The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Gas

  • WAPCo’s gas supply dips by 50% as demand falls

    Reduced demand, pipeline vandalism and inadequate supply have made gas supplies by the West African Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) to drop by over 50 per  cent to 70 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) from the 150mmscf/d capacity.

    Its Managing Director, Mr. Walter Perez, disclosed this during the company’s Agenda for Vendors Forum with its contractors and customers in Lagos. The firm transports 70mmscf/d to its customers.

    He said the sub-regional gas transporting firm has the capacity to transport about 150mmscf/d, but noted that it could only transports 70mmscf/d being the total order placed by its customers. “However, if the request increases, we will transport more,” he added.

    Perez said: “We have the capacity to transport over 150mmscf/d, but what we carry depends on our customers. Vandalism of pipelines had also affected the volume of gas transported before but lately, the volume had come back to normal.

    “Debt is an issue too. We are having debt challenges from some of our customers but the company is working with countries involved to resolve it.

    “Also, there are challenges of non-availability of gas, and during such periods, our customers used to look for alternatives, but our suppliers now have more than enough.”

    The WAPCo chief said the forum was held to enable the company interact with its service providers. “We do this across countries that we operate in. We have done one in Ghana early this year. We will soon hold another one in Togo and Benin. It is to create a safety environment for our vendors and let them know how we operate,” he added.

    WAPCo is a limited liability company that owns and operates the West African Gas Pipeline. It has its headquarters in Accra, Ghana, with an office in Badagry, Nigeria, and field offices in Cotonou, Benin, Lome, Togo, Tema and Takoradi, both in Ghana.

    The company is a joint venture between public and private sector companies from Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana. It is owned by Chevron West African Gas Pipeline Limited (36.7 per cent), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) (25 per cent), Shell Overseas Holdings Limited (18 per cent), and Takoradi Power Company Limited (16.3 per cent), SocieteTogolaise de Gaz (two per cent) and SocieteBenGaz S.A. (two per cent).

  • ‘NNPC crashes cooking gas, petrol prices’

    ‘NNPC crashes cooking gas, petrol prices’

    THE intervention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the supply and distribution of petroleum products has led to significant fall in the prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) – cooking gas – nationwide.

    A national survey by Oil and Gas Forum, NNPC’s weekly television programme, indicated a trend of drop in price for cooking gas with the average price for refilling five kilogrammes (kg) cylinder at N2,215.96 from the former price of N2,500.00.

    The study further revealed that states with the lowest average price for the five kg LPG refill were Kaduna and Niger at N2,000; Kogi at N2,005.00 and Oyo at N2,033.33.

    At the NNPC Mega and retail stations nationwide, a 12.5 kg of cooking gas that was sold for N4,500 a few months ago is now sold for N3,800 and other retail outlets sell the same quantity for N4,000.

    The corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said this in a statement yesterday.

    The statement added that a national survey by the TV programme indicated that in the last few weeks the price of petrol has fallen steadily from N145 per litre to between N142 and N143 per litre in some stations across the country.

    The study showed that NNPC Mega and affiliate stations across the country were selling the product for N143 per litre. The pump price range from between N142 and N145 per litre in some major and independent marketers in Lagos, Abuja, Sokoto, Enugu, Delta and other major cities.

    One of the respondents in the survey and a manager at an independent fuel retail station in Abuja, Mohammed Abdullahi, said the station presently sells petrol at N142 per litre in line with the prevailing market situation to sustain the turnover of the business and to attract more motorists to the station.

    Another independent marketer in Mosimi, Emeka Ikechukwu, said the going ex-depot prices of PMS had dropped from N138 per litre in most depots to N133.28 in NNPC depots and between N130 and N131 per litre in private depots.

    However, the situation is slightly different in Aba and Umuahia in Abia State and Calabar in Cross River State, where most independent fuel stations as well as major marketers were selling the product at N145 per litre.

    NNPC has sustained its interventions through sustained improvement in the supply of the products and remodeling of distribution channels to address sufficiency issues across the country.

    The corporation has also stepped up the resuscitation of some of its critical pipelines and depots such as the Atlas Cove – Mosimi Depot Pipeline, Port-Harcourt Refinery – Aba Depot Pipeline, Kaduna – Kano Pipeline and the Kano Depot , which have enhanced efficiency in products distribution.

    Efforts are also ongoing by the NNPC to revamp and re-commission other critical pipelines and depots across the country to further push down the prices of petroleum products for the benefit of consumers.

  • NNPC crashes cooking gas prices

    NNPC crashes cooking gas prices

    The sustained strategic intervention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the efficient supply and distribution petroleum products has led to significant fall in the prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas, nationwide.

    A national survey by Oil and Gas Forum, NNPC’s weekly TV programme, indicated a trend of drop in price for cooking gas with the average price for refilling 5kg cylinder at N2,215.96 from the former price of N2,500.00.

    The study further revealed that states with the lowest average price for the 5kg LPG refill were Kaduna and Niger at N2,000; Kogi at N2,005.00; and Oyo at N2,033.33.

    At the NNPC Mega and retail stations nationwide, a 12.5kg of cooking gas that was sold for N4,500 a few months ago is now sold for N3,800 while other retail outlets sell the same quantity for N4,000.

    The corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu made this disclosure in a statement on Sunday.

    The statement added that a national survey by Oil and Gas Forum, NNPC’s weekly TV programme, indicated that in the last few weeks, the price of petrol has fallen steadily from N145 per litre to between N142 and N143 per litre in some stations across the country.

    The study showed that NNPC Mega and affiliate stations across the country are selling the product for N143 per litre, while the pump price range from between N142 and N145 per litre in some major and independent marketers in Lagos, Abuja, Sokoto, Enugu, Delta and other major cities.

    One of the respondents in the survey and a manager at an independent fuel retail station in Abuja, Mohammed Abdullahi, said the station currently sells petrol at N142 per litre in line with the prevailing market situation in order to sustain the turnover of the business and to attract more motorists to the station.

    Another independent marketer in Mosimi, Emeka Ikechukwu, said the going ex-depot prices of PMS had dropped from N138 per litre in most depots to N133.28 in NNPC depots and between N130 and N131 per litre in private depots.

    However, the situation is slightly different in Aba and Umuahia in Abia State and Calabar in Cross River State where most independent fuel stations as well as major marketers selling the product at N145 per litre.

    The survey also showed a similar trend of drop in price for cooking gas with the average price for refilling 5kg cylinder at N2,215.96 from the former price of N2,500.00.

    The study further revealed that states with the lowest average price for the 5kg LPG refill were Kaduna and Niger at N2,000; Kogi at N2,005.00; and Oyo at N2,033.33.

    At the NNPC Mega and retail stations nationwide, a 12.5kg of cooking gas that was sold for N4,500 a few months ago is now sold for N3,800 while other retail outlets sell the same quantity for N4,000.

    NNPC has sustained its interventions through sustained improvement in the supply of the products and remodeling of distribution channels to address sufficiency issues across the country.

    The corporation has also stepped up the resuscitation of some of its critical pipelines and depots such as the Atlas Cove – Mosimi Depot Pipeline, Port-Harcourt Refinery – Aba Depot Pipeline, Kaduna – Kano Pipeline and the Kano Depot which have enhanced efficiency in products distribution.

    Efforts are also ongoing by the NNPC to revamp and re-commission other critical pipelines and depots across the country to further push down the prices of petroleum products for the benefit of consumers.

  • NNPC rakes in $2.52bn from crude oil, gas sale in one year 

    NNPC rakes in $2.52bn from crude oil, gas sale in one year 

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday announced that a total export crude oil and gas receipt for the period of June 2016 to June 2017 stood at $2.52billion. It said that out of it, the sum of $ 2.16 billion was transferred to the JV Cash Call in line with the budget and the balance of $0.36 billion was paid into the Federation Account.

    It explained that the low receipt was due to the effects of production disruption in Niger-Delta and low crude oil prices during the period.

    The corporation made this disclosure in its monthly financial report of June 2017 that it posted on its website yesterday.

    The report said that in the month of June this year, NNPC recorded a total export crude oil sale of $272.44 million, adding that the performance was almost the same like that of May.

    The report noted that “crude oil export sales contributed $175.46 million (or 64.40%) of the dollar transactions compared with $71.81million contribution in the previous month. Also the export gas sales amounted to $131.81 million in the month. The June 2016 to June 2017 crude oil and gas transactions indicate that crude oil and gas worth $2,829.67million was exported.”

    On dollar payments to the JV Cash Call and Federation Account, NNPC noted that the total export receipt of $219.34 million was recorded in June 2017 as receipt against $247.82 million in May 2017. Contribution from crude oil, according to the report, amounted to $133.79 million while gas and miscellaneous receipt stood at $78.83million and $6.71 million.

    It added that of the export receipts, $87.73 was remitted to the Federation Account, while $131.60 was remitted to fund the JV Cash Call for the month of June 2017 to guarantee current and future production.

    NNPC said that the domestic crude oil and gas receipt during the month amounted to N76.48billion, consisting of N2.55billion from domestic gas and the sum of N73.93billion from domestic crude oil. Out of the naira receipt, the sum of N56.97 billion was transferred to the Joint Venture Cash Call (JVCC) being a first line charge and to guarantee continuous flow of revenue stream to the Federation Account.

    Continuing, the report said that “on receipt from net domestic crude oil and gas, NNPC transferred the sum of N60.39 billion into the Federation Account and N90.58billion to the JV Cash Call for the month under review. From June 2016 to June 2017, Federation, JV and FG received the sum N756.22 billion, N706.12 billion and N63.30 billion respectively.”

     

  • NIPCO has broken gas business monopoly, says marketers

    NIPCO has broken gas business monopoly, says marketers

    The Nigerian Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO) has broken the monopoly of International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the gas market, Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM), President Nosa Ogieva-Okunbor has said.

    During a visit to NIPCO in Lagos, he said the IOCs hitherto had almost total control of the market before the company came in 2009.

    He noted that NALPGAM as an important value chain in the LPG distribution process appreciate the contribution of NIPCO in the chain and will forever be grateful to the organisation.

    According to him, the company’s recent expansion project which will make her the biggest LPG plant in Nigeria awesome and a delight to them as it will have a positive impact on storage and availability of LPG in the domestic market.

    Barrister Ogieva –Okunbor noted that as a key stakeholder in the business, it is imperative of them to associate with market leader like NIPCO as a form of encouraging  the company in its investment drive to grow LPG sector in Nigeria.

    He informed the NIPCO management of the setting up of a human resource development centre by the association to grow technical know-how in the industry and offer avenue for exchange of ideas in the interest of the stakeholders.

    While promising increased business relationship on behalf of its members who own hundreds of bottling plants across the country, Barrister Ogieva–Okunbor said:‘’ the partnership of NALPGAM and NIPCO is key to the smooth transition of gas to the end users’’.

    In his remarks, Managing Director, NIPCO, Mr Sanjay Teotia, said the ongoing expansion in its LPG plant is geared at improving the gas distribution value chain by providing veritable avenue for storage and dispense to bottling plants owners and other ancillary operators in the LPG market.

    He restated the company’s commitment to high safety standards and accurate loadings, a feat that has been NIPCO key objectives in its operations since inception.

    The MD will cooperate with the association in ensuring that its gas prices are affordable and poised to increase avenue for more meaningful business for  marketers even as he urged NALPGAM to ensure that bottling plant owners consider the end users in pricing as well as accuracy in quantity dispense.

    He told the visiting LPG marketers that quality certificate of each consignment being loaded to their members will be sent to the association for onward passage to their members.

    The highlight of the visit was the presentation of an award to NIPCO as the 2017  best LPG marketer identifying its   LPG  sales  head ,Harjeet Tuteja as the best salesman of the year.

  • Wanted: 3m new gas bottles yearly

    Wanted: 3m new gas bottles yearly

    Nigeria needs to produce about three million gas cylinders yearly to meet consumers’ demand and replace obsolete ones, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said.

    The corporation in a report entitled: “The dynamics of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) utilisation in Nigeria: Past and present initiatives,” said six companies would have to produce the cylinders at 500,000 units each.

    The report noted that the country uses 2.5million gas cylinders, adding that many of them are due for replacement. It said there are 26 million families in the country, of which a smaller percentage are using LPG also known as cooking gas.

    “Though few Nigerians are using gas for cooking, the rate at which Nigerians use gas for domestic and industrial purposes is growing. That is why there is the need for the country to establish six gas manufacturing plants at 500,000 units each to meet the needs of cooking gas users.

    “Besides, the idea would help in eradicating the use of obsolete cylinders in the country. For six companies to produce 500,000 cylinders each annually, the country would be having three million cylinders in a year. This means that Nigeria would have enough cylinders to give its people as well as reduce health hazards caused by the use of obsolete cylinders.  Gas cylinders have a safe life of five years.  The life span of an average cylinder has been increased to between seven to ten years by Nigerians, due to the bad economy.’’

    NNPC’s Group Managing Director Dr. Maikanti Baru said the corporation is interested in deepening the use of cooking fuel, adding that the development informed the decision of NNPC to launch a campaign on the issue.

    He said the National Oil Company is monitoring the progress report in the sub-sector by writing a report on the use and problems affecting the growth of the product in the market.

    He said the corporation had not lost track of the growth in the oil and gas sector due to its decision to facilitate the growth of petroleum resources.

  • NLNG chief seeks human capital development in oil, gas

    NLNG chief seeks human capital development in oil, gas

    The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), Mr. Tony Attah Monday, has called on engineers in the oil and gas industry to acquire cutting-edge competence to enable them harness the nation’s vast natural resources and grow the economy.

    Attah spoke at the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Young Professionals Workshop in Lagos.

    He said the industry has been pivotal to the economic wins in the past five decades and still remains so till date, stressing the need for competent professionals who will sustain and develop the sector.

    He said: “It, therefore, becomes imperative for the Society of Petroleum Engineers and similar professional associations to stimulate the availability of enabling facilities to nurture and grow the professionals and the technology which will deliver the dividends from the sector to the nation’s economy.

    “In view of this urgent need to support the development of world-class training structure for engineers, Nigeria LNG Limited spearheaded the improvement of the study of engineering in Nigeria’s top Federal Universities in the six geo-political zones of the country, through its University Support Programme (USP) and through which we recently donated buildings and equipment with a total value of $12 million.

    “Under the programme, Nigeria LNG built and equipped six engineering research laboratories in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Ilorin, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Ibadan, University of Port Harcourt and University of Maiduguri.”

    Highlighting NLNG’s contribution to the development of human capital in the industry, Attah said NLNG also provides technical training for young Nigerians in the Bonny Vocational Centre situated on Bonny Island.

    “The NLNG vocational centre has trained over a thousand Nigerians in related occupational areas such as electrical installation, fabrication, welding and pipeline work, mechanical fitting, building construction, ICT system support and many others. Our focus is to sustain the development of skilled manpower to support the technical field,” he added.

    He said professional associations such as SPE should promote efforts to develop competence, whether through the public sector or the private sector to support a thriving oil and gas sector as well as to overall economic development.

  • Nigeria to extend gas pipeline to Côte d’ Ivoire

    Nigeria to extend gas pipeline to Côte d’ Ivoire

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday said the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) would be extended from Ghana to Cote d’ Ivoire as part of the Federal Government West African energy integration policy.
    The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, made this disclosure on  while receiving a delegation from Cote d’Ivoire at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.
    Represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed, the GMD stated that the extension of WAGP to Cote d’Ivoire would facilitate easy transmission of gas within the West African sub-region.
    He noted that the visit would afford the NNPC and Cote d’Ivoire the opportunity to open a new vista for further bilateral discussion which would lead to the growth and development of the oil and gas sector.
    The GMD said Nigeria and indeed the NNPC has being into the business of oil and gas exploration and production for over fifty years, stressing that the interface would enable the NNPC to share its vast experiences in the sector with the delegation.
    The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu that disclosed this in a statement quoted Baru as saying that : “Petroleum exploration and production dates back to over fifty years in Nigeria and a lot of experiences in technology and personnel management have been acquired. We are ready to share our experiences with you so as to help you to avoid the mistakes we made in the past.”
    He expressed the readiness of the NNPC to develop the capacity of the delegation, adding that the NNPC was aware of the long history of refining in Cote d’ Ivoire.  
    Earlier, leader of the Ivoirian delegation and Deputy Director, Production, of Ministry of Petroleum, Cote d’ Ivoire, Mr. Patrick Marshal, said the visit was to learn from Nigeria some of its best practices in personnel management, exploration and production in the oil and gas industry.
    Highpoint of the visit was a technical session on the mode of operations of the NNPC in the petroleum sector.
  • Nigeria rakes in $2.45b from oil, gas export 

    Nigeria rakes in $2.45b from oil, gas export 

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) raked in a total of $2.45billion from the export of crude oil and gas from May 2016 to May 2017, it said in its May Financial and Operations Report yesterday.

    From the total export receipt, NNPC transferred $2.18billion to the Joint Venture Cash Call (JVCC) in accordance with the Budget and Exit of the JVCC.

    The report added that the corporation transferred the balance of $0.27billion to the Federation Account.

    The NNPC said : “Total export crude oil and gas receipt for the period of May 2016 to May 2017 stood at $2.45billion, out of which the sum of $ 2.18 billion was transferred to the JVCC in line with the Budget and Exit of the JVCC and the balance of $0.27 billion was paid to the Federation Account.

    “This JVCC amount falls short of $8.64billion in the 2016 appropriated amount. This was caused by the production disruption in the Niger Delta and low crude oil prices during the year.”

    According to the report, a total export sale of $272.74 million was recorded in May, 2017.

    The sale, said the report, was $114.71 million higher than the preceding month’s performance of $158.03million when crude oil export sales contributed $133.81 million (or 49.06%) of the dollar transactions compared with $71.81million contribution in the previous month.

    The NNPC noted that the export gas sales amounted to $138.93million in the month. The May 2016 to May 2017 crude oil and gas transactions indicate that crude oil and gas worth $2,712.91million was exported.

     It said : “Total export proceeds of $247.82 million were recorded in May 2017 as receipt against $142.12 million in April 2017. Contribution from crude oil amounted to $123.24 million, while gas and miscellaneous receipt stood at $103.83 million and $0.021 million.”

    The NNPC said : “The 22nd publication recorded remarkable improvement in group performance, in spite of challenging operating business environment which limits profitability.

    “ The May 2017 report indicated a trading deficit of ¦ 3.55billion, representing 32.65% decrease in deficit compared to the previous month’s deficit of ¦ 5.27billion.

  • Govt to replace kerosene with gas, says NNPC boss

    The Federal Government is planning to make liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) the primary domestic fuel for cooking.

    The aim is to de-emphasise the use of firewood and kerosene and reduce the health risks of the two traditional sources of cooking.

    The government is relying on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NNLG) to achieve this goal.

    In a statement, NNPC’s Group Managing Director Dr Maikanti Baru said the need to replace firewood and kerosene with LPG was imperative to reduce health hazards and death.

    The corporation, he said, would  leave no stone unturned in increasing the use of cooking gas by individuals and industrial concerns.

    He said Indonesia had succeeded in kerosene substitution, stressing that NNPC is looking forward to cooperating with Indonesia to achieve a similar feat.

    Baru said: “The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation will also like to partner with Indonesia and other countries in the area of bio-fuels production in order to diversify the nation’s energy mix for growth. Already, the Corporation has launched a campaign on deforestation  to reduce tree felling and its attendant depletion of the ozone layer.”

    At a stakeholders’ forum in Abuja, NLNG’s Managing Director, Mr. Tony Attah, said the company was planning to increase LPG to increase the product’s accessibility.

    He said Nigeria LNG would increase the penetration and market share of LPG by 32 per cent from 400,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) to three million MTPA in five years, as part of efforts to make more Nigerians use the product.

    A study by the company showed that the country must increase LPG production by 32 per cent, adding that given the right condition, the firm would achieve this goal soon.

    “It is expected that an aggressive and well-coordinated market expansion strategy should lead to the growth of the Nigerian LPG market at annual rates of up to 32 per cent from the current level of over 400,000MTPA to over  three million MTPA in five years with a potential increase in per capita consumption from approximately 2kg to over 12kg, well above the sub-Saharan average of 3.5kg per capita,” Attah said.

    The NLNG chief said the gas giant had taken up the drive to improve LPG use in Nigeria, adding that its efforts must be complemented by the government to ensure the market peaks in line with the estimate revealed by its study.

    On the subsector’s problems, Attah said dearth of investments in LPG reception facilities and supply infrastructure, onerous fiscal regime and regulatory environment, such as the imposition of Value Added Tax (VAT) on LPG produced in the country, among others, were inhibiting the growth of LPG ‘ market.

    He urged the government to remove fiscal and regulatory bottlenecks to create a conducive business environment for private sector investment in all segments of the value chain.

    “The removal of VAT on LPG as well as taxes and duties, concessions for LPG equipment and cylinders must be at the top of the priority list for the government,” he said, adding that more people would use LPG in the country when these problems are resolved.’’