The Nation Newspaper

Category: Energy

  • Firm plans to manufacture umbilical products for oil industry

    Royal Niger Emerging Technologies, an indigenous company, is planning to set up a plant for the manufacture of umbilical products in Nigeria that will be dedicated to the local market, the company’s Managing Director, Anthony Okolo, has said.

    An umbilical is a cable which supplies fluid, power and data to drilling and production equipment. The umbilicals will be manufactured at the company’s facility in Badagry, Lagos.

    Okolo said that the facility is expected to begin operations in the second quarter of 2015, adding that the facility will be capable of receiving umbilical components from multiple manufacturers in a variety of configurations, lengths and materials.

    He said: “The plant will be a key element in ensuring that leading manufacturers of umbilical products are able to meet their Nigerian Content compliance requirements by producing up to 60 per cent of the  tonnage of the equipment in Nigeria while offering benefits of reduced cost in logistics and operations.  The plant will also support after market services including repairs, reeler management and splicing.”

    According to him, the plant will complement the efforts of the Minister of Petroleum Resources through the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to domicile this capacity in Nigeria with the intention to limit capital flight of approximately $400 million, which will occur on projects between 2015 and 2018 without the development of this plant.

    An Executive Director of the company, Mr. Ivan Paoli said: “The company hopes the industry will recognise the value this investment will bring in order to level the playing field for those that will be involved in umbilical projects in the future. We therefore, call upon the NCDMB and industry stakeholders to open up dialogue on industry requirements in order to ensure the facility has the requisite flexibility and capabilities to serve the laudable objectives of its inception.”

  • Pipeline Vandalism: NSCDC Arrests 6

    The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), in an operation at Patrick Waterside of River State, intercepted a wooden Boat loaded with Crude-Oil.

    The Corps, in a statement through its spokesman, Emmanuel Okeh, disclosed that it collaborated with the 146 Battalion of the Nigeria Army in the State to carry out the operation.

    According to Okeh, the combined team swung into action after receiving an intelligence report on the activities of vandals at the creek.

    He further recounted that on sighting security operatives, the vandals dove into the river, abandoning the wooden boat and the stolen product.

    In addition, the statement also mentioned a brilliant interception of NSCDC’s Anti-vandal team from Abia state command, which foiled the attempt of pipeline vandals at Isiala Ngwa area of the state.

    The team reportedly arrested six persons who were mounting valves on pipelines with the intention to vandalise and siphon Petroleum Products.

    Okeh added that for prosecution, the suspects would be charged to court of competent jurisdiction after investigation is completed.

     

  • Shell wins stakeholder engagement, human rights awards

    Shell wins stakeholder engagement, human rights awards

    Shell Companies in Nigeria have been named the best in sustainable stakeholder engagement and promotion of human rights in the annual Social Enterprise Report and Awards (SERAs).

    Shell also emerged the first runner-up in the overall SERAs CSR awards for the most responsible Nigerian company, while it was nominated for its sterling performance in five other categories – Infrastructure; Sustainability Report; Supply Chain; Partnership for Development; and Income and Wealth Generation at award programme held on Saturday in Lagos.

    “The Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) initiative, among others, stood Shell companies out in stakeholder engagement, while its human rights training programme cannot go unrecognised,” the award organisers said.

    The organisers recognised the efforts of the Country Chair of Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC,), Mutiu Sunmonu and named him Sustainability Champion.

    “We are grateful for the recognition of our efforts which began since we set foot in the Niger Delta in the 1950s,” Sunmonu said when he received the awards.

    “The awards are a challenge for me and my colleagues in Shell and we shall remain in the forefront of converting Nigeria’s oil and gas resources to more jobs and opportunities for Nigerians.”

    SERAs aim to recognise corporate bodies who invest in society through CSR progammes. Shell Companies in Nigeria have won the award in six different categories in the last eight years ago.

  • ‘Infrastructure deficit inhibits growth of gas sector’

    Inadequate infrastructural facilities such as pipelines, pressure station, and Central Processing Unit (CPUs), is hindering the growth of the gas sector, the President, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association of Nigeria (LPGAN), Mr. Dayo Adesina, has said.

    Others challenges, he said, include lack of gas stripping plants and effective regulatory mechanisms, among others.

    Adesina said the problems are ineffective utilisation of gas, which makes it impossible for critical sectors of the economy to access the product for growth. He said the country is finding it difficult to take the gas to where it is needed, processed and used to achieve the desired results.  He lamented that Nigeria is flaring gas without considering its socio-economic implications.

    He said: “The country is flaring millions of metric tonnes of gas daily, because there is no infrastructure in place to capture it for productive usage.  And to take the gas to where it is needed, the government has done in that regard. Facilities such as Central Processing Units (CPUs), gas stripping plants, pressure stations and others are lacking in the country. What is considered a waste in the gas sector can be turned around and be useful in other sectors, if there are adequate infrastructural facilities in place.”

    According to him, the gas  being flared can power the whole of Africa, if the right policies are in place.

    Also, the Director -General, Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), Benjamin Dikki in an interview with The Nation, said gas shortage has affected the operation of the power sector. Dikki said infrastructural deficit in the gas industry is having spillover effects in the power sector. “Instead of wasting gas by flaring it, we can channel it to the power sector. Due to gas shortage, the power sector cannot generate enough electricity. We are producing less than 6,000MW of electricity. We are hovering between 4,000MW to 5,000MW of electricity; when we are suppose to generate 10,000MW.  We have been targetting 10,000MW for some time now and we are yet to achieve it.

    The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and her counterpart in the Power Ministry, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and other relevant stakeholders had in Abuja, discussed how to make gas available to the power sector.

  • Shippers Council to implement recommendation of judges’seminar

    Shippers Council to implement recommendation of judges’seminar

    The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC),  has began the implementation of  some of the recommendations of the Maritime Seminar for Judges held in June this year, the Executive Secretary, Hassan Bello has  said.

    Bello told The Nation that the NSCs’ Legal Department, has set up a committee to look at the communiqué issued at the end of the seminar with a view to identifying how to implement the recommendations.

    “A committee was set up at the end of the seminar. It has inter-ministerial responsibilities and they have set up a committee. It has been done to see that certain things are implemented. As you know, the maritime seminar is not just a talk shop. Through the seminar, we have domesticated about two or three conventions, we have also done some administrative changes in maritime sector. It has influenced our judicial decisions also. So, the maritime seminar is a canvasser of thoughts. So, this committee that has been set up is working to see that decisions reached at the last seminar are actualised

    Bello said the board of Nigerian Shippers Council is technical and is being represented by NNPC, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA). “Also there are issue-based discussions on the challenges in the maritime sector and solutions to these challenges,” he said.

    On the increased jurisdiction of the council, whether there is a corresponding increment on their financial allocations, Bello said: “Yes, we love that Shippers Council is ready to go on. As a matter fact, we have made presentation and I am sure it is being looked at. We want to bring more revenue to the government. Through the Customs, we could triple the revenue coming from the ports if given the chance to work. We have started. We would soon make profound statement on issues that we have negotiated.”

    Speaking on  the Inland Container Depots otherwise called Dry Ports, he said: “It is going on. We have just turned the sod for Funtua. The concessionaire will start construction very soon. We have had discussion with Oyo State government, the Ibadan ICD and many others are in the pipeline. I think the idea has gone down now, it is being accepted. If we have the dry port, it means we are taking shipping to the door steps of shippers. It means that Apapa Port and road would be free from congestion.  It means that the economy of the places where these ICD’s are located will boom because there are other industries attached to it. The haulage industry, the warehouses and so on, and the cost of transportation would reduce drastically.”

    He added: “We are working with Customs, what is left now is the legal framework and this has been sent to the President by the Minister of Transport. The moment it comes out, construction will start. And then these ports will be ports of destination and ports of origin, which means through bill of lading, you can consign cargo to Funtua from Denmark and when they come, they will not be examined at Apapa, they will just be taken by train to Funtua where they would be examined and you see the train is working now. When we are fully done, all these trucks coming, you will not see them littering the roads any more, they will be in the localities of the ports. So, it will solve the perennial congestion at the port. It will be faster and it will cost the transport cost.

    Speaking on mult-modal transport system in the country, Bello said: “That is what we have been doing. Multi-model transportation is the way to go about it. We are even supported by the United Nations Convention on carriage of goods wholly or partly by sea otherwise known as the Rotterdam Rules, which we crafted together with all the African countries. This is a goods convention which supports multi-modalism   it will support inter-modalism. That is what is ideal.  It is a model where sea ports are linked with the rails, road and inland waterways. It is not all road, now in Nigeria, 80 per cent of the carriage is by roads. That is why we have problem with the roads. So, if we have other means of transport we will use them. The ports particularly, must be linked with many modes of transportation. So, multi-modalism is the future and Nigeria is already moving in that direction.”

    Talking on the concept of Transit Parks, Bello said the truck transit park is a Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) initiative for infrastructure change. “There is much deficit in infrastructure and Nigeria will have to modernise its transport infrastructure. Now, we can’t have trailers or trucks parked indiscriminately. That is why we said we could have a truck transit park. It is a modern way where we have parking spaces off the main way, where you have fuel stations, gas stations, hostels, shops, everything, the modern way of doing this thing,” he said.

    He added: “This is a revenue booster, we have been allocated land in Kogi State, for example, and this is where we will have the initial one. We are also talking with NNPC, which would like to have their retail outlets in these structures. By the end of next year, we hope that one or two trailer parks will be ready. We are working with other agencies of the government like the Road Safety Corps, and so on. Now, there should be some facilities which have been recommended by ECOWAS protocol on weights of goods by these trucks. It will reduce congestion; ensure the safety and security of cargoes. There will be trackers all over, where you track your cargo. It is a civilised way of doing things”.

  • Govt mulls local content policy for power

    Govt mulls local content policy for power

    The Federal Government is putting in place measures to provide a local content policy for the power sector, the Special Adviser on Investments, Finance and Donor Relations to the Minister of Power, Olajuwon Olaleye, has said.

    Olaleye told The Nation, that consultations have begun at various levels to make the policy work when it comes on stream, saying the decision was informed by the need to develop home-grown potentials in the sector.

    He said the government is getting the desired support from the state governments that have been contacted on the issue. The state governments are urged to provide policy direction for activities undertaken by indigenous operators in the power industry.

    He said: “Every state is embracing the decision to formulate and implement local content policy because they know that it is going to provide many benefits.

    “They know that the policy will help in bringing developments to our communities and create jobs for their people. We are getting the desired support and the working relationship needed on the issue.’’

    He said a committee, comprising the National Council on Power (NCP), and representatives of the 36 states of the federation has been constituted in Abuja by the government to ensure the success of the policy.

    The Council, whose members include the Permanent Secretaries and Commissioners for Energy, according to him, is charged with the responsibility of embracing foreign companies that are coming to partner with the local ones in order to foster the sector’s growth.

    Olaleye said the policy, which is  at the verge of being consummated, will help to harness local potentials, build capacity, and foster competition among stakeholders in the electricity value chain, adding that the sector is taking after the oil and gas sector which has introduced and implemented local content initiatives that have had a far-reaching consequence on the industry.

    “The policy is being consummated now. We are going to see a lot of collaborations within the system.  There is going to be a lot of synergies among operators.  There is no foreign company that comes to Nigeria that does not have a local company it is working with.

    “ The policy when ready would ensure that local companies benefit from the foreign firms for the growth of the sector. Just as the government has provided local content policy for the development of human capacity, markets, production of technologies, among other activities capable of  strengthening the petroleum industry, so it is planning to do the same thing for the power sector.

    “The policy will help in developing home potentials, reduce reliance on importation of technology, and help to widen the markets for the existing and future operators in the sector,” he added.

    According to him, the government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a Canadian company known as Sky Power on the issue of promoting local content initiatives, adding that the partnership is being consummated.

    Olaleye said the government is making efforts to improve power supply going by initiatives it has embarked upon in recent times. The initiatives, he said, include advocating the use of renewable energy, directing the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Power, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to provide modalities on how to provide gas to improve electricity generation.

    He said issues affecting the sector are fundamental, adding that the government is trying to address them. It would be recalled that the government set up the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) few years ago, to provide policy direction for all local activities in the oil and gas industry.

  • Firm seeks more deals from IOCs

    Indigenous operators in oil and gas sector have urged the Federal Government to ensure that the gains of the Local Content Act get to their target by creating opportunities for the employment of Nigerians by multinational companies in jobs which Nigerian firms can to execute.

    The General Manager, Fenog Nigeria Limited, Mr. Uwakwe Chukwudi, made the plea at the commissioning of a self-propelled swamp lay barge; three service vessels; PD350 ton HDD rig; HDD water borehole and soil sample collection rig, and phase 1 of 350 meter rigid pavement access road in base 3 of the company’s jetty/fabrication yard at Ugbuwangwe, Warri, Delta State.

    Chukwudi, who called on President Goodluck Jonathan; the Minister of Petroleum Resources; the Group Managing Director of NNPC; Group General Manager, NAPIMS; the Executive Secretary and members of the NCDMB; the International Oil Companies ( IOC’s) and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry to assist local companies that have world class capabilities by giving them jobs.

    He said his company has been playing its part to ensure that the wealth of the oil and gas industry gets to all Nigerians by massively investing in the building of heavy equipment.

    He said the latest equipment will no doubt add momentum to the success of Fenog in the oil and gas industry, urging  the IOC’s and government bodies to adopt Fenog’s novel method of pipeline installation as a better technology.

    Chukwudi said: “Local companies like Fenog Nigeria Limited deserve encouragement to participate actively in the oil and gas industry. When we are encouraged, development will spread to all parts of the oil-rich Niger Delta region and a good percentage of our army of unemployed youths will be employed. We count on your support for patronage in the days, months and years ahead.

    “In addition to being the 2014 NOG indigenous Company Award recipient, Fenog Nigeria Limited is on the sure roadmap of being included in the world’s Guinness Book of Records for installing a 67km by 20inch Amukpe to Escravos pipeline, using Fenog’s pioneered, Continuous Horizontal Directional Drilling (CHDD) method, which is the longest and most secured string of pipeline in the world.”

    He, however, called on the Petroleum Minister, NNPC Chief, NCDMB and NAPIMS, to prevail on Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to award his firm the Trans Niger Pipeline Loopline (TNPL) project since huge resources have been expended in acquiring these equipments.

    The Executive Secretary, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Ernest Nwapa, commended Fenog for acquiring such equipment and promised the firm that the board would do all within its power to ensure that the Local Content Act is strictly adhered to by the oil companies.

    He noted that it was good to have partnership with companies that are progressive and have the capacity to do some of the works done in the oil and gas industry, adding that investments such as the ones embarked upon by Fenog that grows the economy. “I also like the way Fenog grows partnership with other oil companies. This is another way of building capacity. We are in a situation whereby the country is faced with only two or three industries and our economy has been sustained by these industries. It is a good  thing to have partnership with companies that are progressive and companies that have the capacity to do some of the works we are doing in the industry today. It is investment like this that grows the economy,” he said.

    The Executive Director of Fenog, Mr. Mathew Tonlagha said: “We have invested heavily on capacity over the years, but with low patronage from the industry. It is the Federal Government that holds us now. We are commissioning our equipment and they are supposed to give us projects that they are supposed to be commissioned. This is the third time we are inviting them to come and commission our modern equipment, but we have not invited them to come and commission any project here. So it is a challenge to the Federal Government.”

  • NIPCO celebrates workers at 10

    NIPCO celebrates workers at 10

    The board and management of NIPCO Plc, an integrated indigenous oil and gas operator, has described its workers as a key component in the success story of the company since it opened shop in 2004.

    The company’s Chairman, Chief Bestman P. Anekwe, stated this at the 10th anniversary and special recognition award ceremony held by the company to show gratitude to the staff for their contributions and as the key promoters of the organisation in the last 10 years.

    According to the company’s Manager, Corporate Affairs, Lawal Taofeek, Anekwe said the event was the first of its kind in the history of the company adding that it’s commendable as it provided avenue to value publicly the efforts of its human capital and some founding fathers whose efforts brought about the steady growth of the organisation.

    Anekwe said the NIPCO dream, which some people had thought was mission impossible, has become a reality even in the face of some daunting challenges to the delight of numerous stakeholders.

    He singled out the wonderful support of two founding fathers of the company – Alhaji Abdulkadir Aminu and Mr. Tunji Adeniji with whom he travelled across the nooks and crannies of the country soliciting the support of independent fuel marketers to key into the project. “The trio went through lots of tribulations from the onset of the firm but our greatest joy today is that the dream of the promoters had crystallised into reality even beyond our projections especially against the background  of what its peers were able to achieve within a decade,” he said .

  • ‘Local Content has attracted investors’

    The implementation of the Nigerian Content Act has attracted a crop Nigerian investors who are determined to commit huge resources to owning hi-tech assets and facilities to be used in executing projects in the oil and gas industry rather than play second fiddle roles to expatriates, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Ernest Nwapa has said.

    Nwapa spoke in Port Harcourt, Rivers State after commissioning a work shop established by Benkline Nigeria Limited for the repair of oil and gas pumps, refurbishment and refitting of mechanical seals, gear boxes and associated equipment. He stated that many Nigerians are no longer interested in acting as agents for foreign partners, but “are investing alongside their partners, learning how to manage the business and operate complex equipment, repair and even do research and development.”

    Nwapa noted that the newly developed bullish attitude of Nigerian investors validate the wisdom of President Goodluck Jonathan in signing the Nigerian Content Bill into law in 2010 as well as the commitment of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke in supporting the implementation in a structured and sustainable manner.

    He said: “we are happy that the industry has come to accept this as a way of life and we no longer have to push and pull in all directions. What is going on today is a continuous collaboration between the government and the industry, between Nigerian companies and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).”

    He dispelled the notion that the Board was forcing OEMs to set up in Nigeria, stressing that the local oil and gas industry provided sufficient business and market to justify investments in-country.

    Nwapa stated that many locations overseas where services were hitherto performed for the Nigerian oil and gas industry before the passage of the Nigerian Content Act were smaller and less equipped than most facilities being set up by Nigerians since the Act came into effect. “A few years ago, we were told that many oil and gas equipments were very intricate and if not well used can create disasters for the oil and gas industry. But valves are now being taken out from the fields, tested and maintained here and put back successfully,” he said.

    He commended Benkline for successfully partnering with OEMs- Frank Mohn AS of Norway and Eurofiliases of France to deliver hi-tech services in the industry, adding that the Board was promoting the same policy under its Nigerian Oil and Gas Park Scheme (NOGAPS), as a strategy to get OEMs to work with small and medium enterprises and mentor them to manufacture some of their components.

    He challenged international and indigenous operating companies to patronise Nigerian service companies who set up facilities, adding that government was committed to support every investment that is made in-country.

    He reiterated that the value of new investments made by Nigerian service companies in the last four years had hit $5 billion, noting that the development pointed to massive investments that would come into the industry in the next five years.

    The Chairman, Board of Directors, Benkline Nigeria, Larry Osai, advised Nigerian investors to partner with persons and firms that can contribute resources and knowledge so as to grow their companies and leave legacies. He attributed the company’s growth to the government’s local content policy.

     

  • Chevron wins CIPM awards

    Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), operator of the NNPC/Chevron Joint Venture, has won the 2014 edition of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) of Nigeria’s Human Resources (HR) Best Practice Awards in the Oil & Gas category and the Overall category.

    According to CIPM, Chevron Nigeria received both awards as recognition of the company’s robust human resources practices and policies, and engagement of employees on HR related issues.

    The General Manager, Policy, Government and Public Affairs (PGPA) of Chevron Nigeria, Mr. Deji Haastrup, who received the award on behalf of CNL, expressed the company’s appreciation for the recognition and award.

    He said: “We are delighted to receive both awards because CIPM and members of the adjudication panel thrive on excellence.  For CIPM to assess us and adjudge our company’s human resources programmes as not only the best in the oil and gas industry but the overall best in the country is something to be proud of.”

    Haastrup praised CIPM for the recognition and the company’s Human Resources & Medical Department for making CNL proud. “I thank CIPM for the honour and recognition, and our HR and Medical department for its excellent work, which has brought us honour,” he said.

    The awards were presented to Haastrup by Mr. Victor Famuyibo, President and Chairman of CIPM Council during the institute’s 46th conference at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

    CNL’s Director, Human Resources and Medical, Mrs. Ihuoma Onyearugha, described the award as a “great moment  for Chevron.” She added that “the recognition by CIPM reinforces the fact that Chevron is a great company – with good processes.”

    The Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron companies in Nigeria, Mr. Clay Neff, applauded CIPM for the awards, which he said was an endorsement of the Human Energy driving the Chevron success story.  According to him, “People are the most important asset in Chevron and this recognition is reflected in the company’s vision to be the global energy company most admired for its people, partnership and performance.” Neff said the company invests in people and deploys human resources programmes to strengthen organisational capability and develop a talented workforce that get results the right way.