The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NNPC

  • ‘Nipco spends N17b on CNG projects’

    Nipco Plc, an integrated indigenous downstream operator, has injected over N17 billion in the provision of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructure in a joint venture scheme with Nigeria Gas Company (NGC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC).

    The scheme resulted in the setting up of Green Gas Limited had inaugurated 8 CNG stations and three conversion workshops in Benin City while more outlets are under construction in other parts of the country.

    Managing Director, Nipco, Mr Venkataraman Venkatapathy, spoke at the Nigeria Gas Association(NGA) Eighth International Conference and Exhibition.

    He said over 1,500 vehicles had been configured to use CNG as vehicular fuel, which are capable of saving the nation huge a lot of money that could have been expended on fuel subsidy

    The Nipco boss explained that the GGL initiative, which is the first of its kind in West Africa, is ushering a new set of vehicles running on CNG in Nigeria with their attendant benefits.

    Venkatapathy listed other infrastructure provided by the JV Company to include the laying of over 50 km still pipelines for gas distribution to the inaugurated CNG stations Benin City to guarantee access to gas to the outlets.

    He said the conversion, which takes five hours has been very smooth since 2009 when the company inaugurated its first set of stations .

    Venkatapathy explained that after conversion the vehicle could run on petrol and natural gas, thus giving the motorist a tab switch between using CNG and petrol.

    The NIPCO helmsman said in to create more awareness on the benefits of powering vehicles with gas over petrol, GGL has showed cased CNG vehicles in exhibitions, including the NGA event to enable the public to see and experience vehicle that runs on petrol and CNG.

    He said the latest addition in the CNG revolution being undertaken by GGL is the conversion of tricycles popularly referred to as “Keke Napep” and Mass Transit buses in the fleet of Edo State government transport fleet popularly known as “Comrade Bus”.

    According to him, five Edo mass transport buses are running on CNG for the last six months while 25 more are being converted as a further boost to natural gas usage in the state and beyond.

    “The CNG initiative, which is the first of its kind in West Africa, is receiving a lot of support from both the Federal and Edo State government, a feat that is serving as good catalyst for GGL to pursue the dream with vigour and deep sense of responsibility, he noted.

    He reiterated that pioneering the project was a big challenge but the unwavering commitment of the Federal Government through the relevant agencies such as the NGC the JV partner, DPR etc have spurred them to redouble their efforts to enable the citizenry to enjoy the benefits of the environment friendly fuel.

    Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, NNPC, Dr David Ige said the GGL initiative was commendable and in line with the transformation policy of President Goodluck Jonathan, which harps on the exploration of the abundant natural gas reserves for the benefit of the people.

    “The initiative between NIPCO and Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) was to leverage Natural Gas in vehicular use as it is significantly cheap, environment friendly, safe and efficient in comparison to white products, especially in a deregulated fuel market,” he said.

    Ige maintained that over time, the 50 per cent savings enjoyed by taxi drivers whose cars run on CNG would be passed to passengers and make an average passenger in Nigeria move around at a relatively cheaper rate than they could with petrol.

    The NNPC chief assured that the government would continue to support initiatives of this nature, adding that of the three firms given the licence to pioneer CNG revolution in 2007, only NIPCO showed enough commitment.

  • NNPC seeks $13.8b for 2013

    NNPC seeks $13.8b for 2013

    The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation on Thursday asked the Senate to approve $13.8 billion for its expenditure in 2013.

    Group Executive Director of NNPC (Exploration and Production), Abiye Membere, spoke during the corporation’s budget defence before the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream) in Abuja.

    The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu sat beside Membere during the budget defence.

    Attempts by Membere to give a breakdown of the budget was resisted by committee members, including Senators Heineken Lokpobiri and Hayatou Gwarzo, who insisted that he should first convert the amount in dollars to its naira equivalent.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Emmanuel Paulker intervened, saying the lawmakers were interested in what the Nigerian government has spent on the corporation.

    This, according to him, constitutes NNPC’s budget and that of the Joint Venture Contracts (JVC) and the Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs).

    “We want to know the totality of what you budgeted for 2012 and tell us how far you’ve gone. That would enable us know how far you’ve gone,” Paulker said.

    Membere said the NNPC got N1, 572 trillion as its budget for the 2012 fiscal year.

    He said the oil giant had initially requested for N1, 917,150 trillion which was turned down.

    Members said: “The 2012 budget request was $12.78billion and $10.48billion was approved for us. In terms of performance, as at September 2012, we have spent $6.386billion and that represents about 61 per cent.

    “It is broken down into different line items with respect to cash call, domestic gas, BRASS, LNG and different elements for which the budget was approved.”

     

  • Six remanded for alleged pipeline vandalism, murder

    A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday ordered that six accused persons be remanded in prison custody after they were docked on allegations of oil pipeline vandalism and murder.

    The accused are facing a seven-count charge bordering on the offences, in connection with the vandalism of an oil pipeline and the murder of three engineers of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation.

    Those charged are Joel Inerepamu (25), Rueben Oluwole (60), John Isaiah (28), Ineye Okposa (40), Timi Gunugunu (22), and Olisa Saheed (25).

    Justice Mohammed Idris ordered their remand, pending trial, following an application made by the prosecutor, Mr. Toyin Ibadin.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that he fixed December 18 for commencement of trial.

    Ibadin had told the court that the accused, on September 5, at about 6p.m., at Arepo, Ogun, conspired to vandalise an NNPC oil pipeline located in the vicinity.

    He alleged that the accused had vandalised the pipeline and scooped out large quantities of petroleum products for illegal sale.

    Ibadin said on sighting engineers assigned to the area from the NNPC, to maintain the pipelines, the accused, who were armed with guns, opened fire.

    He alleged that the engineers were shot dead by the accused.

    According to the prosecutor, the offences contravened sections 3(6), 7(a), 7(b), and 17(a) of the Miscellanous Offence Act, Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    He said the also contravened Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Cap C 38, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

    However, all the accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charges

     

  • Govt owes us N1.3t on subsidy, says NNPC

    Govt owes us N1.3t on subsidy, says NNPC

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday it is owed more than N1.3 trillion ($8.2 billion) in government fuel import subsidies, debts which could impact on the corporation’s fuel import programme.

    “As at today, the outstanding amount due to the NNPC on subsidy claims is in excess of N1.3 trillion. [The debt is] making things… difficult as we have been struggling to cope with our fuel import programme,” a senior NNPC official said.

    The government pays subsidies to importers to cover the difference between the landing cost of the fuel and the fixed domestic pump price.

    The subsidy debt rose steadily from N752.7 billion at end of 2011 to N1trillion in the first half of this year, the official said.

    Long queues of vehicles at service stations remain common place across major cities in the country due to a shortage of fuel that first started to be felt three months ago.

    NNPC previously accounted for 60 per cent of gasoline imports into the country but has taken on sole responsibility after private companies withdrew following delays in the payment of subsidies in the first and second quarters of this year.

    Following large-scale fraud uncovered in the management of the subsidy scheme that swallowed N2.7 trillion in 2011, according to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) figures, the Federal Government said it will only pay subsidy claims cleared by a presidential panel set up to verify import documents submitted by companies.

    Nigeria imports more than 85per cent of its refined fuel needs due to the inadequate state of its refining sector.

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday said the government would revisit the need to abolish subsidies and deregulate the downstream oil sector if the country is to attract private sector investors to build refineries in Nigeria and curb fuel imports

  • NPDC’s oil production hits 130,000 bpd

    NPDC’s oil production hits 130,000 bpd

    Crude oil production by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the exploration and production subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has hit 130,000 barrels per day (bpd).

    The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr Andy Yakubu, disclosed this through the Managing Director of the National Engineering and Technical Company Limited (NETCO), a subsidiary of NNPC, Mr.IshakuAbdullahi, at the just-concluded Lagos International Trade Fair.

    He identified sustained amnesty programme of the Federal Government and the re-entry into the abandoned fields and facilities by the company as a major factor responsible for the improvement in the production.

    He said: “With the return of peace in the oil-producing Niger Delta due to the amnesty programme, the NPDC re-entered abandoned oil fields and resumed production. This has positively impacted on the NPDC’s growth aspiration with current crude oil production now averaging about 130,000barrels per day.”

    Yakubu said abandoned assets of the NNPC/Shell Joint Venture had also been reactivated and production ramped up on the divested Shell’s assets. He noted that the NNPC was also implementing a robust programme aimed at drastically reducing the development costs of both joint venture and Production Sharing Contract (PSC) projects in order to increase government’s take from oil revenues.

    He said the corporation had acquired three-Dimensional Seismic data gathering equipment as part of efforts of the Federal Government to increase the country’s crude oil reserves through increased exploration in the Inland Basins, especially in the Chad Basin.

    The NPDC has its head office in Benin in Edo State and base offices in Port Harcourt and Warri. It was established in 1988 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the NNPC. Its operations are concentrated mainly in the Niger Delta and span five States – Imo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers.

  • NAPIMS backs stakeholders’ alliance to sustain govt’s projects

    NAPIMS backs stakeholders’ alliance to sustain govt’s projects

    The National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has said for government’s projects to be sustained, stakeholders including the benefiting communities, local and state governments, must be involved in protecting such projects.

    Speaking with The Nation during this year’s Shell’s sustainable development and community relations road show and exhibition, with the theme Delivering value together, held in Lagos, the Manager, Public Affairs Department, NAPIMS, Dr. Kennie Obateru, called for the collaboration.

    He stressed the need to engage more of the people who have the traditional responsibility to provide these amenities, including the local and state governments. He noted that those who provide these amenities to the communities cannot run the projects forever.

    According to him, there must be a kind of engagement whereby after the project had been delivered the local/state government that has the traditional responsibility to provide these amenities in the first instances could then take over and run the project that had been delivered.

    He said currently oil companies involve both the local and state governments in whatever projects they do, therefore, the state and local governments as well as the communities have to show appreciation by buying more into these projects through ensuring adequate protection.

    He said: “We get to see why they need to take over and impact of this. We still have instances where even if you go to the communities and ask the local government to provide security they ask you to bring money. I think they have to see themselves as partners rather than doing us a favour because it is about serving the people and they have the constitutional right to serve the people while we also have the responsibility to also give back to the community where we operate.”

    He added that the communities are allowed to pick the projects that they wanted while the company worked with them to deliver the projects

    The Team Leader, Education, Information, Communication and Capacity Building, Shell, Uwem Owomite, agreed that Shell had been in the forefront of the implementation of the Nigerian Content including the provision of finance to local contractors, who according to him, would otherwise not have had the money to do business.

    He said Shell doesn’t only give money to contractors doing business with it, but also to other companies that do business with it, which it would be able to use the finance to help to grow.

    Mr Owomite recalled that Shell had introduced a new scholarship programme called credit to career whereby every year the company takes about 60 brilliant students from host communities who according to him, would not have had access to basic education.

    He added that yearly about 2,700 secondary school pupils get the firm’s scholarships while another 750 students of universities are also awarded, adding that the idea of the road show was to create awareness on what Shell companies in Nigeria are doing.

    “Most often what people hear about Shell is the negative aspect but there are good and positive stories about what the company is doing in the communities and how much it has changed lives and transformed communities through the social performance projects, he said.

     

  • ‘NNPC, unions partners in progress’

    ‘NNPC, unions partners in progress’

    The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu yesterday described oil related trade unions as partners in progress.

    Yakubu, spoke during a visit by the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in his office at the NNPC Towers, in Abuja.

    He words: “One of our greatest gifts as NNPC Management, is the presence of a strong workforce and supportive in-house unions. In particular, I commend your level of maturity and counsel and I must say without any fear of contradiction that you are partners in progress.”

    He commended the unions for their role during the recent challenge of fuel scarcity witnessed in some major cities of the country, stressing that such understanding was necessary towards achieving the Corporation’s set objectives.

    “We must sustain this cordial relationship for us to be able to deliver on our mandate and to a larger extent for the benefit of our country,’’ he stated.

  • Oil unions, our partners in progress – NNPC boss

    Oil unions, our partners in progress – NNPC boss

    The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Engr. Andrew Yakubu, on Wednesday described oil unions as partners in progress.

    Yakubu gave the commendation during a courtesy call/interactive visit by the National Executive Council of the Petroleum & Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in his office at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.

    His words: “One of our greatest gifts as NNPC Management is the presence of a strong workforce and supportive in-house unions. In particular, I commend your level of maturity and counsel and I must say without any fear of contradiction that you are partners in progress.”

    The GMD specifically appreciated the co-operation of the unions to the NNPC during the recent fuel scarcity witnessed in some major cities of the country, stressing that such understanding was necessary towards achieving the Corporation’s set objectives.

    “We must sustain this cordial relationship for us to be able to deliver on our mandate and to a larger extent for the benefit of our country,’’ the NNPC boss stated.

    He urged the union officials to continue to engage the NNPC Management in meaningful dialogue, noting however that results must be seen to be produced from those meetings.

    “I am not interested in the number of meetings we have with you, but the number of results achieved,” he said.

     

  • NNPC eyes 40b barrels reserves, 4m bpd production by 2020

    NNPC eyes 40b barrels reserves, 4m bpd production by 2020

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said it is determined to grow oil reserves from its current level of 37 billion barrels to 40 billion barrels by 2020.

    Speaking in Kaduna State at a reception organised by the state government in honour of some of its illustrious sons and daughter, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, who also is one of the illustrious sons of the state, stated that apart from ensuring an increase in the level of proven oil reserves, the corporation is working assiduously towards increasing daily production from the current 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) to four million bpd by 2020.

    Nigeria’s production of crude oil now averages at 2.4 million barrels daily after recording an all time high of 2.7million bpd late July.

    Yakubu said: “As we endeavour to achieve effective transformation of the oil and gas industry in line with the transformation agenda of Mr President, our target is to ensure that we grow our proven crude reserves to 40 billion by 2020 and also increase our production to four million barrels per day by 2020.”

    Yakubu assured that the NNPC and its Joint Venture partners, are strategically focused on power generation through effective alignment with the power supply aspiration of the Federal Government.

    He said the NNPC is also working on strategic upgrade of gas infrastructure in Kaduna and other Northern states to help resuscitate the ailing textile industry in that part of the country. He reassured residents of Kaduna and adjoining states of adequate supply of petroleum products, noting that Kaduna Refinery is producing about four million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) per day.

    “The Kaduna Refinery is one of the best run in the country today. It produces four million litres of PMS every couple of days and this has helped us to stabilise supply in Kaduna and its environs especially at this trying period,” he said.

    He pledged that the plan to ensure complete turnaround and rehabilitation of the country’s refineries is still intact as the lead equipment for the TAM of Port Harcourt Refinery has since arrived. “Once we are done with Port Harcourt Refinery, Kaduna will be next in line and from there we move to Warri Refinery,” he added.

    Yakubu thanked the government and people of Kaduna State for the special recognition, noting that it is reassuring to know that “you are loved back home when embarking on a journey like this.”

    The event, which had Vice-President Namadi Sambo as special guest of honour and former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Muhammadu Lawal Uwais as Chairman conferred awards to three other prominent indigenes of Kaduna State. These include: Minister of the Environment Hajiya Hadiza Mailafia; Justice of the Supreme Court, Hon. Justice Kumai Akaahs and National Organising Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha.

    In his remarks, the Vice-President commended Yakubu for piloting the corporation in the right direction especially the recent effort to resuscitate the search for oil in the inland sedimentary basins particularly the Chad Basin, which has shown some significant breakthroughs.

    The Kaduna State Governor, Sir Ibrahim Yakowa, corroborated the Vice-President and praised Yakubu for his focus and sterling leadership qualities.

  • NUPENG decries persistent fuel scarcity

    NUPENG decries persistent fuel scarcity

    The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, (NUPENG), has called on the Federal government and its agencies, to live up to their responsibilities and stop the persistent fuel scarcity in the country now.

    In a statement signed by the Ag. General-Secretary, Comrade Isaac Aberare, the union said that the reserve the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it has could last for 45 days is a ruse and called on the government to do the right thing and stop the current fuel scarcity. NUPENG, said its members, especially the Petroleum Tanker Drivers were at work, but have no sufficient products to load at the depots for distribution.

    It condemned the non-challant approach of government in addressing the shortage, and hoped it was not another strategy to introduce deregulation of petroleum products through the back door.

    The union said the government should be held responsible for the current shortage, as repairs have not been effected at the vandalised pipes at Arepo village in Ogun State.

    It called on the security agencies to recover the bodies of those slained and fish out the killers immediately so they could be brought to book, adding that government should pay verified oil marketers’ subsidies on products supplied, so that they can import fuel and pay monies owed to banks.

    NUPENG said Nigerians should not be allowed to suffer and pay more for petroleum products, because the appropriate agencies and government are not proactive enough, stressing that the persistent fuel scarcity must not be allowed to go into the Sallah and Christmas festive periods, as hoarding may become the order of the day.

    It called on the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to monitor product sales and sanction filling stations that sell above the approved rate.

    The union urged the federal government to take the Turn-Around-Maintenance of the nation’s four refineries seriously to avoid a national embarrassment, stating that “these issues have been the standpoint of the union over time, but it seemed the government is bent on deregulation of the petroleum products when the economy is in tatters,” it added.