The Nation Newspaper

Category: Energy

  • PPMC’s private security firm nabs oil thieves in Ogun State

    PPMC’s private security firm nabs oil thieves in Ogun State

    Topline Leighton Limited is a private pipeline surveillance firm hired by the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) to monitor its System 2B that runs from Atlas Cove in Lagos State through Ogun and Ondo states to Ilorin in Kwara State. The firm has, between January and this month, punctured major illegal oil bunkering sites, including Roberts Village near Atlas Cove and Ogere Waterworks, among others. It also caught some suspected vandals. EMEKA UGWUANYI reports.

    •Over 1,000 jerry cans of petrol seized

    A major breakthrough in the fight against pipeline vandalism and oil theft has  been achieved.

    A private pipeline surveillance firm, Topline Leighton Limited, hired by the Pipeline and Products marketing Company (PPMC), an arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has caught some oil thieves at Ogere in Ogun State.

    The alleged oil thieves hacked the PPMC’s System 2B Pipeline at Ogere Waterworks area of Ogun State. The pipeline right of way is in the bush and has been a haven for vandals.

    However, luck ran against them (vandals) this week. The alleged thieves include Mr. Lanre Adewusi (47years), from Ogun State, Agbor Ayang (25 years) from Cross River, and Ebak Oyama (24years) from Cross River.

    They however denied being vandals and oil thieves when interviewed by The Nation. They said they were lured into the bush by a friend who said they were being hired to load planks.

    The Ogere illegal bunkering site has been notorious and the illegal activities there have degraded and polluted a greater part of the area with several abandoned wells and spills. At the site, about 1000 jerry cans of between 30 and 50 litres loaded with petrol (premium motor spirit) were impounded by the security agents and another over 1500 empty jerry cans packed in different parts of the bush.

    The Security Coordinator, Topline Leighton Limited, Mr. Adigun Adetona, after the inspection of the pipelines and stolen fuel, said the pipeline surveillance firm was hired to monitor NNPC/PPMC system 2B pipeline from Atlas cove to Ilorin in Kwara State. The System 2B Pipeline runs from Atlas Cove in Lagos through Mosimi in Ogun State to Ore in Ondo State and to Ilorin in Kwara State.

    “You saw we recovered over 1000 of jerry cans filled with petrol from the arrested vandals, as well as their equipment,’’he said.

    Adigun said since his firm assumed the surveillance of the pipelines, it has made series of arrests at Atlas Cove and environs and new discoveries of where vandals operate.  He said: “We are in-charge of the safety and Security of NNPC pipeline from Atlas Cove to Mosimi to Ibadan and from Ore to Ilorin. We are glad because of the landmark achievement here in Ogere Waterworks. You can see what we detected. Oil theft and pipeline vandalism have been going on here for decades but nobody has been able to apprehend the vandals but with our efforts and the collaboration of the security agencies, we are able to make this breakthrough. This is our commonwealth; they (vandals) are stealing. With the collaboration of other security agencies including the Police, Navy, Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps, we are ready to match them in all fronts and ensure that our national assets are secured.”

    Adigun warned vandals to desist from destroying national assets and values, adding that it will no longer be business as usual. He said the vandals would  be handed over to the police for interrogation, adding that his firm’s efforts had reduced the number of attacks by vandals, which has improved the pumping of petroleum products from the depots. The pumping has been frequent and regular.

    He said President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive on zero tolerance against oil theft and pipeline vandalism had started yielding results.

    The Public Relations Officer, Mosimi Office, PPMC, Mr Godwin Agono, was also excited over the arrest of the vandals and noted that the stolen fuel would be returned to the depot. He lamented the loss of petrol from the Mosimi depot on daily basis due to the vandals’ activities.

    He told The Nation that quantity of stolen fuel seen at the Ogere illegal bunkering site sends a big signal in terms of the battles the PPMC face, adding that the more programme and models applied to curb their activities, the better technology often deployed by vandals.

    The Operations Manager and leader of the pipelines surveillance group, Mr. Aminu Joshua, appealed to the government for more support to track down more vandals. He said information about the Ogere arrest was put into reality on Monday during their patrol of pipeline’s right of way and discovered that about three trucks were coming out from the bush and were loaded with petrol.

    He said that oil theft had been the major occupation of the community, adding that they engaged the vandals in gun battle. ‘’We urge NNPC and other government agencies to support the pipeline surveillance team in other to drive the vandals away’’,he said.

  • Govt advised to tap ethanol, others for more revenue

    The Federal Government has been advised to improve its revenue base by utilising other products from oil and gas, such as ethanol and gas automotives, among others.

    A Professor of Petroleum Resources and Policy Research  at the University of Port Harcourt, (UNIPORT) Wunmi Iledare, who gave said the United States (US), Germany, Britain and other developed nations were using such fuels.

    He urged Nigeria to take a cue from those countries by turning oil and gas into some finished products that are not commonly used in Nigeria, for economic growth.

    He said as the fall in price of crude and its attendant impact on national revenue persist, Nigeria has no choice than to rev up its revenue, by converting oil and gas into more finished and highly sophisticated products such as ethanol.

    Iledare said the US and Germany have been converting ethanol to a source of energy to drive engines. He noted that oil price has crashed from its towering  $140 per barrel in 2008 to $34 per barrel, arguing that the development suggests that Nigeria should adopt a more proactive method of generating revenues.

    According to him, the crash will continue in view of the face-off between Saudi and Iran, entry into the US market and other non-Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries ( OPEC) members, among other problems.

    He said: “There are likelihoods that oil price would rebound in the near future. Once OPEC is able to control oil supply from the Middle East, among other initiatives that are being implemented to increase the international prices of crude oil, oil producing would be better for it. However, Nigeria will do herself good, by exploring new frontiers in the sector.  One way of doing this is to convert oil and gas into finished products such as ethanol and others. Through this, the country would make money that would help in financing critical infrastructural projects. When this happens, the fiscal gaps would be filled.’’

    He said the government should be thinking of how to diversify its revenue base if it wants fiscal programme vis-a-vis budget to be sustainable. “In the milieu, the government should be thinking of another means of funding its budget in the years ahead.  Price volatilities and instability in crude oil production are some of the major features of the market, and these directly or indirectly are affecting Nigeria, being an oil dependent nation.

    “What Nigeria has got to do is to look at ways of diversifying products from oil and gas to up its revenue, and consider other measures that would have positive impacts on the economy,” he added.

  • ‘Appoint competent heads for parastatals, agencies’

    Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) branch, has called on the Federal Government to appoint competent and value-adding personnel to replace the disengaged chief executives of parastatals and agencies.

    The Chairman of PENGASSAN, PPPRA branch, Comrade Victor Ononokpono, lauded the government for the giant strides it has recorded within a short time, urging it to appoint competent chief executives to head oil and gas parastatals and agencies.

    He said: “The Union wishes to applaud the Federal Government’s renewed effort at reorganising the nation’s productive and extractive industry as exemplified by the recently submitted Institutional Framework for the Oil and Gas sector to the National Assembly.  That piece of document when eventually passed will redefine the regulatory and control apparatus of the oil and gas industry.

    “PENGASSAN, however, calls on the National Assembly to expedite action on the quick passage of the bill and reconsider global best practices in maintaining two regulatory agencies to superintend the upstream and downstream sectors.

    “In its diligent search for suitable replacements of Chief Executives for regulatory agencies, the Federal Government should consider competence, neutrality and articulation. The Union condemns the practice of appointment of officers from operators to head regulatory agencies. That practice is inimical, counter-productive and unhealthy.”

    Citing PPPRA as an example, Ononokpono said the union believed the agency has operated under difficulty in achieving its statutory mandate owing to its leadership, which greatly hampers its operations and critical decisions. “PENGASSAN, therefore, calls on the Federal Government to spread its drag net to the wider society rather than continue with the practice of sourcing Chief Executives from operating/marketing corporations to head regulatory agencies which are supposed to regulate them,” he added.

  • ‘IOCs, indigenous oil firms may cut more jobs’

    Local and International Oil Companies (IOCs) may sack more of their outsourced workers,  if the uncertainties in the global oil market continue, President, Association of Outsourcing Professionals of Nigeria (AOPN), Austin Nweze has said.

    Nweze told The Nation that the global oil market climate compared to the Nigerian economy is not conducive. He said people were not ready to risk their resources and investments in Nigeria.

    According to him, operators in the upstream segment of oil and gas have lost many of their workers to market recession, adding that the sector would continue to downsize or right-size, going by the prevailing atmosphere in the industry.

    The sector, he said, has lost thousands of jobs across board, stressing that more workers are expected to join the labour market. “There is a general lull in activities in the industry. Aside the attendant loss of business in the upstream sector that led to sales of assets by Chevron, ConocoPhillips and other oil majors, the downstream sector is battling problems.  There are virtually no new exploration activities in the industry. This is affecting the capacity of the sector to perform optimally,” he said.

    Nweze said according to a research carried out by the association, multinational and local oil companies have lost much to crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and other untoward practices, adding that they are not ready to incur more losses. The firms, according to him, are opposed to the idea of keeping certain workers as part of efforts at mitigating losses.

    Engineers, clerical workers and others, he said, will be mostly affected because they do not contribute much to their employers.

    He said: “From the research, oil and gas firms are ready to keep security and maintenance officers, who supervise and watch over their equipment. These are contract staff, which the oil companies outsourced. 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 equipments to oil wells, and they would not be happy losing those things.  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.”

    According to him, if contract staff such as securities and drivers, among others in the lower cadre lose their jobs, they would get new ones. Nweze said companies provide security and other contract staff for local and international oil companies, adding that their jobs are always needed in the industry. This category of workers collect small salaries, compared to the engineers, geologists, and other senior workers.

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) also alleged that the oil majors have sacked many workers in view of the problems in the industry.

  • Nigeria, four oil exporters hit by falling currency value, says OPEC

    Nigeria, four oil exporters hit by falling currency value, says OPEC

    Five oil exporting countries, including Nigeria,  Angola, Venezula,  Azerbaijan, and Russia are mostly affected by falling  currency value,  Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said.

    OPEC, in a paper detailing the impacts of recession on the global oil market, said the countries were picked among several others as having showing serious effects of fall in currency value.

    The body said depreciation in   the cuurency value is common in  the in oil exporting countries, adding that whether it is the Venezuelan bolívar, or the Russian rouble, low oil prices are wreaking havoc in oil exporting economies and on their national currencies.

    OPEC said: ‘’ In most cases, the scenario is similar: over the past decade, oil exporting countries used excessive revenues from oil to expand public services, or simply pursue populist policy in order to buy political stability. Once oil prices started to fall, the budgets did not shrink accordingly, which created a wide gap between the oil revenues and swelling fiscal demands.’’

    According to OPEC, governments were forced to devalue their national currencies in order to stem the rapid outflow of foreign reserves.

    ‘’An unwanted consequence is almost always the rise in inflation and household prices, along with a decline in living standards and stalled economic growth,’’ it added.

    OPEC gave a bit by bit accounts of impacts of falling curency value on the five countries thus.

     

    Nigeria

    Africa’s largest economy was hard hit by the falling oil prices. The national currency, the naira, dropped against the dollar by more than 50 per cent over the past year.

    On January 20, the Federal Government requested $3.5 billion loan from the International Monet6ary Fund(IMF) and the African development Bank to plug its $15billion budget  gap. The country’s oil revenues are expected to fall by 70 per cdent in 2016, while the hard currency reserves almost halved from $50billion to $28billion and the state’s emergncy fund went from $2 billion in 2009 to $2.3billion currently.

    Azerbaijan

    The former Soviet Republic is the first country to request a $4 billion emergency loan from the IMF and the World Bank in order to cover losses caused by low oil prices.

  • Samsung hires Nexans for Egina FPSO cables

    Samsung hires Nexans for Egina FPSO cables

    Samsung Heavy Industries has contracted Nexans to supply more than 2,200 kilometres of power, instrumentation and control cables for Total’s Egina FPSO offshore Nigeria.

    According to Nexans, the cables are designed to prevent gas leakages, making them much safer for use in flammable or high-risk environments. This means that the project is able to comply with local fire safety regulations and meet the IEC standards and Bureau Veritas certificate, Offshore said..

    The Executive Vice President Middle East, Russia & Africa Global Oil & Gas activities, Benjamin Fitoussi said: “Nexans is incredibly proud to have been selected as cables supplier for this ambitious project. The contract with SHI is our largest FPSO contract to date.”

    The FPSO is 330 metres (1,083 ft) in length, 61 metres (200 ft) across, and 34 metres (112 ft) high, with a storage capacity of 2.3 million barrels (mmbbl) of oil.

    The Egina oil field is located 150km off the coast of Nigeria. The field is being developed by Total Upstream Nigeria (24 per cent) in partnership with CNOOC (45 per cent), Sapetro (15 per cent) and Petrobras (16 per cent). Egina is the third deep offshore development of Total in Nigeria. The field is currently under development and the production is scheduled to begin by the end of 2017.

    Located about 20km away from Akpo field, Egina field lies within the block Oil Mining Lease (OML) 130 and covers an area of around 500 square miles. It is situated at a water depth of up to 1,750metres.

  • Aje field’s FPSO to arrive Nigeria in March

    The Floating, Storage Production,  and Offloading (FPSO) vessel is on its journey to Nigeria.

    This follows the anticipation of first oil production from Aje field by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum and Panoro Energy.

    The floating vessel is expected to arrive at Nigeria’s shore by the mid of next month, said Offshore Report.  Final works, according to Offshore, has been completed on the FPSO, which has departed Singapore. Following a brief stop in Cape Town, the vessel is expected to arrive in Nigeria in mid-March, it added.

    “All main equipment for the development is in Nigeria. Anchor handling operations started offshore in January and will continue until mid-February. Later this month the construction vessel will install subsea equipment, including the manifold and flowlines. Once the FPSO has arrived it will be hooked-up to the mooring system and risers, to be followed by a short test of the production systems.

    The Aje field was discovered in 1996 and is 24 kilometres offshore Nigeria located on oil mining lease (OML) 113 in water depths of about 1,476 ft. Pending ongoing exploration and appraisal work at oil prospecting lease (OPL) 310, the field is estimated to be one of the largest oil fields in Nigeria outside the Niger Delta basin.

    Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited operates the field. Drilling appraisal wells Aje-1 and Aje-2 confirmed oil pay in the Turonian and Cenomanian reservoirs respectively.

    By 2004, Yinka was seeking partnerships to develop the field and drill Aje-3 to confirm the structural interpretation of the field and determine fluid distribution. Aje-4 was drilled in 2008. Oil and gas accumulations were reevaluated and the field was declared commercial. Field development entered its first phase in 2014 with a $220 million investment.

    Panoro Energy had announced last year the completion of the Aje-4 well in the Benin basin’s, adding that oil production was scheduled to begin by end of 2015 at 10,000 barrels per day (bpd). However, the production will begin next month.

    Yinka is operator with 25 per cent interest in the field. Partners include Vitol 24.05 per cent, First Hydrocarbons Nigeria Limited 16.875 per cent, Energy Equity Resources Limited 16.875 per cent, Panoro Energy 12.19 per cent, and Jacka Resources five per cent.

  • Encourage modular refineries, Fed Govt advised

    Encourage modular refineries, Fed Govt advised

    The Federal Government has been advised to fast-track the take-off of modular refineries  to complement the four refineries in Port Harcourt (Rivers State), Kaduna and Warri, Delta State.

    The operators, who spoke at a forum in Lagos, said modular refineries were vital to the country’s development, despite the  government’s decision  to return the legacy refineries to optimal use this year.

    Abuja Power Station, Chief Executive Officer,  Jameel Jammal said the traditional refineries and the modular refineries should co-exist to ensure adequate production and supply of fuel in the country.

    He said the decision by the government to allow modular refineries to operate would increase local production and further engender competition in the industry.

    He explained that modular refineries are smaller in size, refine small crude, and easy to manage, adding that modular refineries are operating in developed economies, such as United States, and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    He urged the government to approve firms that demonstrate reasonable level of commitment and capacity, adding the idea would ensure that only the best people operate modular refineries in Nigeria.

    According to him, there are modular refineries that have the capacity to produce between 30,000 and 50,000 barrels of crude per day, stressing that his company has a modular refinery that would produce even more barrels per day.

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has just reduced the application fees for building modular refineries from $1million to $500,000  to enable more people to operate modular refineries.

    A don, Prof Adeola Akininisiju said the petroleum products production from the refineries is not in tandem with Nigeria’s population. He advised the government to license more operators to build more modular refineries in the country. When this happens, the country would be able to get enough fuel for socio-economic growth.

    He said it would take some time for the refineries to return to their initial refining of 450,000 barrels per day.

    Akininisiju, a Professor of Energy Economics, University of Ibadan said the government should consider to the establishment of modular refineries in view of the current  fuel challenges in Nigeria.

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the refineries would resume production this year.

    The Corporation’s spokesman, Mr. Ohi Alegbe said the refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna will resume production next month after successful turnaround maintenance.

  • Benin DisCo resolves 50,572 customers’ complaints

    The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has, through its new payment channels, metering programme and  Customer Complaint Unit, resolved over 50,572 customer matters.

    Corporate customers on its network have also begun to enjoy better and quality power supply, the firm said.

    “We have deployed new payment channels, such as Point of Sales (PoS), web-based payment, bank payments, Automated Teller Machine (ATM) and scratch card payment. We have recorded successful metering of all 33kv outgoing feeders in the newly constructed Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) stations in Asaba, Oghara and Omotosho.

    “We have also achieved extensive metering of 216 numbers of 11kv feeders; carried out the successful deployment of 922 High Voltage Distribution System (HVDS) poles mounted meters in Etete business unit as a pilot scheme and developed a standard process flow for other business unit to follow,” the company stated.

    Other achievements recorded by the company, according to a statement made available to The Nation, are the engagement and training of 120 analytical graduates with specialties in Electrical/ Electronics,Mechanical and Computer Engineering, Computer Science and Accounting with Vigeo Power Academy and Elizade University, Ilara Mokin, Ondo State.

    “BEDC has since it commenced procurement and kitting of technical staff, such as linesmen, meter engineers with safety kits to roll off disaster management plan initiative, set up very effective Customer Complaint Unit that has resolved over 50,572 customer complaints.

    “With the new feeder separation, corporate customers, such as Guinness Nigeria Limited and Delta Steel Mills in Delta State, are enjoying better and quality power supply. We constructed over 360 route length of new distribution network to strengthen and expand our infrastructure,” the company added.

    On metering, BEDC said the number of customers that have pre-paid meters installed in their premises have risen to 43, 612, adding that 47 injection substations and 500 distribution transformers have been installed to provide relief to overloaded transformers and injection substations.

    The utility firm said it also constructed 10 dedicated transformers for key customers and replaced failed transformers, with additional injection of 398 distribution transformers.

    “We installed 40,612 meters under the Credited Advanced Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) and metered 3,000 pre-CAPMI customers, commissioned 18 new transformers in various districts across BEDC coverage states,” it said.

    BEDC recorded a major milestone as the first distribution company to benefit from a grant funding by United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). This feat was achieved at a time when global lenders were beginning to evade investment in Nigeria’s power sector due to fears that the electricity tariff order in operations could not guarantee good returns on investments for the new owners of the power assets.

    BEDC’s core investor consortium Vigeo Power Limited (VPL) with the assistance of Citi Asset Management Limited (CAML), initiated offshore funding to ensure that strategic investments initiatives to be taken by BEDC will be based on adequate research and planning. The grant funding was offered for the purpose of Technical Assistance (TA) to update and modernise the electricity distribution network for BEDC in Nigeria.

  • Why DISCOs are phasing out analogue meters, by EKEDC chief

    Why DISCOs are phasing out analogue meters, by EKEDC chief

    Non-Functioning  of analogue meters, shortage of spare parts and  advent of smart meters, among others, are reasons the Distribution Companies (DisCos) are phasing out analogue meters, The Nation has learnt.

    It was gathered that many of the analogue meters are old, thereby making it difficult for the power distribution firms to get accurate reading  from them.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, (EKEDC) Dr.  Oladele Amoda, said most analog meters are not working well, because they are old.

    He said the meters are obsolete, dysfunctional and prove difficult to read, adding that the development informed the decision of power  firms’ plan to phase out the meters in line with the agreement they signed with the Federal Government during the privatisation of the power sector.

    He said the government has given DiSCos between 2013 and 2018 to provide meters to their customers, adding that many of the firms were unable to keep to the agreement due to financial and technical problems.

    He said: “The analog meters have been in the system for long. I think the last production of analog meters was either in 1982 or 1985. This means that some analog meters have spent 30 years or more.  The timeline for the meters is between 15 and 20 years.When the manufacturers of meters said that the expiring date of the meters is for instance, 2012, they add some months on top of it, which means that the meters can still be used a year after the expiry date. By and large, analog meters are old, coupled with the fact that activities on those meters have reduced considerably. At this level, the DiSCOs have no choice than to phase them out.’’

    He said components of the analog meters were no longer in the market, stressing that manufacturers of such meters were producing products with huge technologies.

    Amoda said Eko DisCo has started the phasing out analog meters, by providing smart meters to its customers, adding that the firm would soon replace obsolete meters in its area of coverage.

    The Project Director/Business Leader, Advanced Metering infrastructure, Sahara Energy Group, Mr. Rotimi Onanuga, said the firm decided to introduce the initiative in order to ensure metering efficiency.

    Speaking during a stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, he said efforts were being made to ensure that effective distribution and use of meters in the firm’s area of jurisdiction. According to him, phasing out of analog meters and replacement with prepaid meters is part of efforts, which the company is making to ensure energy efficiency.

    He said the firm was hoping to provide its customers with prepaid meters soon, stressing that the idea would help in phasing out analog meters.

    He said local manufacturers of meters do not have the capacity to produce enough meters for electricity consumers, noting that the development made his firm to seek foreign partnership to provide smart meters  to the customers.