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  • NMDPRA revokes DPR regulations

    NMDPRA revokes DPR regulations

    …to publish midstream and downstream petroleum fee regulations

    The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) on Tuesday, October 15, said any regulations administered by the Defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in respect of midstream and downstream operations have been revoked in the proposed Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Operations Regulations 2024.

    It also revoked the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulations 2023 and all other regulations published in the Federal Gazette that have been consolidated into the 2024 Regulation and Petroleum Refining Regulations of 1974.

    The draft also says license permit and authorization application and processing fees are moved to the Midstream and Downstream Fees Regulation draft.

    This was contained in the document titled: “Structure of the Midstream and Downstream Regulations 2024,” which the Secretary and Legal Advised, Dr. Joseph Tolorunse presented yesterday in Abuja during a stakeholders consultative forum on the proposed Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Operations Regulations 2024.

    “Any regulations administered by defunct Department of Petroleum Resources in respect of Midstream and Downstream Petroleum operations are hereby revoked,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the NMDPRA Chief Executive, Engr. Farouk Ahmed said the Ministry of Justice will vet the draft and the government office, which gazette regulations will publish it.

    Represented by the Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure (DSSRI), Mr. Ogbagu Ukoha, he said: “After today’s job is done, we will have to sit down with the Federal Ministry of Justice who will look at it, cross the ‘Ts’, dot the ‘Is’, and then the requisite government office that gazettes regulations will publish it.”

    He earlier said the NMDPRA has received the approval of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobri, and that of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo to publish the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Fees Regulations

    It is expected that the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Fees Regulations.

    Read Also: We aren’t aware of other petrol importers apart from NNPCL, says NMDPRA

     He said: “Following a successful stakeholder consultation and having received the approval of the Honourable Ministers of State for Petroleum Resources, will soon be published in the Federal Government Gazette.”

    He said the consultation was held in furtherance of Section 216 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) which mandates consultation with stakeholders before the finalisation of Regulations made under the Act.

    He said Section 33 of the PIA is to the effect that the Authority may make regulations for all activities relating to midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria.

    Accordingly, said the Authority boss, the proposed 2024 Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Operations Regulations (Operations Regulations) consolidates twelve of the Authority’s earlier gazetted or published Regulations into a single document.

    He said the consolidation process has enabled the Authority to reduce the complexities of navigating and implementing the Authority’s numerous Regulations and streamline operations in the midstream and downstream petroleum regulatory industry addressing inconsistencies in the regulatory space.

    He added that it engenders further compliance with the PIA and Regulations made thereto.

    Ahmed said the proposed Operations Regulations are also in consonance with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to promoting ease of doing business in Nigeria.

    He said: “These Regulations are to be read in conjunction with other Regulations made by the Authority including the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Fees Regulations which provide for the prescribed fees for midstream and downstream petroleum activities.”

  • DPR warns operators against ‘doctoring’ lab results

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has warned operators of oil and gas laboratory services to desist from compromising results of data analysis from their laboratories, uphold industry ethical standard and global best practices.

    Its Acting Director, Alhaji Shakur Rufai, gave the warning at the third Oil and Gas Industry Laboratory Stakeholders’ workshop  in Lagos with the theme: Enhancing Laboratory Best Practices and Capacity Building towards Promoting Sustainable Development in the Oil and Gas Industry.”

    Represented by the Deputy Director, Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) Division, Dr Musa Zagi, he said the aim of the forum was to chart a new direction for laboratory managers and operators in the industry and make them embrace  best practices.

    He advised the operators not only to view their operations or businesses as money-making ventures but ensure their services meet global standards.

    He said laboratory practices should be seen as a critical and sensitive component which inputs are critical for decision-making across the oil and gas value chain.

    “The impressive attendance at  this workshop, to me, signifies the seriousness and importance that you all attach to this engagement which is geared towards continuous improvement of laboratory practice in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

    “I would like to thank the Head, Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) and his dedicated team for successfully putting this year’s stakeholders’ workshop together. It is also imperative to ask how equipped and efficient our laboratories for conducting these scientific observations and analyses are.

    “It is my fervent hope and firm belief that the discussions in this workshop will ignite a strong determination and resolve among all oil and gas laboratory stakeholders to begin to chart a definitive and sustainable path towards uncompromised and consistent quality of service and integrity of results.”

    Shakur emphasized that the quality and integrity of the data or results churned out from laboratories in our sector of the economy is a critical ingredient in decision-making for both regulators and operators without which there can be no real value addition and sustainability.

    He said the DPR has put in place machinery to ensure good laboratory practice in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. He said the accreditation and permitting process for companies rendering laboratory services in the sector has been further strengthened by the oil and gas laboratories stakeholders’ workshop since the first workshop which was held in 2015.

    “DPR is committed to working with all stakeholders to drive and enhance good laboratory practice within the sub-sector, encourage and where necessary enforce capacity building with the ultimate goal or objective of promoting sustainable development in the industry,” he added.

    In attendance were chief executives of laboratory services firms, members of the academia, and representatives of oil and gas companies.

  • DPR assures of fuel supply

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) at the weekend assured that there was sufficient level of petroleum products that will sustain the country for months and even beyond the last quarter of the year.

    It dismissed rumours of impending scarcity of products particularly Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), and cautioned marketers against selling above the approved pump price of N145 per litre.

    Its Head of Operation, Lagos Zonal Office, Sholabi Olanrewaju, who gave the assurance, advised residents against panic buying, saying the Federal Government has ensured  availability of products, adequately supply and prompt distribution across states.

    Olanrewaju said: “There is sufficient level of petroleum products as at today’s stock that could take the nation for months.

    “So, I will advise members of the public there is no need for panic buying of petroleum products in anticipation of scarcity.

    “Any petroleum marketer found to be selling PMS above the stipulated pump price of N145 per litre or causing a hitch in the supply chain will be severely dealt with in accordance with the law.”

     

  • DPR seals off filling station for diverting fuel

    THE Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, has sealed up Gwalaida Petroleum Limited, located in Jibia, Katsina State, for product diversion to neighbouring Niger Republic.

    The Operation Controller at the DPR Katsina field office, Mohammed Sani, told newsmen in Jibia that he and his team stormed the station following the discovery that it was supplied with about 80,000 litres of fuel on 29 and 30th of July, 2019, but diverted it to other location.

    He said his team was shocked to find that the station had only 7,000 litres of fuel left in the tank, despite the fact that it was supplied that large amount of fuel ‘only two days earlier’.

    The DPR consequently sealed off the station, directing that the station manager or the owner of the station should report at the DPR field headquarters in Katsina to offer explanations over what could have happened to the 80,000 litres of fuel supplied to the station.

    Read Also: DPR seals five filling stations in Edo

    He said:  “This is a clear case of product diversion and we shall not tolerate it. Available records showed that this fuel station was supplied with 80,000 litres of fuel on the 29th and 30th of July, 2019, just two days ago. We dipped just now and discovered that the station has only 7,000 litres of fuel.

    ”The station manager or the station owner has explanation to offer on what could have happened to the fuel supplied those just two days ago.’

    “Also, look at the generating set being used to power the station; it falls short of what we have recommended. Look at the premises too, the station looks unused. That is why the entire sales clerk and the people buying fuel in jerry cans ran away on seeing our team.”

    The Nation observed during the visit that the fuel station only dispenses fuel to smugglers who are mainly Nigeriens that purchased fuel from the station.

    Findings further showed that the smugglers always come to the station on motorcycles with several 25-litre jerry cans which they thereafter load with fuel and smuggle to nearby Nigerien towns and villages where they sell off the product.

     

  • DPR to shut oil firms for failure to upload daily production figures

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has warned oil companies not to ignore its directive that their daily production data be uploaded to its platform – National Production Monitoring System (NPSM).

    DPR Acting Director Ahmad Shakur warned that failure to comply would attract sanctions.

    Shakur, who spoke at a sensitisation workshop organised by the DPR on NPSM for oil and gas operators’ compliance officers in Lagos, said although the government had spent a lot of resources to establish the platform, some operators were not complying with the directive.

    Represented by Assistant Director, Management Branch, Upstream at DPR,  Akpomudjere Okiemute, oil industry regulator chief said the purpose of the engagement was to ensure full compliance with production and export data upload into the official platform.

    He said the NPMS was established to ensure proper book-keeping and  address the controversy trailing the country’s actual oil production. There is  the belief that Nigeria doesn’t know the exact quantity of oil and gas it produces.

    The oil and gas industry regulator also warned that, henceforth, any company that not on the NPMS platform will not be allowed to operate. He added that compliance with the submission of the Maximum Efficient Rate (MER) test will be enforced as no operator is expected to produce from any well without conducting the test.  MER test is used to determine the optimal rate a given well can be explored and currently, there are about 2,616 wells producing in the country.

    The NPMS is a web-based oil and gas production accounting and monitoring platform, developed by the DPR to track oil production from the various oil terminals in the country and movement of oil export and import vessels. The essence of the NPMS is to ensure timely and accurate reporting of production figures and export data, improve consistency and quality of database and facilitate seamless transfers of oil and gas data to the National Data Repository (NDR), he added.

    He said such collective upload of production data to the platform would deepen stakeholders’ understanding of the operations and relevance of NPMS to the nation. According to him, oil and gas account for about 90 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue. It is, therefore, essential that the government, through the DPR, has firm grip on production, transfer to terminal and exports.

    He said: “The NPMS is a web-based platform that provides rapid and efficient electronic data collection database and reporting system, which is envisaged to replace the paper-based reporting. The NPMS project implementation includes two pilot exercises where the DPR collected real-time data at source (one land-based terminal and one Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO).

    “The pilot established that independent real-time monitoring improved the quality of surveillance which enabled national rollout to all other terminals during the project implementation phase. The system was also proven to facilitate surveillance, production reporting and forecasting.”

    He said NPMS provides effective crude oil and gas production and export monitoring and gives potential investors high confidence and assurance to invest in the industry. It also makes the country gain from increased Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).

    He said companies will also submit their daily and monthly report on production wells, well test report, lifting reports,  associated gas and non-gas associated production reports, terminal reports, among others.

    “We have observed over the years that some companies are yet to comply fully with the data submission via the NPMS portal in contravention of the provisions of Sections 43 and 52 of the Petroleum (Drilling and Production) regulations of 1969 as amended. The agency has set up a compliance team to drive monitor and ensure full compliance with data submission via the platform,” he said.

    He said NPMS’ key objectives are to provide an online platform to effectively monitor national crude oil to gas production and exports; and provide a system for acquisition of production data from oil and gas facilities in the country, to ensure timely and accurate reporting of production figures and export data. It also aims to improve the consistency and quality of its database; facilitate seamless transfers of oil and gas data to the NDR and monitor production and export activities.

    He highlighted some of the steps taken by the Department to ensure full compliance to NPMS data submission as setting up a compliance team with the task to drive, monitor and ensure full compliance with data submission via the platform. It also tied the NPMS data submission compliance to some of its regulatory processes such as the issuance of export permits, technical allowable and other statutory approvals and permits.

    DPR’s Manager, Production and Surveillance, Upstream, Victor Georgeson, explained that NPMS has taken effect and the meeting was to ensure that operators understood the importance of the portal to the government.

    “As a country producing oil and gas, we should be able to know at any given time how much oil and gas we have. How much of it we have and we have produced and how much is being exported. Over the years, we have been doing this manually and there are loopholes and you will agree with me that will not be effective, but the new DPR today is emphasising on effectiveness and accountability. We are also going digital and what you are seeing is like a kind of paradigm shift to serve this country very well”, he added.

    About 75 compliance officers of oil and gas companies were in attendance.

  • DPR, Navgas, others push for oil, gas safety

    Stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have said there is urgent need to promote safety in the sector. They spoke at a seminar organised by Navgas, in conjunction with Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and others, in Ikeja, Lagos at the weekend.

    Navgas Terminal Manager in Apapa, Lagos Monday Adeoye said there was the need to focus on the effective handling of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), enjoining every one to join hands in boosting safety. He said it was for this that the firm holds the event every two years to boost their consciousness. This was the third event, he announced.

    In his message DPR Director, represented by Dr Akin Musa, as Assistant Director, said standards and procedures were being reviewed to meet up with the ever-changing trends in the sector. He said there would more survelliance by the directorate to tackle errant firms. He said as new plants emerge, so DPR would increase its monitoring,, adding that defaulters would be punished. He praised Navgas for sponsoring the event, urging other operators to emulate its good gesture.

    DPR Lagos Zonal Director Oluwole Akinyosoye, who spoke on ‘’Regulatory Compliance’’ said though gas consumption had grown astronomically in the 10 last years compared to kerosene, we were merely scratching the surface. Comparing the consumption of domestic gas in Senegal and other countries, he submitted that the rate of the product’s consumption in the country is small. However, he was optimistic that the market would deepen in the future.

    He listed some of the benefits of gas over kerosene as its cheapness, and easy availability and that more Nigerians were taking to gas for their domestic use.

    Even then, Akinyosoye warned that gas is more volatile, a reason stakeholders should make safety their watchword. DPR, he said, would always be strict on safety and that operators should self-regulate their operations. He told them that there were a lot of leakages in the system, a factor that led to incidents in the past. There were reports that product is being distributed to illegal operators, he said, warning that DPR would sanction anyone caught doing so.

    Programme Manager National LPG Expansion Plan, Office of the Vice President Dayo Adesina also harped on safety. Noting that the sector has a lot of stakeholders, he called on relevant stakeholders to interact on how to boost safety and production. He added that the government would assist them through awareness creation, among others, to move the industry to the next level in the next 10 years. LPG, he noted, would a game changer.

  • DPR seals filling stations for dispensing excess products to customers in P’Harcourt

    THE Port Harcourt Zonal Operations Controller of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Rivers State, Mr. Bassey Nkanga, has disclosed that 33 filling stations were sealed off in Port Harcourt yesterday for cheating members of the public in violation of stipulated rules guiding operations in the upstream and downstream sectors of the petroleum industry. He noted that the affected filling stations were also sealed off for selling adulterated products to members of the public.

    Nkanga stated this yesterday during a routine inspection of filling stations in Port Harcourt and its environs. The sealed filling stations included Conoil Petroleum, Eterna, Forte Oil, Mobile and Oando, among others. The DPR’s zonal operations controller said: “Out of the 150 filling stations we visited in our ongoing surveillance in Port Harcourt, 33 stations were sealed off for selling adulterated products and under-dispensing.

    “Their other offences include operating without valid licence and selling Premium Motor Spirit (PMS/petrol) for between N148 to N152 per litre, above government approved pump price of N145.” Nkanga also stated that DPR’s officials also shut filling stations which mistakenly over-dispensed petroleum products, thereby incurring losses. He said: “For filling stations that over-dispensed petroleum products, we found that of every 10 litres dispensed, two litres were mistakenly given free to the customers.

    “So, we simply stopped the filling stations from dispensing products, pending when such pumps are recalibrated. We took this measure, because we want the marketers to remain in business. Consequently, the 33 filling stations are presently under sanction, with various fines.” The DPR chief also declared that severe sanctions awaited marketers caught dispensing products or tampering with evidence after their stations had been sealed off by government.

    He said DPR was currently working with security agencies to end activities of illegal refiners and peddlers of adulterated petroleum products operating in old Port Harcourt Township, popularly called Town. DPR’s zonal operations controller revealed that the synergy had led to many filling stations being sealed off and the operators put out of their illicit business.

    He said: “We will not relent in our efforts to ensure full compliance with rules, as stipulated in the guidelines of the petroleum industry. “Severe sanctions await any marketer caught flouting the rules by adjusting their meters, hoarding petroleum products and operating without valid licence.” Nkanga also admonished members of the public to report errant filling station owners to DPR for prompt disciplinary actions and appropriate sanctions.

  • Why Anambra, Enugu, Kogi can’t be declared oil bearing states, by DPR

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) yesterday said that Anambra, Enugu and Kogi states can only join the list of oil producing states after meeting necessary conditions.

    In a letter to the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), the DPR said that the three states could only be declared oil bearing states if the oil firm in the area, Orient Oil, scales up its operations from oil prospecting to oil mining lease.

    The Department insisted that the states cannot be categorised as oil producing states for now because they have not met the necessary requirements.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, said the issue at stake has to do with a referral to the committee on the contentious boundary between the three states.

    He noted that a report that said “the Federal Government confirms Anambra oil producing ‎status” threw up the matter to the front burner.

    Alasoadura said his committee lacked the power to declare an oil-producing status on a state.

    He said that the committee believed that the agency is in the best position to settle the matter with the National Boundary Commission (NBC).

    The Ondo Central senator said the committee wrote to the DPR “but their response was not quite satisfactory.”

    That is why we want to hear from your commission.

    He noted that the committee decided to hear from the National Boundary Commission because “when we had a similar issue in Ondo State in the past, it was your commission that resolved it.”

    Senator Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North) noted that the issue of OPL 915 and 916 dated back to antiquity.

    Utazi said: “I didn’t know that this motion would come up, because we had already resolved the issue when Senator Isaac Mohammed Alfa was away.

    “Kogi and Enugu states do not have problem; the two are in agreement. But Enugu and Anambra are not in agreement.

    “We in Enugu want to be declared as oil producing state too. Let that be done pending when the boundary commission finishes its work.”

    He added that Orient Oil, within seven years, moved from 3,000 to 10,000 barrels a day.

    According to him, “an oil company that had been able to move from 3,000 to 10,000 barrels per day should have graduated from oil prospecting to oil mining lease.”

    He said that they would go to the DPR to find out why Orient Oil refused to move from oil prospecting to oil mining lease.”

    Senator Alfa said there was no contention on the desire to recognise the affected communities as oil producing communities.

    Acting Director-General of the National Boundary Commission, Adamu Adaji said that the issue is a tripartite one involving the three states.

    He said: “We carried out preliminary field work on Kogi-Anambra boundary, but the challenge we have is the document we are using, which was produced before independence.

    “We had to use a provincial boundary map produced by the colonial masters. We discovered that the descriptions on the map are not too clear.

    “We scaled out seven points, and about five of them were discovered, but the remaining two resisted.

    “Some youths from Ibaji community accosted our staff at some point that they will not agree with the legal document we were using. We are relying on Legal Instrument of 1954.

    “The work was stalled because the people of Ibaji were of the view that we must identify the points between Anambra, Kogi and Enugu before we could do anything.

    “When we made an attempt in 2015, our effort was aborted. We met with the then governor of Kogi State and he promised to talk to the community to cooperate with us.

    Read also: DPR deploys satellite to halt $2.8billion loss to oil smuggling

    “What we want now is to get the states to cooperate so that we can work. The three states were not quite forthcoming for us to do the job. That is what we have been trying to do now.

    “If we cannot rely on the map, we plead that the states should cooperate for us to come to a boundary that is acceptable to all.”

    Senator Magnus Abe noted that from what the commission said, “it’s already doing something, but the problem is except the commission does what some people want, the work can’t be done. Except there is the right atmosphere for them to work, nothing can be done.”

    Abe suggested that the only way the issue could be resolved is for the committee to invite the states to come and “we set up a joint team with the boundary commission so that we can have adequate security ‎before they can go and do their job.

    “Now that there is oil there, the next thing you may have is that the people will start acquiring guns and start shooting themselves.”

    Senator Gershom Bassey said that the National Boundary Commission cannot completely be exonerated from the blame. He noted that in his state, Cross River, “there have been communal clashes because the commission has not done its job.

    Philip Gyunka said that it appeared the commission does not want to hurt some communities.

    “I want to advise here that whatever you think can solve the problem, please try and do it.”

    Alasoadura, however, explained that the Boundary Commission cannot do anything without the cooperation of the states.

    States, he said, should also establish their own boundary commissions so that they can work directly with the NBC.

     

  • DPR deploys satellite to halt $2.8billion loss to oil smuggling

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)  has turned to French data firm Kpler to help it ferret out  smugglers from the thousands of ships plying Nigerian waters.

    The United Nations Security Council estimates that Nigeria lost $2.8 billion of revenue to oil theft in 2017, although Kpler says the minimum 100,000 barrels per day (bpd)— $3 billion to $8 billion a year — identified in a 2013 Chatham House report better approximates current losses.

    The DPR began its collaboration with Kpler in December and unveiled it this month, among other tech-focused plans to detect what it calls “rogue” or “dark” ships. Kpler and the DPR declined to specify the value of their contract.

    They could face an uphill battle to mollify investors in Nigeria’s oil sector.

    “The frustration with the level of sabotage and environmental damage caused by the theft is high and a major factor pushing business interest to the offshore,” said a source working for an international firm in Nigeria.

    From Kpler’s shared WeWork office space far away in London, the head of its partnership with Nigeria, Antoine Pillet, zooms in on a lonely vessel deep in the Delta’s river system using satellite data and the firm’s own software.

    Sitting above the Forcados crude pipeline and away from a crowded main shipping channel, the ship is surrounded by swamps stained black by spills and forests hollowed out in places by wildcat construction — tell-tale signs of theft and refining.

    “In some ways, we’re the CCTV of what’s going on in Nigerian waters. We provide the data, but don’t really give opinions on what may be going on,” he said.

    Kpler’s platform monitors 24/7, logging erratic journeys and changes to ships’ drafts which indicate off-loading of cargoes into an algorithm it is training the DPR to interpret.

    DPR’s Head of Public Affairs, Paul Osu, said: “This technology is a way of improving the way we do things. Of course there are problems here and there, but we don’t have inherent problems.

    “Technology is the way to boost transparency of operations and improve investor confidence.”

     

     

  • DPR seals 14 fuel stations in Sokoto, Kebbi

    The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says it has sealed 14 fuel service stations in Sokoto and Kebbi states for selling above control price and suspected diversion of products.

    Mr Muhammad Makera, the Zonal Operations Controller of DPR in charge of Sokoto and Kebbi states, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Sokoto that the sanctions were meted between Wednesday and Thursday, April 10 and 11.

    He said the department had visited 43 fuel selling stations in Sokoto State, noting that three fuel stations were sealed off for selling above control price and one for suspected diversion of the products.

    He added that 69 fuel selling stations were visited in Kebbi State and five were sealed off for selling above control price, two without valid operating licence, while three for suspected diversion of products.

    According to him, 83 trucks of Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) were supplied to the three states from Wednesday and Thursday out which 28 were for Sokoto, 47 for Kebbi while remaining 7 were added to Zamfara State.

    The Controller noted that surveillance teams were deployed to monitor proper fuel dispensing according to regulated price.

    Makera said that the surveillance operation was ongoing; adding that part of measures to ensuring adequate availability of fuel sold at regulated price and to caution customers against panic buying.

    He cautioned marketers against flouting government regulations and ensure proper dispensing at regulated price between N140 to N145 per litre.

    The Zonal Operation Controller stressed that government was committed to ensuring  proper supply of fuel to prevent shortage at all times.

    He further warned people against spreading rumors and misinforming people as government did not intend to increase the price and so people should not engage in panic buying.

    “The sealed service stations will remain closed until the owners comply with penalty and all those found wanton would also face similar penalty,” Makera said.

    The Zonal Operation Controller commended the present administration for its efforts in the energy sector and improving the lives of Nigerians and called on people to cooperate for maximum success of its policies and programmes.