Energy

By PR The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari has said the company has not breached any of the enabling laws guiding its dealings with partners, hence should be counted out of any claims of economic sabotage. Kyari, who was addressing the Senate Ad-Hoc Committee investigating alleged economic sabotage in the Nigeria Petroleum Industry at the National Assembly on Wednesday, stated that refining business is a straightforward business which any investor should know before coming into the market. “Refining business is a straightforward business. You must secure (a source for) your feedstock and you must find a market. This is basic and this determines what happens in any refinery anywhere in the world. That is the business of refining. We have done nothing to...

By Olufemi Soneye In its editorial of 2nd August, 2024, the BusinessDay newspaper, characteristically, launched another scurrilous and baseless attack on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd). In the editorial entitled: “NNPCL: Liability or Asset to Nigerians?”, the newspaper set out to paint the picture of NNPC Ltd that is a liability to Nigeria instead of an asset that it should be. It chronicled a litany of issues which in its estimation have made the company to lose its place as an asset to the nation. As to be expected, all the issues it raised were either outright lies or unfair misrepresentation of facts. Let’s take a look at them one by one. According to the newspaper, NNPC Ltd.’s status as an asset is undercut by the opacity of its operations and corrupt...

Nigeria has added a new crude grade known as Utapate, as Africa’s biggest oil producer strives to return output to pre-pandemic levels. A subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and venture partner Natural Oilfield Services loaded the first export cargo last month, according to people familiar with the matter. They declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. The Utapate  a light, low-sulfur oil from the Niger Delta region is one of several dozen grades produced in Nigeria. The Utapate terminal produced almost 19 000 barrels a day in June, according to Bloomberg calculations from regulatory data. Output could reach 50 000 barrels a day by the end of the year, according to one of the people. The NNPCL did not imm...

By Ono Yima The Nigerian Navy has apprehended over 35 ships involved in oil theft in the nation's waters, according to Chief of Naval Staff, Emmanuel Ogalla. Ogalla confirmed this at a meeting with maritime stakeholders in Abuja, stating that the arrested vessels were handed over to prosecuting authorities. The navy has established Operation Delta Sanity to address maritime security challenges, including oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and piracy. Ogalla assured stakeholders of the navy's commitment to supporting legitimate businesses and promoting ease of doing business. "We quickly carry out preliminary investigations and release vessels arrested based on wrong information to avoid impeding businesses," Ogalla said. "Our goal is to support operators by giving them assurance and c...

By Ono Yima The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has identified 49 commercially profitable gas flare sites for auction, as part of efforts to halt gas flaring and generate revenue for the government. This was revealed by the Commission's Chief Executive, Engr Gbenga Komolafe, at the commencement of a two-day National Extractive Dialogue in Abuja. Komolafe also announced that gas flaring in Nigeria has decreased significantly, from 12% in 2017 to around 9% currently. The National Extractive Dialogue, themed "Gas flare reduction: Catalyst for accelerating Nigeria's path to net-zero emissions and sustainable development", aims to address the issue of gas flaring and its impact on the environment. Spaces for Change (S4C) organized the event in collaboration with ...

The Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu, has launched a two-day summit in Abuja to accelerate the scale-up of renewable and distributed energy resources in Nigeria. At the opening ceremony, Chief Adelabu praised the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) for organizing the timely summit with key stakeholders, highlighting the need for urgent discussion on the issue.  “In a special way, I want to commend the regulator (NERC) – the Chairman and his Commissioners for putting up this summit. This summit is an important step and in full alignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's Presidential Priorities highlighted in the Renewed Hope Agenda to develop a sustainable energy sector for the country,” said Adelabu. “It is expected that intellectual discourse, such as ...

Middle: Engr. Felix Ogbe, Secretary NCDMB By PR The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) have agreed to collaborate towards upgrading basic education in the country and building capacities of young Nigerians towards meeting the needs of the ever-changing oil and gas industry and the linkages sectors. The partnership opportunities were explored on Tuesday when the Executive Secretary NCDMB, Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe hosted his counterpart from UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi at the Board’s Abuja liaison office. The leaders agreed to set up a joint committee that would finalize details of their agencies’ collaboration, wi...

By PR The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Senate Committee on Local Content on Sunday began a 3-day retreat at Abuja, aimed at forging closer collaboration between the two entities, to achieve improved implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act. The retreat’s theme is creating synergy for sustainable local content development and was attended by members of the committee and some senior management of the NCDMB. Speaking at the opening ceremony on Monday, the Executive Secretary NCDMB, Engr.  Felix Omatsola Ogbe underscored the importance of collaboration with relevant stakeholders in managing and growing Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry. He stated that the retreat is a key platform for actu...

Photo credit: KemKem on X By Ali Elias This whole issue on Dangote is shocking and creating bad waves for Nigeria globally Monopoly often exists where there are high barriers to entry or high capital costs. How many individuals or companies can do railways? How many can do refineries of the scale of Dangote Refineries? In a nation that has been importing refined petroleum products for several decades; the abnormal simply became very normal. No smart investor would make a $19.5 billion investment and want it to be undermined by importers. To manufacture is extremely expensive and risky. This is even more so in Nigeria, given the very challenging business and economic environment, fraught with policy uncertainties and policy reversals, and where the self-defeating defaul...

By PR The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Felix Omatsola Ogbe, has charged managers of Africa’s extractive industry to adopt some of the local content initiatives that have worked well in the oil and gas industry as they seek to develop the mineral and mines sector to deliver optimal value for their economies. Particularly, he charged them to integrate local capabilities and resources into the delivery of opportunities and projects in a safe and environmentally responsible manner to achieve a high level of economic success, unfettered freedom to operate, improved health standards, and longer life expectancy. He was equally emphatic on the need to develop standards and legislation on acceptable and best practices for local conte...