The Nation Newspaper

Category: Energy

  • National Assembly lacks will to pass PIB, says lawyer

    A lawyer  has blamed the non-passage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) on lack of political will by the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    Mr Taiwo Ogunleye said the non-passage of the bill has caused a  problem for the oil and gas industry, and  the economy.

    He said transparency issue was a major challenge in the industry, and noted that restructuring of the sector could be efficiently carried out without amendment or repeal of the law as the case may be.

    He said: “We have transparency and accountability issue. We have low investment in the sector because people are not sure what the fiscals would be in order to be able to plan on it. The situation is like the petroleum industry is in a state of uncertainty because nobody wants to invest without certainty.”

    Ogunleye, who spoke with The Nation in Lagos, said having sent the bill to the National Assembly, it is the responsibility of the government to follow up on it. Similarly, if the legislative arm has a problem with the bill, it also has the responsibility to get back to the executive

    “First of all, there was a delay because it took them (legislators) long period to even give consideration to begin deliberation on passage of the bill. If a bill had been sent to the lawmakers as at 2012, and they began to consider the passage in 2015, there is a question of whether they actually had the intention or will to do so,” he said.

    He blamed the National Assembly for identifying the provisions in the bill that were adequate and refused to approve them for passage into law.  He said the lawmakers could have reduced the bill to the size that can be passed, while work on the contentious ones continues.

    The executive arm of the government is also supposed to follow up on the bill to know what has delayed the passage.

    Ogunleye said the 2012 PIB was very adequate when compared to that of 2008. According to him, in 2008 two things were not satisfactory, the provisions on the upstream, which he said was not different from the existing legislation.

    In addition, provisions on fiscals were also nothing different from what was in place now. He said political will was fundamental and crucial for the current National Assembly to pass the bill into law. He advised the Federal Government to see the passage of the bill as a serious business and take steps towards ensuring that the bill is passed.

  • Energy policy coming, says Fashola

    Energy policy coming, says Fashola

    Power Minister Babatunde Fashola has pledged to unveil his energy policy when next he addresses the media. The policy will holistically show the direction of the government in solving the problems of the power sector in the short and long terms. He has also mandated the distribution companies to significantly improve service delivery. EMEKA UGWUANYI reports.  The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has promised to make his energy policy public when next he briefs the media, and directed electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to significantly improve electricity supply and customer service delivery.

    Fashola said this during his second monthly meeting with operators in the electricity industry in Lagos. He said: “I will come to energy policy, much more later when I do my second press briefing. All of you in the media owe a bigger responsibility now to enlighten people. Everybody must know how power is produced, because the problem is still with us, gas, transmission, and the way the privatisation exercise was conducted. But I will not lament what has happened in the past, I will move with it.”

    He continued: “When we took over and assessed the situation, nobody was happy with it. This is a problem that has been here for 16 years if you it put mildly, and 100 years ago, if you put it really extremely. I have been here for less than hundred days, and I think we can solve this problem if you give us the tools that we need to do it. I think this problem can be solved and the day I feel it cannot be solved, I will tell you I don’t think it will work.”

    The minister said he reached an agreement with the DisCos to improve customer service delivery by strengthening the operations of their customer centres and providing dedicated phone numbers to ensure consumer complaints within their jurisdictions are promptly responded to.

    The meeting, which holds every month, is meant to identify, discuss and find practical solutions to issues facing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry. The Minister has set a goal of attaining at least 7,000megawatts (Mw) of electricity generation by end of this year. Although he has refused to make how to go about it public, but he has discussed with the operators.

    According to Fashola, the most important thing is for Nigerians to access power when they need it and not just mentioning megawatts. He said: “The simplest thing to do is to commit to megawatts, but even if I have 1,000Mw only on the grid, can people access it? As for megawatts, we now have over 5,000Mw, and we are calibrating there. I don’t want to discuss megawatts, but Nigerians will see incremental power output if everybody allows stability to stay. Once you shock this system, gas will hold on, generation companies (GenCos) will hold, contracts are stalled and debts will mount again. Because the person that takes gas will not return it, he must push it out, so people must understand how fragile this system even at the best of time can be.”

    Also at the stakeholders’ meeting, AES Power Plant, Egbin Power Plant and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), agreed to meet today to complete the ongoing negotiations with a view to supplying gas to AES power plant.

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) addressed some interface issues, discussed ongoing plans to review and resolve them. The firm  identified 51 of them to be resolved, which affect supply in areas such as Alaoji, Sokoto, Ahoada, Damaturu, Gbarain, Calabar, Afikpo, Nsukka, Okigwe, Ihiala, Ayede, Ikeja, Ajah, Lekki, Kebbi, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Makurdi, Kainji, Kafanchan, Otukpo, Hadejia, Wudil, Kumbotso, Bauchi, Gombe, Katsina, Daura, Abuja and Maiduguri.

    The NNPC also presented its plans of adding significant gas supplies for power generation. The operators said the power sector expects an addition of 220 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) by the end of first quarter of 2016, and 785 mmscf/d by the end of second quarter of 2016 cumulative.

    To solve the power sector liquidity issues, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET) said there is need to develop a Power Sector Liquidity Bond to cover validated present and future liquidity gap until 2018 and the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) committed to immediate resumption of disbursement of the balance of the N213 billion facility previously approved but suspended

    The Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) also emphasised the need to improve safety standards by DisCos and their contractors in order to reduce accidents and death. NEMSA underscored the health and safety issues of the sector and the need for improvement in responsiveness to health and safety issues. The operators agreed that NEMSA shall start to rank DisCos for safety compliance and accident reduction, as well as applying sanctions for non-compliance. It cited the case of the electrocuted University of Lagos student.

    On metering, the minister gave targets to the DisCos. Eko DisCo was mandated to install 90,000 by end of June and 150, 000 by December, while Ikeja DisCo is 120,000 and 220,000 within the same timeframe.

    Others are Kano DisCo 40,000 and 100,000; Yola DisCo 30,000    and  75,000; Jos DisCo 45,000 and 120,000; Benin DisCo                         18,000           and 36,000 having 200,000 cleared with Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and Port Harcourt DisCo 75,000 and 150,000, all within the same timeframe.

    NEMSA said it is also ready to test and certify over 70,000 additional meters that the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) is planning to install for customers.

  • NERC backs Eko, Paras power purchase deal

    NERC backs Eko, Paras power purchase deal

    •Disco to deploy 200,000 meters this year

    The power sector regulator, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), has approved the power purchase agreement between Eko Electricity Distribution Company (DisCo) and Paras Energy Resources Limited for embedded generation supply to willing customers, effective from tomorrow.

    The cost of the embedded power will be slightly higher than the normal tariff because it is for a dedicated set of customers. Such customers may have the privilege of enjoying uninterrupted supply as long as generators are functional.

    The company also said it would deploy over 200,000 smart meters for installation for the various categories of customers in its network as the new electricity tariff has commenced.

    The Managing Director, Dr Oladele Amoda told reporters during an interactive session in Lagos that DisCos prefer metering customers to estimation billing contrary to labour unions’ belief that DisCos prefer billing customers on estimation than metering them.

    Amoda said: “We decided to show the media and the world that we have embarked on massive metering of our customers contrary to the statement of the labour unions that we prefer billing customers on estimation than metering. Eko DisCo has ordered for large quantity of meters to install for its teeming customers as directed by NERC to ensure that all customers are metered within the next five years.”

    He said the company has taken delivery of over 76,000 smart meters, while 100,000 meters are still being expected for delivery by Mojec meter manufacturing company in the next three months.

    He said: “We are trying to ensure that we install 200,000 smart meters between the second quarters and December 2016, having installed about 46,000 meters to date. We are patronising local meter manufacturers, and they have promised to meet the delivery timeframe to enable us meet our customers’ mandate.

    “We contracted our Maximum Demand (MD) meters to Atron of France because it’s for large consumers while indigenous contractor concentrate on three- phase and single phase meters. We have ordered for 7,500 MD meters but taken delivery of 3,000, while we have been promised to deliver the balance before end of the year.”

    Amoda said the new smart meters would address the challenges confronting the company, especially meter by-pass by customers, energy thieves and other related criminal activities. He said the technology in smart meters would inform the workers in the office when customers tamper with the meters, adding that every customer would be metered before the stipulated five years directed by NERC.

    “We have invested about $15 million about N3 billion on MD meters, while about N52 billion would be spent on smart metering within the next three years. Every meter is duly certified before usage, we have been with the local manufacturers for a while and they have been doing their best.

  • ‘Why Ogoni clean-up, others are delayed’

    Disunity within the oil-polluted communities, hegemony tendency of community’ leaders who lord themselves over their subjects at will, and the use of wrong chemicals by contractors, hired to clean up the oil polluted areas have been identified as factors delaying the remediation/cleanup process introduced by Shell and other International Oil Companies (IOCs) to restore the natural habitats in Ogoniland and other communities in the Niger-Delta region.

    Other factors affecting the cleaning of the oil ravaged communities, according to Human Rights/ Environmental Institutions, that spoke to The Nation, are delay in the implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programmes (UNEP)’s report by the Federal Government, and the attitude of  the polluted communities.

    The organisations said both internal and external factors affect the cleaning of the oil polluted communities. The Business Development Manager, Cerase Environmental Services, Gloria Igboji, said greed, excessive powers, which some chiefs in the region have arrogated to themselves, and the use of low quality chemicals to treat the farmlands and the waters, combined together, delay the cleaning of the areas.

    She said her firm carried out a study, which reveals that negligence on the part of contractors, hired by the multinational oil companies, to clean up the Ogoniland, is a problem in the region. She noted that the firm conducted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) programme during which it collected samples of the land that was believed to have been restored.

    She said: “The result of the study reveals the opposite because, the farmlands and waters in the real sense of it, were not cleaned.  It was discovered with chemicals used in treating the land which were of lower quality.  Besides, issues such as greed, pervasive settlement culture caused by bribing of chiefs that protest delay in cleaning up the areas by oil firms, and excessive use of powers by some people in the region, have stalled efforts made to restore natural habitats such as land and water in the region.’’

    Igboji said it is high time Shell, the communities and the Federal Government worked together to  clean-up Ogoniland, and return the people to their traditional occupation of farming and fishing.

    She said failure to  clean up the Ogoniland in time, means  inhabitants of the area would not be able to do farming and fishing, which are their major occupations.

    Also, the Director in charge of  Environment, Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development(CHERD), Obodoekwe Styvn, said the people of Ogoniland are praying that the government should do correct clean up/ remediation so they can go back to their traditional occupation of fishing and farming.

    He said another factor that is delaying cleaning of the oil-polluted communities was the failure of the  Federal Government to speed up the process of implementing  the UNEP’s report,  which stated that  it would take about 30 years to clean the affected areas.

    President Muhammed  Buhari had in 2015, set up governance structure that would help in implementing  the UNEP’s report on the cleaning of oil polluted communities.

    Shell said the Federal Government’s aspirations to clean up Ogoniland would restore normalcy in the area.  Shell’s Spokesman, Precious Okolobo said the firm is not only committed to deliver the UNEP recommendations directed to it as operator of the SPDC Joint Venture, but would continue to work with the Federal Government and its joint venture partners in order to take the implementation of the UNEP report forward, and contribute to the growth of the communities where it operates.

  • Consumers seek waivers as new tariff takes off

    Electricity consumers are asking for waivers from power distribution companies (DisCos), following the decision of the Federal Government to implement the new tariff, The Nation has learnt.

    Consumers, it was gathered, have been approaching the DisCos to cancel  some of their  debts in order to ease the burdens the new tariff is bringing upon them and charge  them less,  especially those  of them  that do not have meters, among others.

    Investigations showed that consumers, who owe fixed charges, were also meeting DisCos to cancel their debts. A veterinary doctor, Akininyi Emmanuel said consumers were asking for waivers because they know that they would not be able to pay the new tariff.

    He said consumers under the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (EBEDC) have been trying to get waivers since the new tariff took off about two weeks ago. Akininyi, who lives in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, said many have sought ways of negotiating with the company, following the introduction of the new tariff.

    When The Nation visited some of the Business Units owned by the Ikeja Electric and Eko Electricity Distribution Companies (EKEDC), it found out that consumers have been asking for concessions since February 1, when the new tariff took off concurrently with the removal of fixed charges.

    A staff of Ikeja Electric, who pleaded anonymity, said many customers, who came to recharge their meters have been asking for cancellation of the fixed charges they owed.

  • Seven Energy Joins security, human rights initiative

    Seven Energy International Limited has joined the globally acclaimed ‘Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights’ initiative following its admission into the Corporate Pillar category and becomes the first indigenous firm in the Nigerian oil and gas industry to be accorded such recognition.

    The Voluntary Principles Initiative is a multi-stakeholder initiative involving governments, companies, and non-governmental organisations that promote implementation of a set of principles that guide oil, gas and mining companies on providing security for their operations in a manner that respects human rights. Specifically, the Voluntary Principles guide companies in conducting a comprehensive human rights risk assessment in their engagement with public and private security providers to ensure human rights are respected in the protection of company’s facilities and premises.

    Commenting on the achievement, Chief Executive Officer of the company, Phillip Ihenacho, said: “We are excited that the plenary has approved the application of Seven Energy to join the prestigious Voluntary Principles Initiative after a rigorous selection process. This recognition underscores how we have conducted our operations across our host communities in a manner that promotes public safety and respect for the rights of the people. We remain committed to the development of Nigeria’s gas resource and will continue to support local and national economic growth by operating in a way that recognises and respects the rights and safety of the people impacted by our business.”

    Ihenacho added that over the years, Seven Energy has implemented a number of initiatives such as the Green Team Initiative, which is a community engagement process where community leaders and youths are engaged to maintain and monitor pipeline rights of way, and community enlightenment programmes aimed at ensuring safety of the company’s facilities and those people living within the pipeline rights of way.  Regular interactive sessions are held with the host communities to ensure that their rights and privileges as contained in the various Memoranda of Understanding signed with them are respected.

    The Voluntary Principles are the only human rights guidelines designed specifically for extractive sector companies. The Principles give guidance on risk assessment, public safety and security, protecting human rights, and the interaction between companies and private security.

    The written principles represent a voluntary agreement between participating companies, governments and NGO’s on what steps companies should take in maintaining the safety and security of their operations within an operating framework that encourages respect for human rights.

  • Energy talk show debuts

    Energy talk show that tends to dissect the technical issues in the sector has begun to broadcast live for 60 minutes on a radio station in Lagos.

    The first of its kind in contemporary radio broadcast in Nigeria, the show is a voice for the covert energy sector in Nigeria and would be discussing all the topical issues emanating from the sector and other affiliate sectors.

    The programme would cover oil, gas, power, solid minerals, finance, telecoms, aviation, insurance and maritime with a strategy to dissect all and every issues emanating from the above mentioned sub-sectors.

    The show kicked off February 9, in Lagos. The first topic was “Deregulation and the downstream sector: the way forward. The panel of discussants lined up for future discussions include the Executive Secretary Major Oil Marketers of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Femi Olawore, The Director of Operations, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), former President of the Trade Union Congress, Comrade Peter Esele, the Chairman House of Representative Committee on Petroleum (downstream), Hon. Joseph Akinlaja, the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, Mr. Ahmed Farouk and a former Minister of Petroleum Resources Professor Tam David-West.

    The programme airs every Tuesday on 99.3 Nigeria Info Lagos 8-9 am, every Tuesday on 92.3 Nigeria Info FM Port Harcourt from 2 to 3pm, and every Friday on 95.1 Nigeria Info Abuja from 4 to 5pm.

    The programme is anchored by Mr. Yemie Adeoye, an experienced energy journalist and Mr. Onimisi Adaba, an experienced broadcaster and presenter.

     

     

     

  • Lagos to light up streets, schools

    Lagos to light up streets, schools

    The Lagos State Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources will light up all the streets in Lagos and 172 schools in the rural areas, the Commissioner, Mr. Olawale Oluwo has said.

    Oluwo, who spoke during the unveiling of light up Lagos campaign and the commissioning of some projects in Ikeja said the campaign is imperative to educate the public on the purpose of light up Lagos project and its importance to the people, adding that a community in Badagry was lit up after having black out for 16 years.

    Oluwo said: “We are taking street lights to all the streets in Lagos and not just the major highways, but also the third Mainland Bridge, and Ikorodu roads. Light up Lagos initiative is the idea of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who used it in his campaign. The Light up Lagos project is not just about street lighting but we also intend to light up all healthcare centres both at the local and metropolitan levels, and water corporations in Lagos so that people can have light 24 hours, as well as public schools and most importantly their libraries, staff quarters, among others.”

    The Commissioner said the United Kingdom deployed solar panels to 172 schools in Lagos rural areas, and trained people to make sure the deployed solar equipment is readily available.

    He said Lagos State as a government do not generate, transmit, distribute or supply the gas to power generation companies, but the investors who bought the power assets following the privatisation programme of the Federal Government are to make it happen. Lagos state Government has the responsibility to ensure that while the private sector people are setting out, the government must be with them as a partner to ensure that there are no bottlenecks.

    He said lots of enforcements need to be put in place to avoid the issue of bypassing meters and power theft. Those are the areas the government is concerned about, he added.

    Light up Lagos concept is divided into six, power advisory committee, independent power supply at Lekki, Berger, Alausa, among others.  Lagos State is moving away from providing to itself, institutions to working with stake holders to make sure they transmit power to the people.

    The street lighting project aims at putting all the street lights into operation, adding that sometimes management of the street light project is difficult because other agencies such as Lagos State Electricity Board, Lagos State Ministry of works, New Town Development Authority, Local Governments have stakes. Even at the federal level, we have Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, some Senators and House of Representatives members have powered street lights as part of their social responsibility, he added.

  • Oilserv graduates 28

    Oilserv Limited, an oil and gas service company with expertise in pipelines and flowlines, has trained 28 youths in auto-welding, manual welding and fitting and rigging as part of its technical training scheme.

    Other focus areas of the scheme included basic equipment maintenance, assets training, horizontal directional drilling operation and operation of heavy duty equipment.

    At the graduation in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Oilserv Managing Director Sir Emeka Okwuosa assured that most of the trainees would be absorbed by the company.

    He said the company was committed to human capital development and determined to make young Nigerians participate in the development of the economy.

    Okwuosa expressed satisfaction that the training was conducted without any incident as the trainees exhibited professionalism and good attitude to work.

    He noted that a batch of the trainees assigned to the Obiafu/Obrikom to Oben (OB3) gas pipeline project welding crew welded 360 joints without a repair.

    Okwuosa promised that more youths would benefit from the scheme and more awareness created on the programme.

    Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Executive Secretary Denzil Kentebe praised Oilserv for initiating the technical trainee scheme, which is in line with its strategies for implementing the Nigerian Content Act.

    He was represented by the Manager, Human Capital Development, Mrs. Michelle Aiyegbusi, who said the part of the Board’s mandate is to empower Nigerian entrepreneurs and imbue young Nigerians with trainings across specialties in the oil and gas sector.

  • Ikeja Electric unveils new tariff

    Ikeja Electric has said the implementation of its new tariff structure, which started on February 1, will boost service delivery.

    Its Head of Commercial, Mrs. Folake Soetan, said the cost-reflective tariff would boost the capacity of distribution firms, strengthen the power value chain and improve the quality of service to customers across the nation.

    She said the tariff would further drive Ikeja Electric’s investments and plans to ensure sustained excellent service delivery to all customers within its network.

    “At Ikeja Electric, the new tariff represents another opportunity for us to demonstrate our commitment to transparent, equitable and reliable power distribution to our esteemed customers. We are passionate about service excellence and will continue to work closely with our customers to achieve our ultimate goal which is: let there be light for all Ikeja Electric customers,” she said.

    The new payment structure will be implemented across five major categories including residential, commercial, industrial, special and street lights. Soetan said the company would engage all classes of customers to explain the implication of the new tariff on billing going forward as well as reinforce how customers can take advantage of Ikeja Electric’s various payment channels for convenient, reliable and secure bill settlement.

    “Integrity, professionalism and transparency are some of the values that drive our operations at Ikeja Electric. We will embark on multi-stakeholder engagements that will address all enquiries regarding the new tariff to ensure full understanding by our customers. Our customers can rest assured that the process will be transparent,” she added.

    She noted that in addition to the engagements, Ikeja Electric would attend to customer queries on the new tariff via its contact centre helplines, walk-in customer care centers (IE Serve), dedicated email service, Facebook, Twitter and the company’s corporate website.

    She said: “Ikeja Electric is passionate about powering homes, communities, lives and businesses across its network. We are confident that the new tariff as well as our ongoing metering, customer enumeration and technical audit projects will enhance the quality of our service. We appeal for the support of our customers by way of prompt bill payment and exposure of energy thieves and vandals that attack our equipment and installations. This will make more power available to bonafide Ikeja Electric customers”