Category: Energy

For participation of more women in the oil and gas industry, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has rolled out friendly policies to realise the objective, writes EMEKA UGWUANYI.

Women operators in the oil and gas industry will soon benefit from gender friendly policies on access to funding, award of contracts and support for research and development, courtesy of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

Its Executive Secretary(ES), Simbi Kesiye Wabote, made the pledge at a workshop  NCDMB organised for women in the industry in Lagos. He noted that since the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act was enacted to get more Nigerians to participate in the industry, there should also be special initiatives to encourage women participation in the sector.

He quoted a study by the Global Energy Talent Index Report, which indicated that there is a chronic shortage of women in the oil and gas industry.

It said: “It is estimated that women occupy about 50 per cent of non-technical positions at entry level compared to only 15 per cent of technical and field role positions.

“Gender diversity decreases with seniority with only a tiny proportion of women in executive positions. The percentage of women in the industry drops over time from 36 percent to 24 percent between the middle and executive level.”

He said NCDMB will review its strategy on the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund (NCI Fund), adding: “Access to finance is very important and we will look at our policy to see how we can support women who are serious to do business.”

Already, two firms managed by women have benefited from the NCI Fund because NCDMB took steps to ensure that, Wabote said.

The ES assured that the Board would work with project promoters in the industry to ensure the award of some contracts to firms owned by women, including the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company, which was set to execute the Train 7 project.

NCDMB would also encourage the study of sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by young girls in secondary schools and drive the collation of data on women who participate in various sectors of the industry, so they can receive support, he promised.

The ES said: “Out of the total number trained by the Board, women constitute about 20 percent of the trainees and we hope to increase the number of women trained to meet up the industry skilled labour demand.”

Delivering the keynote address at the event, the Acting Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan commended the NCDMB ES for organising the workshop irrespective of his gender, stating that Simbi is an epitome of what humanity stands for. She expressed hope that the workshop would catalyse other dialogues to be initiated by the Board and complement other ongoing activities, programmes and policies of government to propel Nigeria to achieve the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goals 4, 5 and 10.

She insisted that Nigeria should “go beyond the rhetoric of having a quota for women in decision making or other strategic positions by ensuring that the country maximises the economic potential of its whole labour force by promoting equal rights, access and opportunities for all at all levels”.

She emphasised that effective implementation of gender-related policies was dependent on actions taken by women to acquire the requisite skills for technical positions taking into cognizance that affirmative action is not geared towards jettisoning quality for quantity.

Mrs. Yemi-Esan underscored the need for present and aspiring female industry professionals to pursue technically-inclined disciplines, which will, in turn, expose them to better opportunities in the oil and gas industry.

She assured of the commitment and collaboration of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to facilitate the formulation of gender smart policies as well as supporting relevant Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in gathering reliable women specific data for the industry.

“We will also uphold gender-responsible budgeting through the expansion of gender desks, which are targeted at ensuring the inclusion of women and girls in their respective activities,” she said.

In her goodwill message, the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman, charged career women to define themselves around capacity and capability and not just because they are women. “When you get there, you must prove that you are capable,” she said.

She charged persons in authority to mentor young girls and accommodate the needs of young working mums, so they can remain in employment and gain needed experience and competences that will position them for promotion into executive positions years later.

“You need to give a long rope to the mum that doesn’t come to work because her child was vaccinated or has to attend a school function for her child,” she said.

The workshop featured three panel discussions on key success factors for female corporate executives and entrepreneurs in oil and gas industry; partnerships, programmes and structures for women in the oil and gas industry and overcoming barriers to career progression and mentoring the next generation.

Experts are divided over the reported 4,000 stranded generated electricity in the power sector, writes AKINOLA AJIBADE

The power industry is replete with irregular power supply, estimated bills, lack of meters by Meter Asset Providers (MAPs) and new electricity tariffs.

The latest problem is stranded 4,000 megawatts (Mw).  But experts are divided over the existence of the problem, with some saying it couldn’t be.

Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria (NDPHC) Managing Director Mr. Chiedu Ugbo described the development as unfortunate, adding that the country is struggling to meet the electricity needs of its people.

Shedding more light on the issue during the inauguration of transmission substations in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ugbo said about 4,000Mw of electricity was stranded. He attributed the problem to poor infrastructural facilities. He noted that the development informed the decision by NDPHC to open the commissioned transmission substations, among other facilities, across the country.

Ugbo said NDPHC contributes about 37 per cent of power to the national grid.

Penultimate week, the Association of Power Generation Companies (APGC) provided a fresh insight into the issue. The association, which represents the six power generation firms unbundled from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), said the major problem facing the sector is unutilised generated electricity and not shortage of gas.

Its Executive Secretary, Dr Joy Ogaji, said the problem of stranded  electricity was affecting the sector with ripple effects on other parts of the economy. The effects, she said, were multidimensional  as aspects of the industry are in one way or the other affected by the development.

Ogaji told The Nation on the phone  that the inability of the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to take the stranded generated electricity to consumers was a big problem.

Already, the sector is battling poor generation as it is finding difficult to achieve the industry capacity of 13,000Mw of electricity.

Ogaji said the issue has slowed down economic activities as well as inhibited growth. “The problem in the industry is beyond shortage of gas. Rather, the problem is about increase in the volume of unutilised electricity in the sector,’’ she said.

The problems, Ogaji said, have stalled generation of electricity. She said power generation firms lacked funding and as a result are unable to meet the cost of production of electricity.

She added that the firms do not  get incentives to improve their output, a development, which she claimed, has negatively impacted on the sector.

However, the Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Mr Sunday Oduntan, said the 4,000Mw of electricity was not stranded in the sector.

He said this was because the GenCos were battling with gas and transmission constraints.

He said the GenCos’ actual capacity was 5,000Mw with generation averaging below 4,000Mw, adding that there was no way such huge  volume would get stranded.

Observers argued that shortage of gas had frustrated the efforts of the firms to produce electricity optimally. The shortage, they said, had led to the loss of 2,219Mw of electricity this month. They said a total of 2,219Mw of electricity could not be generated on the national grid between October 1 and October 7 as a result of unavailability of gas to the thermal plants.

The Advisory Power Team in the Office of the Vice President corroborated these assertions, saying that from the first day of this month, the industry kept on losing power due to gas shortage.

Between October 1 and 5, it said, the non-availability of gas supply to the thermal plants stalled the generation of 2,157.5 Mw, 2,103Mw, 2,238Mw, 2,173Mw and 1,878 MW.

Also, on October 14, 15, 16 and 17, gas unavailability stopped the generation of 2,172.6 Mw, 1,635.5Mw, 1,551Mw and 1,674Mw of electricity.

Also, the General Manager, National Control Centre, Osogbo, Mr Emmanuel Omoh, said it would be wrong to link the issue of stranded electricity to the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), beccause the Federal Government has improved transmission facilities.

Omoh said: “Our capacity has been strengthened. At the moment, TCN has the capacity to transmit between 8,000 Mw and 9,000 Mw of electricity. The distribution companies have affirmed that TCN has greatly improved on its facilities. Over 40 per cent of power generation units have been shut down because of load-shedding from the DisCos.”

Our Reporter

 

The Managing Director of Lagos Deep Offshore Logistic Base (LADOL), Dr. Amy Jadesimi, has identified keys to successful, sustainable partnerships.

Jadesimi stated this when she received the P4G Award for Sustainable Special Economic Zones alongside Mrs. Gail Klintworth and Mr. Robbie Marwick from Systemiq.

According to LADOL’s spokesman, Olakunle Kalejaye, the award was given for LADOL’s work in developing plans and partnerships focused on transforming special economic zones in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya into vibrant hubs of low-carbon, sustainable and inclusive business and community growth.

Jadesimi presented LADOL’s plans to the international audience of business leaders attending the P4G Acceleration Workshop.

Jadesimi: “Sustainable Special Economic Zones can transform low- income high growth countries into global industrial and technology power houses, creating millions of jobs in the process. The P4G platform is ideally suited to encouraging, incubating and launching these Zones because it focuses on equitable partnerships lead by local entrepreneurs and/or governments.

“Over the next decade, countries like Nigeria can make a huge contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, if the local private sector companies that are building capacity and adding value sustainably, are supported. This support must come in the form of financing. Nigeria has sufficient capital available locally to get the ball rolling and transform thousands of small to large companies into significant market players.

“However, both local and international funding is not yet going where it should particularly in terms of what will yield the highest return to investors. It is now an incontrovertible fact that sustainability equals profitability.’’

I’m encouraged to see the shift in the global investment community towards environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) and sustainable investments as a preferred asset class. However, we now need to see action in the form of new criteria for bankability and now financial products that make it possible to directly fund sustainable indigenous private companies, from the smallest to the largest.”

On financing, Jadesimi urged P4G to support a universally accepted rating/benchmarking system for sustainability that will enable investors to include sustainability in credit rating analysis as a key criterion. Even if sustainable companies do not meet the  popular but highly restrictive and negative yielding definitions of bankability, this new benchmark would ensure that the right companies get funding and that their investors benefit from higher returns. Private indigenous companies in high growth / low income countries are suitable investment vehicles.

“LADOL has already started diversifying and targeting a range of clients from agriculture to general manufacturing and green energy companies. We want to attract the brightest companies and people into LADOL to partner, engineer and manufacture new industrial solutions for the world’s fastest growing markets, i.e. countries in Africa,” she said.

Regarding the ACFTA Dr. Jadesimi reiterated her strong commitment to regional African collaboration: “I believe in a strong united free market AU, where African countries collaborate to build our local markets by sharing ideas, people, resources and markets. Strong Governments in African countries and indigenous private companies will then be in a position to form equitable international partnerships, based on an alignment of incentives, mutual respect and shared long-term vision.”

“Innovation must be done in our local markets – LADOL is investing in creating an environment where a wide range of local entrepreneurs, engineers and innovators can design solutions in Nigeria for Nigeria – let’s industrialise Africa.”

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have formed a committee to address remedial issues in the oil and gas industry, writes AMBROSE NNAJI.

To resolve disputes in the oil and gas industry, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have set up a committee to tackle disputes in the oil and gas.

NEITI Director of Communications and Advocacy, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, told The Nation on the telephone  that some of the remedial issues were unremitted amounts, underpayments, and inadequate metering infrastructure.

Others include management of domestic crude allocation, licensing issues and poor governance of revenue from the industry.

Meanwhile, NEITI has established the companies’ forum. Ogbonnaya said the forum is a platform for the agency and the oil companies to discuss and interact in all areas including what’s expected of the companies to do, their roles and responsibilities in the EITI process.

The EITI is a global standard for the good governance of oil, gas and mineral resources. It seeks to address the key governance issues in the extractive sectors.

The EITI Standard requires information along the extractive industry value chain from the point of extraction, to how the revenue makes its way through the government and its contribution to the economy.

This includes how licences and contracts are allocated and registered, who the beneficial owners of those operations are, what the fiscal and legal arrangements are, how much is produced, how much is paid, where the revenue is allocated, and its contributions to the economy, including employment.

Ogbannaya noted that the EITI standard is being implemented in 52 countries. According to him, each of these countries is required to publish an annual EITI report to disclosing information on: contracts and licenses, production, revenue collection, revenue allocation, and social and economic spending.

The forum, he added, was where the oil companies also could ask questions on what they needed to do, adding it helps us to bridge information gap, we use that forum to enlighten ourselves, he added.

During that forum, the companies also tell us or explain to us the difficulties/challenges they have and how their operations differ from maybe the templates or expectations that we need, so it’s a forum that has helped us to reconcile issues that create information gap, he explained, adding it’s a regular forum,’ he said.

Under that forum any issues that are about a company we convene a meeting and the companies attend and we as a party discuss. He insisted since the companies’ forum was established it has helped a great deal in reducing areas of friction.

He said that’s why it’s hardly heard that NEITI was fighting or exchanging issues with the companies because there’s a forum where the issues could be resolved, adding that  the leading companies that are covered by the reports are members

‘’NEITI’s companies forum and  companies that are covered by the reports both oil and gas, mining are members and the agencies are also members. We interact and understand ourselves the more, if there are areas of friction we try to resolve them, he clarified adding the oil companies are complying meaningfully,’’ he said.

Ogbonnaya said a comprehensive remediation plan had been developed, and under it, a joint committee had been set up between the two bodies and the relevant agencies to  look at these issues and develop an action plan on how to get them resolved.

To ensure that children have access to qualitative education in a serene environment, OVH Energy and Oando Foundation, are collaborating on the upgrade of a model primary school in Onne, the Port Harcourt, Rivers State, capital, through the Oando Adopt-A-School Programme, EMEKA UGWUANYI reports.

OVH Energy has partnered the Oando Foundation in the global push for quality education as they embarked on the upgrade of a Model Primary School in Onne, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, which is a beneficiary school under the Oando Adopt-A-School Programme and is within OVH Energy’s host community.

The strategic partnership comes on the heels of OVH Energy’s efforts to foster the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal Four on Basic Education, aimed at holistic improvement of public primary schools to improve access to qualitative education and impact positively on learning outcomes while reinforcing the company’s commitment to improving access to basic education.

Chief Executive Officer, OVH Energy Marketing Limited, Huub Stokman, reiterated OVH Energy’s commitment to a serene  learning environment in its host communities. He said: “Education is a basic requirement for every child and the primary level is especially important as it lays the foundation for growth that is why we decided to embark on this project alongside Oando Foundation. This initiative brings us closer to our aim of delivering social value, building cordial and sustainable relationships within our areas of business operations.

“We are thankful to Oando Foundation for the opportunity to leverage its platform and pedigree as an independent charity with a mission to improve the quality of teaching and learning in Nigerian public primary schools. We hope to continue more of these initiatives, confident that together with the government and other corporates, quality education will be achievable in Nigeria”, Stokman added.

The Head of Oando Foundation, Mrs. Adegoke, said the Foundation leverages strategic partnerships with various local/international organisations to mobilise resources to its adopted school communities.

She reiterated the Foundation’s commitment to providing a conducive learning environment for every child. “Model Primary School, Onne is a beneficiary of the Foundation’s Adopt-a-school initiative, which is, ultimately, aimed at improving learning outcomes. Since adoption in 2008, we have renovated a block of six classrooms, supplied teaching and learning materials, strengthened capacity of 15 in-school teachers on innovative teaching methods, awarded scholarship to 16 pupils, 7 of which have graduated from secondary school, and strengthened the capacity of Education Management Information System (EMIS) officials from Rivers State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Ekara Onne Local Government on data management for quality education delivery. We utilise an integrated approach to school improvement which is exactly what we have done with this school.”

She said the Oando Foundation partnered OVH Energy to upgrade the schooll, which has been equipped with new units of furniture for pupils and teachers, provision of teaching and learning materials, renovation of a block of classroom and general repairs.

She further stated that to provide infrastructural upgrade and donate furniture for both pupils and teachers is a testament of the Foundation’s obligation as an SDG 4 (Basic Education) champion. “OVH Energy had supported our work through the years and we believe that partnership is key to scaling education in Nigeria and we request all stakeholders – Government, businesses, communities and innovators to join us to transform lives through education,” she added.

Beyond its primary mandate to support the Nigerian Government in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 4 through its Adopt-A-School Initiative (AASI) – aimed at holistic improvement of public primary schools, Oando Foundation is also committed to building strategic partnerships that will address critical barriers to basic education attainment in its adopted school communities; thus deepening the scale and impact of our interventions at the community level.