Majorwaves Energy Report August 2021 Edition by majorwavesenergyreport

MAJORWAVES MAJORWAVES ENERGY REPORT ENERGY REPORT

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SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABILITY

INFRASTRUCTURE INFRASTRUCTURE

Energy Energy Transition: Transition: Stark Stark Realities Realities as Africa Africa Ponders Ponders Pathway Pathway Ahead. Ahead.

NCDMBDeepens DeepensHost Host NCDMB Communities Paaicipation Communities Paaicipation …SensitizesStates Stateson onCommunity Community …Sensitizes Content Guideline Content Guideline ShellLiveWIRE LiveWIREBeneficiaries Beneficiaries Shell get N48mn Grant get N48mn Grant SeplatIdentifies IdentifiesOppoounities Oppoounities Seplat with Gas as Transition Fuelfor for with Gas as Transition Fuel Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa GhanaLooks Looks to Borrow$1.7bn $1.7bnto to Ghana Help AcquiretoOilBorrow and Gas Assets Help Acquire Oil and Gas Assets Mozambique Prepared to Receive Mozambique Prepared to in Receive Southern African Troops Southern African Troops in Troubled Region Troubled Region Nigeria’s Proven Oil Reserves Nigeria’s Proven OilSix Reserves Estimated to Last Years Estimated to Last Six Years ENERGY WOMAN ENERGY WOMAN From Trainee to

First Female Managing Director:to From Trainee Meet SNEPCo’s ElohorDirector: Aiboni First Female Managing Meet SNEPCo’s Elohor Aiboni

Majorwaves Energy Report AUGUST 2021, Vol 4 No 8

Majorwaves Energy Report AUGUST 2021, Vol 4 No 7

CONTENTS MAJORWAVES ENERGY REPORT

LOCAL CONTENT

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SUSTAINABILITY

INFRASTRUCTURE

Energy Transition: Stark Realities as Africa Ponders Pathway Ahead.

Marginal Fields: NAPE Tasks FG on Energy Funding, Data Availability to Support Independent Operators

NCDMB Deepens Host Communities Paaicipation …Sensitizes States on Community Content Guideline

Shell LiveWIRE Beneficiaries get N48mn Grant Seplat Identifies Oppoounities with Gas as Transition Fuel for Sub-Saharan Africa Ghana Looks to Borrow $1.7bn to Help Acquire Oil and Gas Assets Mozambique Prepared to Receive Southern African Troops in Troubled Region Nigeria’s Proven Oil Reserves Estimated to Last Six Years ENERGY WOMAN

From Trainee to First Female Managing Director: Meet SNEPCo’s Elohor Aiboni

NNPC Records Petroleum Product Sale of N234.63bn in March

Buhari Signs Petroleum Industry Bill into Law

Seplat Identifies Opportunities with Gas as Transition Fuel for Sub-Saharan Africa

Energy Transition : Stark Realities as Africa Ponders Pathway

From Trainee to First Female Managing Director: Meet SNEPCo’s Elohor Aiboni

NCDMB Recovers $100m NCDF Remittance

Schneider Electric, others Reiterate the Need for Deployment of Technologies to Ensure Energy Security

Angolan Government Hikes Fuel Export Taxes

Upskilling for Innovation: A Necessity in 21st Century

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Majorwaves Energy Report AUGUST 2021, Vol 4 No 7

Better days ahead for West Africa’s economies With energy transition upon us, Nigeria and other oil producing countries need to attract every available investment before oil and gas become totally unfashionable. So, the assent of the age-long Petroleum Industry Bill by President Muhammadu Buhari is a welcome development. However, there’s room for amendment of every Act. That option should be explored for the grey areas. While Ghana is set to start refining its own gold from the State-owned refinery which is 90 per cent completed and scheduled for commissioning and commercial export come October, its Nigerian counterpart would have acquired a 20 per cent stake in a privately owned (Dangote) refinery also scheduled for commissioning by 2022. Ghana is making tireless efforts to diversify its economy from cocoa and gold. However, it understands that additional revenue would boost the diversification process. Along with investment in Dangote’s 650,000 barrels per day refinery, Nigeria had gone ahead to commission Italy’s Tecnimont to rehabilitate the four state-owned refineries and, upon completion, shall hand over the daily operations to private firms, the NNPC boss Mele Kyari had noted. It shows the state-owned company is intentional. In the spirit of diversifying the economy beyond oil, we now have a scenario where the Nigerian state is deliberate about structurally positioning its resources for gas development. Against that backdrop, Seplat Energy boss lends his voice to series of opportunities available to investors at the ongoing Sub-Sahara Africa Oil and Gas Conference in Houston, Texas. With several sensitization workshops across oil producing states on Community Content Guideline, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB is deliberate in actualizing the nation’s pursuit of 70 per cent Nigerian Content via its 10 year road map. Find these and more in your August edition of Majorwaves Energy Report. And…let’s hear from you, please. Cheers.

Publisher Joshua Bretz Managing Editor Jerome Onoja Editor Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu Senior Correspondents Ikenna Omeje Oluwatoyin Bayagbon Correspondents:Lagos Daniel Terungwa Abisoye Vincent Emeka Enunwah Port Harcourt Stella Odogu Arit Dan US Gladys Johnson UK Kunle Kazeem Research Analyst Simon Olanipekun Production Solomon Obande Toma Stephen Business Development Stanley Etim Taiwo Olamilekan Amicable Aluu

Jerome Onoja

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Editor’s Note

Majorwaves Energy Report is published by Majorwaves Communications, 25B, Adebayo Doherty Street, Lekki Phase 1. Lagos Phone: +2349035477966 Email: info@majorwavesenergyreport.com www.majorwavesenergyreport.com

Majorwaves Energy Report AUGUST 2021, Vol 4 No 8

INDUSTRY NEWS

Marginal Fields: NAPE Tasks FG on Energy Funding, Data Availability to Support Independent Operators By Oluwatoyin Bayagbon

Mrs Patricia Ochogbu - NAPE President

he Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), has urged the federal government to provide needed support to independent operators as more opportunities open up in oil and gas exploration. Patricia Ochogbu, NAPE President who made the call at a media briefing recently in Lagos, said many of these indigenous companies are ready to take up the emerging opportunities in the nation’s oil and gas industry but are hampered by funding and other structural factors. Explaining that the terms of regular bank loans are not sustainable for companies who need funding for their operations, Ochogbu said special “energy funds” or an “energy bank” should be set up by the government to help the beneficiaries thrive and contribute to the growth of the industry. “What I see here is opportunity for Nigerians. First E&P is a success story. Seplat is another example. So,

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there is enough space for everybody to operate,” she said. “You know that the IOCs business model may be different from the marginal field operators, they have different operating models, but the important thing is that we are Nigerians, and we are very ingenious. I have heard many success stories of the places that the IOCs thought that the volume (crude oil) is not up to their threshold and other people come in and they look at things with a different mindset and they try things out and it works out for them. “Where government can come in is to make sure that there is funding. That is the advantage that an IOC has over a marginal field operator. I strongly advocate that the government puts something like an energy fund or an energy bank like the Bank of Industry so that funds will be made available to people who want to work. Not the kind of loans you get in the bank now at over 20% and you can not get it for more than 5 years. “If you listen to First E&P’s story,

they worked for almost 8 years before they sold their first oil. But if you go to the bank to get a loan, even a mortgage, you cannot get. If government is able to do that, that will help a lot.” The NAPE president further said where the government may have challenges with funding, it should create an enabling environment for indigenous companies by streamlining taxes and also strengthen its data repository while making this data accessible to stakeholders. “A lot of people have ideas, a lot of people have what it takes to make something happen in the industry but if they do not have access to funds or if a big chunk of the funds will go into non-production type costs, then it becomes a problem,” Ochogbu said. “What I can say to government is that they should create an enabling environment. One of the things that people do not talk so much about is the amount of taxes.

INDUSTRY NEWS The multi-level taxation that this industry faces. As you are looking for funding to do this, you are knowing that the federal government will take, the state government will take, the council will take, even the community. So, government can help in that area and streamline the taxes and make the environment friendly.

DPR Resolves 48 Industry Disputes in Three Months

“So, I will say that although government may not have money, they can create policies, they can look at taxes and just make things a bit easier for everyone.” The other area government can do something is to make sure that data is available. I think the DPR is a national data repository. If they can strengthen that area so that data is available. If data available can be freely shared at least for scientific discourse and scientific research, it will help the whole country. Speaking on the association’s upcoming annual conference themed Petroleum Exploration and Production in a New World: What Next After the Global Crisis, Ochogbu said the event which is slated for November 14 to 18, 2021, will be in hybrid format featuring some virtual sessions and headline programmes, including a pre-conference workshop, a management session, and technical sessions- all primed to “add value” to all stakeholders who will attend. The theme according to her, is fitting in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the oil and gas industry which manifested in low oil prices, supply glut and remote work options. The NAPE President noted that owing to its vast hydrocarbon and mineral resources, Nigeria’s prospects remain bright in light of the energy transition discussions, and these opportunities will be fully highlighted at the conference.

Engr Sarki Auwalu,

he Department of Petroleum Resources has said a total of 48 dispute cases in the oil and gas industry have been resolved since the inauguration of its Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre. The ADRC, which was established in January as one of the centres in the National Oil and Gas Excellence Centre, was inaugurated in April this year. The centre was set up with the principal aim of providing a platform where disputes in the industry could be settled in a timely, cost-effective, and mutually agreeable manner, according to the DPR. The Director/Chief Executive Officer, DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, who disclosed this recently, stated that the centre had received many cases from operators in the country.

Club’s second-quarter business dinner sponsored by AA Holdings, he said, “The centre is involved in mediation, reconciliation and arbitration. After the inauguration of the centre, we resolved about 48 cases, and right now, we have over 223 cases. “Notable among them is the first case that we resolved which had been on for 18 years. It was resolved by simple mediation.” Auwalu had said in April that the establishment of the centre would ensure the settlement of disputes through the use of industry experts with in-depth understanding of the issues before them for quick resolutions in the overall interest of industry players, stakeholders and the nation.

While speaking at the Petroleum

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Nigeria’s Proven Oil Reserves Estimated to Last Six Years By Ikenna Omeje

R years.

ystad Energy has estimated the longevity of Nigeria’s proven oil reserves to be just 5.9 years, approximately six

While Nigeria’s proven oil reserves longevity was estimated to be about six years, that of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates was estimated to be 17.8 and 19.4, approximately 18 years and 19 years, respectively. The independent energy research and business intelligence company providing data, tools, analytics and consultancy services to the global energy industry, puts Nigeria’s proved plus probable oil reserves –most likely estimate in existing fields, and proved oil reserves – conservative estimate in existing fields, at 6 billion barrels and 4 billion barrels, respectively. For proved plus probable oil reserves plus mean contingent recoverable oil resources in yet undecided projects/recoveries, including noncommercial volumes, Rystad puts it at 19 billion barrels. While most likely estimate for existing fields, plus contingent resources in discoveries, plus risked prospective resources in yet undiscovered fields in the

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country is put at 20 billion barrels. According to Rystad, global production of oil and natural gas liquids between now and 2050, will fall below 50 million barrels per day by 2050. “In this scenario, global production of oil and natural gas liquids will fall below 50 million barrels per day by 2050. Exploring, developing, processing and consuming this amount of commercially extractable oil will lead to gross greenhouse gas emissions of less than 450 gigatonnes of CO2 from now until 2100. This is compliant with IPCC’s carbon budget for global warming limited to 1.8˚C by 2100,” says Rystad Energy’s Head of Analysis, Per Magnus Nysveen. Nigeria’s daily crude oil production Nigeria’s daily crude oil production is currently around 1.4 million barrels per day. Though the country has capacity to produce over 2.1 million barrels per day, it cannot, because of OPEC oil production cuts, which came into effect in April 2020. With oil reserves of over 37 billion barrels, and capacity to produce just

a little above 2 million barrels, the country will need at least 20 years to exhaust its reserves. Nigeria’s oil reserves Nigeria’s crude oil reserves are currently 37 billion barrels. The Federal Government, through the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is working to increase it to 40 billion barrels in no distance time. Part of the efforts to increase the country’s reserves was the launch of marginal field bid round in June 2020. For the 2020 oil bid round exercise, DPR announced a total of 57 fields located on land, swamp and shallow offshore terrains were on offer. The bid round came 18 years after the first one was conducted in 2002. The bid round, which was concluded recently, saw 161 indigenous exploration and production oil companies emerge as winners, from a pool of over 600 indigenous oil companies that bid for the 57 marginal fields. Licences have been issued to some of the successful

INDUSTRY NEWS Conclusion

Another effort is the recent passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly. The bill allocated at least 30 percent of the profit generated by the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for the exploration of oil in frontier basins.

Rystad estimates total recoverable oil resources at 1,725 billion barrels, a significant reduction of last year’s estimate of 1,903 billion barrels. Out of this total, which shows its estimate of how much oil is technically recoverable in the future, about 1,300 billion barrels are sufficiently profitable to be produced before the year 2100 at a Brent real oil price of $50 per barrel.

H o w e v e r, t h e H o u s e o f Representatives on Thursday, stepped down the report of the National Assembly Conference Committee on PIB. The report was earlier scheduled for presentation, but was stepped down for reason that may not be unconnected with 3 percent due to host communities.

“This year’s review of global recoverable oil resources is based on resources modelled at well level rather than field level. This more detailed approach has removed 178 billion barrels from the expected accounts as the confidence level for decline rates has increased with the amount of new information gathered.

This new development means more delays in terms of investments and increased in exploration and production activities in the country.

“Our updated report also includes revisions for proved reserves. Here Rystad Energy applies a consistent set of conservative probabilities, as opposed to official reporting by authorities which is deemed less consistent,” Rystad said.

“In Central and South America, Brazil remains first in recoverable resources, sitting on 83 billion barrels (down 2 billion barrels from last year’s update). In Europe, with 19 billion barrels (down by 1 billion barrels in this update), Norway remains ahead of the UK, whose volumes have shrunk by 2 billion barrels to 10 billion. In Africa, resource leader Nigeria lost 6 billion barrels and its recoverable resources are now estimated at 20 billion barrels,” Rystad said on the country’s recoverable oil.

companies with first oil expected in 2022.

The long-awaited bill aims to open up the Nigeria oil and gas industry to investment, strengthen industry governance and regulation to expand, grow and maximize value capture for Nigeria and its citizens. Oil production and consumption can align with climate goals The new Rystad estimation followed the recent release of BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2021, which reveals that the Covid-19 pandemic had a dramatic impact on energy markets, with both primary energy and carbon emissions falling at their fastest rates since the Second World War, adding that renewable energy continued to grow, with solar power recording its largest ever increase BP’s Statistical Review Primary shows that energy consumption fell by 4.5 percent in 2020, while drop in energy consumption was driven mainly by oil, which contributed almost three-quarters of the net decline, although natural gas and coal also saw significant declines. Every year, Rystad Energy releases its own assessment to provide an independent, solid and clear comparison of how the world’s energy landscape changed the previous year. Its 2021 review deals a major blow for the size of the world’s remaining recoverable oil resources – but it also shows that oil production and consumption can align with climate goals.

Recoverable resources of OPEC countries Rystad assessment estimates that the remaining recoverable resources of the Organisation of Petroleum Expor ting Countries (OPEC) members are reduced by 53 billion barrels to 741 billion barrels. According to Rystad, “Iran and Saudi Arabia have the largest revisions, losing 11 billion barrels each, with Saudi recoverable oil volumes now calculated at 288 billion barrels and Iranian volumes at 101 billion barrels. Iraq follows in third place, seeing its recoverable resources shrink by 8 billion barrels to 110 billion barrels.” In terms of absolute volumes removed from non-OPEC producers, Rystad said, “… remaining recoverable resources in the US are now reduced to 214 billion barrels, losing 30 billion barrels from last year’s estimate. China suffers the second-largest loss with its remaining recoverable resources now limited to 50 billion barrels, a downwards revision of 26 billion barrels. Mexico’s recoverable resources are third on the loss list, downgraded by 12 billion barrels to 26 billion barrels. Most of this year’s revisions are driven by lower upside potential from shale oil drilling due to complex geology and the need for extensive exploration campaigns and improved fracking technologies.”

Nigeria needs to increase its oil reserves and harness these resources to provide infrastructure for economic growth and development, tackle issues around power supply and address poverty and insecurity. Oil as the mainstay of the country’s economy, has a big role to play in this regard.

In his keynote address at the recently concluded 2021 Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, which held in Abuja with the theme “Fortifying the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry for Economic Stability and Growth”, THE Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, said that the country needs to monetize every resource that is available today, to create the resource that will create the future for the country and the oil industry. This is critical, especially with the rising stringent national and international policies against fossil fuels. In recent inter view with Majorwaves, the Chief Executive Officer, Degeconek, Abiodun Adesanya counseled the new marginal field operators to deplete their reservoirs as quickly as possible, so as to benefit from it. “What it will be is that you have to make hay while the sun shines. A number of these fields you may be thinking I have to develop it for 20 years, you may not have that period of time. Have a development plan that will allow you to quickly, rapidly deplete the reservoirs, so that you can benefit. Because oil is going the way coal went,” he said. This exit strategy is not only useful to marginal field operators. It is useful to bigger field operators in the country, and the Federal Government and its agencies as well as the National Assembly, has a big role to play in this regard.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

NNPC Records Petroleum Product Sale of N234.63bn in March Gas Oil (AGO). Total sale of white

respectively. This translates to a total supply of 1 , 4 65 .42m m s c f d of g as to the domestic market and 2,998.26mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month. This implies that 63.18% of the average daily gas produced was commercialized while the balance of 36.82% was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.

h e N ige ria n N atio na l Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that its downstream subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), recorded N234.63 billion revenue from the sale of white products in the month of March 2021 representing a 24.7% increase from the N188.15billion sales recorded in the previous month of February 2021. This is contained in the March 2021 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR), according to a press release by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Dr. Kennie Obateru. The report indicated that total revenues generated from the sales of white products for the period of March 2020 to March 2021 stood at N2.129trillion, where petrol contributed about 99.24% of the total sales with a value of N2.113trllion. In terms of volume, the above value translates to 1.75billion litres of white products sold and distributed by PPMC in the month of March 2021 compared to 1.4billion litres in the month of February 2021. Total volume of white products is 1.782billion liters. Total PMS component is 1.75billion and 0.45million litres of Automotive

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Gas flare rate was 9.50% for the month under review (i.e. 671.13mmsc fd) compared to average gas flare rate of 7.25% (i.e. 532.37mmscfd) for the period of March 2020 to March 2021. products for the period of March 2020 to March 2021 stood at 17.374billion litres and PMS accounted for 17.265billion litres or 99.37%. The NNPC continues to diligently monitor the daily stock of PMS to achieve uninterrupted supply, effective distribution and zero fuel queue across Nigeria. In the Gas Sector, a total of 222.74billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas was produced in the month March 2021 translating to an average daily production of 7,183.33million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd). For the period of March 2020 to March 2021, a total of 2,911.62bcf of gas was produced representing an average daily production of 7,409.60mmscfd during the period. Production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and NPDC contributed about 63.23%, 19.78% and 63.99% respectively to the total national gas production. In terms of natural gas off-take, commercialization and utilization, out of the 210.55bcf supplied in March 2021, a total of 138.38bcf was commercialized, consisting of 45.42bcf and 92.96bcf for the domestic and export market

On domestic gas supply to the power sector, a total of 844mmscfd was delivered to gas-fired power plants in the month of March 2021 to generate about 3,530mega watts (mw) compared with February 2021 where 825mmscfd was supplied to generate 3,580mw. The report also informed that the Corporation recorded 70 vandalized points across its pipeline network in the period under review, representing 29.63% increase from the 54 points recorded in the previous month. While the Port Harcourt area accounted for 63% of the vandalized points, the Mosimi area accounted for 21% and the Gombe area accounted for the remaining 16%. NNPC is, however, working in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders to effectively monitor the pipelines with a view to reducing and eventually eliminating the menace of pipeline vandalism. The March 2021 MFOR is the 68th edition of the report, it is published monthly to keep the Nigerian public up to date with the operations of the Corporation in line with the management’s guiding philosophy of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE).

INDUSTRY NEWS

PTDF Signs MoU with Airforce Institute on Capacity Building Daniel Terungwa

he Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize its partnership engagements with Air force Institute of Technology, (AFIT), Kaduna to enhance capacity building in the Nigerian Airforce aviation as well as oil and gas industry in Nigeria. The MoU was sealed at the Airforce Institute headquarters at the Nigerian Air force (NAF) Base, Kaduna, by the Executive Secretary, PTDF, Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau on behalf of the Fund and AFIT Commandant, Air Vice Marshal MO Olatunji on behalf of the Institute. This development will encourage the institute to produce relevant professional military capabilities needed by the Nigeria Air Force as well as training and manpower development of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. Gusau who led the management team of the PTDF to the institute in Kaduna, said that the signing of the MoU between the PTDF and AFIT was meant to further solidify the cordial relationship that has existed between the two institutions over a long period of time.

He was particularly delighted to realize that the Fund has already trained a reasonable number of teaching staff that are imparting knowledge and providing leadership at various levels of the institute’s operations. “Last time we visited, we were pleasantly surprised to realize that quite a number of the staff had in one way or the other gotten involved with the PTDF, it’s a thing of pride for all of us to realize that the people in responsible positions including the provost are products of PTDF. So, in that light, there is so much we can do together and I believe if we work fervently this process will lead to fruition and will be to the benefits of both institutions and to the nation as a whole,” Gusau noted. The Executive Secretary explained that the partnership will focus especially in the areas of engineering and marine security, adding that the synergy will improve on the security and marine sector as well as the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. “We believe there’s synerg y between what we are doing in the PTDF and what is happening in this institute, the kind of capacities they are building and the skills they are

imparting both for the civil and military purposes, we believe the more this is developed, the better for the security architecture of this country”. Responding, Olatunji thanked the PTDF for taking the step further to solidify the relationship existing between the Fund and the institute. He said; “the signing of this MoU is something that we are delighted about because it is going to open a new vista for our capacity development effort on training of manpower for the Nigerian Air force and the Nigerian civil population, the aviation as well as the Nigerian oil and gas industry. We will also have knowledgeable pools of lecturers that will impart knowledge to the students for a purposeful training of graduates that will meet the needs of our industries.” Also speaking, General Manager, Legal and Secretariat Services, Mr Balarabe Zahradden Ahmed said, going by the agreement, PTDF will redouble its efforts towards actualizing its mandate of capacity building through such collaborations.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

ND Western to Complete 10,000bpd Modular Refinery in Nigeria by 2023

Vandalism: Aiteo Group Donates 50 gunboats, Drones to Navy

iteo Group, an indigenous oil and gas company, has donated 50 assault gunboats and drones to the Nigerian Navy, in a bid to stem the tide of frequent attacks on oil and gas facilities by vandals.

D Western Limited, an indigenous player in the oil and gas industry has expressed optimism that its 10,000 barrels per day refinery in Uturogu, Delta State will come on stream by 2023. Managing director of the firm, Mr Eberechukwu Oji, made the disclosure while speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, held in Abuja recently. Oji said: “The front end engineering design for the project which is a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been completed. “This will be followed by the taking of the financial investment decision (FID) by the JV parties. This should happen within the next few months. “The period of construction of a project of that size after the FID is about 24 months which means that we should be able to complete it by 2023.”

The military equipment handed over by the oil firm to the Navy in Port Harcourt include, 21 gunboats, 14 operational patrol boats, four high-speed interception inshore patrol boats. According to him, the company began operation in 2011 after acquiring 45 per cent equity of some multinational companies’ JV with NNPC on OML 34. Oji further said that ND Western currently supplies over 20 per cent of gas to thermal plants across the country in support of the federal government’s gasto-power programme. According to him, the company is planning to develop its midstream business by establishing liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas and compressed natural gas plants. Oji noted that Nigeria’s vast gas resources should be utilised for national development, adding that ND Western was committed to actualising this objectives. On the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill ( PIB), he said the National A s s e m b l y s h o ul d b e commended for taking the bold step after several years of delay.

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Others are, seven houseboats, four airboats, four highspeed interception inshore patrol boats, long-range surveillance drones and six high definition cameras. Handing over the equipment to the Navy, Chief Executive Officer of Aiteo Group, Mr Benedict Peters, said the donation became necessary, due to constant attacks on its Nembe Creek Trunkline (NCTL) and other critical oil and gas assets by vandals. “We know that the Nigerian Navy stands in the best position to address this menace if adequately equipped and supported. “Consequently, Aiteo resolved to maximally lend its hands of fellowship by handing over these operational support equipment to enable the navy to secure the waterways and facilities,” Peters said. Receiving the hardwares, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, assured that the boats and the drones would be deployed to secure the Niger Delta creeks, in the fight against oil theft, sea piracy and vandalism. Gambo commended the management of Aiteo Group for the donations and appealed for the support of other corporate entities, to enable the Navy to deploy more gunboats in securing facilities like the Nembe Creek Trunkline, operated by Aiteo. He said, “The delivery of these platforms and assets aligns with the provisions of the Nigerian Navy 20212030 strategic plans on inter-agency and sub-regional cooperation. ‘This is a milestone in our collaborative engagement with corporate maritime stakeholders to rid the nation’s maritime environment of criminal elements and economic saboteurs. “To this end, these platforms will enhance the navy maritime security architecture and bolster our maritime security operations effort.”

INDUSTRY NEWS

Energy Transition is About Creating the Right Balance – Kyari By Ikenna Omeje

Mele Kyari

h e G ro up Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, has said that energy transition is not about moving from fossil fuel to renewables, but about creating the right balance. Kyari who stated this in his keynote address at the recently concluded 2021 Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, which held in Abuja with the theme “Fortifying the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry for Economic Stability and Growth”, said that the country needs to monetize every resource that is available today, to create the resource that will create the future for the country and the oil industry. According to Kyari, oil will help the country to create wealth while there is opportunity for the country to operate in the gas space, stressing that the focus of the NNPC is to deepen gas monetization for both domestic consumption and export. He noted that the notion that fossil fuel will fizzle out by 2050 and the world will be dealing with renewables is not true, adding that the forecasts of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and other key organisations in the oil industry have shown that even by

Indimi Replaces Ifelayo as Managing Director of Oriental Energy Resources

Mustafa Indimi

2050, there will still be demand of about 100 million barrels. While lamenting the lack of investment in the exploration and production of oil, Kyari averred that for Nigeria as an energy resource dependent country, oil will remain relevant to the country beyond 2050. “For us as a developing country, energy resource dependent country, we know for sure that beyond 2050 that oil will be relevant for us. Today, we are deficit of infrastructure, power and so many other things. There are so much work going on, but the facts remain that there is deficit here,” he said. “As we all know investment has gone down 30 percent. So, those outcomes will show up probably in the next 3, 4, 5 years, when we realize that the lack of investment of today will manifest in that practical sense and in our inability to meet demand that is required of the oil and gas industry. This will happen and before something happens, there is something we can do as industry.” Kyari said that with all the engagements around electric vehicle, 2050 carbon zero objective and lack of easy access to credit facility, post reality will jump up in the next five years.

ustafa Indimi has been appointed as the new Managing Director of Oriental Energy Resources Limited.

Mustafa takes over from Mr. Ignatius Ifelayo who served the company meritoriously for seven years. Prior to the new appointment, Mustafa was the Executive Director (Technical) and a member of the company’s Board of Directors. He brings with him an in-depth knowledge of the business and he is wellpositioned to drive the company forward. A master’s degree holder in petroleum production engineering from Robert Gordon University Aberdeen, Mustafa has an impressive track record of leading teams to deliver outstanding performance and results. On his new challenge, Mustafa commented: “It is an exceptional privilege to be appointed as Managing Director at a time that provides great opportunity to take the company to new heights. I am looking forward to working with the Board, Management and Staff to strengthen and grow the company by building on the solid foundation to generate significant value for all stakeholders.” “Un derpinning ever y thing is my commitment to the company’s vison to set the standards that all other E&P companies in the Nigerian oil and gas industry will be compared against.’’

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Buhari Signs Petroleum Industry Bill into Law President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday, signed the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill 2021 into law. By Ikenna Omeje

his was disclosed in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), Femi Adesina. “Working from home in five days quarantine as required by the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19 after returning from London on Friday, August 13, the President assented to the Bill Monday, August 16, in his determination to fulfill his constitutional duty. “The ceremonial part of the new legislation will be done on Wednesday, after the days of mandatory isolation would have been fulfilled.,” Adesina said. The President signed the bill (now an act) into law despite concerns raised by southern governors and other industry stakeholders regarding some sections of the bill. The Senate had passed the Bill on July 15, 2021, while the House of Representatives did the same on July 16, thus ending a long wait since the early 2000s. The bill allocates at least 30 percent of the profit generated by the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for the exploration of oil in ‘frontier basins’, and 3 per cent share of oil companies’ profit to host communities. However, in a communique issued at the end of their meeting in Lagos on July 6, the southern governors supported 5 per cent share to host

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communities, instead of the proposed 3 p ercent . T h e governors also rejected the allocation of at least 30 percent of the profit generated by the proposed Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for the exploration of oil in ‘frontier basins’.

public affairs commentator, Jerry Lazarus, had said that while the bill removed price controls on petroleum products in Section 205, the senate version of the bill has a clause that constrains market competition by restricting importation of products to only players with local refining capacity, which clearly counters the provision of 205(1).

“ We commend the National Assembly for the progress made in the passage of the PIB. The Forum rejects the proposed 3% and supports the 5 percent share of the oil revenue to the host community as recommended by the House of Representatives.

Lazarus said, “This clause needs to be expunged from the PIB. The Authority should be left to develop regulations that are fair, inclusive and transparent for petroleum product importation that ensures open and diverse market supply and hence competition, only then would the objectives of the bill be achieved. It is worth repeating that as price control is being removed, supply must be competitive, inclusive, transparent and seen to encourage efficiency. Then, and only then will Nigerians and Nigerians win.”

“The forum also rejects the proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins,” the communique read. The governors also rejected the ownership structure of the proposed NNPC, arguing that instead of it to be vested in the Federal Ministry of Finance, it should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) since all tiers of government have stakes in that vehicle. “However, the Forum rejects the ownership structure of the proposed Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC). “The Forum disagrees that the company be vested in the Federal Ministry of Finance but should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) since all tiers of Government have stakes in that vehicle,” the governors said. Also expressing concern on certain provisions of the bill (now an act), as it affects the downstream subsector, an oil industry analyst and

He also argued that Section 317 (8) of the Senate version of the bill will create a duopoly in a price deregulated price environment thereby destroying the Nigerian downstream industry as it is known today.

Similarly, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staf f Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) had advocated for a single regulatory body for the oil and gas industry in the country, just like it is currently in the banking , telecommunication and the pension sectors. This is contrary to the dual regulatory body proposed in the bill (now an act). The Petroleum Industry Act provides legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian petroleum industry, the development of host communities, and related matters. It aims to open up the Nigeria oil and gas industry to investment, strengthen industry governance and regulation to expand, grow and maximize value capture for Nigeria and its citizens.

INDUSTRY EVENT

Nigerian Govt Reduces Gas to Power Price from $2.50 to $2.18

he Federal Government has said it has reduced gas to power prices from $2.50 to $2.18 with immediate effect.

Vanguard reports that President Muhammadu Buhari disclosed this while declaring open the 2021 Gas Sector Stakeholders (AjaokutaKaduna-Kano, AKK Gas Pipeline Project) Forum held in Kano. Buhari represented by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the reduction have been communicated to the relevant stakeholders for compliance. According to him, “Following the successful negotiation between the Federal Government and the organized labour unions and the detailed review of the Gas pricing framework in Nigeria, the price of Gas to power has been reduced from $2.50 to $2.18 with Immediate effect. “The outcome of the negotiation and reviews have been communicated to relevant stakeholders,” he stated. The President said the completion of the project would help in revitalizing the industries and create more jobs opportunities in the benefitting states which include Kano, Kaduna and Nasarawa states. “The project is the focus on facilitating increase Gas Penetration in the Northern part of the country, especially the AKK pipeline corridor of FCT, Kano, Kaduna, Kogi, Niger, Nassarawa and other Neighboring

states. “Therefore the forum is geared towards sensitizing the entire northern parts of Nigeria of the upcoming opportunities to bring both new and hitherto moribund companies back to life. “Kano State alone is dotted with several industrial parks. These and others in other states justify the need to optimize value creation from these industries. “Experts estimate that it will take at least two to three years to rehabilitate and position these industries for optimal performance. Thus, today’s collaboration with all stakeholders is geared towards kick-starting the required activities that will guarantee full usage of the delivered gas through the AKK pipeline when completed. “Today’s event reinforces our commitment to realizing the inherent potentials of Gas usage as the National Catalyst for Achieving Economic Diversification from Crude oil and transition fuel from fossil fuels of today to the renewable energy of tomorrow. “It is this commitment that informed our support and commission of two gas-powered plants, vessel pipeline operated in Kano State in December 2020 in achieving the uninterrupted delivery of over 30 megawatts of power supply to the industrial hubs. “Our successful collaboration and the completion of the AKK in 2023 will significantly enhance Mr

President’s vision and current drive for increase domestic gas utilization as the mainstay for national industrialization, increase foreign investment, government revenue growth and ultimately provide more job opportunities for Nigerians,” Buhari stated. On his part, the Group Managing Director, GMD of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mr Mele Kolo Kyari, said they were working assiduously in ensuring timely completion of the project. Kyari said that some of the equipment has already been delivered to Nigeria from abroad. He said the AKK project when completed will provide about 1 million jobs. In his speech, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State said the AKK project will help immensely in reviving over 200 industries in Kano which have been in slumber for a long time. He said his administration had taken bold steps that would enable the project to be completed successfully, saying the people of Kano State would benefit from the project especially in the aspect of boosting their businesses. Meanwhile, the stakeholder’s forum was themed “Optimizing the Economic Development Capacity of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano”AKK” Gas pipeline Project”.

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INDUSTRY EVENT

SPE Has a Pivotal Role to Play in the Growth and Development of Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry – Menkiti Daniel Terungwa

Henry Menkiti, COO Asharami Synergy

he Chief Operating Officer of A sharami Synerg y, a subsidiary of Sahara Group, Mr Henry Menkiti, has said that the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) has a crucial role to play as torchbearers towards ensuring the growth and development of Nigerian oil and gas industry. Menkiti made the remark at the Nigeria Annual International Conference & Exhibition (NAICE), an annual conference organized by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Council with a focus on collecting and encouraging the dissemination of technical knowledge and technologies related to the oil and gas industry as well as providing an E&P market place for Sub-Sahara Africa, held in Lagos recently. According to the COO, “The main thing about the SPE is its ability to communicate with the whole body in every single country in this planet, whether its oil and gas. It is the father

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of everything done in oil and gas.” He noted that “It is important for the SPE to evangelize, show how things work so people can understand how it is done properly because the people who wish to invest in the country, look at their portfolio and wish to reduce its risk. One of the major risks identified is how we address and work through the communities.” Menkiti reiterated the need for collaboration between operators, service companies, the government, and communities to foster growth in the oil and gas industry. He also called on stakeholders to adopt local technologies to help reduce losses and the cost of production. “Another point is technology; I am referring to local things that are done to help operations run smoothly. If we find local means of reducing losses through technology, the lifting cost would reduce significantly because of

the ability to produce, more is done faster,” he stated. M enkiti identif ie d in crease and replacement of reserves, increase in unit areas, increase in 2p reserves as critical areas to be considered for the country’s oil and gas sector to move forward. On carbon emissions, he tasked oil and gas stakeholders to critically evaluate c a rb o n emissio ns , and called on regulators not to stop at imposing fines on carbon emission defaulters but work with operators to encourage companies to reduce emissions. Asharami Synergy Plc is a leading vertically integrated downstream co m p a ny w ith inte re s t s in procurement, warehousing, inbound and outbound logistics, marketing, distribution, retailing and sale of petroleum products across Nigeria and Africa. The Company has been at the forefront of Oil and Gas enterprise in the West African region for over twenty years.

SPOTLIGHT

Seplat Identifies Opportunities with Gas as Transition Fuel for Sub-Saharan Africa -Orjiako

ABC Orjiako, Chairman of Seplat Energy

n its commitments towards providing cleaner energ y solutions in driving growth and prosperity in Nigeria, as a template for energy transition in Sub-Saharan Africa, Seplat Energy has identified gas as the transition fuel for Sub-Saharan Africa to meet the demands of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 7 – “Access to Affordable Energy for All”.

Delivering a keynote address at the annual Sub-Saharan Africa Oil and Gas Conference with the theme, “The Future of Upstream, Advancing Digitization and Gas Development Options in Sub-Saharan Africa”, which held in Houston, Texas, United States, Chairman of Seplat Energy, Dr. ABC Orjiako, noted that based on African Development Bank Group estimates,

over 640 million Africans living in sub–Saharan Africa have no access to energy, adding that there is a direct correlation between energy access and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Orjiako said that only seven countries in Africa have electricity access rates exceeding 50 per cent, adding that the rest of the continent has an average grid access rate of just 20

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SPOTLIGHT

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over 640 million Africans living in sub–Saharan Africa have no access to energy,

per cent. This, he said, is despite the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa has 63 billion barrels of proved oil and 222 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves, with significant energy potential in renewables.

“The African Development Bank Group estimates that over 640 million Africans living in sub–Saharan Africa have no access to energy. This estimate means that the energy access rate for African countries is just under 40 per cent which is the lowest rate globally. Africa has 13 per cent of the world’s population, but 48 per cent of the share of the global population without access to electricity. We can draw a direct correlation between energy access and GDP growth where countries with low energy access have low GDP growth rates. Only seven countries in Africa - Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa have electricity access rates exceeding 50 per cent. The rest of the region has an average grid access rate of just 20 per cent,” Orjiako said.

markets and developing countries. Fossil fuels (especially cleaner natural Gas) remain a crucial game-changer for Africa regarding energy access.”

“On the positive side, Africa is rich in natural resources that can change the narrative on energy access in the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa has 63 billion barrels and 222 trillion cubic feet of proved oil and natural gas reserves, respectively. The energy potential in renewables is quite significant yet remains mainly underutilized. Hydropower accounts for around a 5th of current capacity, but less than 10 per cent of its potential is being utilized. Similarly, the technical potential of solar, biomass, wind and geothermal energy is significant. While we see a substantial push to cleaner energy and focus on climate change, fossil fuels will remain an essential part of the overall energy mix, especially for emerging

“Our priorities and potential exploits speak to our commitment to cleaner energy road map. Our midstream business supports the Nigerian Government Gas to Power Initiative as we currently provide 30 percent of gas to Power in Nigeria per the Oben and Sapele gas processing plants. We are well positioned to increase this by the time ANOH project comes on stream in 2022. Through this initiative, Seplat is leading the drive in providing power in an accessible and affordable manner in Nigeria. This is a critical element in impacting development around the SMEs, entrepreneurship drive, job creation and youth empowerment and all other aspects of sustainable development goal 7. In addition, the midstream business will be the champion of miniand off-grid which are fundamental to

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He said that Seplat Energy provides 30 percent of gas to Power in Nigeria through its Oben and Sapele gas processing plants, noting that the company is well positioned to increase this by the time ANOH project comes on stream in 2022.

resolving the societal energy poverty. The environment will be protected in this process through sustained diesel displacement in the off-grid power infrastructure (estimated at about 25MW),” he said. Presently, oil and gas industry is facing unprecedented challenges from climate change policies, shareholder groups activism against fossil fuel investment, massive reduction of investable capital allocation, especially in the upstream sub-sector. “For the future of oil demand, there are many disruptors that will determine the upstream business. Notable among these are transition from internal combustion engines to electricity in the transportation sector, dynamics of climate change action plans (activism and advocacies) government policies

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We can draw a direct correlation between energy access and GDP growth where countries with low energy access have low GDP growth rates.

SPOTLIGHT thrust - Kyoto Protocols, Paris Agreement, upcoming COP-26, shale revolution, technological advancements, Covid-19, geopolitics, OPEC plus agreements or the lack thereof,” Orjiako said. Stressing the need for gas development and utilisation on the continent, he said, “As the world moves toward energy transition with Climate Change/ESG Advocacy/ Policy Changes dominating the energy discussion, Gas will continue to play an increasingly important role. Gas will play a strategic role as a transition fuel, boosting economic growth and development by providing needed energy access. Therefore, it is imperative, especially against the backdrop of the growing population. Sub-Saharan Africa’s population is growing at 2.7 percent a year, which is more than twice as fast as South Asia (1.2%) and Latin America (0.9%). Experts agree that if it continues at its current growth rate, Africa’s population will double to 2.5billion people by 2050. The projection is that Nigeria population will hit 460 million by 2050.”

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Hydropower accounts for around a 5th of current capacity, but less than 10 per cent of its potential is being utilized. On advancing digitization, Orjiako said that digitization will deliver increased operational efficiency in the oil and gas industry, improve workplace safety, as well as minimize the environmental impact of the industry in line with ESG and climate change advocacy.

According to him, the main technology levers of this new wave of innovation are: Big Data Analytics, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Block Chain, Robotics and Drone Technology, Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Computing, 3D Printing and Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR).

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Our midstream business supports the Nigerian Government Gas to Power Initiative as we currently provide 30 percent of gas to Power in Nigeria

Orjiako said that the power sector growth is translating into an increase in gas demand. This, he said, is in addition to new growth areas such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), which will aid the transition from firewood and Household Kerosene (HHK) to cleaner fuels for domestic cooking and fuel for vehicles. He noted that Africa’s power infrastructure deficit represents an unparalleled opportunity. He said,”It is noteworthy to add that the overall inadequate capacity is closely linked to the energy market structure prevalent in the region for much of the last century and decade, which is both a cause and effect of inadequate investments in the sector. For many years, power infrastructure was primarily owned and operated by public agencies whose investments in the value chain did not move at the pace of population growth.”

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LOCAL CONTENT

NCDMB Recovers $100m NCDF Remittance By Ikenna Omeje of land fully dedicated to the local manufac turing of oil and gas components and other products for the linkage sectors.” With the declaration of Year 2020 as the Year of Gas and the Years 2021 to 2030 as the Decade of Gas, the Executive Secretary noted that the Board had racked up investment partnerships and even created a 10hectares Gas Hub in Polaku hosting gas-based infrastructure and facilities.

Engr. Simbi Wabote Executive Secretary of NCDMB

h e N ige ria n C o nte nt Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) ha s re cove re d a b o ut 100million dollars of undisputed obligations from the Third-Party Forensic Audit of remittances of the Nigerian Content Development Fund (NCDF) between years 2010 to 2017. The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote revealed this recently at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference held in Abuja. Section 104 of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act stipulates the deduction of one percent of the value of contracts awarded in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry and remittance into the NCDF. The Fund is used for funding the development of Nigerian Content in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The Executive Secretary also announced that the disputed obligations were being closed out and the Third-Party Forensic Audit of remittances for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020 would begin by the fourth (4th) Quarter of 2021 to

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conclude the backlog of remittances by oil and gas companies. He further stated that the Board launched the NCDF Remittance Portal in 2020 hosted on the NOGIC JQS, to plug loopholes and make it easy for oil companies that genuinely want to remit the statutory deductions, hinting that more than 80 percent of operators and service providers have migrated to the platform. Giving an update on the Board’s projects, Wabote confirmed that the partnership with Waltersmith Petroman Ltd have resulted in the delivery of 5,000barrels per day modular refinery in Ibigwe, Imo State and the 2,500barrels per day Duport Modular Refinery would be ready for commissioning next quarter in Edo State. “By the next NOG Conference in 2022, it will be the turn of the 2,000barrels per day Atlantic Refinery in Bayelsa state,” he said. He added that “our oil and gas industrial parks in Cross River and Bayelsa states are getting to the completion stages. Each is sitting on 25hectares

He added, “our partnerships in the gas sector have unlocked 5,600metric tonnes of LPG storage facilities, annual production of 1.2million LPG composite cylinders, and infrastructure and facilities for processing of 840MMscfd of gas across 13 states of the federation, namely Bayelsa, Delta, Edo Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Bauchi, Nassarawa, Zamfara, Niger, Plateau, Gombe, Jigawa states and the Federal Capital, Abuja.” He revealed that the Board was keen to seal more partnerships to process and utilize the abundant gas reserves in the country to enhance the realization of the Mr. President’s declaration on gas. He also touched on the Board’s Nigerian Content 10-year Strategic Roadmap which is aimed at achieving 70 percent Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry by the year 2027. He stated that “We are on the 4th year of implementation of the strategic initiatives which have taken us to 35 percent Nigerian Content.” The NCDMB’s boss congratulated President Muhammadu Buhari, the leadership of the National Assembly and the Hon Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva on passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly. He expressed optimism that the industry would shift deliberations to realise the various opportunities contained in the bill, with a view to take the Nigerian oil and gas industry to the next level.

LOCAL CONTENT

NCDMB Deepens Host Communities Participation ...Sensitizes States on Community Content Guideline

Engr. Ginah O. Ginah GM, CC/ZC, who represented the Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Wabote FNSE, was accompanied to the Sensitization Workshop on the Board’s Community Content Guideline (CCG) by Mr Isaac Akpan, Zonal Coordinator, Delta/Edo, Fateemah Mohammed, Manager, SPV & Credit (NCDF), Mr Tareowei Bufazi, Supervisor Corporate Communications/Zonal Coordination, Mr Chuka Ezedimbu, Supervisor Investment, NCDF, Mr Livinus Offre, Senior Audit Officer, Audit Dept., Mr Ifeanyi Nwokemodo, Senior Officer, Cooperate Communication Division and other staff of the Board.

s part of its efforts to increase the participation of host communities in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has embarked on a sensitization workshop to educate host communities on their rights and privileges regarding contracts of localized projects, as contained in the Board’s Community Content Guideline (CCG). Speaking at the inaugural one-day workshop on Community Content Guideline for Contractors, Youth and Community Leaders in Oil Producing Communities of Delta State which held at Warri recently, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote, represented by Engr. Ginah O. Ginah (PhD), General Manager, Corporate Communications/ Zonal Coordination, NCDMB, in his keynote address noted that the

sensitization workshop on the CCG is aimed at educating communities of their rights, obligations and privileges in order to increase local capacity and community participation in the oil and gas sector which is in line with the Board’s mandate. The NCDMB’s Community Content Guideline was developed to amplify and make readily accessible the provisions of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) act, which was signed into law on April 22nd, 2010, and aimed at increasing indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry through the prescription of minimum thresholds for the use of local services and materials. In line with the NOGICD act, the CCG will achieve structured engagement of youths from host communities in productive endeavors including employment, training, services,

supplies, manufacturing, and contrac t s; establish critical inf ras tr u c ture to s tim ulate development in Host Communities; attract new businesses to strategic locations in host communities; and sustain growth of host community entrepreneurs through funding and policy support. It is anchored on four (4) broad pillars which include project office; employment and human capital development; procurement of goods and services; and funding.

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aimed at educating communities of their rights, obligations and privileges in order to increase local capacity and community participation in the oil and gas sector

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LOCAL CONTENT The NOGICD act which has six key thrusts, include integration of oil and gas producing communities into the oil and gas value chain; maximizing participation of Nigerians in oil and gas activities; maximizing utilization of Nigerian resources i.e. manpower, goods, services and assets; attracting investments to the Nigeria oil and gas sector (service providers, equipment suppliers and any other investment relevant to oil and gas industry); linking oil and gas sector to other sectors of the economy; and fostering institutional collaboration. Sections 25, 26 and 27 of the NOGICD act grants the Board the power to require operators to maintain project offices in the catchment area where the project is located and an office in the community where they have significant operations. The sections also require that the operator shall locate within the project office, personnel with decision-making authority in accordance with a list of personnel to be approved by the Board. “Operations and/or projects above $100 Million or duration above 2 years shall open and maintain a project office in the catchment area as part of the Project Organization. Inclusion of this requirement shall be considered a Nigerian content requirement in the review of the Nigerian Content Plan by the Board. Certificate of Authorization to proceed with the project may not be granted by the Board on account of non‐submission of plan to open a project office in the catchment area,” the CCG states as regards Operators setting up project offices in Communities. Regarding Employment and Human Capital Development as a key component of the Community Content Strategy the guideline states: “It is therefore the determination of the Board to promote dignity of Labor as it relates to employment opportunities for indigenes of the Communities. In this regard the Guideline seeks to assure that indigenes of the Communities are gainfully employed, earn living wage from their Labour contribution, develop competencies relevant 22

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to the job role and pay taxes to Government. With effect from the commencement of this Guideline the following shall apply in relation to employment opportunities for host Community.” On Procurement of Goods and Services, the guideline notes that Compliance will be evaluated based on actual amount spent on contracts executed in the host communities. “The Project Office established in a catchment area shall be given powers to take procurement decisions in favor of the host Community Contractors, on items relevant to the needs of the Project. These items include procurement of consumables (water, stationery, printer cartridges, etc.), provision of services such as catering, logistics support(trucks, boats, houseboats, stores , warehouses , lab our, etc.),supply of paints, PPEs, and other services and projects where capacity exist in the host Community. Quarterly procurement reports shall be submitted to NCDMB demonstrating that at least 30% of procurement opportunities were accessed by Entrepreneurs from the host community,” it notes.

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“Operations and/or projects above $100 Million or duration above 2 years shall open and maintain a project office in the catchment area as part of the Project Organization. Also, on funding, it says that “The Board will partner with reputable financial institutions to offer funding support from the Nigerian Content Development Fund to h o s t Community business entities to finance Purchase Orders (PO), and to establish new businesses connected to the oil and gas industry. Such funding support shall be based on unique Terms and Conditions contained in the Host Community Contractors Intervention fund.”

Under the guideline, project promoters, operators, contractors, and other stakeholders are expected to comply. Non-adherence to the guideline will be met with strict sanctions including refusal of the Board to issue Certificate of Authorization to the Operator, Contractor and/or Project Promoter; refusal of the Board to participate in the Operator’s tender or issuance of Nigerian Content Compliance Certificate; denunciation of the project by the Community through a public hearing specifically called for that purpose; initiation of penal sanctions as provided in section 68 of the Act; and in the case of noncompliance in the establishment and/ or closure of the project office, the Board shall invoke its administrative sanction in the NOGICD Act 2010 section 70(i) &(p). Integrating oil and gas producing communities into the oil and gas value chain, underscores the premium consideration placed on community participation by the NOGICD act. The national aspiration for host communities was given a boost in 2016 when President Muhammadu Buhari, launched the Petroleum Industry Roadmap on October 27, 2016, to revitalize the oil and gas industry. A key Performance Indicator in the roadmap is to “Deploy~30 percent of business opportunities from operating companies to communities.” During the sensitization workshop, Ginah charged the participants that the knowledge acquired from the workshop should be shared and transferred to others in the various communities who were not present at the workshop. Ginah, who focused specifically on Employment and Human Capital Development (HCD)

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Certificate of Authorization to proceed with the project may not be granted by the Board on account of nonsubmission of plan

LOCAL CONTENT

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“It is therefore the determination of the Board to promote dignity of Labor as it relates to employment opportunities for indigenes of the Communities. as contained in the Community Content Guideline, highlighted that the guideline seeks to assure that indigenes of host communities are gainfully employed, earn living wage from their labour contribution, develop competencies relevant to job roles and pay taxes to government. The HCD inter vention will, among others, cover direc t trainings by NCDMB, operators, contractors and projects promoters: Scholarships, Entrepreneurship & Empowerment and Projectbased Trainings sponsored by Operators, Contractors or Sub-contractors. According to the NCDMB boss, it took more than one year of collaborative effort between the Board and the oil and gas companies to develop the Community Content Guideline. Thus, its adoption by the Oil and Gas Industry is assured. In a chat with Majorwaves, Ginah said that the development of Community Content Guideline by the Board has helped to make implementation of sections of the NOGICD act which have to do with host communities

right s, privileges, and obligations, easy. “A document that contains fully community content issues was created, so that when we are talking to Shell, when we are talking to Agip, when we are talking to communities, it is that document we reference. Because the provisions are still in the main document, that is the NOGICD act itself, they seem to get lost. People cannot find it. So, a policy document now that contains all those provisions in the main NOGICD act that guarantee community participation, are now used to do the Community Content Guideline. In that guideline, those provisions are further broken down, explained better,” he said. “That way even the communit y contrac tor members when they are writing to oil companies and to our office, they quote sections on that document. So, it makes it easy now to implement. That document was done in collaboration with oil companies - the Oil Producers Trade Section.

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“The Project Office established in a catchment area shall be given powers to take procurement decisions in favor of the host Community Contractors, on items relevant to the needs of the Project.

Board is intensifying efforts to sensitize host communities on their rights and privileges and how to benefit from them, adding that for the past 2 to 3 years, the NCDMB has been receiving letters from host communities with reference to the document. “Now, in your submission for Nigerian Content Plan, you must have a section that is community section plan; meaning that section that is going to explain how you are going to carry the community contractors along. So, without that now, NCDMB will not approve your Nigerian Content Plan,” he said. Ginah who informed that the sensitization will be a continuous exercise said that the workshop has been organized in Delta, Edo, and Rivers states, adding that it will go round the nine oil producing states in the country. Citing the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, Ginah said that in seven years, attacks on oil facilities have reduced from 623 to 94 in host communities, which is an indication that the initiative is yielding the desired result.

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Non-adherence to the guideline will be met with strict sanctions including refusal of the Board to issue Certificate of Authorization to the Operator, Contractor and/or Project Promoter;

He further stated that the Majorwaves Energy Report AUGUST 2021, Vol 4 No 8

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POWER

Schneider Electric, others Reiterate the Need for Deployment of Technologies to Ensure Energy Security which can help players in the oil and gas industry to make better decisions, ensure transparency, increase energy production and reduce cost. He listed predictive analytics, digital twins, IoT, 3D p rinting , rob otic s , ma chin e learning, blockchain, big data and drones deployment as some of the technologies that will continue to matter in the future with respect to operations in the oil and gas industry. “All of those technologies are coming upstream and we are going to see more and more of those technologies. What do they do? Essentially, when you look at Internet of Things (IoT), Machine Learning, blockchain and Big Data, they help you with better decision-making, transparency – so that ultimately you can out-produce more energy at a cheaper price. You are making it more affordable, hence it becomes more accessible and more available,” he said.

Mr. Ajibola Akindele

chneider Electric has reiterated the need for deployment of technologies to ensure energy security and sustainable development in Nigeria. General Manager Sub-Saharan Africa for Schneider Electric Process Automation, Mr. Ajibola Akindele, stated this at the 2021 Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition (NAICE), with the theme: “The Future of Energy – A Trilogy of Determinants: Climate Change, Public Health, and the Global Oil Market”, which held in Lagos. Speaking on a panel on “Energy Security and Sustainable Development in Nigeria”, Akindele noted that energy security is about availability,

accessibility and affordability, adding that it is also about meeting today’s challenges without negating the requirement for tomorrow. According to him, energy security is the life-blood of a country’s economy; but he bemoaned the general lack of energy efficiency in Nigeria – getting energy to the right place at the right time. This, he said is where technologies come in. H e averre d that te chn olog y is an enabler and not an end itself, noting that the use of technology helps in good decisionmaking, transparency, increased production, and cost reduction. Akindele also noted that there are several technologies available today,

He also listed some of the challenges that may affect the Oil and Gas companies from adopting these technologies as costs, lack of infrastructure backbone and exposure to cyber-attacks. However, he stated that all of these challenges can be successfully mitigated and overcome. On the challenge of upfront costs, he suggested that these technology services can be provided on a subscription model thereby reducing upfront costs. He also stated that cyber-attacks while becoming increasingly common, can be mitigated by applying the appropriate technology solutions and constantly educating employees on the threat of cyber-attacks and ensuring vigilance within the organisation. Akindele concluded by stating that “the use of technology has a big role to play in ensuring energy security and sustainable development in Nigeria”. He urged organisations to embrace the use of digital technologies where possible for operational efficiency improvements.

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POWER

Nigeria Gets $550m from World Bank, AfDB for Rural Electrification been providing off-grid solutions to bridge the electricity gap in unserved and underserved rural communities. “This includes households, micro, small, and medium enterprises, Federal Universities, as well as healthcare centres across the six geopolitical zones of the country, with the financial support of the WB and the AfDB, respectively. “The NEP is private sector driven and it provides grant subsidies under its solar hybrid mini-grids, standalone solar home systems and productive use appliance components to bridge the gap in access to electrification. ”And stimulate load demand, whilst also improving the means of livelihood of the consumers, towards making the mini-grid powered communities more attractive and viable,” he said.

The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has announced the provision of $550m in funding by the World Bank (WB) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support the implementation of its off-grid solution projects.

“A breakdown of what the programme has achieved so far is in the signing of grant agreements under the mini-grid sub-component, with 13 companies for the deployment of solar mini-grids across 86 sites in off-grid communities,” he said.

Mr Ahmed A b u b a k a r, Communication Expert, REA, who made this known in a statement in Abuja recently, added that out of the amount, $213m dollars was for the mini-grid components of both the WB and the AfDB, while $75m dollars was for standalone solar home systems component of the WB.

Abubakar added that REA had deployed and commissioned seven solar hybrid mini-grids with a total connection of 3,828 and 529.79 kW energy capacity.

He further explained that $205m dollars was for Energizing Education Programme (EEP) Phases II and III components of both the WB and the AfDB, while $20m dollars is for the productive use component of the AfDB, as well as $37m dollars for technical assistance. “The objective of the project is to provide clean, safe, reliable and affordable electricity access to a minimum of 2.5 million Nigerians which equates to about 500,000 households.

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He said that the agency also signed grant agreements with 26 companies under the Output Based Fund (OBF) sub-component of the standalone solar home systems for homes and MSMEs. ”REA has also installed 221,971 Solar Home Systems (SHS) in households, micro, small, and medium enterprises as well as public facilities. “The Rural Electrification Agency (RE A ), through the Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), has.

Similarly, Abubakar added that REA had also signed contract agreements with eight companies for the deployment of containerized solar hybrid solutions to power 100 Isolation and Treatment Centres (ITCs) under the REA/NEP COVID-19 & Beyond intervention programme. “RE A conduc ted communit y engagement exercises in nine states – Ogun, Cross River, Sokoto, Niger, Plateau, Abia, Bauchi, Kano and Anambra – to sensitise and have community buy-in for the sustainability of the NEP mini grid projects. “RE A has also comm en ced preparations for the deployment of solar hybrid power plants in Federal Universities and Teaching Hospitals, under the Energizing Education Programme Phases II and III. ”REA/NEP calls for more support from the private sector to help bridge the electrification gap by visiting the NEP website @www. nep.rea.gov.ng on how to apply as it concerns the component that best suits their interest and experience,” he said

POWER

Nigerian GenCo Egbin Power Sets Out $2bn Investment Plan

he management of Egbin Power Plc has said it will invest $2 billion in the expansion of its plants in addition to the $1bn it had already invested after the privatisation of the plant in 2013. The Managing Director, Mr Kola Adesina, disclosed this when the Senate Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation paid a visit to the plant in Egbin, Lagos. He also said the debt which the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading PLC (NBET) owes the plant has reached N388bn. Adesina said Egbin, which “has invested $1bn in its value chain, is perfecting an investment plan of $2bn for expansion.” He gave the breakdown of the

proposed investment to include $1.8bn for Egbin Power 2 and overhaul of the existing plant as well as $200 million for its estate. He said the plant has the capacity to deliver 1320 Megawatts (MW) but was generating 400MW as at the time the firm took over, but it has been overhauled with capacity surging to over 800MW. “At some points, we generated 1,100MW. We have been doing an average of 1,000MW this year. We are having a future investment including the Egbin 2 expansion, overhauling of Egbin 1 and staff quarters that will cost $2bn. “Despite these, there are challenges we face that we want this Committee to help us with. The NBET still owes Egbin a debt of N388bn including money for actual energy wheeled out, and interest for late payment,”

he noted He however said gas constraints have cost the firm to lose 106.34MW since June 2020 adding that in 2021, the plant lost N13.68bn to these external constraints. Chairman of the committee, Senator Theodore Orji, stated that the plant has “done well” in justifying October 1, 2013 power sector’s privatisation by the Federal Government. Orji queried the transmission and gas constraints, which have downed the power available below actual generation capacity. “I can say that you are trying your best. You are doing fine and you should be encouraged to do more in terms of investments,” he said.

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NIPS PHOTOSPEAK.

ROLL-CALL AT N.I.P.S 2021 Held for the first time at the Presidential Villa, Aso Rock Abuja, June

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NIPS PHOTOSPEAK.

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SPE NAICE PHOTOSPEAK

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Energy Transition : Stark Realities as Africa Ponders Pathway Ahead By Ikenna Omeje, Oluwatoyin Bayagbon, Jerome Onoja

n recent years, discussions on energy transition have dominated topical issues at both local and international energy conferences, with Western countries at the vanguard of this transition. Energy transition is a global push towards cleaner energy from fossil fuels, which are harmful to the climate. Reducing global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net zero by 2050 is consistent with efforts to limit the long-term increase in average global temperatures to 1.5˚C and international institutions have lent their voice to this cause. For instance, according to the International Energ y A gency (IEA), “The energy sector is the source of around three-quarters of 32

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greenhouse gas emissions today and holds the key to averting the worst effects of climate change, perhaps the greatest challenge humankind has faced.” The United Nations recently revealed that “Along with companies, cities and financial institutions, 131 countries have now set or are considering a target of reducing emissions to net zero by mid-century. While net zero is a critical longerterm goal, steep emissions cuts – especially by the largest greenhousegas emitters – are imperative in the next 5 to 10 years in order to keep global warming to no more than 1.5 °C and safeguard a livable climate. Of the 191 Parties to the Paris Agreement, more than 90 countries have so far submitted a new or updated national action

plan – called Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – as required by the agreement.” On the flipside, a recent World Bank publication titled “Africa’s Resource Export Opportunities and the Global Energy Transition,” points to the global shift toward renewable energy and clean energy technologies which will result in reduction in global demand for hydrocarbon fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

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Reducing global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net zero by 2050 is consistent with efforts to limit the long-term increase in average global temperatures to 1.5˚C

COVER STORY The publication further showed that the Sub-Saharan Africa’s export value of hydrocarbon fossil fuels from 1995 to 2018 accounted for 48.5 percent of export, while mineral energy materials accounted for just 23 percent of export in the period under review. Also, the IEA recently estimated that under its new net-zero projection, per capita income from oil and gas in producer countries would fall by 75 percent. It added that even if the world falls somewhat short of the Paris Climate Change Agreement goals, governments in oil-dependent countries face the prospect of lower revenues and public assets wasted by excessive concentration in a declining sector. The IEA further articulated several dramatic milestones that would be necessary to reach net-zero, including: no approvals of new oil and gas field development and no new coal mines or mine extensions by this year; electric vehicles reaching 60 percent of global car sales by 2030; and nearly 70 percent of global electricity generation produced from solar and wind by 2050. Dissenting voices

Though energy transition intends to make the earth more habitable and conducive, it is unfortunately not in the best interest of Africa. The global energy transition is expected to have profound effects on Africa’s economies. This is because nearly 50 percent of sub-Saharan Africa’s export value is composed of fossil fuels. The publication, however, showed that while the region as a whole is poised to prosper from shifting exports to mineral energy materials (MEMs) such as nickel, copper, and cobalt, the changes in global energy demand might be more disruptive to the region’s oil-dependent countries like Angola, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, among others.

In an article titled, “Africa Can, and Should, Decide How to Harness its Natural Resources Especially With Gas”, published on the African Energy Chambers website, NJ Ayuk, its Executive Chairman, said that pressure is building to phase out petroleum production in Africa to fight climate change, but noted that when harnessed strategically, “Africa’s oil and gas industry can power a better future for Africa.” Making a case for Africa in respect to carbon emission, he said that over the last 300 years, all of Africa has emitted seven times less carbon dioxide than China, 13 times less than the United States, and 18 times less than the combined countries of Europe. He noted that “attempting to phase out Africa’s oil industry to prevent climate change is like snuffing out a small, controlled campfire instead of focusing your attention on kilometers of blazing forestland.”

“The most important reason why Africa should be free to continue hydrocarbon production is this: Africa’s huge natural gas reserves are the continent’s best shot at alleviating energy poverty,” Ayuk said. “Today, more than 620 million people in sub-Saharan Africa don’t have electricity. That’s two-thirds of the population. Hundreds of millions more have unreliable or limited power.

NJ Ayuk

“What does that look like? Without electricity, you’re cooking your food and warming your home by burning wood, charcoal, or maybe even animal waste. Your regular exposure to indoor air pollution increases your risk of respiratory infections and chronic conditions.” He called on global community to stop attempting to dictate how Africa should use its own oil and gas resources, adding that with the right strategies, a thriving African oil and gas industry is the key to alleviating widespread energy poverty, bolstering economic growth and diversification, and improving the lives of the people.

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“Along with companies, cities and financial institutions, 131 countries have now set or are considering a target of reducing emissions to net zero by midcentury

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COVER STORY

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nearly 50 percent of subSaharan Africa’s export value is composed of fossil fuels. “Allowed to continue to use our resource wealth our way, other African countries can follow that lead. So, you see, Global Community: Africa doesn’t need you to help it. Africa doesn’t need you to decide how to best protect Africa from climate change. Nobody protects the environment better than Africans. Look at the emission numbers. Africans need you to respect us and to understand that your perspectives, priorities, and solutions are just that: yours,” he stated. Also, speaking at the 2020 SubSaharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and C o n f e r e n c e ( S A I P EC ), t h e Secretary General of African Petroleum Producers Association (APPO), Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, regretted that member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) had begun to initiate discriminatory policies towards hydrocarbons as primary energy sources and discourage research and investment in the sector – actions which would eventually make fossil fuels less accessible and more expensive and position other sources of energy as viable alternatives. He noted that these developments were taking place at a time that Africa is making more finds in oil and gas, hence making it imperative for African nations to take their destinies into their own hands and pursue the development of local capacities to operate the oil industry successfully and use energy to fuel the national, sub-regional or continental economies. For the continent to harness its huge hydrocarbon resources, Ibrahim stressed the “need to domesticate the oil and gas technology and encourage local content development in the oil and gas industry on our continent.”

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On his par t, the E xecutive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote, noted in his presentation on “The Future of Nigeria’s Hydrocarbons Sector and the Global Energy Transition” at the recently concluded 20th Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG 2021) that Nigeria ought to be careful lest the “gas as a transition fuel” narrative soon becomes a thing of the past.

Dr. Omar Farouk

Climate change science

atmospheric physics and chemistry. The typical horizontal resolution of a global climate model is 100– 200 km. Combining global and regional models allows finer-scale examination of regional details of change to horizontal resolutions of 10–50 km. Most global models are run on supercomputers, whereas some regional models may be run on desktop computers (often taking six to eight months for a single realization)”, says Science Direct. According to the United Nations fact check on climate change, Africa is the continent most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It noted that the continent is already experiencing temperature increases of approximately 0.7°C, and with predictions that temperatures will rise further, it said that Africa is facing a wide range of impacts, including increased drought and floods. It projected that in the near future, climate change will contribute to decreases in food production, floods and inundation of the continent’s coastal zones and deltas, spread of waterborne diseases and risk of malaria, in addition to changes in natural ecosystems and loss of biodiversity.

As a result of human activities over the years, the chemical composition of the Earth’s atmosphere is said to have been altered. Studies have proved this to be inexorably true. In an article, the University of California, Davis said: “As greenhouse gases increase — primarily composed of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — the heat-trapping properties of these gasses indisputably cause the Earth’s climate to respond. However, it remains uncertain just what exactly that response is.” “Climate scientists believe factors such as aerosols, changing uses of land and others are playing important roles in climate change, but their influence and exact impact remain highly uncertain.” “Climate change models allow the simulation of the effects of the buildup of greenhouse gases centuries into the future, based on current understanding of

Engr. Simbi Wabote

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IEA recently estimated that under its new net-zero projection, per capita income from oil and gas in producer countries would fall by 75 percent.

COVER STORY “Africa is not a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. Africa accounts for only 2–3 per cent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy and industrial sources. According to the World Resources Institute, Africa’s per capita emissions of carbon dioxide in the year 2000 were 0.8 metric tons per person, compared with a global figure of 3.9 tons per person. Nevertheless, African countries can and are pursuing win-win policies that can minimize their greenhouse emissions while tackling urban pollution (with its high health costs) and introducing solar energy and other innovative and cost-effective technologies,” the United Nations said. At several economic forums on the continent in recent years, including those held in N’Djamena, Chad; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Abuja, Nigeria; Rabat, Morocco; New York in the United States, and elsewhere, some Africa’s experts have been expressing their support for green industrialization. The 2016 Economic Report on Africa titled, “Greening Africa’s Industrialization”, published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), said: “Green industrialization is the only way for Africa…it is a precondition for sustainable and inclusive growth.” However, while some experts on the continent are pushing for transition to greener energy sources, others urge caution. This is because oil and gas remain the main source of revenue for most oil producers in Africa. Also, in the last 10 years, hydrocarbons have been discovered in commercial quantity in many African countries. Some experts have argued that with these discoveries, Africa’s priority should be to use these resources to alleviate poverty, provide electricity for its people, industrialize, and create jobs for its teeming youth population. The argument of those urging caution with regards to transitioning to greener energy holds water considering the recent IEA report. According to the latest edition of

the agency’s semi-annual Electricity Market Report released in July, coalfired electricity generation is set to increase by almost 5 percent this year and by a further 3 percent in 2022, potentially reaching an all-time high. The report noted that gas fired generation, which declined 2 percent in 2020, is expected to increase by 1 percent in 2021 and by nearly 2 percent in 2022. Failed carbon market Even when there seems to be formal agreement that emissions should be reduced, how this reduction should come about has been a challenge. The main problem is that emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere even though it generates costs, is too cheap. Climate change advocates from the London School of Economics argue that people pay for the diesel that they buy, but not for the climate related costs that are generated from the CO2-emissions that are emitted when they are driving for instance. They note that because carbon dioxide spreads very quickly in the atmosphere, a unit emitted has the same effect on the temperature increase irrespective of whether it is emitted in Johannesburg, Beijing, or elsewhere, adding that if the markets are left unregulated, there will then simply be too much emission. The advocates are championing for a global policy that increases the price of greenhouse gas emissions, to reduce emissions at the scale and speed that is necessary. A straightforward way to implement such policy they say, would be for countries to agree on a uniform CO2 tax. According to them, such tax would not need to imply any redistribution across countries, as each country could tax CO2 locally and then also use the proceeds locally. They also express optimism that global quotas correctly set in combination with a well-functioning global-emissions-trading system would in all important aspects have identical effects as a global CO2 tax. Some of the benefits of a global carbon tax, according to the advocates include that it will make

coal and non-conventional oil remain untapped in the ground to ensure that warming is contained as well as minimize the costs of reducing emissions. But the argument against a CO2 tax is that it would be difficult to get support for such tax in many countries across the world

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no approvals of new oil and gas field development and no new coal mines or mine extensions by this year; Since its adoption as part of the Kyoto Protocol, carbon market has been a failure. The EU Emissions Trading Scheme, the world’s largest carbon market, has consistently failed to ´cap´ emissions, while the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) routinely favours environmentally ineffective and socially unjust projects, as illustrated by case studies of CDM projects in Brazil, Indonesia, India, and Thailand. While the CDM has led to the registration of over 7.500 projects worldwide, as of 2015, the UN Convention on Climate Change says only 3 percent of these are in Africa, and only 1 percent of carbon credit, or Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) are issued from Africa, which is a worrisome statistic. Carbon credits, or CERs, are earned from projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with each credit equivalent to one tonne of CO2. These CERs can be traded and sold to users that need them to help meet an emissions limitation target, or that are seeking to reduce their emissions on a voluntary basis.

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over the last 300 years, all of Africa has emitted seven times less carbon dioxide than China, 13 times less than the United States, and 18 times less than the combined countries of Europe.

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COVER STORY In its report in May on the global pathway to net-zero emissions b y 2 0 5 0 , I E A n o te d t h a t the commitments made to date fall far short of what is required by that pathway. “The number of countries that have pledged to achieve net-zero emissions has grown rapidly over the last year and now covers around 70 percent of global emissions of CO2. This is a huge step forward. However, most pledges are not yet underpinned by near-term policies and measures. Moreover, even if successfully fulfilled, the pledges to date would still leave around 22 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions worldwide in 2050. The continuation of that trend would be consistent with a temperature rise in 2100 of around 2.1°C. Global emissions fell in 2020 because of the Covid-19 crisis but are already rebounding strongly as economies recover. Further delay in acting to reverse that trend will put net zero by 2050 out of reach,” IEA said. ‘Nigeria should transit to an energy industry’ Speaking at the NOG 2021 on Nigeria’s role in the global energy transition agenda, Professor Yinka Omorogbe, President, Nigerian Association for Energy Economics (NAEE) reiterated that there are major global issues which call for strategic thinking and planning for all survivors as more disruptions will come to fore in this century.

the primary revenue earner for the country,” she said in the presentation. “There should be proper energy planning with an ideal interplay b e t w e e n P o li c y, L a w, a n d Implementation. Policies must be in place and should be strong and discernible enough to keep us afloat when there are shifts in the international market. There should be both national policy goals and sector policy goals with laws flowing or emanating from them which are administered and enforced.” Professor Omorogbe further advised that the private sector has key roles to play in driving the energy industry post-COVID.

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The Managing Director of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), Engr. Tony Attah, while making a spotlight presentation on Train 7 titled “Train 7 – Strengthening Nigeria’s Position Among the World’s Largest LNG Exporters”, at the NOG 2021, noted the importance of technologies in the energy mix. With the increasing relevance of hydrogen in the energy mix, he argued that probably, technology is the most important factor in the energy mix, because it is the backbone of all ideations in the space.

“Government should create level playing field that is attractive to investors while fulfilling their objectives,” she continued. “To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy investments worldwide will need to more than triple by 2030 to around $4 trillion. This will create new jobs, significantly lift global economic growth, and achieve universal access to electricity and clean cooking worldwide by the end of the decade. This change will be driven by finance and technology. Private sector should take advantage of this. Nigeria should take this as a challenge and rise up to it.”

Engr. Tony Attah

Represented by the General Manager – External Relations, Mrs. Eyono Fatai-Williams, Attah, however, pointed out that it is clear that renewable energy alone cannot meet the energy demand of the growing population, adding that gas is the next option, and will remain relevant in the energy mix.

In her presentation, she said three global issues have dominated the 21st century including climate change, sustainable development goals and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic. According to her, Nigeria’s response to these changes and the calls for a zero-carbon future is very critical, especially as the zero-carbon future is closer than we think. “One recommendation is for the Nigerian petroleum industry to transit into an energy industry, recognizing petroleum first and foremost as an energy source and a means of diversification and the development we need: and less as

Technology: the game changer

Prof. Yinka Omorogbe

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Nobody protects the environment better than Africans.

The path to net-zero emissions is narrow and staying on it requires immediate and massive deployment of all available clean and efficient energy technologies, according to IEA. In the net-zero emissions pathway presented in its report in May, it said the world economy in 2030 will be some 40 percent larger than today but uses 7 percent less energy.

COVER STORY geothermal; and revolution with batteries, are still minimal and unsustainable globally. It is even at almost zero level in some African states. This is in addition to lack of carbon sequestration technologies and sinks in some countries on the continent. Given this current state, it may be unwise for African oil producers to abandon their oil wells for renewables.

Mrs. Eyono Fatai-Williams

“A major worldwide push to increase energy efficiency is an essential part of these efforts, resulting in the annual rate of energy intensity improvements averaging 4 percent to 2030 – about three-times the average rate achieved over the last two decades. Emissions reductions from the energy sector are not limited to CO2: in our pathway, methane emissions from fossil fuel supply fall by 75 percent over the next ten years as a result of a global, concerted effort to deploy all available abatement measures and technologies,” IEA said. The Agency noted that renewable energy technologies give electricity the edge in the race to zero. “Our pathway calls for scaling up solar and wind rapidly this decade, reaching annual additions of 630 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaics (PV) and 390 GW of wind by 2030, fourtimes the record levels set in 2020. For solar PV, this is equivalent to installing the world’s current largest solar park roughly every day. Hydropower and nuclear, the two largest sources of low-carbon electricity today, provide an essential foundation for transitions. As the electricity sector becomes cleaner, electrification emerges as a crucial economy-wide tool for reducing emissions. Electric vehicles (EVs) go from around 5 percent of global car sales to more than 60 percent by 2030,” it added. Application of hydrogen; solar;

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“need to domesticate the oil and gas technology and encourage local content development in the oil and gas industry on our continent.”

35 percent increase compared to the base year of 2015, with an average annual growth rate of 1.2 percent during the forecast period.” Similarly, according to IEA in its Electricity Market Report released in July, based on current policy settings and economic trends, electricity generation from renewables – including hydropower, wind, and solar PV – is on track to grow strongly around the world over the next two years – by 8 percent in 2021 and by more than 6 percent in 2022. But even with this strong growth, it added that renewables will only be able to meet around half the projected increase in global electricity demand over those two years.

Stark realities Global population is estimated to increase from 7.3 billion in 2015 to 9.2 billion in 2040. The additional 1.8 billion people will mainly come from developing countries, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in its World Oil Outlook 2040 report which showed how this population growth will affect oil demand. “In the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) region, population is forecast to increase by 116 million people in the period to 2040 partly supported by immigration. The share of the global working age population (that is, individuals aged between 15 and 64 years) peaked in 2012, following a steady increase since 1970. Individuals aged 65 or more are anticipated to account for 14 percent of the world population in 2040, up from today’s level of 8 percent. Children are estimated to represent 22 percent of the population by 2040, down from 26 percent today,” OPEC said. O n oil deman d during the period under review, OPEC said, “Reflecting the underlying assumed developments of the key drivers, total primary energy demand is forecast to increase by 96 mboe/d between 2015 and 2040, rising from 276 mboe/d to 372 mboe/d. In relative terms, this represents a

“Fossil fuel-based electricity generation is set to cover 45% of additional demand in 2021 and 40 percent in 2022, with nuclear power accounting for the rest. As a result, carbon emissions from the electricity sector – which fell in both 2019 and 2020 – are forecast to increase by 3.5 percent in 2021 and by 2.5 percent in 2022, which would take them to an all-time high,” IEA noted in the report. The IEA also informed in its June Oil Market Report that oil demand is expected to bounce back by 5.4 million barrels a day this year, one of the fastest climbs on record, and by a further 3.1 million in 2022, pushing consumption of crude above 100 million for the first time by the end of next year. “World oil supply is expected to grow at a faster rate in 2022, with the US driving gains of 1.6 mb/d from producers outside the OPEC+ alliance. That leaves room for OPEC+ to boost crude oil production by 1.4 mb/d above its July 2021-March 2022 target to meet demand growth. In 2021, oil output from non-OPEC+ is set to rise 710 kb/d, while total oil supply from OPEC+ could increase by 800 kb/d if the bloc sticks with its existing policy,” it stated.

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COVERSTORY STORY COVER Despite the increasing demand for oil, access to credit facility is limited for oil and gas exploration, which puts Africa at a difficult trajectory. While banks in western countries are rapidly decreasing their fossil fuel financing, banks in China are leading the chart on fossil fuel financing. But China may not be a good option for Africa to secure credit facility to harness its untapped hydrocarbons deposit. China has negative image when it comes to loan renegotiation. This is following a report in 2018 that Chinese creditors wanted to take over some Zambian national assets due to loan default. Africa has a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $3.4 trillion, which is relatively small compared to what is obtainable in America, Asia, and Europe. Considering that fossil fuel will remain relevant in the energy mix on the continent, a new finance model, that is homegrown, is needed in this regard. While pressure is mounting on Africa to abandon its oil, king coal is still fashionable in some circles. In 2020, China put 38.4 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-fired power capacity into operation, according to new international research, which is more than three times the amount built elsewhere around the world and potentially undermining its shortterm climate goals. According to research released recently by Global Energy Monitor (GEM), a U.S. think tank, and the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the country’s coal-fired fleet capacity rose by a net 29.8 GW in 2020, even as the rest of the world made cuts of 17.2 GW. Also in 2020, China approved the construction of a further 36.9 GW of coal-fired fleet capacity, which is three times more than a year earlier, bringing the total under construction to 88.1 GW. The country now has 247 GW of coal power under development, enough to supply the whole of Germany, according to Reuters.

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Similarly, the IEA Coal 2020 report showed that in 2019, China, growth in coal-fired power generation, increased steel production, and shrinking coal use in small industrial and residential boilers resulted in an overall increase in coal consumption by 1 percent. It noted that across members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), coal use rose 14 percent in 2019, mainly reflecting demand growth in Vietnam and to a lesser extent, in Indonesia. “Based on the assumption of a global economic recovery in 2021, we expect both electricity demand and industrial output to increase. As a result, we forecast a rebound in global coal demand of 2.6 percent, led by China, India, and Southeast Asia. Higher natural gas prices and electricity demand are set to slow the structural decline of coal use in the European Union and the United States, which both might see their coal consumption grow for the first time in nearly a decade,” IEA’s report revealed. There is a need for a more realistic net-zero target to be set. Speaking on, “Global Oil Market Dynamics in a Decarbonizing World” at the NOG 2021, the OPEC Secretary-General, Mohammad Barkindo, stressed the need for more dialogue and more cooperation in an inclusive fashion. He stated that OPEC is doing its part through the landmark OPEC and non-OPEC Declaration of Cooperation and will also continue to engage in high-level producerconsumer dialogues with the European Union, China, India, and the United States, as well as with a host of international organizations to meet future energy challenges. “The achievement of the netzero 2050 goals would assume that developing countries will receive the required financing and technological know-how they require to build and readjust their energy systems in line with the netzero ambitions by 2050,” Barkindo noted. “However, climate financing for adaptation and mitigation is an

extremely complex process, and questions continue to be raised as to how the $100 billion per year committed in the Paris Agreement will be secured, much less the even more ambitious $5 trillion annual funding needed globally as set out by the net-zero 2050 plan.

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According to the United Nations fact check on climate change, Africa is the continent most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Barkindo

“Another issue of concern is that climate financing is increasingly being administered as loans, which means that developing countries are required to borrow at interest rates that can sometimes be prohibitively high, effectively leading them to defer or cancel their clean energy projects. “These important factors all point to the fact that an energy transition on such a massive scale and within such a short timeframe will take time and patience to achieve, especially if it is done responsibly, in an equitable and inclusive manner.”

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According to the World Resources Institute, Africa’s per capita emissions of carbon dioxide in the year 2000 were 0.8 metric tons per person, compared with a global figure of 3.9 tons per person.

COVER STORY The OPEC scribe also reminded stakeholders at the conference that Goal 7 of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations was established to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all people, adding that OPEC firmly believes that nobody should be left behind in the energy transition. “History tells us, however, that in times of great challenge and crisis, developing countries are m ore p ron e to exp erien ce social unrest, rising inequality and increased poverty. Thus, it is of utmost impor tance that this energy transition be both equitable and inclusive. To achieve this, we must work through the multilateral system with the dedication and support of all energy stakeholders. “OPEC will continue to work closely with its Member Countries to advocate for real change on this topic in all relevant international fora, including the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow. “It is essential that we use as our energy and climate roadmap in a c c o rda n c e w it h t h e c o re principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, namely equity, historical responsibility and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities,” Barkindo said. Impending danger, conclusion Although renewables are developing rapidly, the world’s economy is set to double, which requires that all resources will be needed to meet this growing need. Between now till 2045, cumulative investment of $12.6 trillion in the upstream, midstream, and downstream is required in order to meet this need, according to OPEC. This is in addition to projection that oil will remain the largest contributor to the energy mix up till 2045 with more than 27 percent, according to the latest OPEC World Oil Outlook.

In his speech at the NOG Conference and Exhibition, Barkindo noted that oil and gas investments in 2020 dropped by more than 30 percent, occasioned by the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, even worse than the dramatic declines seen during the 2015-2016 industry downturn. This, he said, portends danger as the energy security risk that would result from too little investment would heavily affect both producers and consumers alike. Oil-producing developing countries, particularly in Africa, would be most impacted, Barkindo explained. This is because history has shown that energy insecurity brings about economic insecurity and geopolitical instability. “A c h i e v i n g n e t zero emissions by 2050 is already a great challenge for advanced economies, some of whom have expressed their doubts about the reality of achieving this ambitious goal. And thus, for developing nations, it is even that much more daunting, particularly as they are occupied with ensuring their basic needs are met day in and day out. Each day is a challenge to simply put food on the table and earn a decent living wage,” Barkindo further said. “There are emerging doubts as to how realistic the net-zero approach is, particularly when considering the unique circumstances of developing countries, especially in combatting another scourge, namely energy poverty. “Allow me to point out three significant challenges to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, namely scale and timing, supply chains and the developing world.

“

A straightforward way to implement such policy they say, would be for countries to agree on a uniform CO2 tax.

year period from now until 2050 is not adequate to achieve net-zero emissions, considering the scale of investments required, the availability of land, the required massive expansion of the electricity grid and a host of nearly 400 milestones that would need to be reached to achieve the net-zero goal. The last transition took nearly 200 years to cycle through, and now we want to achieve an even more ambitious transition in less than 30 years! This is simply not realistic. “Additionally, a swift transition to clean energy sources would be highly reliant on the steady, robust supply of critical minerals such as copper, cobalt, lithium, nickel, and aluminum, many of which are produced in a geographically centralized area. We must also consider that the amount of mineral material needed to produce energy is higher than with fossil fuels. For example, a typical electric car requires six times the mineral inputs than that required to power a conventional vehicle with fossil fuels, and an onshore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gasfired plant of the same capacity. Fur t h e r m o re , l e n g t hy l e a d times on mining projects, which can surpass 16 years, could inhibit the sector from responding to increases in demand,” he said. Global population is estimated to increase from 7.3 billion in 2015 to 9.2 billion in 2040. This means more demand for energy. But in the context of the net-zero 2050 emissions discussions, there have been calls for investments in oil and gas to be discontinued, which is a dangerous and unrealistic scenario, according to Barkindo.

“

UN Convention on Climate Change says only 3 percent of these are in Africa, and only 1 percent of carbon credit, or Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) are issued from Africa,

“In terms of scale and timing, the 28-

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COVER STORY “The net-zero scenario assumes that both developed and developing countries will achieve the proposed targets by 2050, with developed countries reaching their targets earlier. However, let me remind you that a staggering 790 million p e o p l e wo rl d w i d e di d n ot have access to electricity in 2020, most of them located in SubSaharan Africa and developing Asia. Moreover, there were roughly 2.6 billion people who did not have access to clean cooking fuels, 35 percent of whom were in SubSaharan Africa, 25 percent in India and 15 percent in China. And let us not forget that these are the very regions that are expected to see the most rapid population growth by 2050,” he noted. Declaring open the 4th Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), which held in Abuja in June, with the theme, “From Crisis to Opportunities: New Approaches to the Future of Hydrocarbons”, President Muhammadu Buhari noted that the outbreak of Covid-19 created a crisis for the global economy in general, and the oil and gas industry in particular, adding that addressing the crisis it created has presented both challenges and opportunities.

Muhammadu Buhari

“

“To achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy investments worldwide will need to more than triple by 2030 to around $4 trillion. This will create new jobs 40

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Represented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, Buhari said that based on experts projections, 80 percent of global energy needs between now and 2040, will still come from hydrocarbons. “Crisis is often an opportunity to redefine objectives, provide the path for great discovery. The crisis the oil and gas industry is facing today was necessitated by Covid-19. It accelerated an unprecedented demand for disruption and supply glut that generated the crisis for the global economy in general, and the oil industry in particular. Addressing this crisis has presented both challenges and opportunities. The immediate challenge is that the global agenda for energy transition has slightly taken the back seat. Governments across the world are now more focused on managing the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts on economies than the quest for the energy transition. “However, energy transition is real. Renewable technologies are getting cheaper, and investors are increasingly conscious of environmental issues and are beginning to turn their back on hydrocarbon investment. But history has shown that human beings have insatiable appetite for energy, which renewables do not have the capacity to cope with, in the foreseeable future. Experts project that about 80 percent of the world’s energy needs till 2040, will still come from hydrocarbon. Fossil fuels will continue to be the source of dozens of petrochemical feedstock that companies will transform to versatile and valued materials for modern life. Thus, hopefully, the hydrocarbon industry will still remain a multitrillion-dollar industry in the coming decades. “For us as a country with vast hydrocarbon retention, that’s an opportunity. How we exploit that opportunity is a matter of strategy. Developing that strategy is at the heart of the core objective why in 2016, the Federal Executive Council of this administration, approved the establishment of the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit

(NIPS),” he said. Going forward, African oil producers need to understand that energy transition is not about moving from fossil fuel to renewables, but about creating the right balance.

“

technology is the most important factor in the energy mix, because it is the backbone of all ideations in the space.

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.ACROSS AFRICA

Angolan Government Hikes Fuel Export Taxes

he Angolan government will change the export rates and surcharges for oil derivatives, to mitigate the negative impact of illegal fuel exports on the economy and the subsidy that these derivatives benefit from in Angola. The Legislative Authorisation Bill that authorises the President of the Republic, as Holder of the Executive Power, to legislate on fiscal matters for the Alteration of Fuel Export Duties was unanimously approved recently in the Parliament. With the approval of the document, the Government will, from now on, tax the exportation of diesel, gasoline and illuminant oil, with the application of taxes to the public sale price. The Secretary of State for Oil and Gas, José Alexandre Barroso, said in the chamber that fuel smuggling was made worse by the difference in

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Mozambique Prepared to Receive Southern African Troops in Troubled Region

prices of oil products in Angola, compared to other countries in the region. As an example he said that a litre of petrol in Angola was sold at 160 Kwanzas (Kz), whilst in neighbouring countries the price ranged from Kz 450 to 800 per litre. In turn, a litre of diesel, sold at petrol stations in the country at 135 Kz, is sold at over 450 Kwanzas in Angola’s neighbouring countries. “It is this price difference that has really motivated and encouraged the smuggling of fuel from our country to neighbouring countries,” he said. He said that the government proposed applying a customs duty rate of 135 percent, a risk rate of 95 percent and a service charge of 0.5 percent.

aime Neto, Mozambique’s minister of National Defence, says that everything is ready to receive the troops of the Southern African Development Commission (SADC), who are expected in the country to help fight terrorism in the gas rich province of Cabo Delgado. Islamic insurgents have killed hundreds of people and turned thousands to refugees in the towns and villages located in the province and close to the Afungi Peninsula, where the TOTALEnergies operated 13 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum Liquefied Natural Gas project is sited. In late March 2021, just when TOTALEnergies’ workers returned to site in Afungi to continue construction, Islamic insurgents made their most sweeping attack on the neighbouring Palma town. “They want to intimidate us”, President Filipe Nyusi, Moazmbique’s head of state,

.ACROSS AFRICA and government said in a speech two weeks after the incident, declaring war. “Following the attack on the town of Palma, the situation in Cabo Delgado has received a lot of national and international attention. All of this attention is legitimate,” the President said. “This town and the adjacent Afungi peninsula are close to the natural gas deposits. It is in this region where the foundations for the exploitation of this resource so important to our economy are being laid.

Africa will Lead Global Refinery VDU capacity Additions by 2025 – GlobalData

The town serves as the basis for construction works and provides logistical support for works underway in Afungi. So it is that Palma has, in recent years, experienced a rapid evolution in terms of infrastructure, including hotels, banks, and service providers. The Afungi peninsula is also the locus of various other constructions, such as camps and residential areas with access roads and its own aerodrome.” TOTALEnergies pulled out its workers after that attack and Mozambique has since been looking for a way to permanently root out renewed attacks. Part of the effort was to call on member countries of the Southern African Development Commission (SADC) to provide military assistance. Mr. Neto, the Defence minister, denies information about the postponement of the arrival of the regional force, due to alleged procedural issues on the part of Mozambique. “There are already officials in Mozambique who are dealing with the arrival of this SADC intervention force”, the minister explains. The journal Club of Mozambique quotes Neto as saying that there is no reason, from Mozambique’s point of view not to have the military intervention. “We are prepared”

frica is expected to register the highest refinery vacuum distillation units (VDU) capacity additions globally during 2021 to 2025, contributing around 33% of the total capacity additions by 2025, according to GlobalData. The company’s report, Global Refinery Vacuum Distillation Units (VDU) Outlook to 2025 – Capacity and Capital Expenditure Outlook with Details of All Operating and Planned Vacuum Distillation Units, reveals that Africa is likely to witness total VDU capacity additions of 936 thousand barrels per day (mbd) by 2025. Of this, 917 mbd of capacity would be from new build refineries and the remaining capacity from the expansion of existing refineries. Teja Pappoppula, oil and gas analyst at GlobalData , comm ente d , “Nigeria leads new build VDU capacity additions in Africa by 2025, accounting for around one-half of the total capacity additions. The planned Lagos I refinery accounts for

the majority of the capacity additions in the country, with a capacity of 312 mbd expected to be added in 2022.” “The Mostorod II refinery in Egypt is the only upcoming expansion project in Africa with 19 mbd of capacity expected to be added in 2022,” Pappoppula added. GlobalData identifies Asia as the second highest contributor to the global VDU capacity additions, accounting for roughly 29% of the total additions by 2025. The planned Gulei refinery in China is one of the highest contributors in the region with 154 mbd of capacity expected to become operational in 2022. The Middle East ranks third globally, contributing an estimated 20% of global VDU capacity additions during the outlook period. Iraq accounts for the majority of the capacity additions in the region, with 300 mbd of capacity expected to be added by 2025 from five new build and one expansion project

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.ACROSS AFRICA

Ghana Looks to Borrow $1.7bn to Help Acquire Oil and Gas Assets

hana is seeking parliamentary approval to borrow as much as $1.65 billion to accelerate oil and gas exploration by acquiring and developing assets. Bloomberg reports that the investment push comes after Exxon Mobil Corp. pulled out of an offshore prospect in the West African country in May, dealing a blow to its burgeoning oil and gas sector. There are also rising concerns that the push for lowercarbon energy may reduce the value of Ghana’s hydrocarbon resources over time. The nation estimates it will need as much as $1.3 billion to buy a 37% stake in the Deep Water Tano/Cape Three Points asset operated by Aker Energy AS and 70% stake of the South Deep Water Tano field operated by AGM Petroleum Ghana Ltd., according to a parliamentary proceeding on Monday. The time has come for Ghanaians

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to “become masters of our own destiny when it comes to our oil and gas resources,” Charles Adu Boahen, Minister of State at the Ministry of Finance, told Bloomberg by phone. “There will certainly be the demand for fossil fuels in countries outside of the West that will continue to use diesel- and petrol-fired cars and consume power generated from fossil fuels for the foreseeable future,” he said. If approved, the stakes would be acquired through the Ghana National Petroleum Corp. subsidiary, GNPC Explorco. Aker Energy is also in protracted talks with authorities to reduce the development cost of its Pecan oil field, for which Ghana is now seeking to borrow $350 million to cover capital expenditure, bringing the total funds required to $1.65 billion. Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta warned last week that the country could be “left with stranded assets,” if it didn’t

accelerate exploration amid the transition to renewable energy. According to BloombergNEF, nine of the world’s largest international oil companies sold $198 billion worth of assets from from 2015 to 2020 in a bid to decarbonize for the long term. The new strategy for the country to “become an operator in its own right” may require a legal amendment to allow the stateowned oil company to enter into reserve-based lending transactions, which could raise financing without putting further pressure on the government purse, Ofori-Atta said in his midyear budget speech on Thursday. Ghana’s public debt already stood at 77.1% of its economic output by the end of June. A shortfall in oil receipts and the fallout from the pandemic pushed last year’s budget deficit to 11.7% of gross domestic product, compared to an initial projection of 4.7% for 2020

INFRASTRUCTURE

Waltersmith Refinery, Partners Plan Industrial Park in Imo

altersmith Petroleum and Refinery Company, a modular refinery in Ohaji/Egbema community in Imo State said it is working with partners to build an industrial park. Chief Executive Officer of the refinery, Mr Chikezie Nwosu, at the closing ceremony of a technical skills acquisition programme for some graduates, said the project is being undertaken with support from the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Five of the 47 graduates who performed excellently were given special recognition by the management of the company. Nwosu said the Industrial Park will attract petrochemical, pharmaceutical, research and other light manufacturing companies that feed off the hydrocarbon value chain. He said, “The industrial park is being developed with the support of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa as part of Nigeria’s country program with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.” Special Assistant to Governor Hope Uzodimma on Oil and Gas Matters, Goodluck Opiah, who was obviously delayed by the fact that Waltersmith has proved to be a worthy partner in the development of its host community, said that he was happy that the youths did not only get knowledge but were also promised employment by the company.

PH Refinery Will Deliver Refined Products September 2022 – NNPC

he $1.5bn rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Re f inin g C o m p a ny has commenced in full and part of the facility will start delivering refined products by September next year, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said. NNPC officially signed the contract with Tecnimont SPA for the $1.5bn rehabilitation programme of PHRC on April 6 and parties in the agreement announced the commencement of the project. The Punch reports that when contacted on Tuesday to speak on the progress of work at the facility, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Kennie Obateru, assured Nigerians that some part of the facility would deliver products in September 2022. He, however, noted that the entire rehabilitation programme would be over in 44 months, stressing that the contractor had already mobilised to site. He said, “The work is progressing. We said it will

be completed within 18 to 44 months when counting from April this year. By 18 months, some part of the refinery will be producing. The total rehabilitation job will be completed in 44 months. “Why we said between 18 and 44 months is the fact that it will not be at the end of 44 months before the refinery starts working, but that in 18 months, some sections of the refinery will start producing.” When asked specifically if refined petroleum products would be produced from the facility in 18 months’ time, Obateru replied, “Yes, some aspects of the plant will be producing (products).” Nigeria currently imports refined petroleum products from other nations despite being a major exporter of crude oil in Africa. Also, NNPC has been the sole importer of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, into Nigeria for more than three years. The corporation has been incurring humungous costs as subsidies on the commodity.

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THOUGHT LEADERS

Upskilling for Innovation: A Necessity in 21st Century

Engr. Justice Derefaka

ducation is important, and essential for longterm sustainability, but incomplete without digital skills. This is what makes the 21st century different from the previous centuries. Although significant progress has been made in terms of educational access, particularly in literacy, this is not enough. Since the dawn of the 21st century, the digital age is upending social systems and accelerating transformations on a scale and pace that has never been seen before. In a paper presented at the Petroleum Training Institute in June on a webinar themed, “New

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Normal Post COVID-19: Upskilling for Innovation and Sustainable Teaching and Learning”, the Technical Adviser (TA) on Gas Business & Policy Implementation to the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR), Engr. Justice Opelamina Derefaka, noted, “Indeed, digital technologies are influencing what we read and consume, as well as how we interact with one another and the rest of the world. Many risks and uncertainties are emerging, including threats to individual rights, social equity, and democracy, all of which are exacerbated by the so-called “digital divide,” which refers to the global rate of internet penetration and access to digital technologies.”

Citing the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2018 Graduate Skills Ranking, which ranked Nigeria 135th out of 140 countries, highlighting the lack of requisite skills, experience, and knowledge required by the employing industries, Derefaka advocated for a new Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 18) that would focus on the digital age and how the world and Nigeria in particular, may use technology to achieve its goals in the post-Covid 19 future. According to Derefaka, the world is currently in the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is a significant shift in the way we study, work, and live in general, adding that this revolution will be marked by

THOUGHT LEADERS increasing productivity but not driven by productivity, which is a significant distinction from previous revolutions. He noted that automation , customization, user experience, and convenience will drive the 4IR saying, “So digital integration, along with cloud computing and the internet of things, will be essential dogmas in this all-new revolution.” Derefaka further emphasized the importance of digital upskilling in order to succeed in this transition, noting that 50 percent of jobs will be eliminated since they no longer suit the current reality, while new employment categories will be developed as the world enter a new era. He stressed that the only way to move into these new work duties is to learn, unlearn, and relearn, so one will not be labeled an illiterate. Workplace skill requirements are changing. Citing several in-demand professional skills (emotional intelligence, cognitive flexibility, virtual cooperation), Derefaka stated that employees are expected to have a complimentary set of analytical, social, and creative talents in addition to digital technology competency. He emphasized the importance of establishing future schools that will educate future employees, adding that future schools will establish new methods of upskilling for innovation as well as long-term knowledge

impact and transmission. “… the 4IR is a reality, not a hypothesis. It is not a brilliant World Economic Forum article, or a book written by a bored professor. Everything in the environment will be connected in some form and will have both a physical and a digital presence. We will need to adjust as a country and as a workforce to this quickly changing environment. Nigeria, in reality, has a lot of catching up to do. Education as we know it will have to change; individuals will be able to choose their own learning experiences and job learning, and life-long learning will be required to keep up. Nigeria, as a country, must establish an inclusive and enabling environment for the 4IR to benefit and grow”, Derefaka said. He further stated, “…the 4IR is — Entrepreneurial; Innovative; Disruptive; and Evolving at an exponential rather than linear speed. Upskilling for Innovation and Sustainable Teaching and Learning at Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) and other institutions of learning must begin today in order to prepare for what the 4IR will bring tomorrow. The question is, how should we teach tomorrow’s people and leaders how to innovate and seize unexpected opportunities?” Individualized and self-paced learning are new realities that everybody must embrace. This is because Covid-19 posed challenges in four dimensions to the educational system: policy, structural, social, and

financial. And in order to recover, Derefaka said Nigeria must put in place response strategies in these areas to effectively address the issues. As part of proactive and holistic approaches to assist bridge the digital divide and familiarize the citizens of the country with this “new normal” in order to assure rapid crisis resolution, he recommended commitment to strengthening education as a common good; expanding the definition of the right to education so that it addresses the importance of connectivity and access to knowledge and information; defining what is currently obtainable in the country’s educational system, to identify existing gaps, and draft a gap closure plan; and the need for education models to reflect the demand for lifelong learning to cope with the technological and social changes brought by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Other recommendations include ensuring the training of teachers, especially on improved classroom experience; strengthening the research capabilities of higher institutions; strengthening the undergraduate computer and engineering programs; working with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals; and the need to design future-ready curricula that encourage critical thinking, emotional intelligence, STEM skills, etc.

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SOCIAL INVESTMENT

Shell LiveWIRE beneficiaries get N48m grant

Social Performance and Social Investment Manager, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, Dr. Gloria Udoh (middle), presenting a N48m cheque to representatives of the 117 beneficiaries of the Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE programme at a graduation ceremony in Port Harcourt recently.

117 young entrepreneurs from the Niger Delta have graduated from the Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE programme and have been awarded a N48m grant to either establish or expand their businesses. This brings to 7,913 the total number of beneficiaries of the youth enterprise development programme since inception in 2003. Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Shell’s Country Head of Corporate Relations, Igo Weli, restated the commitment of SPDC to the development of Niger Delta youths and providing them alternative livelihood opportunities through LiveWIRE and other empowerment programmes in the wider social investment portfolio of the company. Weli said, “This is one opportunity to set you on the path of self-reliance and to be employers of labour as we have seen with previous beneficiaries of the programme many of whom are now employers with several others having also taken up the opportunity to play in SPDC’s supply chain as vendors.”

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Explaining the criteria for the selection of the beneficiaries from across the Niger Delta, SPDC’s Social Performance and Social Investment Manager, Dr. Gloria Udoh, said the selection was from a pool of graduates from university or its equivalent who have credible business ideas and were able to produce a business plan.

to still making profit.”

“The 117 beneficiaries were selected from a large pool of participants who went through the entrepreneurship training; wrote their business plans and successfully pitched their business ideas. The expectation is that they will be able to successfully establish or expand their businesses and also enjoy the many linkage opportunities offered by SPDC,” Udoh said.

In the last 10 years, five Shell Nigeria LiveWIRE beneficiaries have won the LiveWIRE International “Go and Trade Enterprise Linkage Award” which enabled them to make international trade visits to the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Ghana.

Previous beneficiaries, who now run successful businesses, also inspired the graduates with their own stories towards success. Yolo Bakumor Smith, the Chief Executive Officer of De-Rabacon Plastics, described the training as priceless. “It was instrumental to using the limited resources to improvise and implementing a plan that has led me

Executive Director, Centre for Information and Development, Mrs. Belema Ogbuigwe, inducted the new graduates into the Shell LiveWire Alumni group, which further enables the young entrepreneurs to enjoy mentorship from previous beneficiaries.

LiveWIRE beneficiaries are also able to join thousands of young entrepreneurs from all over the world who compete for the Global Shell LiveWIRE Top Ten Innovators Award which comes with huge benefits and rewards.

ENERGY WOMAN

From Trainee to First Female Managing Director: Meet SNEPCo’s Elohor Aiboni By Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu

n what can best be described as a landmark moment that has shattered the glass ceiling with regards to women leadership in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, Anglo-Dutch company, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo), on Sunday August 1st

unveiled Engineer Elohor Aiboni as the first ever female Managing Director of its deep-water business in Nigeria. She succeeds Mr. Bayo Ojulari, who retired on July 31 after five years as SNEPCO MD, having served the Shell Group for more than 30 years.

Mr. Bamidele Odugbesan, Media Relations Manager of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria made this known in a statement on Sunday August 1st in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state.

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ENERGY WOMAN

The new MD, SNEPCo, Elohor-Aiboni receiving the Shell Safety Environment and Social Performance Charter from her predecessor, Mr Bayo Ojulari

Reports has it that the development is coming on the heels of the oil and gas firm’s recent announcement that it was divesting from its onshore and shallow waters operations to concentrate on deep offshore business. Aiboni’s appointment is a first in Shell Nigeria’s over 60-year history in Africa’s largest oil producing nation. By this move, it becomes the first Multinational Oil Company to achieve such a remarkable feat in Nigeria’s evolving oil and gas industry. The new SNEPCO MD who will lead the company’s offshore business, is described as a “self-motivated person with a strong sense of business priorities,” being one of the few women to change the “maledominance” narrative in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas industry. “Elohor’s appointment is a product of diligence, competence and commitment to the Shell ideals and core values, amidst our strong focus

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on diversity and inclusion. “We take pride in our intention of being one of the most diverse and inclusive organisations in the world and focus on further improving inclusion and representation in critical areas, including gender,” the statement quoted Shell’s Senior Vice President for Nigeria, Marno de Jong, as saying. Meanwhile, Aiboni has always been a woman of many firsts- from being the first female asset operations manager in SNEPCo to being the company’s first female Managing Director. As asset operations manager, Aiboni was responsible for overseeing end-to-end production delivery for Nigeria’s pioneer deep-water Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, Bonga, which has produced over 900 million barrels of oil since the beginning of its operations in 2005. She also provided leadership in health, safety, and environment (HSE),

operational excellence and overall asset management of the FPSO. The Bonga FPSO vessel has a total production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day and 150 standard cubic feet of gas export per day. Approximately the height of a 12-storey building and spanning an area the size of three football fields, the FPSO explores and extracts oil from depths of more than 1,000 meters below sea level. Aiboni’s most immediate task would be to find a way to achieve Final Investment Decision (FID) for the pending Bonga SouthWest Aparo (BSWA) project; a task her predecessor worked on until his retirement. According to Odugbesan, Elohor is now one of nearly 300 women in senior leadership positions in the Shell Group, accounting for more than 31% of the company’s executive positions.

ENERGY WOMAN Rising Through the Ranks to Become SNEPCo MD Engr. Aiboni has a cumulative 19year work experience in Shell. She joined the oil company as a trainee production engineer and gradually rose through the ranks over the years. Her 19-year career in Shell has seen her move from a field engineer to several roles in production operations; project and asset management; operations readiness and assurance. She most recently served as the company’s EA Operations Manager from June 2015 to January 2018. Elohor was responsible for delivering the Asset annual scorecard as EA Operations Manager, with a particular focus on HSSE. She was also in charge of initiatives aimed at improving the organization’s capability and competence. She

also worked as the Onshore Assets Operations Completion and Handover Manager, where she oversaw the handover of SPDC’s divested assets to new operators and provided post-Operator-ship support to the New JVs.

statement read.

Afterwards, she became a senior PtA engineer, then a manager at different levels and transitioned to asset operations manager of Bonga.

Aiboni’s Education Reveals a ‘SelfMotivated And Results-Oriented’ Professional

During this time, “she served as Business Adviser to the Executive Vice President for Shell Sub-Saharan Africa and had also managed thirdparty interface across several Shell assets in Nigeria and Kazakhstan. “Prior to her role as Bonga Asset Manager, Elohor led production delivery for shallow offshore as Asset Manager for Sea Eagle FPSO in Nigeria’s Niger Delta,” the

From her almost two-decade journey from a production engineer to her current role as SNEPCo boss, Aiboni has shown true character and leadership all the way.

Engr. Elohor Aiboni holds a master’s degree in Integrated Environmental Management from the University of Bath, UK, and a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Benin, Nigeria. S h e is a ce r tif ie d q ualit y management system (QMS) auditor, trained health, safety, security & environment (HSSE) & control framework auditor.

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ENERGY WOMAN “She is passionate about developing talent and leads a diverse team that strives to simplify work processes and pursue continuous improvements. “Her leadership of the Bonga team had seen the asset receive numerous awards, including the CEO HSSE Awards, Upstream Impact Award, and the Asset of the Year Runner up in 2019, in the Shell Group,” Odugbesan said. Aiboni who describes herself on LinkedIn as “self-motivated with great ability to work easily without supervision is a result-oriented professional who “shows a sense of urgency, can challenge positively and one who is a very good communicator with strong sense of business priorities.” At the SheCan Do More Conference in 2019, Aiboni spoke on how she climbed the corporate ladder, pointing to three main themes from her childhood till date: Influencing to grow, turning challenges into opportunities, and be curious.”

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“As I talk about my life journey, you will see all these three things play out. What friends do you have with you and how are they influencing you to grow,” she asked her audience while narrating an incident from her source of influence during her secondary school days. On challenges she faced in the university, she said: “Life will throw lemons at you; you need to decide what you want make out of it. I chose to make lemonade out of life…You have to be clear on what your goals are.” “When I got into Shell, I got into production. The first thing they said to me was, ‘o ti baje’ and I’m like what does that mean. They said once you go into production, your life is finished. It’s only old men that you find there. But I decided for me my story will be different. I had to work hard. I did everything everybody could do. “I started up with various mentors, various sponsors and today I get a lot of stretch assignments. Some of them, I asked for. Who are you

sponsoring today?” she charged her listeners. SNEPCo, a wholly-owned Shell company, has interests in four deep-water blocks; two of which it operates. The company develops and deploys the latest deep-water drilling techniques to reduce drilling times, cut costs and increase production, according to details on the company’s website. It pioneered Nigeria’s deepwater oil and gas production at the Bonga field, a project that increased Nigeria’s oil capacity by 10 percent when output began in 2005. Although the oil and gas industry has been traditionally male-dominated, with few women ascending to top management positions, Elohor Aiboni is one of those few women who are stepping up to the challenge, determined to change this narrative in Nigeria. Congratulations are in order for an Energy Woman par excellence!

MARITIME

NPA Commits to International Standards and Best Practice

Mohammed Bello Koko

he Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Auth orit y, NPA , Mohammed Bello Koko has restated the commitment of the current Management to enthrone international standards and best practice in the handling of ships and cargo in all seaports in the country. Bello-Koko made the remark while addressing members of the Senate Committee on Privatization and Commercialization led by Senator Theodore Orji, on a visit to the NPA, in line with their oversight responsibility. According to Bello Koko, the Authority has created the enabling environment for a well-structured inter-modal system for seamless connectivity of the water ways, rail and road transportation, to

foster improved service delivery as well as increase in revenue to the nation’s purse. He noted that the various reforms rolled out by the Federal Government have had a significant positive impact on Port productivity, stressing that the dividends are evident in the areas of reduced cargo dwell time, improvement in cargo throughput, ship turn-around time and drastic reduction in security incidents within and around the Port environs. The NPA MD called for better synergy with Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other agencies of government involved in the examination and clearance of cargo, to drive efficiency in Port operations.

While expressing the appreciation of the Authority to the lawmakers for their visit, Bello-Koko assured that NPA would work tirelessly at ensuring the sustenance of service excellence across the nations Ports. He solicited the timely intervention of the Committee on efforts to end the perennial traffic gridlock plaguing vehicular activities along the Port access roads. Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Theodore Orji stated that the Committee would work collaboratively with the NPA Management with the view to resolve all bottlenecks militating against ease of doing business at the Ports.

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MARITIME

Shipping Industry Seeks Govt Action on $5bn Decarbonisation Fund

he shipping industry has welcomed the growing momentum for a $5bn research and development fund for shipping, but is calling on governments to act in line with their climate commitments and not waste more time in moving forward with decisive action to support the decarbonisation of the industry. At the recent UN International Maritime Organisation IMO meeting (MEPC 76), the world’s governments agreed to continue work on the IMO-supervised $5bn R&D Fund programme, to be led by a new International Maritime Research and Development Board IMRB, with many nations stepping up to support the proposal. However, it is disappointing that yet again we must wait for the next meeting before we can get going, according to Business&transport.com The $5bn R&D programme is designed to accelerate the development and introduction of zero-emission technologies and fuels for maritime transport, which are vital for allowing the industry to

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decarbonise. “The R&D fund has been thoroughly developed over the past three years. It is the only concrete proposal on the table and can be agreed and put in place by 2023. Governments rightly call for innovation and for decarbonisation to happen now. This is now, and we need IMO member states to move forward and allow us to accelerate the R&D needed without further delay,” the industry organisations said. The IMO has set targets to cut total shipping emissions by at least 50 per cent by 2050, with the United States and the EU now calling for zero emissions shipping within the next 30 years. To succeed, the industry needs zero-carbon ships, capable of trans-oceanic voyages, available by 2030. However, technologies for operating deep-sea vessels on zerocarbon fuels are not yet available and current R&D efforts are not sufficient. “We urgently need to expand and accelerate R&D around zerocarbon technologies and fuels. But

innovation does not come for free. To catalyse innovation, the industry is willing to provide guaranteed funding of $5bn at no cost to governments, giving all nations equitable access to the work and the technologies the fund advances. So, what are we waiting for?” the shipowner organisations said. It is encouraging to see support for the R&D programme from additional nations. Now more engagement is needed for concrete regulatory and technological progress. UN IMO General Secretary Kitack Lim has made it clear: “Failure is not an option”. The wider world is watching, and it will be watching even more closely at MEPC 77 and COP26. “The R&D fund proposal is mature and ready for approval, and the industry has already committed to doing the work needed to establish the fund, a payment system, and the funding necessary. We can do this now, and for the sake of our climate and future generations, we must.”

SUSTAINABILITY

Eni Reaches an Agreement for the Delivery of a Carbon Neutral LNG Cargo to CPC Corporation, Taiwan

ni and CPC Corporation, Ta i w a n r e a c h e d a n agreement for the delivery by Eni of a carbon neutral LNG cargo to CPC Corporation, Taiwan, at the Yung An receiving terminal. The LNG will be sourced from the Bontang liquefaction terminal in Indonesia as part of Eni’s contract with Eni Muara Bakau B.V., the joint venture operated by Eni which owns and operates the Jangkrik gas field. The cargo will be certified as Carbon Neutral according to the internationally recognized PAS2060* standard. As part of the transaction, the overall GHG emissions related to the entire value chain of the LNG cargo, including gas production, transmission,

liquefaction, shipping, regasification, distribution and end use, will be offset through the retirement of high quality nature based credits. In particular, the credits have been sourced from two REDD+ projects certified by Verra**: Luangwa Community Forest project in Zambia and Kulera Landscape REDD+ project in Malawi. The assessments will include a verification of the Projects’ calculated CO2 reductions and/or removals and the criteria of additionality, permanence, leakage and double counting. This is a milestone transaction for Eni, which shows how the company is moving forward in its decarbonization strategy while creating value for its LNG portfolio through own equity projects. Eni’s long-term strategy aims to achieve

full carbon neutrality in its products and operations by 2050, with intermediate reduction targets of Net Lifecycle GHG Emissions (Scope 1, 2, 3) of 25% by 2030 and 65% by 2040 vs. 2018. The GHG emissions of the LNG cargo will be calculated using Eni’s proprietary methodology, that follows a lifecycle approach for the comprehensive accounting of the GHG emissions related to energy products sold, whether derived from equity or purchased production. This methodology is third-party reviewed and provides an integrated view of emissions along the full value chain.

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SUSTAINABILITY

TotalEnergies Remains Committed to National Development, Poverty Eradication in Nigeria ..Says Youth Entrepreneurship, Education , Inclusion key to achieving UN’s SDG Goals By Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu

r e n c h En e r g y g ia n t , TotalEnergies says it will continue to contribute to national development and attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), through its various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes across Nigeria. Executive General Manager, Total Country Services, Mrs Bunmi Popoola-Mordi, who said this at a virtual press briefing, described youth entrepreneurship, education and inclusion as key to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the eradication of poverty in Nigeria. Popoola-Mordi said the Company’s CSR support was being driven by four pillars namely: road safety, youth inclusion, cultural dialogue and heritage as well as activities on climate change, coastal areas and oceans. She said Total’s recent transition to TotalEnergies had positioned the company to become one of the dominant players in renewables, disclosing that a proposal would

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soon be tabled to its Nigeria shareholders to change its operating name in the country to TotalEnergies Marketing Nigeria Plc in line with the current realities.

She also noted that they had been trained in areas such as welding and fabrication, furniture making, catering, computer studies and fish and crop farming.

The CSR Manager, Total Nigeria Plc, Mrs Chinwe Ifechigha, said the company had been carrying out various programmes to support Nigeria’s youth and children and would continue to do so going forward.

Ifechiga noted that another 64 secondary school students were being given Total education sponsorship in Koko, Delta State annually as part of the company’s contribution to its host community.

Ifechiga listed some of the programmes to include: Startupper Challenge, Skills Acquisition Programme, Scholarship Scheme and the Learn, Experience, Articulate and Decide (LEAD) programmes for students. She said Total was also sponsoring 40 children annually in four SOS Villages in Nigeria and had executed several projects to better the lives of the children. According to her, 54 youths from Koko, Delta State and 100 from Kaduna have so far benefited from the skills acquisition programme.

She said the 2021/2022 Startupper Challenge, which would be the third edition would soon begin, stressing that it offers young Nigerians opportunities to transform their business ideas into reality. Also speaking, Total’s Country Communications Manager, Mr Charles Ebereonwu, said the intervention of the private sector in national development could not be overemphasised. He described Total’s CSR activities as a humanitarian gesture by the company to bring positive impact to the people of Nigeria.

gas development:

chevron's success story is

nigeria's success story...

Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), has an aggressive gas development strategy that aims to end routine gas flaring and build a profitable gas business through a portfolio of domestic, regional and export supply projects that fulfill the NNPC/CNL Joint Venture Domestic Gas Supply Obligation and support the Nigerian Gas Master Plan We have been the highest supplier of high quality domestic gas in Nigeria since 2015 and will continue to explore opportunities to maintain this position. We have since 2008 also reduced continuous gas flaring in our operations in Nigeria by over 90%. We led the development of the West African Gas Pipeline project through which Nigeria supplies gas to Benin Republic, Togo, and Ghana. All these are proofs that …in the area of natural gas development, Chevron's success story is Nigeria's success story

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