The Nation Newspaper

Category: Energy

  • Lagos loses 4.4m kwh of energy annually

    About 4.358million kilowatt hour (kwh) of energy is lost annually to poor management of power in homes and offices in Lagos,  a report by the Lagos State Electricity Board (LSEB) has said.

    The report, which followed a research conducted by the Board to ascertain residents’ electricity consumption, said lack of energy conservation at homes, business premises and markets, among others, is common in the Lagos metropolis.

    Individuals and organisations, according to the report, were said to be generating far more than their energy needs through power generators, with the excess wasted on daily basis.

    It said electricity consumers are leaving their appliances and electricity bulbs on,  even when not needed, adding that the development is having a far-reaching effects on their well-being. It said the cost of wasting energy is enormous because it affects various aspects of human endeavours. The report said that inability of people to manage electricity well has caused them financial and health losses.

    This, the report said, is evident by emission of carbon dioxide (Co2) by those, who expose themselves to generator fumes daily, stressing that, many spend a lot of money to recharge their meters because they cannot  manage electricity well.

    About N38 billion, the report said, could be saved annually if energy conservation is practised in the state.

    “Energy conservation is paramount to the government, which has put in place measures to manage electricity consumption. Switching to energy saving bulbs at the Lagos State Government secretariat, Alausa, has resulted in energy savings of 978,906 kwh and reduces carbon-dioxide emission by 1,278,444 (pounds) lbs annually. This was achieved through the various power projects embarked upon by the government in recent times,” the reported stated.

    The state Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Taofiq Tijani,  said the implementation of the Independent Power Plants (IPPs) has helped to improve the energy needs of the state.

    ‘’With the state getting less than 1,000 megawatts (Mw) of electricity from the national grid due to gas supply problem inhibiting the operation of the power generation companies (GENCOs), among others, the government is left with the option of providing other means of complementing whatever it gets from the national grid. Besides, the development has helped in reducing carbon dioxide emission.

    “Through the plants, we are providing power to water projects, hospitals and schools, among other institutions that require energy mass. Also, we are leveraging on the plants to reduce carbon dioxide emission for growth,” he said.

    Tijani, said Akute power plant, is targeting an annual reduction of carbon dioxide emission of 218,906,496 (pounds) lbs, while that of Alausa Secretariat Energy Saving Retrofit project, targets an annual reduction of Co2 emission of 1,278,444 (pounds) lbs.

    He said annual reduction of carbon dioxide emission of 348,670,656 (pounds) lbs is expected from Alausa Independent Power Plant, while Lagos Island Independent Power Project Expansion (IPP2) targets Co2 reduction of 185,054,976 (pounds) lbs.

    Tijani said about N600 million is being saved monthly through the Alausa IPP, which was commissioned in 2013 to serve the power needs of the state secretariat, Ikeja as well as streetlights within the Alausa precinct. The commissioner added that following the switch-on of the Alausa IPP, over 120 generators hitherto used by the various offices within the state secretariat were decommissioned.

    The state started energy conservation campaign recently. The campaign, which has entered its second edition, aimed at educating residents on how to stop wasting energy, by switching off their appliances and others when not used.

  • Oriental Energy refutes Afren’s allegations

    Oriental Energy Resources Limited, the 60 per cent equity owner of the Ebok and Okwok assets, located offshore Southeast Nigeria, has refuted some contents of a press release issued by Afren recently, which contained the results of the independent review by Wilkie Farr & Gallagher (WFG) UK into certain transactions undertaken by Afren, and whether such transactions should have been announced at the time they were entered into in accordance with requirements of the listing rules.

    The Executive Chairman of Oriental, Dr. Muhammadu Indimi, stated that “Afren’s press release, including their summary of WFG’s findings, was little more than a collection of suppositions, unsupported innuendoes and a series of false and defamatory statements,” adding that it is necessary for Oriental to set the record straight. Indimi stated that he regrets that the agreed protocol with Afren that required them to provide Oriental with an advance draft of any proposed press release for comment was blatantly ignored by Afren.

    The rebuttals made by Indimi include Afren’s first agreement with Oriental Energy in July 2012.     Oriental categorically denies that the forward sale of crude oil transaction of $100 million in July 2012 was a “loan” as contained in Afren press release. Indimi stated that Oriental and Afren entered into the Oriental Ebok forward sale of crude oil agreement in July 2012 noting that forward sales of crude oil among partners is a common practice in the international upstream petroleum industry. He explained that forward sale agreement was an agreement for the prepayment of oil and Oriental agreed to sell approximately one million barrels of its future oil production to Afren thereby permitting Afren to book those reserves in 2012. The reason the $100 million payment to Oriental was included in Afren’s balance sheet for 31 December 2012 under the line “Prepayment and Advances to Partners” is because it was, indeed, a prepayment for Oriental’s future oil production, he added.

    In reference to the $100 million forward sale, which Afren erroneously referred to as a loan, Afren properly deducted $100 million in oil equivalent barrels from Oriental’s 2014 profit oil. This was provisioned under an amendment to the original forward sale agreement by the amended and restated Ebok Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) of August 2013. This was agreed so as to conform with the terms of the original Forward Sale Agreement in allowing Afren to recover $100 million in profit oil from Oriental’s post-payout share of profit oil barrels, he stated.

    On the second agreement with Oriental Energy on 23rd August 2013, Indimi said Afren and Oriental signed the JOA, which had been under negotiation since the summer of 2012.  At no time was there ever any conjoining of the JOA with the $300 million payment as a quid pro quo to Oriental, as misrepresented by Afren.  The two payments of $180 million and $120 million are explained below.

    He said: “The Afren press release includes misrepresentations that “the agreement was conditional on pioneer status being confirmed for Ebok, which occurred in October 2013.” The Pioneer status was officially confirmed by letter dated May 15, 2013 and by an official certificate dated 5 September 2013, both dates well in advance of the October 2013 date misstated by Afren:  the official written confirmation date of May 15 occurred months before the Ebok JOA was signed by both parties on August 23, 2013 and therefore it could not have been a condition for signing the amended Ebok JOA.   Furthermore, there is no such thing as an “Amendment Agreement” erroneously referred to twice in the first paragraph of Afren’s press release under this heading, and a total of eight additional times in the subsequent paragraphs.  An “Amendment Agreement” would have been an agreement to agree and there was and is no such document.”

  • NAPE urges DPR, minister on fluid metering, accounting

    NAPE urges DPR, minister on fluid metering, accounting

    Explorationists have urged the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, to address back allocation of Basic Sediments and Water (BSW) during crude oil production reconciliation and imposition of disproportionate volume of crude by some facility owners on indigenous operators.

    Independent oil firms, especially indigenous companies that use other firms’ pipelines and facilities to convey their crude oil from point of production to the terminals, have been complaining of losing volumes of oil as what they get at the terminal point is substantially lower.

    The Director, DPR, Mr. George Osahon, pledged to ensure that measures would be adopted to address these issues, when he received a communiqué on behalf of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison- Madueke. The communiqué was generated from a workshop on “Fluid Metering and Accounting in the Oil & Gas Industry” organised by the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE).

    The workshop and communiqué were steps being taken by NAPE to address the unresolved issues of inaccurate metering raised by the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

    “You will recall that there have been a lot of issues regarding NEITI and metering and about what we need to do, some of these issues emanate from here and we are paying a lot of attention to them,” NAPE President, Mrs. Adedoja Ojelabi said while handing over the document to the DPR chief.

    Osahon said: “The document (communiqué) will come back for us to study and advise again on what we should do, how we should do it, and when we should do it. We will turn that into a plan of action of what we will do so that at least those companies that are suffering now especially those that are co- utilising facilities will have a new lease of life.”

    NAPE President, Adedoja Ojelabi, stated that the workshop on fluid accounting and metering was NAPE’s demonstration of its commitment to resolving issues that impact negatively on the oil and gas industry. She added that one of the ways NAPE does this is by providing platforms like the special management workshop.

    She said: “The production of the document has come out from a lot of work, meetings and the consensus reached by stakeholders. We hope that the document will be useful to the DPR, the government, the oil and gas industry and particularly Independents. We also see that industry is likely to witness more and more of such issues but we hope we can nip them in the bud before they become major irritations in the industry.”

    Also present at the event was NAPE’s President-elect, Mr. Chikwendu Edoziem, who expressed optimism that the communiqué, when adopted, will bring lasting solutions to the issues of fluid metering and accounting in the oil and gas industry.

  • Egina FPSO: Samsung debunks increase in contract cost, others

    Egina FPSO: Samsung debunks increase in contract cost, others

    The contractor handling Total’s Egina field’s floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), has denied adding variation cost of $300 million to the initial cost of the project, which was $3.2 billion, following the feud it had with Ladol, its Nigerian partner, which delayed project.

    It was alleged that the cost of the floating vessel rose to $3.5 billion as result of the variation and the company is not creating employment for Nigerians, in compliance with the Nigerian Content directives, but the company’s General Manager, Frank Ejizu, said the allegations are incorrect.

    He said: “I don’t think you got that variation quite correct because I’m not aware of the $300 million variation cost as you just said. Yes, we had slight delay in the project at the initial stage, which has been resolved and the delay will in no way impact on the cost of the project.

    “It was just a delay between us and LADOL. It will not have any significant impact on the cost of the project. If you listened to our presentation, the fabrication project will be completed by end of 2016 while the integration work will start in January 2017.

    “However, on the impact of this project on the local content, we are complying with the Local Content Act, which will translate into creating employment for our youths in Nigeria. It’s almost impossible to have a project without job creation.

    “I think the entire engineering programme is about $16 million; I think what matters is how well managed any delay is because it is always inevitable. And also how well managed is the cost control. So I don’t think there is any significant complaint from employers because they recognise that in this kind of project there are some areas the cost may go down or may go up and all that over the period.”

    Ejizu also discredited the allegation that the original design of the FPSO will be altered. He said: “No there will not be any alteration in the design of the FPSO.” He also dismissed the allegation that Samsung is not training Nigerian welders for the project. He said Samsung and its Nigerian partner,  the LADOL Integrated Logistics Enterprise, owners of Lagos Deep Offshore Logistic Base (LADOL), formed a new company called SMI-MCI FZE (Samsung Heavy Industries –Mega Construction Integration Free Zone), which will solely handle jobs that would be carried out at LADOL.

    The Chairman of LADOL,  Oladipo Jadesimi,  also said the disagreement between Samsung and LADOL has since been resolved for the interest of the economy, adding that over 1,500 jobs including welders will be created at LADOL alone.

    He said: “On the so-called legal tussle, there were some unresolved issues between Samsung and Ladol, which ended in a slight disagreement and the parties went to court but I can assure you that in line with international best practices, parties didn’t allow such a huge project with significant implication for the Nigerian economy to stay too long in court and parties sorted their difference out in the overall interest of the Nigerian economy and this project.

    “You can see we are on course, all outstanding issues have been resolved, the case in court has been withdrawn and we are set to go. On employment, this project at peak period will employ 1,500 people but all these people will not be employed at the same time because the project is in phases. We will employ a minimum of 1,500 people at the peak period of this project. The fabrication for this integration project is not only being done in Ladol. So when you are asking in terms of employment, this project will create employment outside of Ladol in other fabrication yards and also there is local supply chain and I think for every single direct job, there are five indirect jobs to go with  it, so that figure has to be quantified very carefully.”

    On allegations of not securing the necessary approvals and the dumping of the agreement to build a construction and fabrication yard in Bayelsa State, the company said: “All the approvals have been secured and we have the support of the government and the project we have is quite very huge, so we want the government to continue to support us in the future to realise the aspiration of government in the area of industrialisation.

    “We plead that government continues to create the right environment for the project to be realised. On Bayelsa yard, Samsung Industries didn’t come here only for one or two projects. We have a very long term view inside of Nigeria and we have this country as the hub for our West Africa oil and gas activities. It is part of our plan; we want to extend our presence beyond Lagos besides that of Ladol and other partners.

  • Kaztec advances on Antan, Ofrima/Udele fields’ platforms

    •NNPC chief impressed by level of work

    The Commercial Director, Kaztec Engineering Limited, a subsidiary of Chrome Group, Marc Robillard, has said the company is making tremendous progress on the construction of the platforms for production from Antan and Ofrima/Udele fields.

    Antan and Ofrima/Udele oil fields are operated by Sinopec Addax Petroleum. Antan field is in water depth of about 40 metres and located in oil mining lease (OML) 123 holding approximated recoverable reserves of 15 million barrels and expected to produce 12,000 barrels per day (bpd) at peak. Ofrima-Udele is located in oil mining lease (OML) 137 offshore Nigeria and south of Port Harcourt in Rivers State and it is expected to produce in excess of 100,000 bpd when on stream.

    Robillard spoke at Kaztec’s fabrication yard at Snake Island in Lagos when the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Joseph Thlama Dawha led management of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), an arm of NNPC, on a visit to the yard.

    Fielding questions from reporters, Mr Robillard said the fabrication yard a year and half ago was a virgin land with 85 per cent swamp and 15 per cent trees but has been developed and now being used for constructing offshore platforms. “We started with smaller projects but with Antan, which is a medium-sized project; it is going to bring us into an offspring of being able to go to a much bigger project. Right now Antan is in the area of 1400 to 1500 tons of steel and we will be going to 17,000 tons of steel for the Ofrima/Udele project, which encompasses bigger platforms, process facilities and much larger jackets, so this is what we have now.

    “This is a leading 100 per cent indigenous Engineering, Procurement, Installation, Construction, and Management (EPIC-M) Company. Kaztec received a delegation of leading oil and gas chiefs led by the  Group Managing Director to this fabrication yard about three months but between that time and now, it has witnessed rapid improvement in terms of the massive level of work done so far,” he said. Robillard took the NNPC delegation round the yard to see the progress made so far since visit by the former GMD.

    The Construction Manager, Mr. Jim Syne, explained the Antan project, Antan jacket deck and pilling works to the delegation. He pointed out a number of components,which would give aerial support where the final jacket label will be laid. He further observed that the ongoing work, appreciable as it seems, is still about a learning process, which by next year will be a lot developed than they are now.  On the performance of the welders on ground, Syne said the welders who are all Nigerians are not only good but also he is impressed with their quality and performance. He told the GMD about the appraisal levels of the welders at the yard and series of training skills and programmes they are given to help them develop on the job.

    While fielding questions from reporters,Robillard further said: “We are on phase one of the project which will go on to phase two that will include an expansion of the fabrication yard and then phase three with dry dock facilities, turning mill facilities, pipe coating facilities and finally,  phase four most likely having residential buildings, golf course among others at the other end of the island.” He further said that apart from the idea of a big expansion, the project involves very long term commitment.

    “The timeline on these phases will be finished by December of this year, phase two by December next year, dry docking facility another year after and then the pipe mill and more, so by 2018, phase one, two and three will be terminated,” he said.

    He also said that a 100 per cent Nigerian content will be available by the time the project ends. “We are 100 per cent committed to the Nigerian content and so in three years’ time, we would have created something between 2000 and 3000 local workers who will be Nigerians and also create indirect jobs of about 15,000 to 20,000.

    “It’s not a question of Snake Island being a Nigerian content, it’s a  question of ensuring we buy Nigerian content also because we will be dealing with more and more Nigerian companies,” Robillard said.

    On his impression of the facilities, Dawha said that having had the privilege of visiting the yard three months ago, which was just in its initial stage, he could see progress on the fabrication.

    “I am delighted that this is being done by mostly Nigerians. I am also delighted that most stakeholders are involved like the community who are part and parcel of what is happening here, which is a very important thing. And with the future plans they have for the community and the very good training programme for Nigerians, I must confess that I am very much impressed by the level of work, which is progressing rapidly,” he said.

  • Lagos IPPs to deliver 47Mw in 2015

    The six Independents Power Plants (IPPs) in Lagos State will deliver a combined capacity of 47megawatts   (Mw) of electricity before the first quarter of next year, the state Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Taofiq Tijani, has said.

    The six power plants are Akute Independent Power Plant (12.55Mw), Lagos Island 1&2 Independent Power Plant (10Mw), Alausa Independent Power Plant (10.4 Mw), Mainland Independent Power Plant (8.8Mw) and Lekki Peninsula Integrated Power Project (6Mw).

    Tijani spoke on the sidelines of the 2014 Energy Conservation Month held in Lagos. He said  plans are underway to make the six plants operational before the end of first quarter of next year.

    According to him, the journey into the provision of Independent Power Projects in Lagos began in 1999 when the state government entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Enron Corporation of United States for the purchase of electricity evacuated from its plant near Egbin Power Plant in Ikorodu. The agreement was for power distribution to Ikeja, Oshodi, Victoria Island, Marina, Lekki and Apapa, the areas where the IPPs are located.

    He said the plants in Akute, Alausa and Lagos Island have started operation, adding that those in Mainland and Lekki Pennisula would come on stream soon.

    He said: “Presently, the Independent Power Plants in Akute, Alausa and Lagos Island are producing more than 32 megawatts of electricity. By the time we commission the projects in Mainland and Lekki Peninsula in the next few months, we would be talking of 47 megawatts. The Alausa plant is being used to power the secretariat complex comprising the Ministries of Education, Health, Finance, Agriculture, Energy and Mineral Resources, Transportation and others, while the plant in Lagos Island serves General Hospital, Maternity Centre, High Court and Magistrate Court in the area. The plant in Akute is helping the government to pump over 130 billion gallons of water daily.

    “The plants play vital roles apart from helping to improve government’s operations; they also help in reducing emission of carbon dioxide in areas where they are located.  This has resulted in a safer and cleaner environment.”

    He said the plants are operated under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, adding that the government and private investors collaborate on the projects. He said the state government is building the plants in line with the approval of the Federal Government.

    “The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) permits the state government to build the plants and further supply power to its establishments across the state. The state is not permitted to supply power to commercial and residential areas.’’ he said.

    Also, the General Manager, Lagos State Electricity Board, Damilola Ogunbiyi, said the government has given the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) and the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) the right of way to open offices in the state as part of its contributions to the success of the privatisation programme.

    ‘’Since the state government does not have the power to generate power, we decided to use our facility for the sector’s growth. The power distribution companies (DISCOs) in the state have been given right of way to boost the privatisation programme. We are also training young people for job opportunities in the sector. Many of the people we trained have got jobs with the power distribution firms,” he added.

  • ‘Manpower for NIPP’s substations ready by December’

    The National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), has assured the government and the new investors in the power stations built by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) that it will complete training of personnel that would operate the facilities by December.

    Its Director-General, Mr. Reuben Okeke, told The Nation that the institute is training the personnel that will operate the 234 distribution injection sub-stations bought by the new investors in NIPP facilities as part of their equity, adding that by end of the year, the manpower would be ready. He said NAPTIN is training distribution sub-station operators that would operate both existing and newly acquired substations, adding that they would operate the injection substations for optimum performance.  He said the development became necessary to prevent hitches that arise from poor performance of workers.

    He said: “Over 290 injection substations have been purchased under the National Independent Power Plants (NIPPs) to help drive the initiative.  Out of these, 234 are ready for use and we need Nigerians to man or operate them.  Part of the reasons we flagged off a training programme for technicians in Lagos in October this year was to train people that would operate the substations that would be commissioned soon.

    “One of the companies contracted by the government to handle the issue told me that some of the injection substations would be commissioned before December. That is why NAPTIN is making efforts to train the operators before December.”

    He said the development will help in reducing the skills-gap in the industry, arguing that the sector cannot develop without the necessary workforce. According to him, the government has decided to adopt holistic approach to the training of workers in the sector for growth.

    “All the projects in the sector are going to be manned by well trained workers. The power generation companies (GENCOs) and distribution companies (DISCOs), the NIPPs and other projects in the sector would avail themselves of the opportunities in NAPTIN. The government does not want a situation where there would be dearth of skills in the industry because it has identified poorly equipped workforce as one of the critical problems facing the sector,” he added.

    Okeke said power generation and distribution companies are battling poor workforce, aside gas. He said resources such as gas, good workforce and others are critical to the growth of the industry, adding that the government is not leaving any stone unturned to provide a conducive environment for operators.

    The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), has started the process of selling the plants to new investors. The plants with combined capacity of 5,000 (Mw) of electricity are expected to help improve power supply in the country.

  • Africa oil trading, logistics downstream confab coming

    Nigeria will play host to the rest of the continent for the premier downstream oil and gas event, the Oil Trading and Logistics conference from October 28 to 30 at the Lagos Oriental Hotel.

    The focus of the downstream oil and gas sector expo popularly called OTL Africa Downstream will be on facilitating trading, supply and distribution of petroleum products.

    The Chairman, OTL Africa Downstream, Emeka Akabogu, said: “The OTL exhibition will feature more than 50 local and international organisations with core operations in facilitating the trading, supply and distribution of petroleum products, in addition to over 35 industry, policy and professional leaders as speakers and session panelists.

    “The Expo, now in its eighth year, is organised in collaboration with the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and is the principal business and showcase event for those with an interest in downstream petroleum.

    “The theme of the 2014 Expo, which includes a conference, exhibition and industry dinner is The Future of Petroleum Products Supply and it is poised to shape business and policy for operators across the industry value-chain. The conference and exhibition is targeted at complementing efforts of government in transforming the sector, and focuses on refining, pricing, financing, trading, shipping, products’ quality, customer service, infrastructure, logistics, local content, diversification of downstream investments and a lot more.

    As part of a strategic effort to promote excellence and innovation in the downstream industry, the organisers said it will this year unveil the “OTL Downstream Innovation Challenge,” which will focus on enhancing industry value through increased efforts in Research and Development (R&D). He said it is an innovation of significance that could multiply value in downstream petroleum business and operations in Africa will be unveiled and celebrated annually.

    Over the years, OTL Africa Downstream has provided opportunities for policy development, trading, networking and business match-making for government, established operators and new entrants in downstream petroleum business, with this year’s edition poised to consolidate the tradition for the development of the economy, Akabogu said.

  • Motorists accuse fuel attendants of fraud

    Motorists accuse fuel attendants of fraud

    • DPR: we’ve received several complaints

    Motorists are protesting what they called sharp practices by attendants at filling stations. Many filling stations use under-dispensing fuel pumps that do not record accurate sales information.

    The  Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) said it had received complaints from many motorists.

    The Nation gathered that many of the fuel pumps do not present accurate readings, making it easier for petrol stations to short change their customers.  A visit to some petrol stations in Iyana- Ipaja, Ikotun, Ikeja, Oshodi, Ketu, Ikorodu and Ebute-Metta in the Lagos metropolis gave confirmed this assertion.  It was further gathered that the distortions of the readings of the meters were mostly done by petrol attendants, albeit with instructions from their managers.

    A petrol station manager, who does not want his name in print, said that the issue is disturbing because customers have lost confidence in the filling stations that commit such crimes.The sources said the perpetrators operate like a chain, adding that many people were involved in the issue.

    “From my experience in the industry, I know that a lot of workers were used to short-change customers.  There is a top-down approach to the issue. Senior and junior members of staff in the petrol stations are involved in the crime. It is wrong to conclude that only the junior workers short-change customers.  No petrol attendant has the courage to open meters and adjust them without the express permission of his or her manager.  People who perpetrate such evils make a lot of money. Many petrol attendants have two cars or more. The question is: Where did they get the money to buy those cars?” The source asked how many attendants earn N20,000 monthly?  The older ones do not collect more than N13,000 per month, he said.

    A lawyer, Ponle Olurotimi, said many people have fallen victims to this sharp practice at fuel stations. Olurotimi said she has been inundated with reports of people that were duped by filling stations. I have heard motorists, housewives, and other users of petroleum products complain about the issue, she said.

    She said: “The issue of short-changing customers cuts across the three petroleum products namely diesel, kerosene and petrol.  The transporters, women and other household users of petroleum products have been cheated in the past.  For instance, many have said that they got 15 litres of petrol, instead of 20 litres they paid for.”

    An Executive Director, African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, Lewis Asubiojo, said some petrol stations in Abuja are fond of under-dispensing products to customers. Asubiojo said he has once reported a petrol attendant to his station manager for not dispensing the right volume to him.

    He said: “I have been short-changed by filling stations owned by independent oil marketing companies. Many of my friends said they do not want to fall victims again, and have resorted to buying fuels from petrol stations that belong to major marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ensure accurate volume delivery. The NNPC and major marketers have something at stake. They invest billions of naira into the business and would not do anything that will tarnish their reputations.”

    However, the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), George Osahon, said the agency will move against any petrol station found short-changing its customer. Osahon said the DPR has received complaints on the issue via short messages and e-mails. He said that DPR is ready to act on useful information that can lead to discovery of filling stations engaging in such practices.

    “DPR has received several complaints on the issue of retail outlets under-dispensing products to their customers.  Just as it is not possible for the police to be everywhere at the same time, so it is with officials of DPR. We have told the public to come out with information on any station short-changing its customers for necessary action,” he added.

  • ‘Non- completion of Alaoji, others won’t stall privatisation’

    The delay in the completion of Alaoji,Omoku and Gbarain power plants will not affect the sale of the 10 power assets under the NIPP, the  Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) that superintends the National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs), has said.

    The company has completed the construction of Omotoso, Egbema, Ogwode, Olorunsogo, Benin and Calabar, while Alaoji, Omoku, and Gbarain power plants are yet to be completed.

    The Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) has said the ongoing privatisation of the NIPP assets is being delayed by the problem of gas that had stalled the signing of the gas purchase agreements that would make the transactions bankable.

    NDPHC’s spokesman, Yakubu Lawal, told The Nation, that shortage of gas is the only problem delaying the privatisation of the plants. He said that non-completion of the three plants by the contractors has no basis with the sale of the 10 plants from which the government is targeting 5,000 megawatts (MW) to achieve its aspiration to generate 10,000MW.

    Lawal said that due diligence has been conducted by the companies that bought the plants, adding that the transactions was done in a transparent manner. He said: “There was a shares agreement between the companies and the government before transactions on the plants started. The buyers have carried out due diligence and know the state of the plants. It is not compulsory that the plants must be completed before the plants are sold.”

    He said the NDPHC has done a lot to make the plants look better, strong and effective, adding that the plants would improve power supply when they are privatised.

    The BPE’s Director General, Benjamen Dikki, said the country has a capacity for 11,000 megawatts, adding that power supply would improve when the infrastructure problems in the sector are solved.  Dikki said the combination of adequate gas supply to thermal and hydro-power plants would help in improving electricity supply.