The Nation Newspaper

Category: Energy

  • NAPE confab begins Nov. 9

    NAPE confab begins Nov. 9

    The 32nd annual international conference and exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) is scheduled for November 9 -13 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos.

    The conference themed: “The future of hydrocarbon exploration: Drilling deeper, searching wider”, will bring experts together to discuss on exploring emerging and revolutionary technologies for hydrocarbon exploration, the commercialisation and exploration strategies for deepwater plays as well as portfolio growth and diversification of hydrocarbon potentials in inland basins.

    The conference will also deliberate on ways to drive executable gas flare-out agenda for Nigeria’s oil and gas industry as well as examine the effectiveness in the existing policies to drive growth in the oil and gas industry so as to come up with initiatives for the development of roadmaps and new policy initiatives.

    NAPE President, Adedoja Ojelabi while talking to reporters on the conference, stated that the event will host speakers who are high level industry practitioners, key personnel in government and academia that will deliver papers on six  sub-themes including; play diversity, characterisation and operational challenges of HPHT (high pressure high temperature) and deep plays; Frontier exploration and analogues: Gulf of Guinea and West Africa transform margin basins;  Emerging technology and commercialisation strategies for deepwater plays; Searching wider and exploration growth: New exploration targets in brown field conventional play; Portfolio growth and diversification – hydrocarbon potential of inland basins and exploration strategies; and Safety, Health, Security and Environmental challenges in hydrocarbon exploration.

    Speakers include Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo; Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, George Osahon: Dr Olayiwola Fatona, Managing Director, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Limited; Vice President, Gas Shell, Mr. Ubaka Emelumadu and Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, NNPC, Dr David Ige, among others.

  • Clean energy takes centre stage at Abuja summit

    In line with the “Sustainable Energy for All Initiative” of the United Nations and the mandate of doubling the share of renewable energy in Africa, the first Africa Clean Energy Summit (ACES) 2014, will bring together stakeholders in the power sector to find ways to shift focus from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

    The summit, which holds at the Sheraton Hotel in Abuja  from November 17 to 20, is coming on the heels of the current debate at the international level on the need to move from  fossil fuels to renewable energy. It is expected to give birth to the Africa Climate Solution Centre (ACSC), a hub that will serve as a clearing house for clean and renewable products, investors, financial institution and exhibitors for the African market.

    According to the Chief Operating Director (COD), Africa Clean Energy Summit, Mr. Olawale Akinwunmi, the event will include a world-class meeting, an international exhibition, technical conferences, business fora and other activities. “The hub will operate as a 24/7 permanent climate friendly energy solution initiative for exhibition and sales of renewable energy products and services. The initiative highlights both new and planned developments, helping to source technology, secure financing and enter  into business partnerships with development partners,” he said.

    Other activities slated for the summit include the incorporation of the Goodluck Jonathan Institute of Clean Technology (GJICT). Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL), and UN Energy Chair, will deliver the keynote address at the event.

    Akinwumi, who is the Chairman, the Environment Communications Limited, said the summit would also bring to the fore an earlier submission of  relevance of the declaration of Mohammed Ashry, the Chairman, Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, who reckoned that with the world’s energy dynamics becoming increasingly complex, there is a need for greater global integration and collaboration to address how the world will power its future generations.

    “Indeed, the future of renewable energy looks very different presently than it did a decade ago. This is well accentuated by the recent unanimous declaration by the UN General Assembly, which designated 2014-2024 as the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All.

    “This declaration underscores the importance of energy to sustainable development and the need for increased use of renewable sources of energy, energy efficiency, and the sustainable use of traditional energy resources. Nigeria will replicate what America is doing; just as President Obama is solarising America, President Jonathan is solarising Nigeria,” Akinwunmi said.

    He noted that the summit is positioned to be one of the world’s foremost annual climate solution events, dedicated to advancing renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technologies in Africa. “The benefits of adopting renewable include increased income generation, local content development, industrial development and job creation and increased earnings from carbon credit,” Akinwunmi noted.

  • ‘80 per cent of households in Lagos rely on generators’

    About 80 per cent of households in Lagos State rely on generators for their power needs, a report from the Lagos Electricity Management Board (LEMB) has said.

    The report titled: “Future Roofing Cities: The Lagos Energy Sector”,  said households are spending N50 per kilowatt for diesel generation, compared with N13 per kilowatt for grid electricity.

    The report with the sub-heading “Risk and Opportunities for Resilient Growth of the Lagos Energy Sector”, said poor power supply has made many people to generate electricity through generating sets without considering its socio-economic implications.

    It said 40 per cent of the population cannot access power from the grid, adding that, improvement in electricity supply is needed to accelerate socio-economic growth in the state. It  said individual and corporate organisations produce optimally when there is stable power. It said lack of regular power supply has resulted in the wastage of fresh produce or food in the state. “Lack of access to power has resulted in the use of generators and hardwood fuel resulting in air quality problems and increasing risk of respiratory disease. Power will help improve food storage, hygiene, access to market, and reduce wastage,” it stated.

    The report said productivity of operators in formal and informal sectors will improve when their power supply improves. “Accessibility to energy will integrate informal settlements into the city. Lagos is a sprawled city, therefore, needs electricity to overcome its challenges.  Infant mortality will reduce through provision of power to hospitals; crime will reduce when there are enough streetlights; and human capital and well-being will improve when power is regular,” the report said.

    The report also noted that agriculture, which is the highest employer of labour has suffered due to power problem. “Seventy per cent of rural population was employed in agriculture. Addressing energy deficit in rural economy will improve food production. Provision of power will support technological innovation and production efficiency in rural areas, it said.

    In a related development, the Lagos State Commissioner for Energy and Solid Minerals, Taofiq Tijani said the state receives 930 megawatts (Mw) of electricity from the grid. He said the state has been battling to meet its energy needs, adding that the development made the government to establish independent power plants.

  • NAPE raises concern over falling oil price

    NAPE raises concern over falling oil price

    • Reiterates need to boost exploration  

    The Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) has expressed worry over the continued drop in price of crude oil and the anticipated negative impact it will have on the economy.

    NAPE President, Mrs. Adedoja Ojelabi said the falling oil price shouldn’t have been a concern if the necessary precautions were put in place. She said that in any normal market, prices are expected to rise and fall but the fact is that as a country, we don’t anticipate issues that will drive up or down the price.

    She stated that although Nigeria doesn’t have control over oil price because it’s internationally determined through the forces of demand and supply but it can mitigate the effect locally. She said: “Nigeria cannot control the price of oil in the international market but can mitigate the effects locally by producing and refining sufficiently. If we have this self-sufficiency, the effect will trickle down to other sectors of the economy.”

    Ojelabi said imagine if Nigeria doesn’t import products but produces and refines more than it requires locally, in a period of continued drop in prices, it can export refined products and create jobs and value in-country. Also if proceeds from oil have been sufficiently invested in making power available to Nigerians, the benefits should be unquantifiable. Imagine if Nigeria will have two years of uninterrupted power supply what the effect will be on industrialisation, manufacturing and technology development, she added.

    She said the effect of the falling oil price is worsened by the fact that Nigeria has not been meeting its production target for a long time. Although she couldn’t say much on the effect of the falling price on the economy, it is noteworthy that production target and price benchmark have been two critical indices on which Nigeria’s budget is hinged, therefore, inability to meet production targets coupled with continued drop in price, should be a major cause for concern to Nigerians.

    However, Ojelabi noted that mitigating effects of falling oil price is by ensuring steady power supply in the country, which is the only way to industrialisation, reducing gas flaring and monetising it. “Although putting the mitigating facilities in place will take a long time, it will not only boost other sectors but also industrialisation through steady supply. Gas supply constraint has been a major challenge to generating enough power while huge quantity of gas is flared,” she added.

    Also speaking on the declining oil reserves and the need to check it, Ojelabi said: “The Nigerian oil and gas industry landscape has in the last five years or so witnessed some of the sweeping changes since the discovery of crude oil in the country more than five decades ago. On the international scene, the advent of shale gas has proved to be a game changer and a peculiar threat to the industry, especially in the LNG market where Nigeria is a major player within the Atlantic basin region. On the other hand, the spate of oil and gas discovery in other African countries is putting a lot of pressure on Nigeria as the ‘favourite’ destination for oil and gas investments.

    “On the local scene, the changes are even more profound. For the first time in several years, the nation’s reserve is showing a sign of decline as exploration,  drilling has hit the lowest level ever experienced in the nation’s history. Expectedly, reports of new discoveries are few and far between and where reported, the reserves are getting smaller.”

    Also NAPE President-elect, Chinwendu Edoziem, said that one of the causes of the drop in oil price is self-sufficiency of consumer countries such  as United States of America (USA). Let’s hope the price hold at current price, he added.

    He stated that it is important the price of crude doesn’t go down further because it is the price that determines whether an oil firm will go and drill or not. Search for oil is often driven by price of crude, he added.

    Oil price traded at $81.46 per barrel on Friday as against an average of  $100 per barrel some months ago.

  • ‘Power sector needs $5b yearly for infrastructure devt’

    ‘Power sector needs $5b yearly for infrastructure devt’

    The power sector needs about $5billion (N900billion) yearly to expand infrastructure and increase electricity generation from its current 3,700 megawatts (Mw) to 20,000 Mw, Prof. Chinedu Nebo has said.

    Nebo who spoke through his Special Adviser on Investments, Finance and Donor, Olajuwon Olaleye, at the 4th edition of the WorldStage National Electricity Power Conference (WNEPC) in Lagos, said the sector needs to spend $5 billion annually for the next five years  to produce 20,000Mw of electricity.

    He said the money will be invested across the value chain to foster the growth of the sector.  He said three core areas, which include generation; distribution and transmission need to be well funded in view of their critical roles in the sector.

    He said: “For the sector to grow its capacity to 20,000Mw, it needs to invest about $5billion annually on key infrastructural facilities. The generation, distribution and transmission need value additions in order to move the industry forward. The only way to do this is to improve on their existing infrastructure.

    “We are working towards making the sector effective  and vibrant such that investors would get good yields.  If you are bringing investors into the sector, such investors can only attend to you if they know that they would get good yields on their investments. A lot of supports  have come to the sector through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Department for International Development (DFID), African Finance Corporation(AFC), World Bank, and other development agencies,”

    He said maintenance and development of energy infrastructure is ongoing to tackle the problems facing the sector. He said inadequate gas supply and pipeline vandalism are problems in the sector but noted that the government is making efforts to address them.

    He said the government has introduced Infrastructure Security Surveillance through which it is monitoring the activities of people that vandalise gas pipelines, adding that it has employed members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for that purpose.

    Nebo  said the Ministry of Power and Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other relevant stakeholders, have discussed how to make gas available to the power firms.

    He said the government has set up Market Discipline Resolution Panel (MDRP), automated the system of paying for power, and introduced a concept called ‘Shadow Training’ through which it simulates activities in the sector, among other initiatives.

    He said: “Just as activities are simulated on the floors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in order to determine the movement or growth of stocks, the same way the government is simulating activities in the power sector through an initiative called Shadow Training.”

    The idea helps us to know how power is transmitted into the grid, among other things.  The second cycle of Shadow Training has started to enable us fast-track the growth of the industry.

    He said lawyers, accountants, arbitrators, among others, are members of the MDRP, stressing that they have been mandated to discharge their responsibilities in a professional manner.

    He said the government has mandated the power distribution companies (DISCOs) to open arbitration offices for settlement of cases arising from poor treatment of consumers.

    “There is a penalty if a company does not supply power for 15 days. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) will sanction any company that violates the law.  The major goal of the panel is to ensure amicable resolution of disputes among stakeholders in the sector.  The panel has the right to punish offenders in line with the laws guiding the operation of the sector,” he said.

  • ‘Infrastructure deficit inhibits growth of gas sector’

    ‘Infrastructure deficit inhibits growth of gas sector’

    Inadequate infrastructural facilities such as pipelines, pressure station, and Central Processing Unit (CPUs), hinder 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 it 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 turnaround and useful in other sectors, if there are adequate infrastructural facilities in place.”

    According to him, the gas that is being flared in the country 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 that 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.

  • 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 .

    He stated that adversaries of the project at inception are now jostling for recognition claiming to be part of the success story. He said the Board is undaunted and will continue to propel the management to attain greater heights in the industry.

    The Managing Director, Mr. Venkatapathy Venkataraman, noted that as key element in the rising profile of the company, management will continue to provide enabling environment for staff to excel and thrive on continuous basis. He described the event as yet another demonstration of management’s resolve to continually appreciate the workforce’s peerless contribution to the growth of the company stressing the feat had encouraged the company to deliver exceptional results in recent times.

    Venkatapathy enjoined staff to continue to put in their best, adding that management is committed to having a cohesive workforce and intend keeping an open door policy for all staff to improve the communication line in the organisation, adding that all hands should be on deck to maintain the good image the company has built in the last decade.

    The Executive Director, Corporate Services, Alhaji Abdulkadir Aminu, hailed the current transformation in the company.

    Sixteen members of staff that had put in 10 years of service, some founding fathers and expatriates were honoured with special plaques for their sterling contributions to the company.

  • MAN generates 550mw

    MAN generates 550mw

    The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has said it is early to assess the power sector reform including privatisation, just as the body is generating about 550 megawatts (Mw) of power in the three out of its eight delineated industrial clusters.

    Speaking to The Nation, the Chairman, Infrastructure Committee, MAN, Reginald Odiah, said the body wanted to see the situations as they unfold before passing judgments on issues relating to power sector reforms.

    He said: “As regard the issue of privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), it is a good development in the history of Nigeria’s energy sector. The idea is aimed at repositioning the sector for growth to enable it compete with others in the emerging economies. Though, we believe that the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is competent to regulate the sector and further make it work, we are still studying the situation. We want to see how the whole things play out before stating our position on the matter.”

    Odiah said the association grouped the country into eight industrial clusters, out of which three were picked for the sitting of power plants after careful appraisal of developments. He said the three clusters located in Ota/ Abeokuta axis of Ogun State have functional power plants adding that the Ota/Abeokuta axis was chosen because of its relatively huge concentration of industries.

    “We are looking at areas with high concentration of industries and after necessary investigations, we arrived at a decision to choose Ota/ Abeokuta axis. Besides, we discovered that the cost implication of having power plants in the area is not much compared to others.  In the three industrial clusters located in the Ota/ Abeokuta axis, we have three power plants with an output of 550Mw,” he added.

  • Chevron wins CIPM awards

    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.”

    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 conferment of 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 gets results the right way.

  • IKEDC eyes installation of 500,000 meters in three years

    •Invests over N1b in network reinforcement 

    The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) will roll out about 500,000 prepaid meters to customers who do not have meters and are presently being billed through estimation, the Managing Director of IKEDC, Mr. Abiodun Ajifowobaje,  has said.

    Ajifowobajeat, who spoke at a customers’ forum held in the 15 business units of the utility firm, told customers that the 500,000 meters would be installed within the next three years. The installation is part of the company’s strategic steps to ensure accurate and effective billings of consumption by customers.

    He said two main challenges confronting the company, are effective metering of customers and the inadequate quantum of energy received from the national grid, noting that finding lasting solution to them paramount.

    Plans, he said, have been concluded on the metering project, adding that the official roll out and installation of the meters will start before December this year.

    Ajifowobaje said the company’s daily power need is about 1,250 megawatts (MW), but what it actually receives from the national grid is an average of 350MW to 450MW.

    He said: “I am, however, happy to report that IKEDC is involved in talks with several partners to explore supply from embedded power generation, Independent Power Projects and other sources to improve supply. We are equally working on a robust metering model that will promote transparency in billing and eradicate energy theft, which poses serious challenge to us but before December this year, we will come out with policy on ways to improve power supply to customers.

    “We have carefully studied the challenges facing metering of customers and we have come out with comprehensive approach on how to effectively tackle these challenges. Even now that we have not officially rolled out the planned metering scheme, the company had been able to install over 5,000 prepaid meters for customers at no cost since we took over the company on November last year.”

    Ajifowabaje said many customers within the company’s network have had prepaid meters installed in their premises, while we have also caught many customers bypassing meters. This development poses serious challenge to the company,” he added.

    He said customers with obsolete and malfunctioning meters would also have such meters replaced, adding that the company has made significant progress in its quest to ensure a robust metering system that would enhance accuracy in billing. The IKEDC boss said the management has come out with a robust plan that would address all challenges facing meter bypass by customers.

    He noted that additional security features will be built into the new prepaid meter planned to be installed and would be deployed to areas notorious for tampering with meters.

    On the planned 500,000 meters, he said: “Our first phase plan is to ensure that about 300,000 prepaid meters are rolled out by December while about 500,000 to 600,000 meters are being targeted for fresh installation and replacement of faulty ones in the said three years.

    Speaking on challenges facing the company on vandalism, Ajifowobaje stated that over N1 billion released by the board to drive quick wins had been spent to date on rehabilitation of vandalised transformers, replacement of undersized overhead conductors, completion of abandoned distribution projects and reduction in estimated billing issues.

    “IKEDC has also centralised its billing system to drive accuracy and introduced the Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) system, which drives remote access to meters for efficiency and effective monitoring. We have injected about N1 billion to improve electricity supply through the completion of the ongoing network expansion and rehabilitation projects. About 40 vandalised transformers have been repaired and installed to boost electricity supply, while about 115 abandoned transformer projects are almost completed in various sites.