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Tag: Diezani Alison-Madueke

  • Comrade and his women

    Comrade and his women


    [dropcap]W[/dropcap]e arrived Abeokuta in the first ink of dusk, at about 5:00pm. We were visiting the city’s most iconic figure, the white-haired, white-bearded, tall, grand fellow of many battles and accolades.

    Before we made the turn to the bush, a sign was unmistakable. Louis Odion, the writer in resting, who sat beside me in the car, read the sign. Roared Louis in a guttural register: “Any trespasser will be shot and eaten.”

    The imprimatur of the poet. All around were trees. We drove on, and a sense of rural splendour fell over me. The serenity of trees. Birds. Leaves in lush colour. Earth Edenic. Modernity alienated. A shadow cast not by twilight but by the peculiar colouring of a forest. It was as though I was on my way to my mother’s home village in Delta State.

    In a few moments, we saw what looked like a clearing. Looking farther, a big house, unpainted but tasteful, with a grandeur one would describe as quaint. Nothing ornate. Not the windows, not the stairwell. It was a house sitting in arboreal paradise.

    The vehicles parked, and in a few moments, the guest of honour, the sprightly Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole  and his elegant wife, Lara, materialised from a vehicle. We moved in and waiting was chief host, playwright, poet, writer extraordinaire Wole Soyinka. It was billed as a lunch but the vagaries of technology associated with his flight arrangement turned it into a dinner. Former governors, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Rotimi Amaechi, had visited earlier in the day.

    As we sat, I delved into wordplay and described the setting as “Adamic.” The Edo Governor appreciated it and turned to his wife and they exchanged a joke about the Garden of Eden, and the wife quipped that if the Governor was the Adam, then she would be the Eve. At that moment I started to contemplate Adams, just as W.S. served wine and later asked us to the dinner table with his wife Folake.

    I thought here was Adams, and the story of the man in the past few months revolved around women. The first was his wedding. He, a Nigerian, above 60, and the bride young and from Cape Verde. The news generated quite an attention.

    Those who attacked, especially young men, were probably envious it was not them. Those women who condemned the bride, mostly girls, were also envious she was not them. I wonder what W.S. thought about the couple during the bonhomie of conversation over wine and food.

    He, too, wedded Folake, but to less flurry of envious rage, maybe because we did not have Internet or Facebook then. But essentially he was a prophet of his own nuptials with his play, The Lion and the Jewel. I told myself, we had two lions and two jewels at the table.

    Nothing about this irony propped up in the conversation, and so I reined in my mischief. I took my time to watch, speak with and listen to a man I had admired all my life. That was enough peace for me eating his jolof rice, fried plantain and fish with the lubricating grace of red wine.

    But what I also thought of were Oshiomhole’s other women. The one was former so-called coordinating minister of the economy, Okonjo-Iweala and, of course, the big-eyed oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke. When the Edo Governor started lashing out at the other women, attention swiftly turned from his beauty parlour to the beasts of the economy.

    Adams had noted how the so-called World Bank, Harvard and all the phony accolades of western brilliance of the finance minister gave us nothing but poverty. Ngozi was a failure. She was a disaster. When the Edo governor reeled out her financial iniquities, I felt especially vindicated.

    Very early I was not moved by her resume. She was not trained for the Nigerian economy, just like her bow-tie colleague now roosting like hens in another African agricultural employment. She was trained about the dependency of African economies.

    I know because I attended quite a few of them and I inoculated myself against their paradigms. She did not and that explains why she met a buoyant purse and left a leaky one.

    Then he visited the United States with President Muhammadu Buhari, and when he returned he unleashed a bombshell. One minister stole as much as six billion dollars from our purse.

    How much is that in naira? In my own calculation, it is at least N1.2 trillion. That money will pay all the salaries owed the state workers, build quite a respectable cancer centre in the country. He would not say who the minister is out of decency. But we cannot but know that the finger pointed at the oil minister. She was the only one who could have had that kind of access.

    The American officials cannot say such a grave thing without evidence. Diezani was the worst of the Jonathan era. She was a disgrace of a minister just as Jonathan was a scandal of a president.

    We raked in the most money in that era, we are broke today because of them. Adams had to come out with the facts because he, too, was outraged. It was Adams the activist, the fulminating labour leader that squared off against Iweala and Madueke.

    Was it not in the same era we had other women, like Mama Peace, and Stella Oduah. Mama peace, the first lady, with whom many Nigerians lost patience, spoke as though the nation was a Mammy Market and all Nigerians were subaltern, backwater denizens without culture.

    The evening eventually came to an end after close to four hours of exchange of jokes, ideas, etc. I could not but also note the sheer number of carved masterpieces in W.S. home. I called back his recollections of his search for an African artifact to as far away as Brazil. He wonderfully delineated the adventure in his memoirs, You Must Set Forth At Dawn.

    We left into the bush again, and then back into the urban jungle. But it was a gradual descent into modernity. We saw buildings here and there  interspersed with bushes until it was bricks and tars and cars.

  • Oil price crash: implications for Nigeria

    Oil price crash: implications for Nigeria

    Since mid last year when the price of oil started plummeting, there have been concerns over its implications for the global economy, especially Nigeria, which is heavily dependent on oil for revenues. There is widespread fear over how far Nigeria can go if the slump in oil prices continues, Assistant Editor EMEKA UGWUANYI takes a look at the situation and what it portends for the country.

    The price of oil, like any other commodity, swings. Over the years, there has been evidence that when the price of oil goes up steadily over a long period, the tendency is for a drastic price drop to be expected. It is because of the volatility and politics of oil, which determine the way the price goes, that led to the formation of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in September, 1960, to intervene in shoring up prices through production cut when needed.

    Such interventions in the past, according to the former Minister of Petroleum, Odein Ajumogobia, had immensely helped in the rebound of prices. For instance, prices had averaged $18 per barrel from 1990 to the end of 1997, but from December 1997 to July 1999 oil prices had fallen from $18 per barrel to about $12 per barrel. In December 1998, the price dipped below $10 per barrel, and by April 1999 the price was just over $11 per barrel. But OPEC intervened by joining forces with non-OPEC producers such as Mexico, Oman, Norway and Russia to cut 2.1 million barrels with effect from April 1, 1999. By the end of April, the price had rallied, reaching about $16 per barrel and $18 by July. It later rose to $20 per barrel.

    Also between 2007 and 2008, the world witnessed the greatest level of volatility in the oil market with prices going up from $65 per barrel in 2007, to an all time high of $147 per barrel in July 2008 and many analysts predicted a rise to $200 per barrel, but by October of the same year, it dropped to $32 per barrel. Similarly, OPEC intervened, cut production and price rallied and rose to $70 per barrel. Very few people predicted that oil price would rise soon to $100 per barrel and by the beginning of last year oil prices had gone up averaging about $110 a barrel before the current slump set in mid-last year.

    However, the fear that the current price slump may last longer than expected is hinged on the fact that the leading oil producing  members of OPEC such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have refused to buy into the proposal by other members to cut production. Besides, the United States (US), a major global oil producer and consumer, is accessing its oil reserves apart from the regular production; therefore, it is not buying from external market. Also, oil demand by other big buyer countries such as China has dropped, following a lull in the economy. Therefore, the glut in supply is expected to continue until all members of OPEC reach a consensus to cut production perhaps in their next meeting in Vienna, Austria, on June 5, this year.

    There are various unconfirmed reports why the big time oil producers are pushing the commodity into the market despite the low price. For instance, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, who spoke on ‘Global Energy Policies and Power Play- Emerging Regional Dynamics,’ at a forum in Lagos, said the topic is about the Gulf of Guinea in general, and Nigeria in particular, now that not a single drop of oil from Nigeria, and only an insignificant quantity from the region in general goes to the US, the traditional market for the bulk of the oil trade from the region. The new trend, he said, is not likely to change in the foreseeable future.

    He said until very recently, sustained high oil prices as well as an increasing demand fueled by growth-induced demand in fast growing countries such as China, India and other emerging economies, have encouraged the development of new sources of oil, especially shale oil and gas, as well as the emergence of new oil regions. He stated that high oil prices over the past decade or so have also accelerated the search for alternative fuels and continued improvements in fuel efficiencies. The consequence of these developments have created a significant shift in the supply dynamics and an oversupply situation with the resultant collapse of the oil price which, in just a few months, has seen a 20-25 per cent drop from over $100 per barrel to just below $80 per barrel by November last year. The price further fell to below $50 per barrel by close of the year.

    Dangote said: “These demand- supply dynamics however, are not the only drivers of the recent price collapse. Some observers have suggested that global politics and power play are also at work. Could it be the “Swing Producers” flexing their influence? Saudi Arabia, which is capable of pumping 12 million  barrels per day versus the US nine million barrels per day appears to have started a price war designed to punish its major competitor (Russia), who is unable to tolerate oil price at levels below $75.

    “In October 2014, as oil prices slipped towards $85, the Saudis increased their production and offered discounts to major Asian customers, and this month, with US prices nearing $80, Saudis again offered discounts to their North American customers in a transparent bid to gain the market share.

    “United States oil supply un-disputably has contributed to low prices, the question is how soon low oil prices can chase American oil from the market. No doubt, an extended period of low prices would kill projects in oil sands, deepwater and the Arctic, which typically require many years and billions of dollars to develop. But the Saudis are also not able to sustain low prices, as their economy is now accustomed to oil above $100. It is believed that Saudi Arabia needs the price to be above $90 to balance the books, but can live with lower oil price for longer than their competitors.

    “Another scenario: Could this be high stakes poker by world powers? USA and Saudi Arabia playing the oil card against Iran and Russia? Think about this a minute: “the Obama administration wants Teheran to come to their position over its nuclear programme. It also wants Vladimir Putin to back off eastern Ukraine. After recent experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, the white House has no desire to put American boots on the ground to force their position. Instead,  it is in alliance with Saudi to drive down oil price by flooding an already weak market with crude?

    “As the Russians and the Iranians are heavily dependent on oil exports, the assumption is that the economic impact of sanctions and significantly reduced oil revenue, will make them easier to deal with. So have the US and Saudi Arabia found a common cause to use oil as the leverage? Saudis want to put pressure on Iran and to force Moscow to weaken its support for the Assad regime in Syria. As oil and gas account for 70 per cent of Russian exports and its budget does not add up unless the oil price is above $100, the US is able to bring deeper economic pressure on Russia in addition to sanctions. Could this be another dynamic?” He noted that the increasing instability as a result of the terrorist activity in Nigeria also worsens the impact of crude price fall.

    Also, some stakeholders said the oil price crash is a deliberate arrangement besides increasing shale oil output. They said some militant groups, such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), access crude oil illegally and sell it through informal channels  at very low prices to fund their activities. But with low oil prices, it would be difficult to find buyers, which will affect them negatively or weaken them, a reason such groups have resorted to kidnapping and asking for ransom. There are speculations too that the fall in price is also deliberate to punish Nigeria for not legalising same sex marriage and giving freedom to homosexuals.

    However, Ajumogobia and the former President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Mrs. Adedoja Ojelabi, said increase and decline in oil price are normal, noting that what matters is to manage the revenues from the period of high price well to make up for that of low price. It is important to save for the rainy day, they said. Ojelabi said the falling oil price shouldn’t have been a concern if the necessary precautions were put in place. She said 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 prices up or down. She stated that although Nigeria doesn’t have control over oil price because it is internationally determined through the forces of demand and supply, but it can mitigate the effect locally through building of relevant infrastructure such as refineries and electricity, among others.

    “If we have self-sufficiency, the effect will trickle down to other sectors of the economy. 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 because uninterrupted power supply will boost industrialisation, manufacturing and technology development,” she said.

     

    Challenges

    The greatest challenge that crude oil price crash poses to Nigeria, according to analysts, is the inability to fund the budget for smooth running of the economy and government. For instance, Dr Austin Nweze, a lecturer at the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos and governorship aspirant in Ebonyi State under the Social Democratic Mega Party, said Nigeria runs a rental economy where commodities such as oil, which account for 80-90 per cent of the nation’s revenue, are exported. Therefore, there is no in-country value creation, which could have been if the crude oil is substantially refined in the country.

    He said as the 2015 budget stands, it is undecided with oil benchmark of $65 per barrel, while oil price is below $50 per barrel. If there is no money to fund the budget, it means there will be no implementation of capital projects and workers’ salaries will be difficult to pay. There was such a scenario in 1998 when the price of oil was very low and salaries could not be paid and teachers were out of school because schools were closed.

    Nweze noted that although, the government has the option of borrowing to fund the budget, but it should know that it has paucity of infrastructure from where money could be generated to pay back. Besides, the foreign exchange reserves have dropped significantly. He said when borrowing, countries consider their percentage debt to Gross Domestic product (GDP). This consideration is critical, he noted. He said that countries with high GDP such as the U S can go as high as 80 per cent but because Nigeria runs a rental economy, its percentage debt to GDP should not be more than 10 per cent even though the standard acceptable limit is 40 per cent, adding that currently Nigeria’s percentage debt to GDP is well over 20 per cent.

    He also said if the oil price slump persists for so long, many economic activities and projects may be put on hold and that implies job cuts, retrenchment and downsizing of the workforce.

    The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Joseph Dawha, corroborated Nweze’s view on loss of jobs and projects stagnation when he spoke at a conference in Lagos on January 20 this year. The ongoing decline in crude oil price, according to him, will cause delay of about three deep water projects in Nigeria.

    Dawha, who spoke through the Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Mr. Jonathan Okehs, said that many companies had serious cash flow challenges due to oil price decline, which has reduced their capital expenditure. “To many healthy companies balance sheet these will result in delay of economically viable projects. Delay in major projects will now be featuring in many companies’ projects and progammes, especially for offshore projects.”

    He said a number of deep water projects will suffer delays or outright cancellation including one in Angola, three in Nigeria and one in Ghana. In shallow water, two projects in Angola, one in Nigeria and two in Ghana may also suffer delays. According to him, in Nigeria the challenge for the industry is how to manage major projects through both price and physical uncertainty.

    The President of NAPE, Chinwendu Edoziem, also expressed concern that the oil price crash may lead to stopping exploration for discovery of new oil fields. He said that it is the price of crude that determines whether an oil firm will go and drill or not. Search for oil is often driven by price of crude, so let’s pray the price rallies.

     

    Solutions

    Dangote said international relevance and influence in any geo-political interaction and power play depend fundamentally on the internal social cohesion, economic strength, and political stability of the player nation. In other words, international political prestige and clout depend on the legitimacy and transparency in governance and socio-economic development of the country. For Nigeria to achieve its aspirations in the global arena, two imperatives must be vigorously pursued: significant improvement in governance and broad based inclusive socio-economic development.

    Nigeria, he noted, must increase its local processing and consumption. This has been the goal of the government for many years. But the progress has been impeded by lack of investment in the downstream petroleum sector as well as a very outdated policy and regulatory environment for the oil and gas sector.

    He said despite Nigeria’s GDP rebasing, which brought it to the 26th largest economy in the world and the largest economy in Africa, its GDP per capita still remains low at $ 2,688 and ranks her as 121st in the world (South Africa has a much higher per capita GDP of $7507 and ranked 69th in the world.

    The much anticipated  Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), according to him, needs to be passed as it affects the source of the bulk of national foreign exchange earnings. “This is critical to the transformation of the sector and its repositioning to play an effective role in the new economy. The removal of Petroleum Fuel Subsidy is also critical because it benefits the more affluent, which is a small minority of the population,” he added.

    Nigeria’s inability to monetise its enormous natural gas resources, according to Dangote, is a major challenge.  Gas, he said, has great potential to accelerate economic growth, adding that the huge deficit in the nation’s energy consumption especially electricity, which has constrained our economic growth, can be easily eliminated if gas is fully utilised. “The key is to adopt a pricing regime for gas that will encourage investment in gas infrastructure,” he added.

    The Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore, also confirmed that the percentage reduction in pump price to N87 per litre from N97 by the government last week was not commensurate with reductions in some countries across the world. He said if the country doesn’t import products and the value of naira didn’t go down, with crude price of less than $50 per barrel, Nigerians could have been buying the product far less than it is now. But because we import the petroleum products in dollars with current pressure on naira, reducing the pump price further may not be in the interest of the country, economy and Nigerians, because the subsidy will still soar despite low price of crude. There is need to shore up the value of the naira.

    Nweze said because of dwindling oil receipts resulting in the decline of government revenue, it can borrow to fund the budget but must try to develop infrastructure that will be generating money to pay back the debt. Such infrastructure, he said, should be developed under public, private partnership for prudent management and sustainability. For private sector to participate in building of refineries, he stated that government should encourage investors by giving them robust incentives and removing subsidy. This, according to him, will engender competition and investors who feel that importation is cheaper than refining in the country, will import and price of products will crash.

    Ajumogobia said the government has to address the issue of pipeline vandalisation, oil theft and militancy, develop the culture of maintenance of critical infrastructure in the oil and gas industry, make the existing refineries operational and encourage construction of new ones, meet its funding obligations in oil and gas projects, and ensure that policies that guide the oil and gas industry are stable and properly implemented. Most importantly, oil revenues must be properly managed to care for the rainy days.

    Former Group Managing Directors, Jackson Gaius-Obaseki and Funsho Kupolokun, among others also backed the handover of the existing refineries to the private sector.

  • Alison-Madueke elected OPEC president

    Alison-Madueke elected OPEC president

    The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison- Madueke, was on Thursday elected as president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

    She is the first female president of the 12 nations’ oil cartel.

    Alison-Madueke was elected at the ongoing 166th General Meeting of the body in Vienna, Austria.

    She replaces Libyan deputy Prime Minister for Corporations, Abdourhman Atahar Al-Ahirish, as OPEC president.

    She is expected to serve a one-year term at the helm of OPEC affairs.

     

     

  • ‘Multinationals acting against Local Content Law’

    ‘Multinationals acting against Local Content Law’

    THE Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change (NDIMRC), said it would  resist attempts by Royal Dutch oil giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and other multinational oil companies to frustrate the Nigerian Local Content Law.

    It implored the Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke to call the oil companies to order.

    In a statementby by its President, Nelly Emma, Secretary, John Sailor and Public Relations Officer, Stanley Mukoro,  NDIMRC claimed that SHELL is still undermining the Nigerian Local Content Law.

    The group said: “We have been drawing the attention of the whole world to the unholy activities of SHELL in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, but the situation remained the same as the company refused to repent.

    “Our indigenous contractors who obtained huge loans from various banks over the years and invested heavily on capacity building, are not getting a better deal from the multinational oil companies and SHELL is a major culprit, hence we are urging the Honourable Minister of Petroleum to call the company to order so as to end the frustration of our local contractors in the hands of SHELL, ExxonMobil, Total, Chevron and Agip,” it stated.

    According to the group, SHELL has been frustrating indigenous contractors by denying them contracts, saying that “We are not going to allow SHELL to get away with this. We want an end to this injustice now.”

    NDIMRC also said that “Our local contractors have shown serious commitment to the development of the oil-rich Niger Delta region; we believe that we have qualified and experienced indigenous contractors in the region, but the management of SHELL in The Hague is not allowing the indigenous contractors to execute projects meant to change the fortunes of the poverty-stricken people of the region.”

    Honourable Petroleum Minister, the group added, “We will not take kindly to a situation where our local contractors that are heavily indebted to banks are allowed to fold up as a result of the conspiracy by SHELL, EXXONMOBIL, TOTAL, CHEVRON and AGIP against them. We want the Honourable Minister to act fast and help our local contractors and by extension the people of the region.”

    The group demanded an investigation into their claims against SAIPEM, “That is always picking the juicy contracts in the region at the detriment of our local contractors. We have accused SAIPEM severally of doing things to frustrate our indigenous contractors, especially whenever it failed to win the bid for projects in the region. We have also exposed SAIPEM to the whole world of always being awarded projects not approved by the Board of the Petroleum Ministry. A searchlight should be beamed on the crime being committed against our local contractors by SAIPEM and SHELL.”

    These multinational oil companies, the group stated, were doing everything to kill the dreams of local contractors and pleaded with the Petroleum Minister to prevail on the management of SHELL in The Hague to change its attitude to local contractors and give them a fair deal as enough is enough.

    “And the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Ernest Nwapa must ensure that SHELL demonstrates strict compliance with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act. We know that there is a gang-up against Engr. Nwapa in order for him not to succeed in his national assignment. But we want to urge him to put in the needed efforts so as to shame his conspirators,” the group said.

    NDIMRC said that, “Engr. Nwapa should as a matter of urgency invite SHELL to offer some explanations over the Trans Niger Pipeline Loopline Projects (TNPL) expected to give a life line to the people of Niger Delta region and other Nigerians.”

    “Honourable Petroleum Minister, Engr. Nwapa should be made to invite SHELL over the pre-bid and pre-award of the TNPL as our local contractors to be awarded these projects have met all the requirements. But the management of SHELL in The Hague is thinking otherwise.

    The group appealed to the Minister and NCDMB boss to join forces in ensuring that the indigenous contractors that have fully invested in the TNPL were allowed to execute the projects in order to bring succor to the people of Niger Delta region.

    “The gang-up by the multinational oil companies to frustrate the Nigerian Local Content Law must come to an end. The cruel plans of the multinational oil companies against our people are coming from their home offices and even when their Managing Directors in Nigeria are telling their home offices on the need to respect the Nigerian Local Content Law, they do not listen to them and being frustrated as a result of the kick back by SAIPEM and others to their home offices,” it added.

  • Energy ministers, operators for NAEC confab Thursday

    The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, and Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, is expected to lead a government delegation to the  yearly conference of the National Association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC) on Thursday at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    In a statement the group’s Chairman, Yusuf Yunus, said International Oil Companies (IOCs), independent producers, new owners of the privatised power assets and other stakeholders, would also be at the conference to proffer solution to pipeline vandalism, oil theft and supply of gas to power stations.

    He said Mrs Alison-Madueke would deliver the keynote address while the Group Managing Directorof theNigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Joseph Thlama Dawha, would present the lead paper.

    He said: “The theme of this year’s conference is: “Pipeline vandalism and its socio-economic effects on the nation.”  It will have two technical sessions where operators will discuss relevant topics related to the theme.

    “The topic for the first technical session is: ‘Crude oil theft and the way out. ‘ ”

    Discussants for the first technical session include Maj.-Gen. Emmanuel Atuwe, commander, Joint Task Force, Operation Pulo Shield; Ernest Nwapa, executive secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB); Mr. Robert Clay Neff, managing director, Chevron Nigeria Limited; Mr. Wale Tinubu, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Oando Group; Mr. MutiuSunmonu, Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC);Mr. Cornelius Zegelaar, Managing Director, Addax Petroleum; Mr. Felix Amieyeofori, Managing Director/CEO, Energia Company Limited and Mr. Abdulrazak Isa, Chairman/CEO, Waltersmith Petroleum Limited.

    “The topic for the second technical session is: “Effective implementation of Gas Master Plan (GMP) for adequate power supply.”

    Discussants include Dr. David Ige, Group Executive Director (GED), Gas and Power, NNPC; Mrs. MoremiOnijala Soyinka, Deputy Director, Climate Change/Gender, Ministry of Power; Mr. Austin Avuru, MD/CEO Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc; Dr. Sam Amadi, chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    “Others include Dr. Frank Edozien, Special Adviser on Gas to the Minister of Power; Mr. James Olotu, Managing Director, Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC); Mr. TaofeekTijani, Commissioner for Energy, Lagos State; Dr. OladeleAmoda, Chief Executive Officer, Eko Electricity Distribution Company, and Engr. AbiodunAjifowobaje, Chief Executive Officer, Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company.

    The Chairman of the conference is Dr. LayiFatona, Managing Director, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Limited.

  • Fed Govt opts for ships to beat vandalism, others

    Fed Govt opts for ships to beat vandalism, others

    The Federal Government may have found a solution to pipeline vandalism – but at a huge cost.

    It has started using ships to supply crude oil to  refineries to sustain uninterrupted product supply.

    Minister of Petroleum Resources Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, said at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) conference and exhibition in Lagos that the ship supply would shoot up the cost of refining a barrel of crude by $7.52. represented by the Deputy Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Emmanuel Bekee, the minister said: “It is common knowledge that the oil industry has been plagued with a plethora of challenges that have negatively impacted on our ability to meet national crude oil production target, loss of revenue to investors, environmental degradation and sometimes loss of lives, among others.

    “The most prominent among these is theft related vandalism leading to significant production deferments, theft and decline in revenue to the investors, which include the country and the international oil companies (IOCs).

    “The development though not completely new, rather metamorphosed to the current trend and scale from community agitation for resource control, pipeline sabotage to attract contracts for remediation, militant activism and theft of condensate and refined products.

    “Due to theft related vandalism, crude oil supply to our domestic refineries remain constrained thus affecting our refining uptime and volume. In order to mitigate this anomaly, the option of crude transportation by marine vessels has been deployed thereby increasing the operating cost of refining by an additional $7.52 per barrel.”

    The implication of the increased cost in refining is that the subsidy reimbursement for refined products especially for premium motor spirit (petrol), which dropped significantly last year when compared to 2011 subsidy scam, will shoot up again. Money spent on fuel subsidy in 2011 was in excess of N2 trillion, which reduced to N1 trillion in 2013 but as things are currently, 2014 subsidy payment may be close to or more than N2 trillion.

    Mrs Alison-Madueke, however, assured that relevant government agencies and companies are collaborating with other stakeholders to find sustainable solution the problem.

    She said: “NNPC in collaboration with relevant stakeholders organised a security workshop to discuss and proffer strategy for improving the security of crude supply and evacuation of refined products to and from the refineries.

    “Far-reaching solutions and combination of strategies were adopted and are being recommended to the Federal Government. Nigeria needs to recognise and declare the pipelines as national assets. The next step is to organise and harmonise its institutions responsible for pipeline infrastructure protection, and invest appropriately in this light for effectiveness.”

  • Power, petroleum ministers meet over gas challenges

    Power, petroleum ministers meet over gas challenges

    The Ministers of Petroleum Resources and Power, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke and Prof Chinedu Nebo, are meeting to proffer lasting solutions to the perennial gas shortages in the power sector.

    Nebo said the meeting will be devoted to  mapping out strategies to ensure that the gas supply problem to power plants is resolved.

    He said one of the strategies under consideration is to motivate the gas producing firms by providing incentives for them, adding that the current price of gas is not incentivising enough for producers and investors.

    He said as a result of the challenge, his colleague would ensure that no two gas plants are shut at the same time for maintenance as happened recently at the Utorogu and Ughelli East gas plants in Delta State, which resulted in about 700 megawatts (Mw) drop in supply to the national grid.

    Nebo said: “We have some challenges. Generation companies (GENCOs) are primed to deliver, but unless you have enough gas, they cannot deliver. We are working on incentivising the gas producers.

    “The cost and pricing of gas is not the best to attract investors to come into the gas sector. The Minister of Petroleum Resources and I are working very hard and trying to synergise to ensure that all the gas needed in order for the GENCOs not only the ones that are here such as the assets that have been sold, the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) but also independent power plants (IPPS) that are coming on board, that all of them have enough gas.

    “That is the only way we can have enough power generated for our people because the suppressed demand in Nigeria now for electricity quadruples our capacity to deliver electricity at this point.

    So it is actually an investors’ day in Nigeria. We are hoping that investors from all over the world will take advantage of that and jump on the bandwagon, because people have voracious appetite for electricity and once they do so, it will be better for our country and also, all the talk about industrial revolution for Nigeria will never happen without power and that is why we are bent on delivering power to Nigerians.

    “The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), has a blueprint because ideally we ought to have almost one and half times wheeling or transmission capacity of the generation capacity but that is not the case. So, TCN is working very hard to ensure that Nigeria is placed at a position that where power is generated, we will transmit to the people.

    “What we are saying is with gas coming on now; there is hope, because in the past one month, we had a nightmare. The nightmare was essentially that many of the gas companies started doing their servicing all at the same time but now there is streamlining and all of them have come together and decided on scheduling to ensure that no two gas plants are down at the same time thereby starving the power plants of fuel to fire the turbines.”

     

     

    “That is going to take place and hopefully too, distribution companies (DISCOs) are working on expanding their capacity to supply electricity to the people because if we generate and transmit and the capacity to distribute is not there, people will still not get electricity.”

  • Fed Govt lauds Nigerian Content achievements

    Fed Govt lauds Nigerian Content achievements

    The Federal Government has commended the achievements of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in its four years of existence, describing the agency as a major contributor to the transformation agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

    The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, gave the commendation while fielding questions from reporters during her visit to the headquarters of the agency in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    She said: “We are all extremely pleased at the federal level with the various achievements this board has recorded within this period of time. It is quite clear from our various movements, particularly when we go to international fora and see the number of Nigerians that are now exhibiting the services they deliver to the industry. It is progressing robustly every year and going from strength to strength. Within Nigeria, the success of Nigerian Content is incredible.”

    She also underscored the adoption of the Nigerian Content philosophy by other sectors of the economy, such as the Ministry of Communications Technology and  that of Power as further proof that the implementation of the Nigerian Content Act has been effective.

    She said: “The fact that Nigerian Content policies are about to be deployed in various parts of the economy and ministries as well want to copy and learn from the Ministry of Petroleum is one of the things we can be actually proud of.  It is one of the strengths of the oil and gas sector in the President Jonathan’s administration and we are very pleased with it.”

    On her expectation for the future, Alison-Madueke expressed confidence that Nigerian Content implementation will “lend itself in a critical way to the growth of the nation’s economy and development of the citizenry in terms of knowledge, capacity building and employment generation.”

    Speaking earlier at the Bayelsa State Investment and Economic Forum (BSIEF), the Minister charged Nigerians, particularly indigenes of the state to take advantage of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act and the fact that NCDMB is located in Yenagoa to play key roles in the oil and gas industry.

     

     

     

  • Bayelsa investment summit: Random reflections

    Bayelsa investment summit: Random reflections

    Barely over a week ago, Bayelsa state government held the state spell bound, with dignitaries all over the world to host the maiden edition of “The Bayelsa Investment and Economic summit”.

    With galaxy of personalities in attendance ranging from captains of industries, political heavy weights, ministers and stakeholders of the nation’s economy, the occasion provides yet another opportunity for the people of the state to tell the world their story of the investment opportunities that abound in the state.

    Key speakers at the occasion include the immediate past National chairman of the ruling people democratic Party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison – Madueke, Rewanda’s High Commissioner to Nigeria and that of its Kenya counterpart, while the vice president, Alhaji Sambo represented president Goodluck Jonathan.

    Apart from expressing concern over the importance of economic diversification, one common message the key speakers dwelled on, was the need to enthrone peace and security to attract investment to the state and commended the state governor for the bold initiatives at achieving this crucial factor.

    The cynosure at the event was the governor of the state, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson who stole the show, when he mounted the restrum with his admirable huge body frame, with shouts of “countryman governor” rending the air to the admiration of the distinguished guests and the general audience.

    Clad in his native ijaw dress known as “Etibo” with a bowler hat to match, otherwise known as “Resource control” hat, symbolizing the Niger Delta struggle for a fair deal and the governor seized the momentous occasion to tell whoever that cares to listen that Bayelsa is now a safe haven for investors as peace and security pervade the landscape of the state.

    When the governor described Bayelsa state as the “Nigeria’s investment secrets”, the excited audience burst into general laughter, but the underlying reason for the description later unfolded when the forum collapsed into different topics, revolving around the real investment potentials that abound in the state; these include, oil and gas, clay, sand, economic trees, tourism to that of agro-allied products such as sea food, fish, aqua culture, plantain, rice and several others in which Bayelsa has a lot of comparative advantage.

    However one disturbing trend that has become a source of worry to the people is the fact that, successive administrations have been junketing the globe with the same story of searching and bringing investors to the state.

    Yet, there is no single foreign investment to point at except the unnecessary waste of tax payers money. This is where the countryman governor must have learnt his lesson.

    When he took over as governor of the state, there were a lot of pressures on him to hold the maiden edition of the state economic summit. Obviously he was not in a hurry to do so keeping at the back of his mind never to repeat the mistakes of the past by junketing the globe in the name of looking for investors; believing in the  words of George Santayana the Philosopher, who said, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

    He resisted the idea, not because it was a bad one, but because of the convictions of his restoration mandate; that you don’t just invite investors in the midst of near absence of basic infrastructure, that doing so would contradict the philosophy of George Santayana and the very basic elementary theory and practice of development economy.

    Top on the development agenda was addressing the security concerns that heralded his administration.

    The problem of kidnap which many thought had been addressed and nipped in the bud by the amnesty programme of the federal government reared its ugly head. Cases of cult activities was also on astronomical increase, involving vast majority of the youth population. Several local businessmen and women relocated to neighbouring states because of insecurity. This led to huge capital flight as no businessman would be interested in investing his or her hard earned money in an atmosphere of insecurity.

    A security outfit known as “Doo Akpor” was put in place and strategically located in the nook and crannies of the state, complemented by the revival of the local vigilante outfit called Bayelsa Volunteers to tackle activities of oil thieves and Sundry crimes.

    A programme of rehabilitation of cultists were rolled out, where cultists were given the option of either  voluntarily renounce their membership and embrace the new programme or made to face the new state laws where stiff penalty awaits anyone found wanting.

    Interestingly, the narrative his changed as several cultists have become born-again, while the crime indices have drastically dropped.

    This is where the statement of governor Dickson that “Bayelsa is Nigeria’s investment secret” becomes apt, as it is now justifiable to travel and woo investors to the state.

    According to Governor Dickson, “The level of insecurity we met was the very first challenge that had to be tackled head on. We have successfully executed and reinforced to create the safe and secure atmosphere we now have in the state, ranking Bayelsa as one of the safest states in the nation.”

    On infrastructure, the governor delightfully announced to the audience with a note of emphasis  that, “For anyone who had visited Bayelsa state in the last two years, it is clear that the restoration government has indeed matched words with action in establishing a new economy going by our commitment and achievements in infrastructure like roads, bridges and human capital development”, basically to jumpstart the economic diversification.

    Happily, the government has opened offices in London and Johannesburg to facilitate investments in critical areas of the economy. The Bayelsa Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) is one among other companies incorporated for this purpose. This is indeed a paradigm shift in the economic husbandry of the state.

    Therefore, the first ever Bayelsa State economic forum is coming at the most auspicious time the stage is set for investors to explore.

    While appreciating the enabling environment created by the state government, one step the government need to further take, is to step up efforts at promoting investment in the agro-allied industry in which Bayelsa, right from time immemorial has a good deal of comparative advantage.

    For example, in the Brass-Akassa area of the state, a huge volume of sardine fish known as Sungu in local parlance are wasted. In the month of August, production by the local fishermen and women are in its peak where fishes worth millions of naira are either thrown into the sea or buried because of the absence of storage facilities.

    This is where government can directly intervene by channeling its micro credit facilities for the fishermen to set up small and medium scale industries in the area of cold rooms and large scale fishing under the close supervision of government.

    Moreover, government should beam its investment searchlight in the area of gas flaring, by using its oil and gas company to get directly involved in converting the liquefied natural gas for household use.

    There must be also aggressive drive for public private partnership in the area of road construction because government alone cannot afford the high cost of providing roads for its citizens for investors to come in.

    Apart from addressing the critical sector of electricity concern, government should as a matter of imperative establish industrial estates to attract investors. Today, apart from Lagos state, Ogun state has the highest volume of investors streaming into the state because of the infrastructure such as industrial estate put in place.

    There is no doubt, the state government has taken very positive steps to turn around the economic fortunes of the state.

    Already the dividends of the investment summit is beginning to trickle in. The State rounded off the three-day investment and economic forum by signing a N25 billion SMES development fund partnership with the bank of industry, Mainstream bank and bank of Agriculture.

    Memorandum Of Understanding (MOUs) were also signed with Ostentrade for the development of ceramic tiles, glass and tomato paste as well as bean canring industries; while Proton Energy signed another MOU for the construction of 500 megawatts power and banner energy for the sitting of a gas and mini LNG in the state.

    Besides that, the announcement by the petroleum Resources Minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison – Madueke that plans have been concluded for the take-off of several petroleum related industries in the state is quite heartwarming. These industries which will open windows of employment opportunities in the state and the Niger Delta in general include, deep seaport and allied industries at Agge, Brass LNG, petroleum refinery at Oporoma and pipeline manufacturing company at Polaku.

    These are short term and long term gains of the investment summit which constitutes critical components in the implementation of the economic diversification policy of the restoration government.

    What the people need is just the political will to create more enabling environment, so that Bayelsa will become the hub of business and administration. By this way, the story narration will be better in the next edition of the Bayelsa investment and economic summit.

  • N10b chartered jets: we won’t appear before Reps, say NNPC, PPMC

    N10b chartered jets: we won’t appear before Reps, say NNPC, PPMC

    THE resumed investigation by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts into the N10 billion spent by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, on chartered jets may have run into another hitch.

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) have said they would not appear before the Solomon Olamilekan Adeola-headed committee.

    The committee was mandated to probe how the minister allegedly spent N10 billion on chartered private jets.

    The NNPC and PPMC have reportedly written to the committee that they would not honour its summons because of the pending court cases.

    Adeola, who is in possession of correspondence from the two organisations, told reporters yesterday that whether or not the two organisations appear, the investigation would go on and the report would be written.

    He said: “As we speak, we are set to begin the probe. There is no court injunction barring our committee from doing our job. So, whether they appear or not, it is not our problem. The law is very clear on this: we will do our job, write our report and submit our report to the House.”

    The chairman said the House had given the committee an assignment, adding that it would be done without fear or favour.

    The NNPC and PPMC reportedly said they would not appear before the committee because it would be prejudice, since all the information being requested from them were already subjects of litigation.

    Mrs. Alison-Madueke had refused to appear before the committee, pending the resolution of the various court cases instituted to stop the probe.

    It was learnt that there was pressure on the House leadership and the committee to stop the probe, which is scheduled to begin on June 26.

    Earlier efforts to stall the investigation did not succeed, as Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed of the Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja, refused to grant the request to stop the probe.

    The minister and the NNPC have also approached two other courts on the matter.