.

    Over the past three years, IFC has financed close to $3.5 billion in renewable energy projects worldwide, including biomass, geothermal, hydro, solar, and wind.

  • ‘Outsourcing, others claim jobs’

    MANY workers may have lost their jobs in the oil and gas industry as a result of the outsourcing of their projects, the President, Association of Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria (AOPN), Dr Austin Nweze, has said.

    In a  reaction to a report that over 350,000 workers have lost their jobs in the industry, he said the industry rely on people in the allied sectors, arguing that many of its workers were picked from other fields.

    He said the workers were sourced from within and outside the country to ensure that the sector got the best hands.

    Speaking on phone with The Nation, Nweze said though the industry represents a large section of the economy, all the sectors are in it.

    Nweze said: “That is the reason you see engineers, statisticians, accountants, geologists, marine engineers, architects, surveyors and other professionals contribute their quota to the sector. Often times, these professionals are sourced because of their specialised skills and deep knowledge of their fields. Many of them are employed directly or indirectly by the operating firms in the oil industry. Based on this, it is easier to conclude that the sector has lost many of its outsourced workers.”

    He said more people would lose their jobs, if the problems, such as decline in the oil prices, low patronage and others persist in the global oil market. He observed that operators in the upstream and downstream segments of the industry were losing their jobs daily, adding that the sector would continue to either downsize or right- size in tandem with the economic realities.

    “There is a lull in the industry. Aside the attendant loss of business in the upstream sector that greeted the sale of assets by Chevron, ConocoPhillips and other oil majors, the downstream sector is battling problems.There is virtually no new exploration in the industry. This is affecting the capacity of the sector to perform optimally,” he said.

    He said multinational and local oil firms have lost much and are not ready to incur more losses, according to a research by the association.

    He said the firms were not disposed to keeping certain workers to mitigate losses.

    “From the research, oil and gas firms are ready to keep few, but not highly remunerated workers, such as security and maintenance officers, who supervise and watch over their equipment. To oil and gas firms, their services are much needed in view of the unstable socio-economic environment in Nigeria. It is expensive to maintain expatriate workers. Their salaries are in foreign currencies, and it would affect the operational costs of the companies if such workers are kept for long. Now, the industry’s problems have rendered them redundant.

    “Maintenance of security officials is important to the oil and gas servicing firms.The firms spend a lot of money in providing pipelines, building tanks, deploying exploration equipment into oil wells, and they would not be happy losing those things in a swoop.  Though the Joint Task Force set up by the Federal Government to patrol and safeguard oil wells are trying their best, oil firms believe in providing their security to compliment whatever the government has done,” he added.

  • Ex-Egbin Power chief: MDAs, others owe DisCos N80b

    Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the military owe the electricity power distribution companies (DisCos) over N80billion, the former Managing Director, Egbin Power Plc, Michael Uzoigwe, has said.

    Uzoigwe, who is Group Leader, Generation, Sahara Group, said the Army, Navy and Airforce are the major debtors.

    He urged the DisCos to collect their money to stay in business, adding that failure of the firms to recover the debts would further affect their operations.

    Uzoigwe, who delivered a paper entitled: ‘The present state of the privatised electricity business in Nigeria’ at the On-Grid Energy Summit organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Lagos, said electricity generation and distribution is a serious business and that no firm is ready to run its business at a loss.

    According to him, the federal agencies and ministries that were owing the firms needed not complain of power failure, arguing that it was not normal for the DisCos to provide electricity to customers, who pay their bills promptly.

    Uzoigwe said military and police maltreat officials of power firms on debt-recovery duties, which he described as unfortunate.

    He said: “The Ministries, Departments and Agencies owe the DisCos N80billion in form of bills and other charges. Anywhere I can say N80billion is being owed the energy distribution companies by the government agencies and others and I ‘m ready to defend it. Whenever we send our boys to recover debts owed the DisCos, the debtors use police to maltreat them. They lock the boys up.

    “As a distributor, what business do I have supplying power to Army or Navy barracks that refused to pay their bills? Such debtors need not complain if they are denied electricity supply. As a matter of fact, it does not make economic sense to continue to serve debtors that appear unrepentant.

    “The power distribution companies have kilowatts of electricity they supply a given area or location within a period. If a DisCos supplies, for example, Surulere 70 kilowatts of power out of 100 kilowatts budgeted for the area in a month and the residents pay for the 70 kilowatts. What is going to happen to the remaining 30 kilowatts? The firm cannot return the remaining 30 kilowatts. But it is a good decision if the DisCos supply an industrial layout that do not only consume the 100 kilowatts, but pay for the power.’’

    Uzoigwe likened the problems in the sector to a recurrent decimal, which comes up always, stressing that what people see outside the power industry is not the true picture of the happenings inside it.

    He explained that many of the critical problems plaguing the sector were hidden, because they are not known to many Nigerians.

    Uzoigwe accused Nigerians of playing what he described as a ‘blaming game’, arguing that they apportion blames wrongly.

    He said lack of practical experience about the power industry, on the part of some government officials, especially politicians, is the bane of the industry, arguing that  only theorists were appointed to head critical units.

    He urged Nigerians to report any act of vandalism to the police and other security agencies, noting that everybody has a role to play, if the sector would grow to a level where there would be energy sufficiency.

    He said failure of people to report cases such as destruction  of transformers,  cables,  poles, meters and others, they are adding more to the problems in the sector.

    He said bypassing of meters is a serious offence, adding that such  cases abound in Lagos  and other states in the country.

  • ‘More revenue expected from mining sector’

    With the approval of the mining sector roadmap by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and discovery of mineral resources in various parts of the country, the Federal Government is expected to make more revenue from the sector, the National President, Miners Association of Nigeria (MAN), Sani  Shehu, has said.

    He told The Nation that the roadmap would state the government’s  regulations in the sector. They would guide operators  in international best practices, including ethics, health, environment, and climatic issues. In all, they would guide operators and regulators and on how to move the sector forward.

    But the mining body advised the government to stop further importation of raw materials that could be sourced locally, adding that the country has adequate raw materials for the local industries. When these materials are used, they would create employment and sustainable revenue generation for the government.

    Shehu, who spoke on phone, said with the discovery of more mineral resources, there would be huge increase in revenue for the government, and development in the states where minings are taking place.

    The mineral resources would attract foreign earnings, which would go a long way in assisting the economy to withstand the pressure on it. Therefore, the earlier the roadmap was implemented and minings kicked off, the better for the economy, he added.

    He said: “On the whole, we hope that the mining industry considering the development that is coming up will be in a position to assist the government in terms of revenue generation and also for massive employment for Nigerians.

    “We are expecting the implementation of the provisions of the road map. We hope additional activities would be created in the sector and with the discovery of mineral resources many parts of the country that would encourage foreign investors to come and invest in the country.”

    He urged the government to resolve the issues of licence renewal, collection of revenue from miners, multiple taxation, adding that it is only the ministry that can collect royalty and other taxes and levies from the sector.

    There is also inter-agency rivalry between some of these agencies, such as environmental levies. He said regulatory issues had also been a very big challenge, adding the association does not have any statutory power to handle it. He urged the government to streamline the regulatory agencies that oversee the mining sector.

    He said the association would continue to support the government efforts to grow the sector as well as re-orientate its members in harnessing the benefits accruable in the industry.

    He said: “We intend to grow ourselves and to grow the industry, we want to create activities in the mining sector and we want to go mechanised,” adding that manual mining will not take the industry anywhere.

    ‘’We also facilitate international visits for our members to South Africa, China, Canada and other parts of the world in search of improved ways of mining as well as organising visits with foreign investors.

    ‘’The body has been able to solve some community issues and is actively sensitising people on the need to mine in line with international best practices, among others.

  • ‘Outsourcing, others claim jobs’

    MANY workers may have lost their jobs in the oil and gas industry as a result of the outsourcing of their projects, the President, Association of Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria (AOPN), Dr Austin Nweze, has said.

    In a  reaction to a report that over 350,000 workers have lost their jobs in the industry, he said the industry rely on people in the allied sectors, arguing that many of its workers were picked from other fields.

    He said the workers were sourced from within and outside the country to ensure that the sector got the best hands.

    Speaking on phone with The Nation, Nweze said though the industry represents a large section of the economy, all the sectors are in it.

    Nweze said: “That is the reason you see engineers, statisticians, accountants, geologists, marine engineers, architects, surveyors and other professionals contribute their quota to the sector. Often times, these professionals are sourced because of their specialised skills and deep knowledge of their fields. Many of them are employed directly or indirectly by the operating firms in the oil industry. Based on this, it is easier to conclude that the sector has lost many of its outsourced workers.”

    He said more people would lose their jobs, if the problems, such as decline in the oil prices, low patronage and others persist in the global oil market. He observed that operators in the upstream and downstream segments of the industry were losing their jobs daily, adding that the sector would continue to either downsize or right- size in tandem with the economic realities.

    “There is a lull in the industry. Aside the attendant loss of business in the upstream sector that greeted the sale of assets by Chevron, ConocoPhillips and other oil majors, the downstream sector is battling problems.There is virtually no new exploration in the industry. This is affecting the capacity of the sector to perform optimally,” he said.

    He said multinational and local oil firms have lost much and are not ready to incur more losses, according to a research by the association.

    He said the firms were not disposed to keeping certain workers to mitigate losses.

    “From the research, oil and gas firms are ready to keep few, but not highly remunerated workers, such as security and maintenance officers, who supervise and watch over their equipment. To oil and gas firms, their services are much needed in view of the unstable socio-economic environment in Nigeria. It is expensive to maintain expatriate workers. Their salaries are in foreign currencies, and it would affect the operational costs of the companies if such workers are kept for long. Now, the industry’s problems have rendered them redundant.

    “Maintenance of security officials is important to the oil and gas servicing firms.The firms spend a lot of money in providing pipelines, building tanks, deploying exploration equipment into oil wells, and they would not be happy losing those things in a swoop.  Though the Joint Task Force set up by the Federal Government to patrol and safeguard oil wells are trying their best, oil firms believe in providing their security to compliment whatever the government has done,” he added.