Sweetcrude july 2016

NAPIMS, NCDMB commend Nigerdock over delivery of Ofon 2 platforms P/09

Strike action: We’ve got Boko Haram & the Avengers, who needs PENGASSAN - Owubokiri

P/47

A Review Of The Nigerian Energy Industry July, 2016

VOL 03 N0. 38

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My agenda for NNPC - Baru, new GMD

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he new-appointed Group Managing Director, GMD, of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, assumed office at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, promptly issuing a 12-point agenda for the state oil company.

Speaking during the official hand-over of former GMD and Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Baru said he would address the issue of cash calls delay and defray the cash calls arrears owed International Oil Companies by the NNPC. He also said he would sustain the reforms at the CONTINUES ON PAGE 14

Traders at night in Lagos

NIGERIA:

Paying more for darkness Angry reactions trail poor power supply Stakeholder calls for new Power Minister Urge review of sale of defunct PHCN assets

Contents

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2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Editor’s note

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resident Muhammadu Buhari may have unwittingly sustained what has become the culture at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Between 2009 and 2016, NNPC has had eight Group Managing Directors, GMDs, averaging one GMD in 10.5 months. Buhari's first appointee to that position, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, was barely 10 months in office when the president replaced him recently. In came Dr. Maikanti Baru, who until his appointment was an advisor to the minister of state for petroleum resources. With Baru's coming, the NNPC have had nine chief executive officers in seven years!

This frequent turnover of GMDs is certainly not a good one for a national oil company struggling to stay afloat and compete with its contemporaries on an even keel. It certainly erodes stability and investor-confidence.

As we prepared to go to press with this edition, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria commenced a nationwide strike that yet again threatens the nation's oil and gas operations, more especially oil output that has nose-dived since the emergence of fresh militant attacks in the Niger Delta.

The possibility of a fresh fuel scarcity was also looming as oil marketers warned of their challenges in sorting out an outstanding $950 million foreign currency obligation to foreign banks due to the flexible exchange rate policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

4 7 15 17 21 26 30 33 35 38 40 43

We are unable to report in this edition, the outcome of these developments. But, we will certainly track and report on these in our next edition.

On a rather interesting note, the Federal Government's Local Content Policy is yielding desired results. Indigenous participation in the nation’s oil and gas industry has increased to about 35 percent in the past six years, and by next year, it is projected to climb to 50 percent. This must be real, coming from the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, the body that should know.

And one company that is driving the Local Content Policy is Nigerdock, an indigenous oil services company and member of Jagal Group. The company recently successfully completed the Ofon platforms fabricated entirely by it for the NNPC/Total joint venture, attracting accolades from both the NCDMB and NAPIMS, the NNPC subsidiary.

While we look forward to the attainment of the 50 percent mark next year, we are elated at the appointment of our friend, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo, as OPEC Secretary-General. We say Congrats to Dr. Barkindo as we pray that his tenure will usher in an era of unity and bounty for OPEC, and sustained recovery in the oil market.

To you, our esteemed reader, we say welcome to July!

COVER

Nigeria: Paying more for darkness

OIL

Nigeria's oil output bounces back, up 90,000bpd

FOCUS

Nigeria struggles with perception issues in mining investment

GAS

Shell to expand presence in Nigeria’s gas market

POWER

November deadline to meter electricity customers final - NERC

FINANCE Nigeria’s oil marketers owe foreign banks $950m

LABOUR Renewable energy employs 8.1 million people worldwide

SOLID MINERAL Why Russia will help Nigeria resuscitate Ajaokuta Steel

FREIGHT Nigeria lost $100bn over 50 years on crude oil lifting

MOTORING

The 10 most expensive cars

TECHNOLOGY Smart solutions for subsea pipeline blockages COMMUNITY Shell spends $195m on social investment in Nigeria

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Hector IGBIKIOWUBO EDITOR Chuks ISIWU ASSISTANT EDITORS Ike AMOS Eluonye KOYEGWUAEHI

SNR. CORRESPONDENT Oscarline ONWUEMENYI Sam IKEOTUONYE

GM, Marketing Nkem IGBIKIOWUBO

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2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Cover Story

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Nigeria: Paying more for darkness

A city in darkness

CHUKS ISIWU & OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI

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igerians are b e c o m i n g increasingly alarmed at the worsening state of electricity supply across many states, which has left millions of homes and businesses in darkness, sometimes for several days at a stretch. The growing sense of frustration is made sharper when these consumers, many of who do not have meters, are sent exorbitant electricity bills at the end of the month, which they must pay or face the risk of disconnection.

Consider also that the collapse in the nation’s power sector is happening just months after consumers witnessed a more than 45 percent hike in the tariff for electricity and right on the heels of an increase in the pump price of petrol which serves as fuel for generators.

Indeed, the terrible state of electricity generation and distribution across the country has prompted widespread condemnation of the government and regulators in the sector. A former human rights activist and now Senator of the Federal Republic, Shehu Sani has expressed deep concern over the darkness being experienced across the country.

According to Sani, no excuse by power sector operators,

including the regulatory agencies, was cogent enough to substantiate the hardships that Nigerians were passing through.

Drop in power supply unacceptable, embarrassing - Sen. Sani Describing the huge drop in the power supply as unacceptable and embarrassing, he called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rethink his way towards appointing a Minister who is not only an electrical engineer but who has the knowledge of the industry. “We are in a state of paralysis, and there is urgent need to appoint a reputable electrical engineer to manage the affairs of power, independent of other responsibilities”, he said.

Sani added that “Distribution Companies (Discos) are now distributing darkness despite increment in electricity tariff; private power investors have failed the nation by moving manageable power epilepsy to a complete paralysis.”

He called for a review of the sale of defunct Power Holdings Company of Nigeria, PHCN, assets, noting that the privatisation of power sector had only brought untold hardship to Nigerians.

He also called for the setting up of an energy task force responsible for immediate technical and financial intervention in the generation,

transmission and distribution of power in the country, even as he urged the government to invest in renewable and non-renewable energy.

Meanwhile, a civil society group, the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, has described as insensitive, provocative and illogical the spate of power system collapses despite the hike in the electricity tariff.

According to a recent statement issued by the Executive Chairman of CACOL, Comrade Debo Adeniran, in spite of public outcry against any hike, the power sector under the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, former Governor of Lagos State, has gone ahead to illegally impose a tariff hike on electricity on Nigerians for services not rendered to them.

Discos, NERC owe Nigerians apologies - CACOL “This is flagrant and audacious corruption in a situation where the government is pontificating that it is against corruption and illegality.

“Mr. Babatunde Fashola should be told that the Ministry he superintends over is not meant for the kind of antics that he got away with in Lagos State when he was governor and trampled roughshod on the peoples’ right and public opinion. This is Nigeria, this is national and it is

This is flagrant and audacious corruption in a situation where the government is pontificating that it is against corruption and illegality

hugely above the microcosm that he evolved from,” he said.

He continued: “We make bold to say with every sense of responsibility that it’s the PHCN, the Discos, NERC (Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission) that owe Nigerians money and apologies for not rendering services that they received money for and continue to receive money for, albeit, forcefully. Therefore, we reject this hike in electricity tariff in totality, we demand that the power supply should be made available and accessible to all and a billing system that will be transparent, reasonable and commensurate to consumption.

“The Discos and NERC can take a c u e f r o m t h e telecommunication sector by providing meters; fixing the cobweb-like cables that dangle over the heads of the people, mount poles etc. first; any other approach is like putting the ‘cart

before the horse’ and therefore illegitimate and irrational”.

Speaking further, Adeniran said, “The Discos should be compelled to provide meters for all customers. The demand by the distribution companies for cost reflective tariff so as to remain in business should be placed side by side with effective service delivery, after which the issue of tariff increase can now come.

“Until we fix our power sector, all the talk about the industrial revolution plans and creating jobs/wealth for Nigerians, will just be mere talks and a waste of time. The power issue is overly dragging and by now ought to have been a thing of the past. All hands must be on deck to make sure Nigerians have stable power/electricity supply.’’

Angry reactions over growing darkness

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2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Abuja at night

Paying more for darkness CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4 In the meantime, Nigerians are reacting to the growing power outages on social media with very emotional posts. Adeshida Yomi, on Facebook, noted that, “Honestly speaking, all those compelling Nigerians to pay for darkness shall never see brightness in their lives, however white their clothes and abode are, whoever helps them to say that they don't deserve a curse will never escape the pains of blindness in soul, body and spirit! Can you imagine suffering the nightmares of your next bill even as you never enjoyed a complete 24 hour supply from the last month's payment?”

Another Facebook user, Okwy Onyia said: "These days, I see electricity once in seven days. It has never been this bad in my neighbourhood. Each time I write or call IKEDC (Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company) to complain about it, they reply that it was due to poor load; they distribute what TCN delivers! I didn't bother about PMB's democracy day speech because he didn't give me light to watch it live on TV.” Also, a group, the Legal Vanguard for Rule of Law and Democracy last weekend criticised the Minister of Power, Wo r k s a n d H o u s i n g , M r.

Babatunde Fashola over recent comments he made that the Federal Government was powerless in the face of the latest electricity tariff hike by electricity distribution companies.

The group in a statement issued on its behalf by its President, Mr. Toluwani Adebiyi, said it was very disconcerting,

the statement credited to Fashola in which he insisted that there was no going back on the electricity tariff hike.

It added that the public outburst of the minister despite mounting inefficient service delivery by the electricity companies smacked of “executive class hypocrisy.”

According to the statement, “The minister who is a senior member of the Nigerian Bar (SAN) who should be helping this government to respect the rule of law is found doing the contrary; we are taken aback that he is making such public boasts when final judgment on the matter before the court is just waiting to be delivered, he cannot do that to intimidate the court, neither can he pre-empt the mind of the court or dictate to the court.”

While reiterating the fact that the case is before a competent court of law with judgement soon to be delivered on the matter, Adebiyi said, “The increment is in violation of the enabling Act, for instance, Section 76(2) which allows only the licensee (Gencos, Discos) who are efficient to recover capital loss or bring increment.

“Have the licensee, the Gencos and the Discos, been efficient?

When megawatts have been rising and falling, even to as low as zero megawatt, just in May alone it fell below zero MW on six occasions, yet the Minister of Power is shamelessly boasting of an increment of which due process was not followed.”

Drawing comparisons between electricity supply in Nigeria and South Africa, the group said it is “laughable that the megawatts

It added that the public outburst of the minister despite mounting inefficient service delivery by the electricity companies smacked of executive class hypocrisy

generated for a population of over 170 million people have never gone beyond 5,000 megawatts compared to South Africa of just about 50 million, yet, with over 44,000 megawatts".

“This is in spite of about $20 billion invested by the government between 2005 till date, with no significant improvement,” it added.

Power generation hit zero megawatts six times in May Nigeria’s power generation system hit zero megawatts six times in May this year, the highest level since 2009, reports have shown.

According to industry data obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, power supply to households and businesses across the country dropped significantly in May as the national grid recorded six total collapses and one partial collapse within the period.

The national grid collapsed eleven times in the first five months of 2016, compared to six and nine times for the whole of

2014 and 2015 respectively, The Citizen reported. The most recent total system collapse was recorded on June 1, 2016.

Recently, it was reported that 11 power plants, including the Shiroro Power Station in Niger State, were not operating.

Other plants that were not operating included Afam IV & V, Geregu I, Omotosho I, AES, ASCO, Trans-Amadi, Rivers IPP, Gbarain, Olorunsogo I and II. The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, said toward the end of June that it lost 4,533 megawatts to gas constraints.

It remarked that but for ongoing vandalism of gas pipelines that resulted in the gas shortage and 182MW line constraint, the electricity market would have supplied 6,387MW to its customers by June 22.

“On June 22, 2016, average energy sent out was 1716 MWh/hour (down by 138MWh/h). The reported gas constraint was 4533MW. The reported line constraint was 182MW. The water management

constraint was 0MW. The power sector lost the estimated equivalent of N2,263,000,000 billion on June 22, 2016, due to constraints,” the daily industry summary NESI posted on its website explained.

It was however learnt that for the past two days, the sector has been recording zero megawatts.

Gas shortages, pipeline vandalism shut-in 4,400Mw Due to an increased mix of gas shortages and pipeline vandalism, the Niger Delta had left about 4,400MW of the nation’s power generation capacity idle as of Friday, media reported.

Gas constraints prevented 3,661.1MW from being generated, while 355.6MW and 380MW could not be generated due to line constraints/load rejection by Discos and water management/maintenance, respectively.

According to the Chairman, Network of Electricity Consumers Advocacy of Nigeria, NECAN, Mr. Tomi Akingbogun, “We hear that most of the problems arise from the transmission lines because many of them are weak. They (power firms) are not concerned about the total system collapse because they are making money whether they supply electricity or not. So, why will they be interested in making sure that we have electricity?”

Speaking recently at a public lecture, the Minister of Power, Wo r k s a n d H o u s i n g , M r.

Babatunde Fashola, said: “In our road map to incremental power, we are looking at what we have

CONTINUES ON PAGE 6

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2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Paying more for darkness

Lagos at night CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 and what we can get out of them.

We have 26 power plants (including the AES plant), three of the plants are powered by water, the hydropower plants in Jebba, Kainji and Shiroro. The remainders are powered by gas.”

Fashola noted that “At the best of times, only about 78 turbines are generating power, which gave us our peak of 5,074MW. The problems have been identified as either damaged, unmaintained or unserviced turbines in the hydropower plants; and in the cases of gas plants, it is largely nonavailability of gas, coupled with a lack of maintenance.”

Still, consumers are irked that even as the Minister of Power, NERC, TCN, Gencos and the Discos are all well aware that certain challenges have made delivery of adequate power to consumers impossible, they (consumers) are still saddled with huge electricity bills every month.

Consumers question wisdom of power sector privatisation Some electricity consumers described the current billing system by Discos as outrageous and disturbing. The billing system and poor metering by the Discos have made many consumers to begin to doubt the wisdom of privatising the power sector.

Last month in Lagos, despite the darkness consumers were forced to endure, they were treated to very exorbitant crazy bills reaching as high as N25,000 for an average household consumer, attracting sharp

criticisms and protestations at the various offices of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company, EKEDC, and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, IKEDC. A new manager in one EKEDC Undertaking was worried on getting the bills for distribution to consumers within her area of coverage that she had to return the bills to the headquarters, urging a considerable slash of the bills with a strong argument that there was virtually no power supply to the area during the month.

Luckily for consumers, their bills went down considerably, but, this was not so for consumers in other parts of Lagos.

Electricity consumers our correspondent spoke with said the high bills being sent out by the Discos, which they referred to as crazy bills are products of the estimated billing system and that this is due to desperation on the part of Discos to make high revenues in spite of poor power supply.

Mr Amos Simon, the Chairman, Palmgrove Housing Estate in Lagos, said that the objective of government in privatising the power sector had been subverted by the new owners, adding that the new operators were only interested in making more money through crazy bills than issuing meters.

Expressing regret that the Credit Advance Payment for Metering Implementation, CAPMI, a metering intervention programme introduced in 2014

by NERC, had been stopped by the new investors, Simon said the programme was aimed at

bridging the metering gaps and eliminate random billing.

"It will also enhance revenue generation as well as reduce revenue losses by operators.

Many Nigerians are now regretting that they supported the government when the plan was being sold to the people.

“The existing regulations provided that consumers should not pay for meters as it was to be supplied free of charge by electricity distributors and paid for on a monthly basis. The paucity of funds, which militated against adequate procurement of the facility by DISCOs forced the CAPMI to come in and intervene in the metering problem," he said.

Mrs Theodora Orji, the Managing Director, Treasureland Pure Water in Ikoyi, described the estimated billing system as a fraud. Orji accused the private electricity distributors of extorting consumers in spite of poor service delivery.

She suggested that the only way out was for government to begin to sanction operators over the poor billing system.

According to her, consumers are also complaining that in spite of erratic power supply, they were still assisting the powers in procuring transformers and other electricity facilities in their areas.

Mr Akinyele Agbetuyi, a customer of Ikeja Electricity Company, alleged that most Discos were not engaging competent hands. He alleged that many consumers were not happy with the current situation and that some of the town-hall meetings held with operators had always ended in fights and

Some electricity consumers described the current billing system by Discos as outrageous and disturbing. The billing system and poor metering by the Discos have made many consumers to begin to doubt the wisdom of privatising the power sector chaos.

According to him, consumers are becoming increasingly impatient and hostile to marketers over poor power supply, estimated billing system and non-metering of consumers in the last three years of operation of the company.

“This has also caused electricity consumers’ reluctance to pay bills, while the attitude of unmetered customers has led to huge loss of revenue to the Discos," he stated.

Mr Tajudeen Bamidele, the Chairman, Prestige Printing Press in Somolu, Lagos, said that many consumers still remained unmetered several months after paying for meters. Bamidele said that NERC should begin to sanction power distribution companies which failed to provide meters for customers who had paid for them under the CAPMI scheme.

According to him, metering is important to the success of privatisation of the electricity

industry, particularly as it is to address the problem of crazy billing and protect the interests of the distribution companies against revenue losses.

Mr. Wale Akanbi, the Managing Director, Walex Investment in FESTAC Town, Lagos, said that it was difficult for businesses to break even because of the poor power supply.

Akanbi said that he was spending close to N350,000 monthly on diesel to power his generator, adding that in spite of this the electricity company was bringing estimated bills of N50,000 monthly.

Alhaja Afusat Popoola, the Iyaloja General of Ijora Frozen Foods Association, said that power outage in the market had driven many traders away from their shops.

Popoola said the market lost close to N20 million to power outage in 2015 and appealed to government and power investors to find a lasting solution to poor electricity supply before it would get out of hand.

Oil

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Offshore oil platform

Nigeria's oil output bounces back, up 90,000bpd OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, Abuja

A

month after attacks by militants on oil installations cut N i g e r i a ’ s production by 10 percent in May, the country's output bounced back in June, leading also to increased output by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC. Specifically, Nigeria raised output following repairs to some infrastructure that had been damaged by militant attacks.

Nigeria pumped an average 1.53 million barrels per day, mbd, last month, a gain of 9 0 , 0 0 0 b p d f r o m M a y, according to reports.

According to Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu, the country was able to repair some pipelines after agreeing a cease-fire

with militants in the Niger Delta region.

Shortly after this announcement, however, the N i g e r D e l t a Av e n g e r s militant group claimed five more attacks on oil installations in the region.

The militant group said it carried out attacks on facilities operated by Chevron and the Nigerian Petroleum Development C o m p a n y, N P D C - a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. It said it bombed an NNPC pipeline conveying crude to Warri refinery in Delta State on Friday night.

Attacks by militants on oil installations cut Nigeria’s production by 10 percent in May, resulting in the lowest output by the country in more than thirty years, a survey revealed.

Nigerian crude production declined that month by 160,000 barrels a day to 1.45

million over the past month, according to a recent Bloomberg News survey.

Meanwhile, production in Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, rose to 10.33mbd in June, a monthly gain of 70,000 bpd. The kingdom typically boosts output in summer months as it burns more crude to generate electricity to power air conditioners.

Libya boosted output in June by 40,000 bopd to 320,000. Exports were disrupted May after oil officials in the eastern portion of the divided nation blocked shipments from the port of Hariga. Shipments resumed from the port later that month and rival leaders of the nation’s National Oil Corp. reached an agreement on Sunday to reunify the state company under a single management.

Iraq posted the biggest decline, with production falling 70,000 bpd to 4.3mbd.

Iran’s output was stable at 3.5mbd, ending a five-month run of output gains since the start of the year following the lifting of sanctions.

Big oil's $45bn of new projects signal spending revival

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wo projects worth $45 billion announced this month show the world’s largest oil companies are regaining the confidence to make big investments, emboldened by rising crude prices and low costs that promise to trigger more expansion ahead, according to Bloomberg.

Chevron Corporation gave the go-ahead to a $37 billion expansion in Kazakhstan, the industry’s biggest undertaking since crude started tumbling two years ago. BP Plc signed off on the $8 billion expansion of a liquefied natural gas plant in Indonesia.

Two more big projects are likely to get a green light this year, according to industry consulting firm Wood Mackenzie Ltd. and Jefferies International Ltd. - BP’s Mad Dog Phase 2 in the Gulf of Mexico and Eni SpA’s Coral LNG development off Mozambique.

Crude’s recovery from a 12-year low and a decline in project expenses have emboldened executives to start spending again after cutting more than $1 trillion in planned investments amid sinking earnings. While protecting balance sheets is important, explorers need to at least begin a new phase of investment in exploration and production to ensure future growth.

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Oil

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Nigeria spends N226bn on fuel importation in first quarter

Oil tanker IKE AMOS

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igeria spent N226.215 billion o n t h e importation of premium motor spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, in the first quarter of this year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS. The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the first quarter of 2016, disclosed that PMS importation accounted for

15.56 per cent of Nigeria’s total imports in the quarter under review.

In addition to PMS imports, the country spent N12.016 billion on importation of lubricating oils. PMS and lubricant, as well as other petroleum products' import, brought total mineral products' import to N263 billion, representing 18.1 per cent of total imports.

The NBS put Nigeria’s total import trade at the end of the

Import trade by section was dominated by the imports of boilers, machinery and appliances, which accounted for N378.4 billion or 26.0 per cent of the total value of import trade in first quarter 2016

Ghana's TEN field to start production in 6 weeks

T

he Tullow Oil Plc-operated Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme, TEN, field, located offshore Ghana, is expected to start production within the next six weeks, the company has revealed.

It said in its latest trading statement that hook-up and commissioning of the project’s Floating Production Storage and Offloading, FPSO, connecting the pre-drilled wells to the vessel via subsea infrastructure, is almost complete.

Later this month, the integrated start-up sequence is expected to be initiated with water injection to the Enyenra reservoir being followed by oil production, the company said, adding that this sequence will

then be repeated for the Ntomme reservoir.

A gradual ramp-up in oil production towards the FPSO capacity of 80,000 barrels of oil per day is anticipated around the end of 2016 as the facilities complete performance testing and wells are brought up to optimum rates.

Tullow estimates that TEN average annualised production in 2016 will be around 23,000 bopd gross (net: 11,000 bopd).

Drilling is not expected to recommence on the TEN field until after the resolution of the Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana border dispute through the ITLOS tribunal, whose decision is expected in late 2017.

The associated gas produced at TEN will be re-injected into

the Ntomme reservoir gas cap until gas export begins. Gas export was planned to start 12 months after field start-up, with the Tweneboa gas reservoir coming on stream a further 12 months later.

Options to accelerate gas export are currently being evaluated as the fabrication of the gas export facilities is ahead of schedule and is expected to be complete in late 2016, which is six months earlier than anticipated.

Tullow’s West Africa working interest oil production averaged 51,900 bopd in the first half of 2016. This was below previous guidance due to lower production from the Jubilee field in Ghana, following issues with the FPSO turret identified in February.

first quarter of 2016 at N1.454 trillion, representing a decline of 7.8 per cent from N1.576 trillion recorded at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015, while it also represented a drip of 15.8 per cent or N273.7 billion when compared with total imports in the corresponding quarter of 2015.

According to the NBS, the structure of Nigeria’s import trade according to Standard I n t e r n a t i o n a l Tr a d e Classification, SITC, was dominated by the imports of machinery and transport equipments; mineral fuel; and chemicals and related products, which accounted for 34.7 per cent, 17.4 per cent and 14.7 per cent respectively in 2016.

It said, “These commodities contributed the most to the value of import trade in first quarter 2016, whereas commodities such as crude

inedible materials; oils, fats and waxes; and beverages and tobacco contributed the least, accounting for 1.5 per cent, 0.8 per cent, and 0.6 per cent respectively.

“Import trade by section was dominated by the imports of boilers, machinery and appliances, which accounted for N378.4 billion or 26.0 per cent of the total value of import trade in first quarter 2016," it added.

Other commodities which contributed noticeably to the value of import trade in the period under review were mineral products at N263.0 billion (18.1%), and products of the chemical and allied industries at N137.0 billion (9.4%); vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof; vessels etc. at N127.8 billion (8.8 %) and base metals and articles of base metals at N105.1 billion (7.2%).

Nigeria’s highest import destination in the quarter was China, as Nigeria imported N345.5 billion worth of goods from the country.

The United States followed, accounting for N127.087 billion of Nigeria’s total import, while Belgium, India, Netherlands and the United Kingdom accounted for N114.16 billion, N89.38 billion, N73.777 billion and N61.38 billion respectively.

Others are France, N58.24 billion; Brazil, N50.06 billion; Germany, N44.9 billion and Italy, N31.06 billion.

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2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Ofon 2 platform

NAPIMS, NCDMB commend Nigerdock over delivery of Ofon 2 platforms CHUKS ISIWU

I

t was praises galore for the management and workers of Nigerdock, an indigenous oil services company and member of Jagal Group, following the company's successful completion and load-out of the Ofon platforms fabricated entirely by the company for the NNPC/Total joint venture.

The platforms are part of facilities being put in place by the joint venture for the Ofon 2 project, expected to raise Total and Nigeria's crude oil production by 40,000 barrels per day and deliver more gas to the Nigerian liquefied natural gas, LNG, plant in Bonny, Rivers State.

They were built by Nigerdock under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction, EPC, contract awarded to the company by the NNPC/Total joint venture, the first ever EPC contract to be awarded to an indigenous Nigerian contractor.

The National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS - an NNPC subsidiary - and the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, commended the management and staff of the company for their efficient handling and delivery of "a highly technical and sophisticated project".

Managing Director/Chief Executive of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr.

Nicolas Terraz, also commended the over 3,000 workers who took part in the project, saying their achievement of over five million man-hours of work completed with zero Lost Time Injury during the construction of the facilities did not come by chance.

Speaking during the commissioning and sail-away of the project at Nigerdock's Snake Island Integrated Free Zone in Lagos, Group General Manager, NAPIMS, Mr. Dafe Stephen Sejebor, said the over five million man-hours of engineering for the project which was done in-country reflected government's policy on Local Content Development.

"As we mark the successful completion and sail away of Ofon OFD5 and OFD3 topsides fully engineered, constructed and commissioned by Nigerdock, it is remarkable to note that this is the first project of such magnitude in complexity, technical requirements, scope and cost awarded to a Nigerian company.

"It has taken a lot for Nigerdock to achieve this in consideration of the context of technical requirements for such complex topside.

"I must salute the doggedness, vision and the dynamism of the staff and management of Nigerdock and the Jagal Group.

Yo u s h o u l d b e p r o u d o f yourselves and proud of the example you have set for the industry," he said.

Acting Executive Secretary of

NCDMB, Mr. Patrick Daziba Obah, also commended Nigerdock workers for achieving over five million man-hours of productivity and over three million man-hours without a LTI. Mr. Obah, who was represented by the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Adetunde Adelana, promised Nigerdock and its workers of more projects to keep Snake Island Integrated Free Zone up and running.

In his speech, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Nicolas Terraz, commended the over 3, 000 Nigerians employed during the construction of the project.

H

e said the over five million man-hours of work completed with zero Lost Time Injury during the construction did not come by chance.

"It is the result of a continuous commitment of all, day after day, to the safety of activities. It is a result that both Total and Nigerdock can be proud of.

"Safety is a core value, not just a priority. This core value, we make sure that we share with our contractors, working hand in hand to ensure the highest safety standards in our operations and projects," Terraz said.

Also speaking on the success of the project, the chairman, N i g e r d o c k , M r. A n w a r Jarmakani, said it is a celebration of another milestone in the oil and gas sector.

Ofon 2 platform

The Managing Director/Chief Executive of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Nicolas Terraz, commended the over 3, 000 Nigerians employed during the construction of the project Jarmakani stated that the company achieved achieved a landmark record of about 3.2 million man-hours without Lost Time Incident, LTI, during the construction of the Ofon 2 platform and completed more than five million man-hours

overall on the project, equivalent to 22,000 people employed for one year.

He revealed that at the peak of the project, Nigerdock had 5,000 highly trained professional working on the project.

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Oil

10

Lekoil to complete Otakikpo field within $82m budget

Oil workers on Otakikpo field

SAM IKEOTUONYE

L

ekoil, the oil and gas exploration and development company with a focus on Nigeria and West Africa, says it is on track to complete and bring the Otakikpo marginal field to production within the original $82 million capital expenditure budget that was estimated in 2014.

The company expects to start commercial production from the field located in Oil Mining Lease, OML, 11 this year.

Lekoil's Chief Executive O f f i c e r s O f f i c e r, L e k a n Akinyanmi, restated the company's commitment to completing the project within budget as he announced the refinancing of an existing debt facility and the completion of a new debt facility raising, in aggregate, $20 million.

The company said it has

refinanced its existing $10 million Notes Issuance Agreement, NIA, with FBN Capital Limited and has secured a new 2 billion Naira (approximately $10 million) facility from FBN. “I am delighted that we have secured this facility with local lender FBN,” said Akinyanmi in a company statement.

“This funding represents a strong endorsement of our asset’s value in this market environment and provides validation of our strategy to secure non-dilutive funding from near term commercial production. We appreciate FBN’s support, and look forward to building a longterm relationship with them,” he added.

The $10 million facility has a maturity of three years and is repayable quarterly after a six-month moratorium. The existing NIA bridge facility, of which $5 million was due May 2016, has been extended to August 2016 and

I am delighted that we have secured this facility with local lender FBN,” said Akinyanmi in a company statement

subsequently refinanced into the new USD facility.

The new 2 billion Naira ($10 million) facility has a maturity of three years, and is repayable quarterly with ten quarterly instalment after a six-month moratorium.

Oil marketers lament scarcity of forex for fuel importation

D

espite last month's introduction of the flexible exchange rate policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, oil marketers in the country are lamenting their inability to access funds that would enable them import petroleum products.

Managing Director of Integrated Oil and Gas Company, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, who stated this during the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Petroleum Downstream Group's second business clinic, said several attempts made by oil marketers to purchase foreign exchange during bid sessions had proven abortive.

“There are many reasons why marketers are not importing. One is that the forex are not available because we have been trying for two to three weeks now to get forex but without success. During the first bid session, we did not

make it, at the subsequent inter-bank session, the story just continued to change but the point is that we never just saw the money,” Iheanacho said.

He added: “Even with the floating exchange rate in place, marketers are having difficulties sourcing for forex. It is difficult because the very first time money was given out, I think it was 10 day ago, they said that those that have gotten can go to the inter bank and buy and sell, but it just didn’t materialise because when marketers go, they don’t buy, if they buy, they buy only one million.”

By implication, the Integrated boss said, marketers have not been able to bring in products on their own account, stating that the most marketers have done in the interval is to depend on the supply the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is putting out in the market.

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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11

Facility for ExxonMobil’s Satelite field project, fabricated by indigenous company, Nigerdock

Local content in oil and gas industry rises to 35% – NCDMB Says interventions to grow participation to 50% in 2017 OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, Abuja

T

he Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, has disclosed that indigenous participation in the nation’s oil and gas industry has increased to about 35 percent in the past six years.

The Manager, Strategy and Policy Development Division at NCDMB, Mr. Abdulmalik Halilu, revealed this during a visit by a delegation from Uganda, stating that the percentage of Nigerian Content in the oil and gas industry had increased from less than five percent before 2010 to 14 percent in 2014 and 35 per cent in 2015.

He added that the Board’s interventions were expected increase local content levels to 50 percent by 2017.

According to him, contracts awarded by operating companies to Nigerian service companies had also increased from about 40 percent of total contracts before 2010 to 75 percent in 2015 while the target was to achieve 85 per cent by 2017.

A statement from the NCDMB noted that The Ugandans are on a quest to model the development of their local content policies after

the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development, NOGICD, Act which has achieved immense benefits for the Nigerian economy and attracted commendations from local and international stakeholders.

In his remarks, the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, NCDMB, Mr. Tunde Adelana indicated that Nigeria was the only country that enacted a dedicated law for local content whereas other jurisdictions have local content provisions subsumed in existing laws guiding their oil and gas industry. He encouraged the Ugandans to decide on the model that would encapsulate their local content aspirations.

The 20-man delegation was led by the Director of Petroleum in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in the Republic of Uganda, Mr. Ernest Rubondo and the Counsellor, Ugandan High Commission in Nigeria, Mr. Nurh Byarufu.

Other members of the team included regulators, bankers, oil industry executives among others and they sought strategies for local vendor development, capacity building of their citizens to meet industry standards, ensuring compliance b y o p e ra ting and s er vi c e

companies, transparent bidding process among other subjects.

In his introductory remarks, Rubondo explained that the East African country was on the cusp of investing $20 billion in the development of 15 oil fields, construction of a refinery and an export pipeline projects which were expected to be completed within five years.

According to him, the leadership of the country was determined to retain a substantial part of the $20 billion spend within the country and hence their mission to share Nigeria’s experience in local content which would help their country succeed in that regard.

While welcoming the delegation, the Acting Executive Secretary, Mr. Daziba Patrick Obah commended the Ugandan Government for identifying Nigeria as a shining example of the implementation of local content, noting that other African countries like Kenya and Congo-Brazzaville had also sought Nigeria’s mentorship of their local content initiatives.

H

e also extolled the Ugandan officials for deciding to institutionalise local content at the onset of their oil and gas industry as it would guarantee tangible benefits for

According to him, contracts awarded by operating companies to Nigerian service companies had also increased from about 40 percent of total contracts before 2010 to 75 percent in 2015 while the target was to achieve 85 per cent by 2017

their citizens aside the revenue that would accrue from the sale of crude oil and gas.

He stated that Nigerian Content had helped the government and the Nigerian people reverse the flight of industry spend to foreign countries in the form of personnel, materials, equipment, fabrication and engineering designs.

He advised the Ugandans to develop robust regulations that are applicable to the state of

their industry and technological base while encouraging collaboration with local and international stakeholders to domicile capacity in-country.

Also speaking, the Coordinator, Legal Services, NCDMB, Mrs. Rose Chukwuonye advised the Ugandan delegation to take a cue from the Nigerian Content Act, particularly the schedule to the Act which spelt out the tonnages, spend and man-hours that must be executed in the country subject to existing capacity.

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2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Oando concludes N70.5bn downstream expansion

Oando fuel retail outlet KUNLE KALEJAYE

O

ando Plc is to e x p a n d i t s downstream o p e r a t i o n s following a N70.5 billion cash injection resulting from a strategic alliance with Helios and Vitol, HV. Oando completed the N70.5 billion recapitalisation of its downstream business with HV Investments II B.V., a joint venture owned by a fund advised

by Helios Investment Partners, a premier Africa-focused private investment firm, and Vitol Group, the world’s largest independent trader of energy commodities and the ninth largest corporation in the world by revenue.

The deal was first announced on June 30, 2015, and will see an immediate injection of an estimated N70.5 billion into Oando’s downstream operations and the larger Oando Group.

Commenting on the successful transaction, Oando Group Chief Executive Officer, Adewale Tinubu, said: “Despite global economic headwinds, we have taken the proactive approach to establish a strategic partnership which will leverage Oando’s sector dominance, considerable local knowledge and expertise, t o g e t h e r w i t h H V I ’s v a s t international, financial, and technical capabilities. This partnership will reinvigorate Nigeria’s downstream sector and create one of Africa’s largest downstream operations.

"We take great pride in our origins as a predominantly downstream company, and we are extremely confident in the success and potential returns this alliance will deliver.”

Under the new business structure, Oando said all its retail stations will retain the Oando brand. However, Oando Downstream will be renamed OVH Energy, OVH, to reflect its new ownership structure and the commitment of its new shareholders.

OVH Energy will hold interests in Oando Marketing Limited, Oando Supply & Trading Limited, Apapa SPM Limited, and Oando Trippmart Limited.

Oando Plc will retain a 49 percent shareholding in the newly-formed corporate vehicle, with the HVI consortium also owning 49 percent. A residual two percent will be owned by a local entity.

Oando Downstream is comprised of Oando Marketing Plc, a petroleum product retailing and distribution company with over 350 retail outlets and strategically located terminals in Nigeria, Ghana and Togo; Oando Supply & Trading Limited, a leading indigenous physical trader of petroleum products in the sub-Saharan region, supplying and trading crude oil and refined petroleum products and Oando Trading Limited, an entity involved in the trading of crude oil and refined petroleum products in international markets.

It also has in its fold Apapa

Oando Downstream is comprised of Oando Marketing Plc, a petroleum product retailing and distribution company with over 350 retail outlets and strategically located terminals in Nigeria, Ghana and Togo

SPM Limited, a marina jetty and subsea pipeline system capable of berthing large vessels that will increase the delivery capacity and offloading efficiency of petroleum products into major petroleum marketers’ storage facilities at Apapa, Lagos; and Ebony Oil & Gas Limited, a Ghanaian supply and trading entity with a provisional bulk distribution company license supplying white products.

Artistic impression of Oando’s proposed building

OWA 2017 gets new date

T

he 21st edition of the Offshore West Africa, OWA, Conference and Exhibition 2017 has been rescheduled from January to June.

The change in date was confirmed by PennWell Corporation, owners and organisers of the annual conference in a letter made available to SweetcrudeReports.

The new 2017 date, according to PennWell, has been set for 6-8 June 2017, moving from the originally planned January date.

Stating the reasons for the date adjustment, Managing Director, PennWell International, Mr. Glenn Ensor said; “Due to a number of factors, most pressingly the current economic climate facing the oil and gas industry, PennWell

Corporation have decided to reschedule the 21st edition of Offshore West Africa Conference and Exhibition from the original date of January, to 68 June 2017.

"It is our belief that this change of date will enable our many loyal exhibitors, speakers, sponsors and attendees to benefit further from the event as these economic factors become more manageable.

"Offshore West Africa has over the past years become the premier event for the oil and gas industry within the West African region, and it is our aim to further establish this and improve upon previous editions for the benefit of all who attend.”

Oil

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Saudi Arabia’s King’s palace

Saudi King hosts Barkindo

R

iyadh —King Salman Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia hosted OPEC Secretary General-designate D r. M o h a m m e d S a n u s i Barkindo to iftar at the Royal Palace in Makkah.

While welcoming Barkindo to the Palace, the King assured the incoming Secretary General of Saudi Arabia’s continuous support for OPEC especially at this critical time for the global oil industry.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques congratulated Barkindo and Nigeria for emerging as the OPEC Secretary General after four years of impasse. King Salman noted that as a founding Member of OPEC, Saudi Arabia will continue to render support to the Organization and seeks the unity and progress of the group.

Speaking on Nigeria, King Salman commended President Buhari for his dogged determination to change Nigeria for the better, and assured Saudi Arabia’s

support for Nigeria, while calling on the international community to support President Buhari’s initiative for peace and stability.

Barkindo thanked the King for the honour done to him, his President, Muhammadu Buhari, and Nigeria, with the invitation to iftar and conveyed the greetings and gratitude of President Buhari and the good people of Nigeria to the King for supporting Nigeria’s candidate.

He appealed to the King to continue to provide leadership to OPEC noting that the unity of purpose demonstrated at the June Ministerial Conference of the Organization was exemplary and needs to be sustained especially during these challenging times for the oil industry.

Barkindo commended the King for his ‘Vision 2030’ transformation pointing out that its relevance goes beyond Saudi Arabia to all OPEC Member Countries. It is an initiative that all OPEC Member Countries should emulate, he said.

Barkindo, who was appointed OPEC Secretary General by the 169th Meeting of the OPEC Conference on June 2, 2016, will assume office at the OPEC Secretariat, Vienna, on August 1, 2016.

Barkindo received by the King.

Small scale operators, motorists lament increasing diesel price

S

ome-small scale operators and commercial motorists plying Lagos roads have lamented over the increasing price of diesel which now stands at N200 per litre in most of the filling stations in Lagos.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria that the increasing price had affected the profit margin of their businesses, thereby making them to run at a loss.

Mr Thompson Alo, General Manager, HTS Photo Laboratory, Agege said that the company spent N200,000 monthly to buy diesel to power their generator.

Alo said that before, they used to spend just N100,000 to buy the product because electricity supply was regular and the product was just at N130 per litre.

"With the price of diesel now at N200 per litre, the company is not making any profit, we had to send away two of our staff, last month.

"In June, the company made a profit of just N5,000 for the entire month, we cannot afford to pay the salaries of workers.

"If diesel is N130 per litre, we will be saving N70 from each litre from the 1,000 litres buy in a month, this is over N70,000,’’ he said.

Mrs Josephine Okoro, Managing Director, Blue Sky Frozen Foods, Ijora lamented the pain she was going through to sustain her business.

She said: "Our business is finished without regular supply of public electricity, but now that there is no supply from the electricity distribution company, I rely on diesel to fuel my generator.

"This is really affecting our business because one cannot just increase the price because of the power challenges we are facing.

"All the profit now goes to buying diesel. I just keep coming to the shop because I don't want the business to collapse". Okoro said she was spending close to N80, 000 monthly to keep her cold room alive.

Also, some commercial motorists in Lagos told NAN that the increasing diesel price was affecting their take home.

Oil

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Oil market'll be close to balance in 2nd half 2016 - IEA

World oil reserve map

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he International E n e r g y Association, EIA, says the world oil market will be close to balance in the second half of this year, and will be in balance next year. ill be close to balance in the second half of this year, and will be in balance next year.

The association said in a recently released report that energy transformation in China and subdued economic growth in advanced economies were creating headwinds against energy demand in general, adding that low fossil fuel prices have so far failed to compensate for them.

The medium-term report forecasts also indicated that global gas demand would continue to dip despite lower gas prices.

It forecasts demand to reach 3.9 trillion cubic metres, bcm, in 2021, increasing at an average annual rate of 1.5%, equivalent to an incremental 340 bcm between 2015 and 2021.

According to the report, weak demand, low prices and

a sharp cutback in investments result in slower growth in global gas production over the time horizon of the report.

It noted that in the United States, production is expected to remain relatively flat across 2016 and 2017, pressured by a fall in output

of associated gas and much slower growth elsewhere.

“Given the drastic fall in both oil and gas prices, stagnation in output must be looked at as a remarkable achievement and a testament to the technological and financial resilience of the US shale industry,” the report

noted.

It added that large cost reductions achieved during the downturn will allow drilling activity to come back at lower prices than before.

“Overall, between 2015 and 2021, US gas production is forecast to increase by more than 100 billion cubic metres

My agenda for NNPC - Baru, new GMD CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 NNPC introduced by his predecessor.

Other aspects of his agenda: *To carry out an an appraisal of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, and ensure that all weak contractual agreement are reviewed and bad ones terminated immediately. *To implement the new business models of the NNPC and grant the needed autonomy to Strategic Business Units of the NNPC so as to ensure their growth and profitability. *To create an all-inclusive internal advisory console of security, comprising various stakeholders to discuss and

arrive at solutions to security and host communities' agitations. *NNPC to leverage on its equity position to cause the development of key gas assets for both domestic and export. *To pursue the expansion of gas network across the country. *To grow the NNPC oil and gas reserves portfolio. *Repair and restore oil and gas pipeline infrastructures. *Provide robust security system for both detection and deterrent. *Improve refining efficiency of the four existing refineries to pave way for future expansion.

(bcm), accounting for onethird of global incremental production.”

Following a stagnation in 2014, global gas demand is estimated to have returned to growth in 2015. Expansion has remained well below the historical average, however: since 2012, global gas demand has increased by just 1.0% a year, much slower than the ten-year average of 2.2%.

As the IEA warned in the Medium-Term Gas Market Report 2015, it is difficult for gas to compete in a world of very cheap coal, falling costs and continued policy support of renewables.

It added that in the United States, the extension of federal incentives for solar and the wind in 2015 will ensure their continued strong deployment over the remainder of the decade. In a development that echoes the European experience, US thermal generation is expected to decline over the forecast period as a large increase in generation from low-carbon sources outpaces modest growth in a total generation.

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2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Nigeria struggles with perception issues in mining investment …Misses out in Fraser’s list of mining nations

Mining site

OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, Abuja

N

igeria still remains a challenging place to do business based on data from the World Bank’s surveys over the past decade; while the country has recorded improvements in some areas since the return of democracy, a lot still needs to be done in an essential sector including mining, which in the past used to be the main source of the nation’s revenue.

Decades of neglect and halfhearted policies have really had a negative impact on Nigeria’s mining sector to the point that it presently occupies a fringe place in national economic considerations. Mining specific data such as the Fraser Institute survey puts Nigeria near the bottom of investor friendly destinations, and even if that is mere perception than reality, it shapes investor decision-making pro cess. For Nig eria , the continued presence of these issues will hold back market development.

Analysts have contended that an established and well managed solid minerals industry is a path

for economic and social growth of Nigeria. They insist the sector has potentials of providing employment and improving national income earnings far exceeding the petroleum sector if well managed.

Before now, earnings from solid minerals was used to develop roads, education, hospitals and in fact develop the petroleum industry. The decline of the solid minerals industry started with the discovery of oil to an extent that Nigeria became a monoproduct economy and vulnerable to international oil politics. The domineering role of oil did not allow past governments to attend to global challenges that evolved in the development of the solid minerals sector, thereby leaving the sector virtually in the dust.

Missing in mining ‘report card’ At a recent event, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has cause to agonise about the fact that Nigeria was missing from the latest Fraser Institute’s report on the global mining industry.

He lamented that the country may likely suffer more from the perception or lack thereof as a

Before now, earnings from solid minerals was used to develop roads, education, hospitals and in fact develop the petroleum industry viable mining destination.

According to the minister, the perception has been the reality for too long in the country.

The Fraser Institute’s 2015 annual survey of mining and exploration companies, which is described as “a report card” to governments on the attractiveness of their mining sector shows the result of the survey that attempts to assess how mineral endowments and public policy factors such as taxation and regulatory uncertainty affect exploration investment.

The survey was circulated electronically to over 3,800 individuals between September 15th and November 27th, 2015.

Survey responses have been tallied to rank provinces, states, and countries according to the

extent that public policy factors encourage or discourage investment.

An overall Investment Attractiveness Index, IAI, is constructed by combining the Best Practices Mineral Potential index, which rates regions based on their geologic attractiveness, and the Policy Perception Index (PPI), a composite index that measures the effects of government policy on attitudes toward exploration investment.

While it is useful to measure the attractiveness of a jurisdiction based on policy factors such as onerous regulations, taxation levels, the quality of infrastructure, and the other policy related questions that respondents answered, the Policy Perception Index alone does not recognise the fact that

investment decisions are often sizeably based on the pure mineral potential of a jurisdiction. Indeed, respondents consistently in dicate that roughly only 40 percent of their investment decision is determined by policy factors.

The top jurisdiction in the world for investment based on the Investment Attractiveness Index is Western Australia, which moved up to first from fourth in 2014. Saskatchewan remained in second place this year. Nevada dropped to third after Western Australia displaced it as the most attractive jurisdiction in the world. Ireland moved up 10 spots into fourth place. Rounding out the top ten are Finland, Alaska, Northern Territory, Quebec, Utah, and South Australia.

When considering both policy and mineral potential in the Investment Attractiveness Index, the Argentinian province of La Rioja ranks as the least attractive jurisdiction in the world for investment. La Rioja replaced Venezuela as the least attractive jurisdiction in the world. The complete list of bottom 10 jurisdictions (beginning with the worst) is La

CONTINUES ON PAGE 16

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2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Mining activity

Nigeria struggles with perception issues in mining investment CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 Rioja, Venezuela, Honduras, Greece, Solomon Islands, Chubut, Guinea (Conakry), Kenya, Mendoza, and the Rio Negro.

While geologic and economic considerations are important factors in mineral exploration, a region’s policy climate is also an important investment consideration. The Policy Perception Index, PPI, is a composite index that measures the overall policy attractiveness of the 109 jurisdictions in the survey. The index is composed of survey responses to policy factors that affect investment decisions. Policy factors examined include uncertainty concerning the administration of current regulations, environmental regulations, regulatory duplication, the legal system and taxation regime, uncertainty concerning protected areas and disputed land claims, infrastructure, socioeconomic and community development conditions, trade barriers, political stability, labour regulations, quality of the geological database, security, and labor and skills availability.

For the third year in a row, Ireland had the highest PPI score of 100. Wyoming, in second place, followed Ireland; it moved up from 9th place the previous year. Along with Ireland and Wyoming, the top 10 ranked jurisd ictions a re Swed en, Saskatchewan, Finland, Nevada, Alberta, Western

Australia, New Brunswick, and Portugal Morocco took the top spot among 20 African countries that were surveyed in the Fraser Institute’s annual survey of global mining companies in 2015 on the attractiveness index scale.

Morocco was placed in 24th position, followed by Burkina Faso in 29th place and Ghana in 31st. Western Australia took top position. The Investment Attractiveness Index takes both mineral and policy perception into consideration.

Of the 20 African countries included in the survey, South Africa scored 11th on the investment attractiveness index.

Globally, it ranked 66th out of 109 surveyed companies. South Africa was ranked 74th in the previous year. Kenya and Guinea (Conakry) were the only two African jurisdictions in the global bottom 10 based on their overall investment attractiveness. Zimbabwe just missed being in the bottom 10 this year, after placing there in the previous four years.

G

enerally, the median score for Africa on policy factors (PPI) - an assessment of the attractiveness of mining policies - improved slightly this year.

This was also the case for the region’s median investment attractiveness score. However, on both measures, Africa has not been able to return to the previous high scores it achieved in 2011.

Despite that, in terms of overall

investment attractiveness, as a region, Africa now ranks ahead of Oceania, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Argentina.

T w o A f r i c a n countries—Zimbabwe (106th) and Niger (103rd),—ranked in the bottom 10 of the survey rankings this year based on policy. Zimbabwe was also amongst the bottom 10 in the previous five years.

Botswana is again the highest ranked jurisdiction in Africa on policy factors, ranking 14th of 109 in 2015, the same as it did in 2014, even though the jurisdiction’s PPI declined slightly this year. Botswana’s slightly lower score on the PPI reflects increased concerns over trade barriers (-19 points), the geological database (-15 points), and the availability of labour and skills (-7 points).

Botswana also experienced a

number of improvements which helped mitigate the abovementioned declines.

T h r e e A f r i c a n jurisdictions—Guinea ( C o n a k r y ) , N i g e r, a n d Zambia—each saw declines in their PPI scores of over 10 points.

Niger’s decline pushed the country into the bottom 10 this year. Niger saw the largest decline in Africa in PPI score (-20 points); it moved down to 103rd of 109 in 2015 from 92nd of 122 in 2014, in part due to increased uncertainty in the ratings for regulatory duplication and inconsistencies and labor regulations (both -21 points) and the taxation regime (-16 points), among other large declines.

Guinea (Conakry)’s PPI and ranking also declined in 2015.

This reflects declining perceptions of labour

Of the 20 African countries included in the survey, South Africa scored 11th on the investment attractiveness index.

Globally, it ranked 66th out of 109 surveyed companies. South Africa was ranked 74th in the previous year

regulations (-20 points), uncertainty concerning protected areas (-17 points), and regulatory duplication and inconsistencies (-10 points).

The 10 least attractive jurisdictions for investment based on the PPI rankings are (starting with the worst) Venezuela, Myanmar, La Rioja, Zimbabwe, Chubut, Neuquen, Niger, Kyrgyzstan, Rio Negro, and Honduras. Kyrgyzstan, Zimbabwe, and Venezuela were all in the bottom 10 jurisdictions last year. Four out of the 10 lowest rated jurisdictions based on policy were Argentinian provinces. Displaced from the bottom 10 in 2015 were Philippines, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mendoza, and Mongolia.

Fayemi sees it as his duty to bring about a sharp turn in the craft of the sector, reverse the stagnation and, finally, put the sector on a safe, sustainable and profitable trajectory.

Speaking recently at a briefing in Abuja, the Minister expressed dismay that the sector, despite its immense potentials, was operating at below capacity and with sub-standard mining techniques and processes that must be upgraded in order to reduce the incidence of mining site waste, and boost productivity and output.

He said, “In all my years in politics and the professions, not many issues have had a sobering effect on me as what I have seen for myself and learnt since I resumed this assignment (as the minister)’’.

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Shell to expand presence in Nigeria’s gas market

Shell wokers

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i g e r i a ’s declining gas market may soon see a boost if Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, makes good i t ’s p l a n n e d i n c r e a s e d investment in the sector.

Speaking to journalist recently at the company’s media presentation of its 2015 briefing notes, Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of SPDC, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, said that part of the company’s plan is to build a prominent presence in Nigeria’s gas markets by completing two on-going gas projects.

“Also the strategy says we want to invest a lot on gas.

Gas for domestic consumption and gas to power our industries, we think that is absolutely very important,” Osagie said.

The Shell executive maintained that the co mp any is developing strategies that will enhance gas both for domestic use and for power for industries.

He noted, “I will consider

myself quite successful by the time I finished in this role and I see that we have done substantially well in this area, improved our presence in gas to feed industries and power.

“I think we have not done enough in this area and this one area we can improve.”

Shell operates a joint venture partnership with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and ExxonMobil in Nigeria’s LNG where it has about 26 interest. The company’s Afam VI power plant contributed about 14 percent of Nigeria’s grid-connected electricity in 2015 according to the company’s briefing notes.

Shell Nigeria Gas Limited, SNG, was incorporated in 1998 by Nigeria’s chief oil company to supply natural gas through 125 kilometres of pipelines to 87 industrial customers within the Agbara/Ota (Ogun State), Aba industrial areas (Abia State) and Rivers State.

Price of liquefied petroleum gas, LPG, popularly called cooking gas has soared by 45 percent recently on the back

of scarcity of the product.

Nigeria is ranked lowest in sub-Saharan Africa in per capita usage of LPG, consuming 1.1kg compared with Ghana at 3.0kg; South Africa consumes 5.5kg; while Morocco consumes 44kg per capita.

Shell gas station

Domestic gas supply to rise by 855mmscfd

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igeria's domestic gas supply is set to rise by 855 million standard cubic, mmscfd, at the completion soon of key infrastructure projects aimed at improving gas supply.

About 70 per cent of this addition will be sent to power plants for use in generation.

A statement from the 6th monthly meeting between the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and operators of the Nigerian power sector at the Kumbotso Transmission Station in Kano, said the projects being executed by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, and the international oil companies would be ready

by September this year.

“The NNPC announced the forecasted completion and inauguration of four infrastructure projects by the NPDC and IOCs to improve gas supply to power plants over the next few months through September 30, 2016.

"A total of 855 mmsfcd is expected to be added to the domestic gas supply in the short term of

which about 70 per cent is sent to power plants for use in generation," statement said.

The operators were represented at the highest executive management levels, including managing directors and chief executive officers of electricity generating companies or Gencos, distribution companies or Discos and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN. Also present were various government agencies such as NNPC, Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company Plc, NBET, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, and the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, NEMSA, responsible for the regulation and development of the electricity industry.

The meeting also resolved to persuade oil and gas producers to explore better ways of reinjection to boost oil production by using water instead of gas, in order to increase the amount of gas available for domestic consumption.

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Planned amendment of NLNG Act, threat to economy - Stakeholders

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takeholders in Nigeria's petroleum industry have described efforts by the National Assembly to amend the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, Act as a threat to the nation's economy.

The Petroleum Club, an association of chief executive officers of oil and gas companies in the country - both indigenous and foreign - warned that the proposed amendment would have far reaching negative consequences not only for the Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, business, but also for the entire nation's petroleum industry and the economy.

Chief executive officers of the companies in the Club pointed out that if the proposed amendment of the NLNG Act sailed through, more oil companies and international lenders would no longer view Nigeria as a country where they could have confidence in the

fiscal and commercial terms granted to investors.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, who is leading the campaign for the amendment of NLNG Act, had premised his reason on the gas company’s refusal to pay dues to the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in the last 16 years.

The Minority leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Leo Ogor, while arguing for an amendment of the Act, hinged his reason on untold environmental and health havoc wrecked on the people of the Niger Delta.

Ogor said: “The only way we can solve this problem is to bring relevant amendments to the Act because our people have suffered so much and I said that it is very important that we appreciate the enormity of the danger present in the region for us to act quickly and as a people, hold the NLNG responsible for unnecessary gas

The only way we can solve this problem is to bring relevant amendments to the Act because our people have suffered so much and I said that it is very important that we appreciate the enormity of the danger present in the region flaring using this amendment."

But the Petroleum Club, while reacting, described the premises adduced by the sponsors of the amendment of NLNG Act as preposterous, stating that NLNG was never a gas producing company but only a processing firm and, therefore, should not be held responsible for the unnecessary gas flaring in the Niger Delta.

In its memorandum to the National Assembly, which was signed by Otunba Funso Lawal, Chairman of the Board, and Dr. G.S. Ihetu, Chairman of Policy Committee, the Club said: “This premise is totally wrong because NLNG is not a gas producer and

does not flare gas.

“As a matter of fact, it purchases gas from its gas producing shareholders. It should also be noted that these gas producers are already subject to the NDDC Act which is targeted at companies in oil and gas production".

The memorandum further read: “Perhaps these levies and tax disputes with Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and NDDC may also have given impetus to this proposed amendment to make the company subject to additional levies and taxes.

“However, it should be noted

that the second schedule of the NLNG Act provides unambiguous guarantees and assurances to the NLNG s h a r e h o l d e r s . S p e c i f i c a l l y, sections 2 and 3 of the schedule state as follows: "The venture shall be subject to the fiscal regime contained in the provisions of this Act. Such fiscal regime shall not be amended in any way, except with the prior written agreement of the Government, the Company and each of the Company's shareholders.

“Without prejudice to any other provision contained herein, neither the Company nor its shareholders in their capacity as shareholders in the Company, shall in any way be subject to new laws, regulations, taxes, duties, imports or charges of whatever nature which are not applicable generally to companies incorporated in Nigeria or to shareholders in companies incorporated in Nigeria, respectively”.

Interpipe focuses on quality key part of nterpipe considers quality control as a , exceeding the activities to manufacture products lemented at customer needs. Quality control is imp ing from all stages of production process - start i mill and up to min e continuous casting at the in-hous d pipe ends and nondestructive testing of pipe body an shipping to customers. pliance with The Company has been certified for com andards: nal st requirements of national and internatio

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U ISO 9001, Quality Management System acc. to DST ISO 9001, and API Specification Q1; c. to ISO 14001 Environmental Management System ac standard; and ent System Occupational Health and Safety Managem acc. to OHSAS 18001 standard; d for Company’s products have been certifie al and n o compliance with requirements of nati 5L, EN D(IN), international standards: API 5CT, API GOST, and TU; & gas companies.

Company is prequalified by major oil

Gas

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Gas sector worth over $55bn in investment - NGA Oil and gas facility

KUNLE KALEJAYE

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here are currently over $55 billion w o r t h o f investment opportunities in the Nigerian gas sector, the Nigerian Gas Association has said.

President of the association, Mr. Bolaji Osunsanya, who disclosed this in Lagos, expressed optimism for the growth in key areas of the gas sector such as exploration and production, processing, supply and distribution.

He said turning natural gas into a profit-making venture requires huge investment in infrastructure that address the five component areas of g a s a v a i l a b i l i t y, affordability? , deliverability, funding, and legal and regulatory framework.

Osunsanya stated that Nigeria must continue to keep alive discourse on the ro? le of gas in Africa's energy mix, even as he expressed hope in the development of a strong gas industry in Nigeria.

According to him, there w o u l d b e w i d e r environmental benefits for Nigeria if increased gas use displaces some elements of coal-fired energy generation.

He also said the Nigerian economy would benefit from gas developments through increased energy security and increased availability of natural gas which would enable the country to maintain its drive in the gasto-liquids sector.

He said:"With 1,000mw of Independent Power Plant capacity idle due to lack of gas delivery, indigenous players are making significant strategic investments in gas and virtual pipelines to power IPPs and industrial customers.

"Also, the gradual movement of the market towards the concept of willing buyer, willing seller, and the government's willingness to ensure an investmentfriendly environment, bode well for Nigeria's long term

gas development," he said.

Osunsanya also stated that the association has the ability to grow the country’s economy through investment opportunities in its gas sector, even as he noted that increased usage of gas in the energy sector can offer wider benefits.

He added that Nigeria's gas reserves could hit 16.8 trillion cubic metres compared to the current proven level of 5.2 trillion cubic metres, if deliberate measures were taken to explore for gas as opposed to coincidental discovery during oil exploration.

Nigeria earns $2.276m from gas sales

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igeria earned $2.27 million from gas sales in the month of March 2016, data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has revealed.

The NNPC said in its Monthly Financial and Operations Report for March that while $2.27 million was earned from gas sales, $88.364 million was earned from crude oil export and $51.229 million from other receipts.

Overall, revenue from crude oil and gas, exports for the month totalled $141.87 million, dipping by $94.83 million or 40.06 per cent from earnings of $236.7 million recorded in February 2016.

The report also stated that the country’s total earnings from crude oil and gas sales for the last 12 months, between April 2015 and March 2016, stood at $3.977 billion.

The NNPC noted that the drastic slump in

total export receipt is largely due to shut in of about 300,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) at Forcados Terminal following Force majeure declared by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, on 15th February, 2016, which ensured that all un-lifted February and March cargoes were deferred until the repair is completed.

LNG vessel

Gas

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Gas facility

NNPC ready with LPG distribution road-map LPG tanker KUNLE KALEJAYE

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e d e r a l Government's distribution roadmap for Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, also known as cooking gas, will be ready in this third quarter of the year, an official has said.

Executive Director, Supply and Distribution, at the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC, Mr. Justine Ezeala, dropped the hints in Lagos, saying the in-house work done by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, subsidiary for effective LPG distribution across the country was currently awaiting ministerial approval.

Ezeala explained that after ministerial consent, the distribution road-map would be unveiled, "hopefully in the third quarter of this year".

He said issues affecting LPG business would be addressed with the introduction of the roadmap, including the issue of berthing of LPG vessels, operations constraints, organisational plans, and how best cooking gas could reach every consumer.

Ezeala noted that if LPG dealers were getting what they required to do their

LPG business would be addressed with the introduction of the roadmap, including the issue of berthing of LPG vessels, operations constraints, organisational plans, and how best cooking gas could reach every consumer

business effectively, the multiplier-effect of that would be creation of more jobs and other positive impacts on the economy.

"If the government is supportive with the changes we’ve done and once we get presidential approval and implement it, we will see a totally new LPG business in the country. Hopefully next quarter, it is something we will go public with," he said.

Gas cut: Ghana battles with economic, political fallout Map of Ghana

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hana is currently battling with the economic and political fallout of the recent gas supply cut by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. Nigeria suspended the flow of natural gas to Ghana over unpaid bills, totalling about $181 million.

There are indications that the development may lead to a political crisis even as lack of gas for power generation has worsened an already bad electricity supply.

Nigerian gas flows to Ghana through the West African Gas Pipeline Company's pipe that runs via Benin and Togo. Ghana’s state-owned Volta River Authority, VRA, buys the gas to fire power plants mainly in the east of the country.

News outlets in Ghana reported that VRA owes N-Gas, which in turn is in arrears to the West African Pipeline Company, the operator of the conduit that transports gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and onwards to Ghana.

The latter’s arrears have been building since October 2015, and the Ghanaian

government subsequently missed its February 2016 payment deadline.

Power cuts have raised the cost of doing business and angered voters at a sensitive time for President John Mahama's government ahead of what is expected to be a tough re-election battle next year.

Mahama has vowed to end the power cuts by the start of next year and the minister for power has said he would resign if the problem has not been fixed by then.

The government's room for manoeuvre is limited, however, under the terms of an aid programme with the International Monetary Fund it is following to restore balance to its economy.

Ghana was for years one of Africa's economic stars but falling global commodity prices have blunted the value of its gold, cocoa and oil exports.

To address the gas supply cut by Nigerian, a delegation from the Ghanaian Power Ministry is expected in Abuja to negotiate a way out with the NNPC.

Power

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November deadline to meter electricity customers final - NERC

A residential estate

OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, metering,” NERC said in a statement obtained by Abuja

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he Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, says its directive to the 11 electricity distribution companies or Discos in the country to provide meters to all the maximum demand consumers under their networks over the next five months was final, warning that erring Discos would face serious sanctions.

The commission said it was acting in line with the agreement it reached with the Discos on the metering conditions of the consumers and that failure of the Discos to comply with the decisions reached during meetings would attract severe penalties from December 1, 2016.

“Discos (are) to provide meters for all maximum demand meter customers within their networks not later than the last quarter of 2016 as agreed during the meeting it had with them on

SweetcrudeReports in Abuja.

According to the commission, maximum demand electricity customers are categorised as those connected on the 11Kv (high tension wire) electricity lines, mostly with their dedicated transformers. They include heavy users of electricity like commercial business plazas, small scale industries and others.

The commission said its decision to sanction Discos that may default on its directive was sequel to rising complaints from all categories of electricity customers over estimated bills they considered irreconcilable with the available power supply in the networks operated by the Discos.

It noted that while some of the maximum demand customers had indicated their willingness to key into its makeshift metering plan, the Credit Advance Payment for Metering Initiative CAPMI, which permits willing electricity customers to pay

Prepaid electricity meter

The commission said its decision to sanction Discos that may default on its directive was sequel to rising complaints from all categories of electricity customers over estimated bills they considered irreconcilable for meter by advancing money to Discos who then install meters to them within 45 days, the Discos have reportedly remained reluctant to accept their requests.

“The Commission frowned at Discos refusal to meter their maximum demand customers under the CAPMI. Customer who subscribes to CAPMI has (to be) refunded his money with interest through discounted electricity bills

over a period of time.

“The Commission in its directives observed that most of the Discos have refused to accept maximum demand customers under CAPMI scheme. Meanwhile, maximum demand customers are fewer in number than the other categories of customers and should have been easily dispensed with by the Discos,” the statement added.

It also quoted NERC's acting

head, Dr. Anthony Akah, who signed off the order as saying that “any customer who approaches your Disco for metering under CAPMI scheme must have their meters within CAPMI stipulated timeline of 45 days.

The scheme remains as an option for customers but a compulsory requirement for Discos to implement when a customer offers to contribute to metering through CAPMI.” Akah also stated that Discos are expected to provide a meter for all maximum demand meter customers on their networks not later than November 30, 2016 and that any of them who wants to subscribe to the CAPMI during the moratorium period should be allowed.

He, therefore, reminded the Discos that they have their performance agreement which includes their metering plans and which they must obey.

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Electricity workers

Govt orders monthly rating of Discos on safety, payment performance

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h e F e d e r a l Government has directed the Nigerian Electricity Management Services, NEMSA, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader, NBET, a n d t h e M a r k e t O p e r a t o r / Tr a n s m i s s i o n Company of Nigeria, TCN/MO, to implement a ranking criteria in order to assess the safety and payment performance of electricity distribution companies or Discos operating in Nigeria.

This latest directive arose from key issues that were thrown up at the monthly meetings of stakeholders in the power sector for the month of June, which held at Shiroro Hydroelectric Plant in Niger State.

The directive was issued by Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, and his concern is sequel to the rising spate of electrocutions cases, especially as recently reported on locations under the control of Eko and Abuja Discos.

The minister opined that the distribution companies should embark on system upgrade to reduce or totally eliminate this hazard, thereby reducing the incidence of electrocution and other related accidents.

The report compiled for the month of May showed that Port Harcourt Disco ranks first in safety compliance, the ministry said in a statement to our

correspondent.

In order to assist Discos with their infrastructure upgrade plans, Fashola directed them to take ownership of abandoned transformers and sub- stations in their domain.

This, he assured, will help them to energize their networks, thereby increasing availability of power supply to households.

“Owing to obvious constraints, the ranking for payment performance will commence in June, hence the full ranking for metering loss reduction and service delivery will be made

Owing to obvious constraints, the ranking for payment performance will commence in June, hence the full ranking for metering loss reduction and service delivery will be made public in July, 2016,” the ministry further explained

public in July, 2016,” the ministry further explained.

It would be recalled that the minister, on assumption of duty, instituted the regular/ monthly operators in the electricity industry’s meeting, premised on a hands on approach to identifying.

This is the sixth time in a roll for such an exercise to be carried out since the commencement of the monthly performance audit of the sector, and the next one has been slated for July 11, 2016, at the Benin Distribution Company in Benin City.

Nigeria-China Business Council urges ban on imported meters

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he Nigeria-China Business Council has called on the Federal Government to ban the importation of prepaid meters to promote indigenous production of the device.

The National co-coordinator of the council, Mr Mattew Uwakwe, made the call in Abuja as spoke against the background of complaints by indigenous smart meter manufacturers that their capacity has been underutilised due to very low patronage from the government and the electricity boards.

He said that Nigeria would benefit more if it was to manufacture pre-paid meters locally and not import them. "Our own position as a council is if you are giving some people licence to manufacture (pre-paid meters) and they are manufacturing, how come you will at the same time give people licence to import (pre-paid meters).

" B ec a us e it i s m ore b en efic ia l t o manufacture those things than to import (them). When people go to import (pre-paid meters) some of them come back with substandard products.

"But, when it is manufactured in Nigeria and we have our own youths, who have been trained – they (manufacturers) will follow the guidelines and manufacture them according to the standard,’’ he said.

Uwakwe said Skyrun Industrial Company Limited that manufactures prepaid meters in the country had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with some state government to produce such meters for their states.

He then advised that other states should collaborate with the company to produce prepaid meters.

Electricity meter

Power

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Nigeria can’t afford solar power - Fashola

A solar power installation technician

OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, market prices in Nigeria, it is a little more expensive than Abuja

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inister of P o w e r , Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has says the Federal Government cannot afford to fund wide-scale energy produced by solar power.

Fashola explained that it would cost the government an estimated N3 billion ($150 million) if it were to consider funding solar power projects and their consumption in the country.

The minister said this in Abuja when he was addressed by a group of 14 solar power promoters in an efforts to clear existing challenges to investment in the use of solar power in the country.

He said: “Solar is one of the options for incremental power in line with our road map for the sector from incremental, to steady, to uninterrupted power. So we are looking at every place we can to get energy.

“People have often said why can't they have solar power, the reason is that solar power also comes at a cost. At today's

gas power.”

Fashola stated that government appreciates the challenges faced by solar power promoters, however, it was not considering to pay out the mentioned amount on a monthly basis for consumption of power generated from their solar plants.

The minister instead recommended that the solar promoters should consider securing bulk electricity consumers whom they can sell their outputs to at prices that would guarantee them their bottom lines.

Fashola also noted the positives about solar power prices in comparison to other tariffs of various energy resources.

He said, “The good thing about solar is that the price seldom never goes up, it stays fixed or comes down but the entry market price now is 17 cents per kWh and if multiplied at N200, it is about N34 which is much more expensive than the current gas tariffs.

“So, we are trying to bring that down and the operators have a lot of enthusiasm of

The minister instead recommended that the solar promoters should consider securing bulk electricity consumers whom they can sell their outputs to at prices that would guarantee them their bottom lines

trying to see to see how they can review some of the prices.

They are trying to see if there will be off-takers who would take at the price.

“They are also suggesting to us that as government maybe we can intervene by taking off VAT, import duty charges and give them a waiver on the components that they import.

They are also asking for possible access to some central bank financed loans that reduce the cost of money.”

Govt to clear MDAs' N93bn electricity debts by end of year

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inister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, says the Federal Government plans to pay off legacy electricity debts owed to the 11 electricity distribution companies, DISCOs, in the country by its ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, before the end of the year.

The minister revealed this at the public dialogue organised by the Kukah Centre in Abuja, noting that government must live by example if it expects its citizens to do the right thing.

“We are in the process of winding down MDAs debt, I have written to the debt management office and I got a response from them proposing options to wind down the debts and I think as government, we must live by example, If we ask people to pay for what they use, then we must pay as well and I am determined to ensure that we do that,” Fashola revealed.

He explained that the Ministry of Defence, through the minister, was also acting in concert, adding that, “It is something we hope that before the end of the year, we wind

down.”

The 11 Discos through the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, ANED, have said that government’s MDAs owed about N93 billion in unpaid electricity bills over the years.

A breakdown of the debt profile showed that the Nigerian Army is the largest debtor with about N38 billion as at April ending, followed by the Nigerian Airforce with N3.09 billion, Navy N3.3 billion, Police N4.66 billion, Customs 528.78 million and Prisons N895.6 million.

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Power transmission lines

TCN embarks on grid capacity expansion to curtail system collapse

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he Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, has c o m m e n c e d expansion of its grid capacity with the objective of wheeling generated power from electricity generation companies or Gencos operating in the country.

Currently, the grid stability is impaired due to lack of adequate generation, the

Three specific short term projects were identified as “quick win” projects that should be completed with the least amount of money and yet have maximum impact on the transmission network

Hoteliers want disconnection from PHEDC over outrageous bills, irregular power

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ospitality industries under the umbrella body of the Nigerian Hotel Association, Rivers State Chapter, have asked the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company, PHEDC, to disconnect power supply to all hotels operating in the state due to high electricity tariff and irregular power supply from the company.

Rivers State Chairman of the association, Mr. Eugene Nwaozi, expressed the hospitality industries' displeasure over the epileptic power supply and increased electricity charges while

briefing newsmen at the end of a meeting of operators of hotels in the state.

Nwaozi explained that the decision for all hotels to be disconnected is a result of the failure of the PHEDC to revert to its former billing rate.

He restated that the management of PHEDC should inform the National Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, that hotels in Rivers State were not liable to any electricity bills from the June 17, 2016.

Said he: "The new electricity tariff is not realistic, hence we cannot afford it. We have had series of consultations,

engagement and deliberations with PHEDC and we are saying that they should disconnect us because we cannot pay anymore. We do not have the money, business is very slow. Everyone knows the economic downturn facing the country at large and Rivers State in particular.

"We do not have money to pay outrageous bills. For instance, for a hotel that used to pay N8.9 million before, PHEDC is now giving that hotel N20 million bill per month; for a hotel that used to pay N80,000 before, now PHEDC is giving them N700,000 to pay for a month.’’.

company said, adding that it will continue to work at averting the collapse of the system.

Three specific short term projects were identified as “quick win” projects that should be completed with the least amount of money and yet have maximum impact on the transmission network.

A statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja noted that a recent retreat to address the issue critically a n a l y s e d t h e c o m p a n y ’s strengths, weaknesses and areas to be improved upon as well as opportunities available for improved service delivery, sustained capacity development and stability in the nation’s transmission network.

The retreat observed that though the company has the capacity to wheel maximum generation from Gencos to Discos, there is the need to further expand its grid capacity so as to ensure that it continues to surpass the generation curve.

These quick win projects would be given highest priority attention in order to improve the network and increase return on investment, a communique issued at the end of the programme, the

company noted.

The projects include the installation of a 60MVA, 330/132/33kV power transformer at the Ife transmission Substation which is expected to be completed within three months, adding 48MW to the nation’s transmission capacity.

Also, it will embark on repair and installation of 60No defective 33kV circuit breakers which would be completed within six months and on completion enhance the grid wheeling capacity with about 28,800MWH (megawatt hour).

These projects, when completed will increase TCN wheeling charges by over N700 million, TCN said.

Another important decision of the meeting was the urgent need to empower the regions, increase their autonomy and set Key Performance Indicators through which they can be monitored and held accountable.

A change management process would also be instituted to address staff attitude to work, remove bottlenecks in TCN's payment process, identify and close skill gaps through staff training with emphasis on-the-job training.

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Pipeline vandalism: Govt to accelerate work on 4 hydro power plants

Kashimbila hydropower station in Taraba State - A 40MW multipurpose dam

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s pipelines carrying gas to power plants come under intense attacks by militants in the Niger Delta region, the Federal Government said it will accelerate work on four hydropower plants in order to boost electricity supply in the country.

The government will increase work on Gurara hydropower plant phase one and phase two, Zungeru, Dadin Kowa and Mambilla power plants to solve the energy problem, according to Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola.

F a s h o l a s a i d hydroelectricity would help replace the country's diesel generating fleet, which has proven vulnerable as fuel supply lines have fallen victim to vandalism and theft.

He noted that continuous vandalism of gas pipelines and infrastructure across the country had forced government to explore other alternative sources of energy.

The minister, who spoke at the launch of Building Energy Efficiency Guideline,

BEEG, for Nigeria, assured that developing alternative source of energy by government would make it impossible to hold Nigeria to ransom in future by controlling any particular source of fuel for electricity.

According to him, “We have seen from events that started from around the 14th of February this year, repeated acts of vandalism on our gas pipelines and infrastructure that renders us clearly vulnerable to one source of fuel for our energy development.

“That has challenged us to develop options, alternatives – solar in particular and of course hydropower plants in more quantitative response.

So we will be accelerating work on project like Gurara hydropower plant phase one and phase two.”

He added that, “Work has started on Zungeru hydropower plant. We will also be accelerating work on Dadin Kowa power plant, as we will on Mambilla power plant which will give us the biggest single electrification source over a period of seven years that it is estimated to take to conclude it.

The projects in Fashola's

call include the 3,050MW Mambilla, 700MW Zungeru, 250MW Gurara, and 35MW Dadin Kowa projects -- all of which the minister said he hopes to see inaugurated within the next seven years.

The largest of the projects, Mambilla, has been in development since at least

1982, with the government even awarding a US$3,8 billion contract to China Gezhouba Group Co. Ltd. and Sinohydro in 2007. Efforts to begin construction, however, have stalled a number of times since then.

The Nigerian government signed a deal with the

Export-Import Bank of China in 2013 to finance Zungeru, though that project too has subsequently failed to move forward as anticipated.

The proposed Dadin Kowa was included as part of the government's call for reviews last June, though work has yet to begin on it as well.

TCN reports completion of 20 power projects

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he Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, has reported the completion of 20 projects targeted at improving power supply nationwide.

The company reported this at the recent monthly meeting of power sector operators and regulators, the oil and gas companies and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, in Kano.

According to TCN, the completed projects are in Gwagwalada, Kaduna, Afam, Apo, Lekki and Omotosho and their completion is expected to improve power distribution in Abuja and Lagos.

TCN, at the meeting, also expressed commitment to restoring power to Maiduguri, Borno State’s capital, in the next month after a long period of outage, as well as the need to shut down the 300mw Okpai power plant so that a tower which was earlier vandalised could be repaired to restore a 55km transmission line.

At the meeting also, the hydroelectric power stations (Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro)

agreed to work with TCN to boost output during the two-week outage period to minimise the effect of the outage.

In furtherance of aggressive metering plans, the meeting commended Kano Disco for the launch of 68,000 out of its 100,000 meter roll out plan for 2016.

The meeting recognised the need for the Discos to reinvigorate their efforts to replace obsolete transformers and deploy new ones where necessary so that communities are not required to provide transformers at their own expense in order to get service they are prepared to pay for.

The meeting also deliberated on safety rankings presented by Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, and the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, NEMSA (the power sector regulators) which will henceforth be circulated monthly.

The Port Harcourt Disco was commended for ranking first in safety in the month of May.

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Citi Bank

KUNLE KALEJAYE

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igeria's downstream petroleum operations is currently threatened by $950 million mature foreign currency obligation debt owed by oil marketers to foreign banks.

In finance, matured financial obligation is the loan due to a financial institution while maturity date refers to the final payment date of a loan or other financial instrument, at which point the principal (and all remaining interest) is due to be paid.

Oil marketers had earlier collected offshore loans from Citi Bank, among others, to import petroleum products at the rate of N195 to a dollar. Due to the current flexible exchange rate policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, oil marketers are being asked to pay their debts and interests at the rate of N280 to a dollar.

This development, it was learnt, has forced foreign banks to suspend short and medium-term credit lines to their Nigerian counterparts due to the inability of marketers to pay the

Nigeria's oil marketers owe foreign banks $950m matured foreign currency obligations of over $950 million.

Unless the Federal Government intervened in the payment of the money, SweetcrudeReports gathered that the country might soon be faced with severe fuel shortage as marketers will be force to rely on Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, supply which they claim have always been inadequate.

CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, had earlier assured that Nigeria will continue to meet matured financial obligations to foreign investors and her international trading partners.

Speaking on the current challenges facing the downstream oil sector at a forum organised by the Petroleum Downstream Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, LCCI, Chief Executive Officer, Integrated Oil and Gas, Captain Emmanuel

Iheanacho said nobody can stomach collecting a an offshore loan at the rate of N197 to dollar and being asked to pay back at the rate of N280 to a dollar with cumulative interest.

“It is a huge loss and nobody can stomach it. I think at this point in time, the CBN governor is fully aware of the problem and I

rather suspect that he is doing something about it.

"It is not a question of whether to meet marketers half way because there was an agreement that the product was sold at N197 and you cannot say now that because there is change in the exchange rate you will now exchange the one dollar at N280.

“What one is saying is that if there was an agreement that FX (Foreign Exchange) is supplied at a certain rate, that is the rate that should prevail. I think the CBN governor knows about it and at this point in time he is doing something about it,” Iheanacho said.

Nigeria wants more collaboration with China Exim Bank with which you treat our applications and the

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igeria is seeking more collaboration with the Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim) to increase two way trade between the two countries, Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun has said.

Speaking in Abuja while receiving China’s Vice Minister of Commerce, Mr Qian Keming, Adeosun noted that the Bank had financed some very important projects for Nigeria.

"We are grateful for the speed

seriousness with which you take Nigeria and we look forward to doing so much with you in this new phase of our development,’’ the minister said.

Adeosun said that Nigeria was experiencing a very interesting time in its economic history and that it was coming out of one of the most challenging periods it had seen recently.

She, however, said that there were opportunities in agriculture, industrialisation, health, manufacturing and education and in the general provision of infrastructure that could still be tapped.

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Govt loses $9bn to sharp practices in oil and gas sector —NEITI

Oil facility OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, solid minerals sector in Abuja.

Abuja He said Nigeria lost 5.9

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xecutive Secretary, N i g e r i a Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, Mr. Waziri Adio, has disclosed that the country lost at least $9 billion in 2013 to sharp financial practices in the oil and gas sector.

Adio stated this while briefing the Senate on the agency's 2013 audit report on the oil and gas sector and

billion dollars and N20 billion to inefficient practices and theft, among other things, and that 1.7 billion dollars is still owed to the federation from oil mining leases, OML. "In 2013 the country produced 800.3 million barrels and out of that, the country made 58.07 billion dollars and that represents an eight-percent reduction from the 62.9 billion dollars the country made in 2012.

"The issue is that there are some monies that were withheld, lost or underpaid for

different reasons. The first is in the category of the nonremitted, and the nonremitted amounted to 3.8 billion dollars and N358 million.

"The second category is the category of losses. Because of some inefficient practices and theft among other things, the country lost 5.9 billion dollars and N20 billion. The N20 billion was lost because the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) did not observe the 90 days credit grace."

He added that "Looking at

the time value of money if you calculate at 12 per cent interest, the country lost N20 billion. "Under the category of the under-assessed, the country lost 599.8 million dollars".

"When we look at the nonremitted, 1.7 billion dollars is still being owed the federation for OMLs. Those are the monies we have established that should have been paid to the federation but was not paid," he said.

Mr Adio also said that the audit report revealed that the NNPC divested some monies that should have been

Oando's profit up N4.1bn in Q1

I

ndigenous energy group, Oando Plc, has announced an increase of N4.1 billion on its Profit After Tax, PAT, in an unaudited results for the three months period ended 31 March, 2016.

The results were delayed due to an audit process overseen by external auditors, Ernst & Young, and extension approvals were sought and received by Oando from the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and the Financial Reporting Council, FRC. The N4.1 billion increase, according to company, represents a 120 percent rise compared to figures for the first quarter 2015.

Oando's financial highlights for the first three months of this year also indicate that turnover decreased by 34 percent, with N64.0 billion realised compared to N97.1 billion for the same period last year.

The company noted that fluctuation in the global crude pricing has changed the corporate landscape for oil companies, and has had far-reaching economic implications on the company and many other indigenous firms in the industry.

It said first quarter results were a welcome contrast for investors and shareholders alike following its dismal 2015 financial performance which was significantly impacted by impairments and foreign exchange pressures.

Commenting in a statement issued by the company, Mr. Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive Officer, Oando Plc, spoke of the company’s drive to ensure profitability going forward. “This first quarter of 2016 demonstrates our

dedication to return our business to profitability by the end of 2016.

"We have implemented constructive corporate initiatives which are driving forces for our business in this new global reality of economic restraint and lower oil prices in our industry.

"The successful and ongoing implementation of these initiatives reiterates our strategy of growth, deleverage and a return to profitability by the end of 2016.”

transferred to the federation account.

According to him, "NNPC, between 2010 and 2011, divested eight assets that belong to the federation to its upstream subsidiary, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC). So, NNPC divested 55 per cent of the shares being held on behalf of the federation to the NPDC. These eight OMLS are valued at 1.8 billion dollars by Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

"NPDC paid only 100 million dollars out of the 1.8 billion dollars, meaning there is an outstanding of 1.7 billion dollars and even the 100 million dollars was paid two years after.

"What this means is that NNPC lifted oil on behalf of NPDC not on behalf of the federation in spite of the fact that NPDC has not fully paid for those assets," he said.

The NEITI boss remarked that "Another issue is the losses incurred from swap and crude oil offshore processing agreement (OPA). This is the arrangement where NNPC exchanges crude for product and the country lost 518 million dollars due to the inefficiency of the swap and OPA.”

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Finance

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OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria

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h e Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, has reported a current account deficit of $99.6 billion last year compared to a $238.1 billion surplus in 2014. This is the first time since 1998 the cartel has shown a collective budget deficit.

The negative effect of the 1998 financial crisis on Asian economies and competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia for market share forced OPEC prices down to $10 per barrel. By 2014, crude prices had risen to $115 per barrel before collapsing to $27 per barrel this January. Oil has since rebounded to the current $50.

OPEC’s oil revenues were down by nearly half last year, falling 45.8 percent from 2014 to $518.2 billion, the lowest since 2005. The cartel’s exports slid in value by 29.1 percent year-onyear, while total imports declined by 8.7 percent.

According to the OPEC report, global crude demand was 93 million barrels per day last year, up 1.7 percent.

The biggest upsurge in demand took place in the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

The biggest OPEC loser from falling revenues was Venezuela, which has a budget deficit of about 20

OPEC posts first collective deficit in 18 years percent of the country’s GDP. On average, the OPEC Reference Basket cost $49.49 per barrel last year, down from $96.29 the year before. The last time OPEC's crude was that cheap was in 2004.

In 2015, the largest oil producing countries were Saudi Arabia (10.19 million bpd, Russia (10.11 million bpd) and the United States

(9.43 million bpd). Overall, global crude production grew 1.75 million bpd, the second-highest increase in a decade.

The US increased output by 0.72 million bpd last year. The 8.3 percent growth in American oil production was the biggest increase in the world. UK oil production grew by 0.10

million bpd, or 13.4 percent, for the first time since 1999.

Meanwhile, Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin said over the weekend that he believes internal strife has severely curbed OPEC’s market power.

Sechin told Reuters that cartels have lost their control over the oil market and added that OPEC “has practically stopped existing as a united

organization.”

Russia was among the country’s that met with OPEC and non-OPEC representatives in April to try to secure a production freeze deal in the hopes of supporting oil prices.

Those efforts failed after Saudi Arabia said it would not participate in a deal if Iran did not sign on.

Iranian officials did not attend the meeting.

AfDB introduces online tool to track projects in Africa

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he African Development Bank, AfDB, has launched an innovative and interactive online tool that enables the global audience to view a snapshot of how the Bank’s projects are contributing to the development of Africa’s economies.

The tool dubbed, ‘MapAfrica 2.0’ is an interactive online portal that shows where the Bank is making an impact on the continent and how 800 of the Bank’s projects relate to its “High 5” development priorities.

The priority projects include Light Up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialise Africa, Integrate Africa, and improve the quality of life for the African people.

The Bank said in a statement that the online tool will provide the Bank’s stakeholders a better understanding of how the Bank’s activities contribute to local development and helps the organisation to ensure it allocates its resources to greatest effect.

The online tool was launched in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire,

during the second meeting of the Fourteenth Replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF14), as part of the Results Measurement Framework presentation, the Bank said.

Simon Mizrahi, Director of the AfDB’s Quality Control and Results Department, said at the launch: “This dynamic tool enables the Bank to provide transparent and equal access to its work across Africa. It is an effort to showcase our results and to track our projects on the ground.”

“MapAfrica 2.0, which uses standards laid down by the International Aid Transparency Initiative, reflects the Bank’s commitment to openness, which has seen the AfDB ranked, in April 2016, for the third consecutive year as one of the world’s 10 most open and transparent organisations, by Publish What You Fund,” the Bank explained.

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Finance

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he Pipeline and P r o d u c t s Marketing C o m p a n y , PPMC, earned N86.183 billion from the sale of petroleum products in March 2015, data obtained from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has revealed.

The NNPC, in its Monthly Finance and Operations Report, disclosed that the PPMC, which has now been rechristened Nigerian Product Marketing Company, NPMC, earned N85.66 from the sale of white products, while it earned N522.036 million from the sale of other special products.

Giving a breakdown of the figures, the report stated that the PPMC’s revenue from Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, and Dual Purpose Kerosene, DPK, stood at N78.356 billion, N4.054 billion and N3.251 billion respectively.

On the other hand, the report noted that the PPMC earned N428.516 million from the sale of Low Pour Fuel Oil, LPFO, and N93.52 million from the sale of other special products.

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PPMC earns N86bn from petroleum products sale Furthermore, the NNPC explained that total revenues generated from the sales of white products for April 2015 to March 2016 stood at N775.90 billion where PMS contributed about 88.85 per cent of the revenues collected with a value of N689.41 billion.

Specifically, the report stated that that the PPMC sold a total of 1.126 billion

litres of petroleum products in March 2016, with white products sales accounting for 1.116 billion litres and Special Products accounting for 10.02 million litres.

On a product-by-product basis, 1.027 billion litres, 42.312 million litres and 46.63 million litres of PMS, AGO and DPK were sold by the PPMC in the period under review, while 8.34

million litres of LPFO and 1.68 million litres of other special products were sold in the period under review.

“Total sale of white products for the period April 2015 to March 2016 stands at 9.86 billion litres, PMS (8.48 billion litres) accounts for 86.07%. The Tables and Charts below provide more details of white products sold

by NNPC/PPMC for the period April 2015 to March 2016. While total special products for the period under review was 10.02 million litres, comprising 8.34 million litres of special products and 1.68 million litres of Bunker products,” the NNPC report added.

Nigeria-South Korea trade volume rises above $4bn

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igeria-South Korea trade and bilateral relationship have continued to grow since the formal establishment of ties in 1980 as ?the recent volume of trade between both countries is said to have risen above four billion US dollar?.

Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG’s, General Manager, External Relations, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, made the assertion during a visit of the NLNG team to the South Korea Embassy.

Eresia-Eke added that Nigeria has also become South Korea’s 52nd largest export market and its 30th biggest source of imports.

He disclosed that the team was at the embassy to give a presentation on NLNG's model of Corporate Social

Responsibility, CSR, to the business community of South Korea based on request. ?He explained that the invitation of the embassy was inspired by the impact of NLNG’s efforts in improving the lives of its host communities and numerous other stakeholders in the country.

"The main secret to the company’s CSR success was its commitment to being a trusted partner with all its stakeholders for the sustainable development of Nigeria and its host communities," Eresia-Eke said.

The Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Noh Kyu-duk, who led the delegation of top Korean diplomats and senior executives of the major Korean companies in Nigeria, commended the CSR work of the company.

Labour

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Renewable energy employs 8.1 million people worldwide —Report

Renewable energy sources SAM IKEOTUONYE

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e n e w a b l e energy jobs are on the rise even as employment in the broader energy sector is falling, according to a report by the International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA. According to the report, more than 8.1 million people worldwide are now employed by the renewable energy industry – a five percent increase from last year.

The report released at agency's 11th Council meeting in Abu Dhabi, titled, 'Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2016' provided a global estimate of the number of jobs supported by large hydropower, with a conservative estimate of an additional 1.3 million direct jobs worldwide.

“The continued job growth in the renewable energy sector is significant because it stands in contrast to trends across the energy sector,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z.

Amin. “This increase is being driven by declining renewable energy technology costs and enabling policy frameworks.

We expect this trend to continue as the business case for renewables strengthens and as countries move to achieve their climate targets agreed in Paris.”

In the United States for example, renewable energy jobs increased 6 per cent while employment in oil and gas decreased 18 per cent.

Likewise in China,

renewable energy employed 3.5 million people, while oil and gas employed 2.6 million.

As in previous years, enabling policy frameworks remained a key driver of employment. National and state auctions in India and Brazil, tax credits in the United States and favourable policies in Asia have all contributed to employment increases.

Countries with the most renewable energy jobs in 2015 included China, Brazil, the United States, India, Japan

Why industry employers should put redundancy on hold —PENGASSAN

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he Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, says despite agreement that employers in the oil and gas sector should put on hold redundancy in the industry, the management of some

services companies are still engaged in the practice.

This was one of the labour issues raised by PENGASSAN in threatening recently to shut down operations and activities in the nation’s oil and gas industry.

Spokesperson of the association, Emmanuel

Ojugbana, who disclosed this, decried the continued practice.

He also stated that despite tripartite agreement between the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, employers, and the two trade unions in the industry – PENGASSAN and the National Union of

Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, some employers still went ahead to sack workers.

Ojugbana called on the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, to direct that a clear policy statement be established against frequent redundancy plans by operators.

and Germany. The solar photovoltaic, PV, sector remains the largest renewable energy employer worldwide with 2.8 million jobs (up from 2.5 at last count) with jobs in m a n u f a c t u r i n g , installation and operations and maintenance.

Liquid biofuels was the second largest global employer with 1.7 million jobs, followed by wind power, which grew 5 per cent to reach 1.1 million global jobs.

Strong wind installation rates in China, the United States and Germany drove a 5 per cent increase in global employment to reach 1.1 million jobs. Wind employment in the United States alone rose by 21 per cent.

Jobs in liquid biofuels, solar heating and cooling, and large and small hydropower decreased due to various factors including increased mechanisation, slowing housing markets, the removal of subsidies and the drop in new installations.

Labour

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Ngige OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, Abuja

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he Nigeria L a b o u r Congres, NLC, has decried the n o n constitution of the proposed committees on the new national minimum wage and other palliatives by the government, dismissing media reports that the committee has started work.

NLC’s President Comrade Ayuba Wabba said in a statement in Abuja that while the government agreed to constitute two committees to address issues raised by organised labour following increase in the pump price of petrol, the committee on the review of the national minimum wage has not been constituted by the government.

He said the stories in the media about the committee beginning its work was not only false and misleading, but mischievous.

According to him, considering the sensitive nature of the issue, the story is alarmist, and constitutes an unnecessary overheating of the polity, saying “to the best of our knowledge, government accepted to set up two committees as a result of the major protest action by Labour following the increase in the pump price of petroleum products from N86:50 to N145.

“These committees are Palliatives Committee and National Minimum Wage Committee. Broadly-

Post-fuel price hike:

No committees on minimum wage, palliatives, NLC laments speaking, they are to make recommendations to government on how to cushion the harsh effects brought on the people by the sharp increase in the pump price of petroleum products as well as address other issues connected with the workings of the institutions in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, especially the PPPRA. “Similarly, the committees are to make recommendations on other challenges militating against the regular supply of

petroleum products. The acceptance of government to set up these committees was part of the process of addressing the concerns of labour."

He added that, “On June 2, 2016, the Committee on Palliatives was inaugurated by the secretary to the Government of the Federation. An inaugural meeting chaired by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige held thereafter during which it was agreed that a

tripartite committee (comprising representatives of Government, Employers and Labour) on a new National Minimum Wage be set up in line with extant laws and procedure.

“Organised Labour had taken the position that in order to deepen its presentation, it would consult widely with its affiliate unions. Although the framework or the outline of the work of the committee and its membership were discussed, the committee was

not constituted.

“Part of the explanation for this was that the annual International Labour Conference in Geneva to which the stakeholders in Labour were invited was already in progress and members had to travel to Geneva.

“We have no doubt that with the stakeholders back from Geneva, the committee will be constituted in line with the established law, convention and practice.”

NUPENG blames tanker accidents on bad roads

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he Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has called on the Federal Government to ensure its change agenda reflects on roads across the country.

The oil workers' union made the call in Port Harcourt during a training organised by its national body for tanker drivers in the Eastern zone, tagged, ‘Safe Driving, Accident Effects and Prevention’.

Speaking to newsmen at the programme, the National President of NUPENG, Igwe Achese, attributed the repeated cases of tanker accidents to the deplorable nature of roads in the country.

The union leader urged governments at all levels to take fixing of roads as a priority, emphasising that the Federal Government's change agenda should reflects on

roads.

According to him, if roads are fixed, the number of tanker accidents recorded would reduce drastically.

Achese, however, implored tanker drivers to change their attitudes on the usage of the roads.

He said: “The nature of our roads is a real contributory factor to tanker accidents which we are experiencing. It is unfortunate that we are expecting change to have effect on our roads but that has not been realised and this over one year.

“But, we are still confident that change will come, but it should have impact on the road infrastructure. We are also happy that the budget has been approved; its implementation is what we are watching and how it is going to have impact on the roads which we use daily.”

Labour MKPOIKANA UDOMA, Port Harcourt

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abour unions and civil society organisations have expressed opposition to two bills sent by Rivers State governor, Mr. Nyesom Wike to the State House Assembly for passage into law.

The bills are the Rivers State Taxes and Levies (Miscellaneous Provision) and Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Bill.

The House of Assembly recently convened a public hearing to present the two new bills which was forwarded by Governor Wike to boost internal revenue of the state following the dwindling allocation from the Federal Government.

The bill, which would result in increase in the taxation of micro, small, medium and large-scale enterprises in the state, had already passed first and second reading before the public hearing was set up.

The Trade Union Congress, TUC; the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN; the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, PHCCIMA; Civil Liberties Organisation and the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, all rejected the bills, maintaining that they would amount to double taxation if passed into law.

In his submission, while appearing before the State House of Assembly, the Port Harcourt Zonal Chairman of PENGASSAN, Mr. Azubuike Azubuike, said, rather than introduce additional tax systems, the state government should improve o n s e c u r i t y a n d infrastructural development in the state to attract more

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

TUC, PENGASSAN, PHCCIMA reject Rivers' tax bills

Gov. Wike investors.

Similarly, the Trade Union Congress said the bills are illtimed, unnecessary and not in the overall interest of the people and economy of Rivers State.

The chairman of TUC in

Rivers State, Comrade Chika Onuegbu said, “The fact is that both bills are coming at a time when the Nigerian economy is facing severe pressures; and businesses and people are finding it very difficult to survive.

The fact is that both bills are coming at a time when the Nigerian economy is facing severe pressure; and businesses and people are finding it very difficult to survive

"As we speak, many families in Rivers State do not know where the next meal will come from. Hunger and hopelessness is on the rise.

People are losing their jobs every single day. And the economic pressures on the workers and the ordinary people are not abating. As we speak, businesses in Rivers State are struggling to survive".

Also, the Chairman of Civil Liberties Organisation, Mr. Sotonye George, in his address to the House advised that the bill be dropped, stating that it will cripple the micro economy of the state.

According to him, business

men and women were battling with all kinds multiple and double taxation, difficult operating environment and the rising and unacceptable level of insecurity in Rivers state.

The two laws, he said, would do the state no good as many businesses were already closing down or relocating to more business friendly states as he stressed that the few businesses remaining in Rivers State might be forced to close shop and seek alternative locations in other states if and when these two tax laws become effective.

Labour warns against diversion of petroleum products in Rivers

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he Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has frowned at repeated cases of diversion of petroleum products meant for Rivers State which often results to scarcity in the state.

The union therefore appealed to the independent marketers Branch to arrest diversion of products meant for the Port Harcourt zone of the union which is made up of nine states, including Abia, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Enugu and Delta states.

Acting chairman of NUPENG, Port Harcourt Zone, Mr. Charles Eleto, made the

appeal when the Independent Marketers branch of NUPENG paid him a courtesy visit at the weekend.

Eleto, who himself is a product of the Independent Marketers Branch of NUPENG, said he will complement the efforts of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, and the Rivers State Ministry of Energy Resources, by not allowing the zone to experience scarcity of petroleum products.

He said the appeal is imperative since the independent marketers are the ones in charge in the depots before petroleum products are despatched to various destinations.

"The Independent Marketers Branch of NUPENG are the ones working directly at the depots; before any product is dispatched to anywhere, without them signing the waybill on behalf of the marketers, that product will not leave the depot to any destination.

"Any product that is allocated to Rivers State and other nine states of the Port Harcourt zone should not be diverted to other states. If the product is meant for Rivers State, ensure it is not diverted because you want to make profit and suffer the masses.

"As long as I am the chairman of NUPENG, I will never allow any form of scarcity. The filling stations too should not sell above government's approved pump price,?" he said.

Solid Mineral

Ajaokuta Steel plant SAM IKEOTUONYE

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he Russian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. N i k o l a y Udovichenko, has said his country will help Nigeria resuscitate and complete the moribund Ajaokuta Steel project in Kogi State as part of his country's contribution to helping Nigeria's industrialisation.

According to him, Russia was also ready to assist Nigeria to overcome current challenges in other sectors of the economy, especially in the oil and gas industry.

Nikolay, who gave the assurance in his remarks at the 2016 Russia National Day celebration in Abuja, said a team of Russian engineers was ready to inject new technology into the steel mill to make it functional.

He noted that Nigeria, like many other oil producing nations across the world, was facing tough times due to the global decline in oil prices, as well as activities of militants in the Niger Delta, adding that Russia has had a lot of experience in managing challenges in the oil and gas industry.

He said that the

relationship between both countries had always been cordial, adding that the country had remained a dependable ally to Nigeria.

“Our relationship with Nigeria is based on mutual respect. On the security challenge, Nigeria can always count on Russia’s support.

You can always be sure that we are with you in all your challenges,” the envoy said.

According to him, Russia is also ready to partner Nigeria in restoring new technology in the oil and gas industry.

“Russia also gives

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

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Why Russia will help Nigeria resuscitate Ajaokuta Steel —Ambassador scholarships to many Nigerians annually to study in the country and will continue to support in the education sector,” he added.

The envoy, however, called on Nigeria’s businessmen to take advantage of the cordial relationship between the two countries to strengthen the trade relations between them.

The celebration was attended by members of the diplomatic and business communities and other top government functionaries.

Miners call for decentralisation of Cadastral Office

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he Miners Association of Nigeria, MAN, has called for the decentralisation of the Mining Cadastral Office, MCO, as provided for, in the Minerals and Mining Act, 2000.

National President of the association, Sani Shehu, who made the call, also urged a downward review of the recent increase in cadastral charges introduced by the Cadastral Office.

According to him, the review has become necessary in view of the many challenges confronting the industry players and to ensure that the Federal Government's dream of successfully diversifying the nation's economy would become reality.

“The Mining Cadastral Office, MCO, is also a product of the mining reform project in the sector. It is set up to

administer mining titles in accordance with the international best practice and guided by first – come, first- serve principle.

“Perhaps MCO is the most critical agency of government in terms of lawful mining practice and being the closest agency to the operator.

"It is in this regard that, we first of all, appeal to the ministry to decentralise the agency as provided for, in the Minerals and Mining Act, 2000," Shehu stated.

He added that the MCO had an outstanding culture of occasional consultation and information dissemination with the Miners Association of Nigeria, especially on issues that border on policy review, noting that the Association was consulted before the determination of minimum working capital.

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Solid Mineral

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Govt says increased industrialisation to drive steel demand

Steel plant

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he Federal Government has projected a steady increase in domestic demand for steel in Nigeria in the coming decade, saying this would be driven by increased industrialisation.

The government expects that industrialisation would ignite a surge in building construction, power, automotive construction, agriculture, road and bridge building, military technology and infrastructure development, refinery investments and other heavy duty machinery, to appreciably push up demand for steel in the country Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, disclosed this in London at a business forum organised by the Royal African Society.

The minister, who urged investors to take advantage of the country’s huge steel market, said iron ore and steel would account for the bulk of material inputs needed to industrialise Nigeria.

Quoting a recent report, the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan,

Fayemi said: “We project a steady increase in domestic demand for steel in Nigeria in the coming decade, driven by increased industrialisation that would ignite a surge in

building construction, power, automotive construction, agriculture, road and bridge building, military technology and i n f r a s t r u c t u r e

We project a steady increase in domestic demand for steel in Nigeria in the coming decade, driven by increased industrialisation that would ignite a surge in building construction, power, automotive construction, agriculture, road and bridge building

development, refinery investments and other heavy duty machinery.”

The minister, at the event, also disclosed that Nigeria would spend about $3 trillion over the next 30 years to fund the infrastructural needs of its growing economy, but added that the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan estimated Nigeria’s current core infrastructure stocks gap at $80 billion, based on international benchmarks.

A statement by the Senior Assistant to the minister on Media, Olayinka Oyebode, said Fayemi, who presented a

keynote address titled, “Mining for Prosperity: Fuelling Nigeria’s Industrialisation in the 21st Century,” said the i n v e s t m e n t o n infrastructure would allow Nigeria to close its current infrastructural gap and sustain an ideal infrastructure stock level of 70 per cent of GDP and build infrastructural assets across the seven critical sectors: roads, rail, ports, airports, power, water and ICT.

Solid minerals exported illegally —NEITI

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he Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, has revealed that while it is statutory that companies obtain official permits from the Ministry of Trade before they could export the nation's solid minerals, the commodities were being exported without such permits.

Also, according to NEITI, the Mines Inspectorate Department, MID, has been unable to effectively account for the volume of solid minerals mined and exported from the country.

According to an independent audit by NEITI, “The Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act 2007 require that any exporter of solid minerals must request for permit to export.

"The audit could not be provided with any evidence of request for permit to export minerals by the exporters".

“The audit has observed the incessant smuggling of solid minerals out of the country by middle men and smugglers.

“The audit has observed persistent activities of some foreign nationals operating in the sector that constitute significant buyers of the solid minerals that are mined by artisanal and small scale miners, illegal miners,” the NEITI said in the report.

It added: “The Mines Inspectorate Department does not use its own procedures and systems to collect and control production data reported by mining companies.”

Freight

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Oil tanker OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, Abuja

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ontracts for lifting Nigerian crude oil will begin to yield t a n g i b l e benefits for the Nigerian economy going by the renewed commitment by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry.

The Board estimated in 2013 that the Nigerian economy lost over $100 billion in five decades by allowing its crude oil to be carried exclusively by foreign owned tankers.

But rising from a recent workshop convened by the Board in Lagos on ‘Crude Oil Off-takers Nigerian Content Deliverables’, the agencies and other stakeholders pledged to grow the quantum of Nigerian Content in the lifting of Nigerian crude oil by working with Nigerian shipping stakeholders to develop in-country assets capacity that meets international standards.

They also agreed to ensure that companies that have invested in ownership of crude oil lifting vessels are

Nigeria lost $100bn on crude oil lifting in 50 years —NCDMB given first consideration in line with the provisions of the Nigerian Oil Industry Content Development, NOGICD, Act. According to a statement at the end of the workshop, NCDMB, NNPC and NIMASA also committed to explore the possibility of a joint fund as part of waiver mechanism which can be used to purchase or finance the building a Nigerian owned Crude Oil Lifting Tankers.

Another decision taken at the workshop was to properly d efine wha t const it ut es "spend" in crude oil lifting contracts for the purpose of complying with the target of 90 per cent industry spend within the Nigerian economy set for Very Large Crude Carriers, VLCCs, by the NOGICD Act. In his opening remarks at the workshop, the Acting Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr. Patrick Daziba Obah, described crude oil lifting and marketing as a major activity in the oil and gas value chain, despite the fact that Very Large Crude Carriers were highly capital intensive to acquire. He however, stressed that Nigeria will remain a major oil producer and not a major oil

business value adding nation if the citizens do not own VLCCs. While identifying opportunities for growing Nigerian Content in crude lifting, Obah noted that VLCCs require manning by certified crew while crude oil lifting attracts opportunities for financial, insurance, inspection and other services. Other spend points in the value chain include the use of lubes and maintenance of VLCCs. Obah, who was represented by the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Tunde Adelana explained that the

Board introduced Nigerian Content requirements for crude oil lifting in 2013 so as to maximise the value retention opportunities.

According to him, Nigerian Content requirements for crude lifting contracts required that tankers/vessels that are selected to lift Nigerian crude would grow Nigerian Equity Ownership, create sea time attachment for five Nigerian cadets and create employment and training opportunities and utilisation of Nigerian service providers such as financial, insurance, legal and inspection services.

He underscored the

The Board estimated in 2013 that the Nigerian economy lost over $100 billion in five decades by allowing its crude oil to be carried exclusively by foreign owned tankers

collaboration of NNPC in introducing the Nigerian Content requirements for crude lifting, assuring that the Board would intensify its monitoring of companies that secured Crude Oil Term Lifting Contracts to ensure their compliance with the requirements.

Speaking further, Adelana explained that the workshop was convened to harness the views of stakeholders and secure their collaboration towards deepening Nigerian Content implementation in crude oil lifting.

In his presentation, the General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) of the NNPC, Mr. Adokiye Tombomieye pledged the determination of NNPC to enhance Nigerian participation and maximise Nigerian Content in the lifting of Nigerian crude oil and charged Nigerian firms desirous of participating in the business to comply with the requisite standards with regards to the vessels they put forward in the tenders.

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100 Nigerian seafarers graduate from varsity in Philippines

Seafarers KUNLE KALEJAYE

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ne hundred seafarers studying under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme, NSDP, have graduated from the University of Perpetual Help, Philippines, after three years of study.

They were trained on the rudiments of ship sailing and other aspects of ship

maintenance.

Specifically, the 100 cadets graduated with degrees in Maritime Transport, Marine E n g i n e e r i n g a n d Navigational Technology.

They returned to the country on Monday, June 13.

Following their return, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has assured that they would be given cadets sea time to garner experience.

NIMASA Director-General,

Dr. Dakuku Peterside, who said plans had been concluded in this regard, disclosed that the sea time experience they would gain would lead to the issuance of Certificates of Competency to them, giving them the go ahead to commence a career as seamen.

Peterside congratulated them for successfully concluding their studies and returning home without any cases of misconduct.

The director general, who also commended the graduates for being good ambassadors of Nigeria, assured them of a hitch-free access to getting the necessary sea time experience that would make them complete seafarers.

“I must commend you all for being good ambassadors of Nigeria by not involving yourselves in any untoward act while in the Philippines.

As a responsible agency, we will complete what we started by making sure that you all

IMO compliance: Audit team submits interim report KUNLE KALEJAYE

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he International Maritime Organisation Member States Audit Scheme, IMSAS, has submitted an interim report after its week-long audit of the Nigerian maritime sector with a call on maritime stakeholders, especially the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, to develop and formalise a long term strategy for the implementation of IMO instruments in the country.

Presenting the interim report, the leader of the IMSAS team, Captain Yalscin Cahit, harped on the need for NIMASA to develop its systems noting that NIMASA has no problems with human resources as he lauded the

expertise, competence and commitment of the agency’s personnel.

He also drew attention to the need to fast-track enactment of regulations pursuant to IMO instruments for which Nigeria is party to.

Captain Cahit, who said issuance of regulations is critical to enforcement of IMO instruments, noted that the interim report has 11 findings and one observation.

He emphasised the need for NIMASA to respond within 90 days, to the findings and highlight the strategies being developed to remedy the gaps identified.

Meanwhile, NIMASA Director-General, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has promised the IMSAS team that the agency together with other stakeholders are committed to the implementation of relevant IMO instruments for the overall development of

get the required sea time that will make you professionals in your chosen career,” Peterside said.

He noted that cadets are now part of a unique profession responsible for keeping the wheels of global commerce rolling and further restated the agency’s commitment to growing human and infrastructural capacity for the development of the Nigerian maritime industry.

the Nigerian maritime industry.

Restating that the IMO audit is in line with the vision of NIMASA, he also said that the agency will leverage on the findings and observations of the interim report to reposition the Nigerian maritime industry for more efficiency and competitiveness.

“With the active support of the Honourable Minister of Transportation and the leadership of the agency which is forward looking, focused and determined, Nigeria will certainly regain its lost glory in the comity of maritime nations.

NIMASA will immediately settle down to work to address these findings”, the DG said.

The audit is aimed at promoting consistent and effective implementation of applicable IMO conventions, resolutions and protocols amongst member nations as well as assisting member states to improve their capabilities in the enforcement of these instruments for the overall benefit of global shipping.

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Vessels

NIMASA unveils three-year growth plan

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he Nigerian M a r i t i m e Administration and Safety A g e n c y , NIMASA, has unveiled a three-year medium-term strategic growth plan for the maritime sector.

According to Director General of the agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, the plan is built around the core mission of the new management at the agency, which is to reform, restructure and reposition NIMASA for sustainable growth and for the development of the industry.

He said the document is built on five pillars, including survey; inspection and certification transformation programme; environment; security and search and rescue transformation programme as well as capacity building and promotional initiatives which entail growing indigenous tonnage, ship building and human capacity.

Others are digital transformation strategy, and structural and cultural reforms, including changes to work ethic and attitude of staff as well as processes and procedures.

Peterside, who noted that

NIMASA was committed to the actualisation of this mandate, said: “The times are quite challenging given the dwindling global economy, decline in crude oil price and foreign exchange and fiscal policies which have impacted the revenue of the Agency.

"This requires ingenious leadership to actualise our policy direction and we are

committed to providing that leadership”.

He said one of the ways to shore up the Agency’s income to actualise the strategic programme is to block revenue leakages through the full automation of systems and processes to eliminate human contact and increase efficiency.

On capacity building, the

he affirmed his commitment to providing sea-time training to cadets of the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme and the judicios application of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, CVFF, to assist local operators to refleet and increase the nation’s tonnage.

Peterside said that in the

short term, the strategic plan of the Agency aims to achieve full automation by the end of 2016, achieve 100 percent efficiency and effectiveness in processes within the same period and complete its rebranding process by the end of the first quarter of 2017.

Transport Ministry to partner Lagos on inland water transport

T

he Federal Ministry of Transportation has expressed readiness to partner with Lagos State government on utilising the inland water ways to improve transportation system in the state.

Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, disclosed this at the first Lagos Traffic Radio Lecture Series with the theme, “Migrating Workforce: The Challenges of Mass Transportation”.

Maintaining that it has become necessary for Lagos State to utilise other modes for mass transportation as the roads alone cannot cope with the level of migration into the city, Amaechi said his ministry has forwarded the National Transport Commission and the Nigerian Railway Corporation bills to the National Assembly for consideration with the aim of enhancing regulation and further opening opportunities for private sector investment in

critical transport infrastructure.

He highlighted some of the strategic interventions the ministry has embarked upon to improve transportation system in the country to include the auditing of the maritime sector, the reestablishment of a new national shipping line through a Public Private Partnership, PPP, arrangement, building modern rail infrastructure to link most of the country and the establishment of inland ports, amongst others.

Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State

Motoring

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The 10 most expensive cars

T

he most expensive cars in the world are so much more than transportation. These rolling art pieces encapsulate the priorities of the one percent, and in that universe, flamboyance and swagger take precedence over practicality and efficiency. Lifestyle criticisms aside, these are truly mind-boggling machines, and we’d like to count down our favorites for you here.

For the sake of clarity, we’re categorizing recently made, road-legal production vehicles only — limited runs notwithstanding — and we’re leaving out classic cars sold at auction. We’re also limiting the list to one entrant per nameplate, so don’t expect 10 different iterations of the same Bugatti Veyron.

So whether your name is Buffet, Gates, Stark, or McDuck, these rides are for you — the most exorbitant people-carriers on the planet. They say money can’t buy happiness, but after viewing this list, you just might beg to differ.

FORD RECALLS:

Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita

The 10 most expensive cars in the world $4.8 million – Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita Koenigsegg makes its first appearance on our list with the CCXR Trevita, and it does so as the most expensive street-legal production car in the world. Why so much coin? With no exaggeration, the car is literally coated in diamonds … and diamonds aren’t cheap.

For the Trevita, the Swedish manufacturer developed a new exterior finish called the Koenigsegg Proprietary Diamond Weave, which involves coating carbon fibers with a diamond dust-impregnated resin.

We can’t even fathom how much the touch up paint costs.

Underneath the lustrous finish lies a 4.8-liter, dual-supercharged V8 with a total output of 1,004 hp and 797 lb-ft, which means it should have little to no trouble overtaking semis on the freeway. The car’s specifications — in both performance and price — are nearly comical at this point, and just three were ever made. $4.5 million – Lamborghini Veneno Poison. That’s the name Lamborghini chose for the modified Aventador you see above — translated from Italian of course — built to celebrate the automaker’s 50th birthday. We can’t speak for the company’s motivations, but the name is fitting for a vehicle that looks so positively deadly, so undeniably venomous.

The car is absolutely stunning from every angle, and to this day, we’re not convinced it isn’t an alien spacecraft surveying our planet for eventual takeover. It just doesn’t seem real. The only thing more remarkable than the look is the price — a whopping $4.5 million.

The Veneno is fast, and that should come as no surprise. Its 6.5-liter V12 spins all the way up to 8,400 rpm to deliver 740 hp and 507 lb-ft, surging the car to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds.

Lamborghini Veneno

W Motors Lykan Hypersport

Limited Edition Bugatti Veyron by Mansor Vire

$3.4 million – W Motors Lykan Hypersport You may recall the Lykan Hypersport from its starring role in the blockbuster Furious 7, where the Lebanese supercar crashed through not one, not two, but three skyscrapers in Dubai. In a franchise filled with high-end exotics and one-off custom creations, the fact that the Hypersport got so much focus is a testament to its magnetism.

Let’s start with the styling, which includes jewel-encrusted headlights, scissor doors, and an interior ripped straight from science fiction. It looks like a pissed off armored car from the future, and its performance is right

on par with its image. The Hypersport boasts a 3.7liter, twin-turbo flat-six that yields 770 hp and 708 lb-ft.

It’s not just Dominic Toretto who benefits from this level of performance though, as the Abu Dhabi police force has drafted the Hypersport into patrol duty. Although it’s mainly used for marketing and public relations purposes, the high-flying stunner assures that the authorities can keep up with any baddie that tries to get cute on the freeway.

Pedal to the floor, 0 to 62 mph is accomplished in just 2.8 seconds, and top speed is a downright scary 240 mph. $3.4 million – Limited Edition Bugatti Veyron

by Mansor Vire This list wouldn’t be complete without some version of the mighty Bugatti Veyron. We’re shining our spotlight on the the Mansory Vivere edition here, because not only is it one of the fastest cars in the world, it’s one of the most expensive.

Augmented by German witch doctors Mansory, the 1,200-hp Veyron starts out as a Grand Sport Vitesse Roadster, only to be adorned with a gorgeous carbon fiber body, a new spoiler package, upgraded LED lights, a rebuffed cabin, and a redesigned front grill. Further classifying the Veyron as a work of art, maps of historic race events like the Targa Florio are laser etched into the exterior and interior.

Oh, and it can do 254 mph. $2.6 million – Pagani Huayra BC With an AMG-sourced V12 and the fastest roadlegal Top Gear lap ever, the Pagani Huayra is a beast through and through — it’s

Pagani Huayra BC

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named after the Incan God of Winds, after all. That wasn’t quite enough for Pagani though, because at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, Pagani debuted the Huayra BC, a lighter, hotter version that takes no prisoners.

Right off the bat, you can tell the BC is playing a different game from the standard Huayra. It’s fitted with an enormous active rear spoiler that generates 1,102 lbs of downforce at 155 mph, as well as a wider rear track, new side skirts, and a bevy of sexy aero goodies. Despite the additions, the BC is a true featherweight, tipping the scales at a paltry 2,654 lbs thanks to the extensive use of carbon fiber and other lightweight materials. The whole deal will cost you a cool $2.6 million (or it would have, if all 20 units hadn’t been sold already), but you clearly get a lot for your money. With 789 turbocharged ponies on tap, the BC may actually live up to its godly name. $2.5 million – Ferrari F60 America To celebrate Ferrari’s 60-year tenure in North America, the Italian brand built 10 examples of this stunning bombshell. Based on the F12 Berlinetta, the F60 is undeniably patriotic as it wears a Stars and Stripes color scheme, American flag seat inserts, and classic racing livery all around. Better yet, you can experience the glory with the top down, as the F60 equips a lightweight fabric top that can be operated at speeds up to 75 mph.

The supercar is mechanically identical to the F12, but the Berlinetta isn’t exactly a Fiat Panda to begin with. Its 6.2liter V12 churns out 740 glorious hp, enough to propel the car to 60 mph in only 3.1 seconds. The ultra-rare flag-waver hearkens back to Ferrari’s bespoke past, as the company built several region-specific sports cars in the 1950s and 1960s. $2.5 million – Bugatti Chiron How do you follow up a classic? You make something even better.

With a starting price of $2.5 million and a gorgeous new body, the divine Chiron outdoes its predecessor in every conceivable way. While the Bugatti Veyron redefined what an automobile could do, the Chiron laughs at those who said the Veyron was the last of its kind, pushing the boundaries of performance even further into the stratosphere.

The supercar’s monstrous specs are made possible by its reworked quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W16, which now produces 1,500 hp and a monstrous 1,180 pound-feet of torque. 60 mph is dealt with in a rather quick 2.5 seconds on the way to the Chiron’s top speed, which is limited to 261 mph. It’s still not the fastest car in the world — the title belongs the Hennessey Venom GT — but cars like these aren’t just about speed; they’re about making statements.

We think you’ll agree this Bugatti makes a very strong statement indeed. $2 million – Koenigsegg One:1 You can buy a lot with $2 million — a really nice house, about 80 Mazda MX-5’s, or the Swedish “megacar” shown above. A logical thinker could probably think of a better way to spend your life savings, but megacars don’t give a damn about logic. Because they’re mega. And after reading what the car is capable of, $2 million might actually be a steal.

The limited-edition One:1 is based on the Agera R, and it earned its poetic moniker by employing a 1:1 kilogram-tohorsepower ratio. The figure on each side of the colon?

1,340. That’s right, this car has 1,340 hp, and can theoretically top 273 mph because of it. Simply put, this is one of the fastest automobiles ever made, and with its F1style honeycomb core, carbon fiber intake manifold, and ventilated ceramic brakes, it’s one of the most advanced as well.

Just six examples of the speedy Swede were built, and each one was sold quite quickly. Keep an eye out on Craigslist though, you never know. $2 million – Koenigsegg Regera When we think of hybrid hypercars, we generally fantasize about the “holy trinity” — aka the McLaren P1, Porsche 918 Spyder, and Ferrari LaFerrari. Somehow, Koenigsegg always gets left out, despite the fact that the

Ferrari F60 America

Bugatti Chiron

Koenigsegg One:1

Koenigsegg Regera

Lamborghini Centenario LP 770-4

Swedish automaker makes a vehicle that outshines its electrified competition in many ways.

Powered by a twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 and a 4.5-kWh battery pack, the $2 million Regera produces an outstanding 1,500 hp in total, a stat made all the more impressive when you consider the car’s low weight of 3,240 lbs. 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds is impressive to be sure, but the Regera’s 0 to 186 mph sprint is even more mind-blowing — the feat is accomplished in only 10.9 seconds. By Koenigsegg’s internal estimates, the car will be able to reach its top speed of 248 mph in just 20 seconds or so, which is a triumph over physics as much as it is a bragging right.

Why just an estimate?

Apparently, the brand can’t find a road long enough. $1.9 million – Lamborghini Centenario LP 770-4 Ferruccio Lamborghini, the man who founded one of Italy’s most iconic car brands, would have turned 100 years old in 2016. To celebrate, Lamborghini created the Centenario, a $1.9 million magnum opus that is equally at home on the racetrack as it is on a bedroom wall poster.

Longer, larger, yet lighter than the Aventador supercar, the carbon fiber Centenario features an exterior that is both beautiful and functional.

The aerodynamic bumper fins, hood vents, wheel blades, and powerful rear haunches are all sculpted to keep the limited-edition vehicle glued to the ground, and Lambo says the Centenario is twice as aerodynamically efficient as the Aventador.

And then there’s the power. Simply put, the Centenario equips the most e x t r e m e e n g i n e Lamborghini has ever built, as the 6.5-liter V12 pumps out a whopping 770 horsepower at 8,600 rpm.

Given its low weight of 3,351 pounds, the Raging Bull demolishes 60 mph in just 2.8 seconds, and it’ll scream its way to 220 mph given enough space.

It’s important to note that a car doesn’t have to be expensive to be good, but it doesn’t exactly hurt either.

These dream wheels, titans of pavement and pocketbook, are some of the most jaw-dropping vehicles to ever grace the asphalt, and it will take something truly special to top them.

Technology

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Smart solutions for subsea pipeline blockages

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- Hot Tapping Industry specialists Tube Tech International, for example, highlighted a case study of a subsea pipeline in the North Sea which had become blocked with wax as well as a stuck pig.

A company spokesperson explained that there were several challenges to be overcome, including the fact that half of the pipeline was on land while the other half was on the ocean floor, the volume of wax on either side of the stuck pig could not be accurately determined and a 12-knot rip tide meant divers could not be deployed.

Tube Tech overcame these problems by 'hot tapping' (connecting to an existing pipeline without interrupting pipeline flow) into a pressurised system using just two access points and removing the pig via a bespoke drilling method - a world first for this type of operation - with the entire operation taking just one week, including cleaning the remainder of the line to production standard using a variety of cleaning heads to suit heavy scale and

Subsea pipeline blockage

T

he oil and gas industry is heavily reliant on subsea pipelines, meaning blockages have the potential to cause major damage. In this article first published in Offshore technology.com, Rowan Watt-Pringle profiles some of the best techniques for unblocking these pipelines and examines some major recent advances in the industry.

Traditional methods for unblocking subsea pipelines have recently started to make way for more advanced methods, with the main driving forces being cost and safety. According to Scottish industry leader Paradigm Flow Solutions, subsea pipeline blockages cost operators tens of millions of dollars every year, by using expensive conventional methods such as subsea interventions by ROVs or saturation divers, who physically work on a piece of pipeline at the ocean bottom.

Traditional methods for unblocking subsea pipelines

- Pigging Pigs - tools sent into a pipeline for a specific purpose and propelled by the pressure inside that pipeline - are used not only to clean and / or unblock pipelines, but also to measure things like pipe thickness and corrosion along the pipeline. They usually do not interrupt production, though some product can be lost when the pig is extracted.

There are a variety of different pigs, including customised pigs for keeping pipeline flow steady.

These incorporate a brush scraper design, which removes blockages from the pipe's walls, while a highly viscous pickup gel collects and transports loose debris to the surface station.

De-scaling pigs, meanwhile, are designed to remove hard deposits, such as calcium carbonate, from the pipe wall.

Pigs do have their limitations, however. If the blockage is too thick, for example, a pig can become trapped in the pipeline, causing major disruptions.

Pigging machine o t h e r f o u l i n g characteristics.

Mike Watson, Tube Tech technical director, claimed this was one of the biggest challenges the company had ever faced: "The client's only alternative was the use of ships shuttling back and forwards or laying a new pipeline.

"Substantial six-figure sums where being lost every day while the subsea

Pigging tool

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pipeline was out of action.

Being able to respond so quickly and with the appropriate pipeline cleaning techniques meant we were able to solve what appeared to be an impossible challenge."

- ROVs and saturation divers Smart pigging solutions are fast removing the need for divers and ROVs to physically inspect the pipeline, by providing the ability to track and locate pigs at a specific location in a pipeline. Using divers and ROVs are extremely costly exercises, while the use of divers has the added dangers of human error and possible underwater accidents causing injury or death.

With the ability to monitor processes from topside, the number of divers and ROVs undertaking pipeline inspections and / or repairs will continue to dwindle in the future.

Hot tapping

Looking to the future SmartPlug and STOPPLE Train Isolation TDW Offshore Services delivers safe integrity solutions for subsea pipeline work, including a major focus on developing new innovations to deal with challenging pipeline blockages.

The company's SmartPlug isolation plug modules can be used in conjunction with its remotely-operated SmartTrack tracking and pressure-monitoring system, providing further assurance that pressure remains properly isolated while work on the pipeline is being conducted, for example the removal of an object or blockage, or replacement of a f a ul t y shu t d o w n v a l v e (SDV).

"By using this method, the operator would not only create a safe working environment for the valve replacement operation, its in situ gas inventory would be maintained at working pressure," said Mike Benjamin, VP of offshore pipeline solutions at TDW. Steve Appleton, the company's regional GM for the Gulf Coast and Caribbean, highlighted an operation to replace a SDV in the Gulf of Mexico, stating: "The SmartPlug modules p e r f o r m e d impeccably...(achieving) a safe, uncompromising isolation that allowed for the replacement of the SDV in a

timely manner."

Appleton added that this was achieved without venting the line or flaring product is significant. Benjamin noted that this "would disrupt flow and cause downtime on neighbouring developments."

TDW's patented STOPPLE Train plugging system, meanwhile, links two plugging heads into a 'train', providing the added insurance of a double block at each isolation point during hot tapping procedures, without the need to install more than one hot tap. The company delivered the first ever subsea STOPPLE Train Isolation in November last year, 2011, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Calvin Schmidt, TDW senior sales representative, explained: "The STOPPLE Train system was ideal because the line in question

SmartPlug was a non-piggable sales gas line... It was very important not to flood the line. The dual seals of each STOPPLE Train plugging system ensured the line was isolated and would not flood."

Introduced in 2008, the system has been expanded to include a wider range of plugging head sizes, in response to requests from pipeline operators, while to date more than 80 piping and pipeline isolation projects have been performed using the system.

Pipe-Pulse resonates through subsea industry One of the more recent advances in technology for unblocking subsea pipelines was launched in mid2011 at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas. The patented technology from Paradigm Flow Solutions could lead to a 'paradigm shift' in the way companies deal with blocked

SmartPlug

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subsea pipelines.

Paradigm, a subsidiary of Dutch-based Paradigm Group, is in the process of developing a range of technologies for detecting, remediating and preventing subsea and topside blockages.

Rob Bain, Paradigm managing director, explained that one of the company's offerings, PipePulse, will soon change the face of subsea operations: "Subsea blockages and restrictions have been a challenging industry problem for many years.

Pipe-Pulse effectively revolutionises the treatment of subsea blockages, taking the treatment to the topside for the first time."

Paradigm's Pipe-Pulse technology removes the need for traditional physical interventions, such as divers or ROVs. By connecting to either the pig launcher or umbilical termination unit, the Pipe-Pulse system offers a remote method that doesn't require physical intrusion into the pipeline, instead delivering pressure pulses high in energy and volume into the pipeline or subsea umbilical.

Operated by expert engineers, pulses are transmitted at the speed of sound to a subsea pipeline blockage, at a range of up to 30 miles, completely removing stubborn blockages in just a few days.

This is achieved by sending high frequency, low amplitude pressure pulses into the flowline. The length and pressure of a pulse is controlled using a complex series of control valves within the Pipe-Pulse unit and determined by highly specific proprietary algorithms, before the unit creates and injects the correct pulse into the pipeline.

Pipe-Pulse has other applications as well.

Paradigm claims the system can accurately detect blockages and leaks in subsea infrastructure, negating the need for the expensive deployment of ROVs to pinpoint the location of the blockage. But even if it were to be solely used for unblocking purposes, the positives are clear.

Highly successful tests included the clearing of a Shell UK multiphase flowline that had been blocked with sand and wax for 11 years, securing Paradigm a $250,000 contract with a super-major to unblock one of their North Sea pipelines. "It is fantastic that we are able to launch it to market with a contract for

42

Looking to the future

STOPPLE Train Isolation

STOPPLE Train Isolation the North Sea already secured," Bain enthused.

"Given the cost implications of the alternative methods, Pipe-Pulse provides an appealing, fast-acting, costeffective solution."

Pipe-Pulse quickly made a name for itself in the North Sea, boosting production by more than 3,000 barrels of oil a day by clearing pipes that had been blocked for a decade.

"The operator had tried various other conventional methods to tackle the issue, but due to the remote location of the blockages from the host platform, access to the pipelines and the subsea

infrastructure proved very difficult," Bain explained.

"Using Pipe-Pulse, our engineers unblocked flowlines and a subsea wax inhibitor chemical umbilical in less than a week.�

Community

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Shell spends $195m on social investment in Nigeria

Mr. Okunbor

KUNLE KALEJAYE

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he Royal Dutch Shell spent a total of $195.5 million on social investment in the country, Managing Director and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, has revealed.

Okunbor, who stated this in Lagos, said the amount sets Nigeria out as the largest concentration of social investment spending in the Shell Group.

Okunbor said $145.1 million of the expenditure was paid to the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as required by law.

He added that another $50.4 million was directly expended in social investment projects by the S h e l l P e t r o l e u m Development Company of Nigeria, SPDC-operated Joint Venture and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, SNEPCo. "These spends have not come about by accident",

Okunbor said, adding that "Shell and its partners believe they can make a real difference in the lives of Nigeria, and we have targeted our investments at the community and enterprise development, education and health".

"Of course, we cannot take the place of government but we

are keen to play our part in the development of a country we've been part of for than 50 years," he said.

Okunbor stated that Shell companies in Nigeria will continue to contribute to developing the Nigeria's human capital and contracting capacity,?

noting that some $0.9 billion have been spent on local contracting and procurement Ownership of key assets such as rigs, helicopters and marine vessels was a key focus of these efforts to support Nigerian and community contractors, he stated?.

He also hinted that Shell Companies in Nigeria are also actively involved in the development and utilisation of natural gas, pioneering its production and delivery to domestic consumers and export markets.

Stop politicising Amnestry programme, activist warns politicians

P

oliticians in the country have been warned not to eat into the stipends meant for repentant Niger Delta militants under the Federal Government Amnesty programme.

In a statement in Port Harcourt, Coordinator of Solid-Base Youth Development Initiative, Mr. Opia Ojieh, said the warning has become imperative as some of the beneficiaries of the programme were complaining of having not received their stipends for some months now.

Accusing politicians of trying to destabilise the amnesty programme, Ojieh urged all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe and ethnicity, to support the Special Adviser to the President on Amnesty, Gen. Paul Boroh, to ensure the successful completion of

the programme.

According to the statement, “Nobody should politicise the amnesty programme. When the bullets where flying in the creeks during the days of militancy and communal clashes before the proclamation of amnesty in 2009, the bullets never chose who was an APC or PDP member, it went ahead to hit its targets. “We want all hands to be on deck to protect the pipeline from being vandalised. Things are going wrong because some people want to politicise the same programme that returned peace in the Niger Delta".

The Niger Delta activist said the amnesty programme was still very relevant in the peace pursuit in the region, stressing that ex-militants were surviving from the programme.

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Nigeria’s National Assembly in session

NASS members to choose 25% of NDDC’s new projects OSCARLINE ONWUEMENYI, Abuja

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he Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says 25 per cent of its new projects are to be chosen by members of the National Assembly from the region.

Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, disclosed this in

the commission's first quarterly report obtained by SweetcrudeReports in Abuja.

She noted in the report, which is titled ‘The New Face of Progress" that, “For the first time in the history of the NDDC, 25 percent of the commission’s new projects shall be chosen by National Assembly members from the Niger Delta region.”

She added that “As the official representatives of the people of the region, the

lawmakers are well placed to guide the commission on its choice of projects based on the people’s needs.

Another 25 percent of the new projects shall be based on the choice of other stakeholders from the region.”

Semenitari also explained that the NDDC would choose the balance 50 per cent of the new projects through consultations with states and communities in

the Niger Delta.

According to the report, the draft of the commission’s 2016 budget was ready and awaiting the approval of its management committee before it would be forwarded to the Presidency.

“For the first time, letters were written to State Government requesting their input to the budget in line with the Niger Delta Master Plan,” she stated.

The report further

Kinetic football pitch: Pelé partners Shell on energy game

F

ootball legend Pelé have teamed up with Shell to bring together Africa and Europe in a first of its kind playerpower energy game; Pelé's Energy Challenge.

The event which took place recently at the Shell-installed kinetic football pitch at the Federal College of Eduction (Technical) Akoka, Lagos was hooked up live with London kinetic football pitch also installed by Shell.

The event is said to help launch 'Make the Future London', a festival of ideas and

innovation dedicated to supporting bright energy ideas and providing a platform for innovation?, collaboration and conversation about global energy issues facing the world today.

The Pelé Energy Challenge showcased the power of innovative kinetic tile technology that converts footsteps into renewable electricity.

The challenge featured two teams comprising school children from London and Lagos linked up via satellite.

The more energy a player generate on the tile, the more time they had to compete, directly linking the technology to the task.

highlighted a number of “strategic human capital development programmes’’ carried out by the commission in the period under review.

She added that the programmes were in the areas of skills acquisition and development, education, healthcare, environment, security, youth and women development, among others.

At the end of the competition which was won by team London, Pelé signed Brazilian jersey was presented to team London and team Lagos.

Pelé said at the launch in London: "?I've seen first-hand how Shell has brought energy ideas to life, having helped launched the first kinetic pitch in Rio. And I've seen how this amazing technology has reinvigorated the community, allowing Brazilian children to follow their passion in sport and learn about future energy solution in the process.

"I'm so excited to be here again and see the legacy of ?these pitches- how they continue to be used everyday - while testing out this new energy challenge at 'Make the Future London."

2016 July, SweetcrudeReports

Community

Ogoni community

MKPOIKANA UDOMA, Port Harcourt

T

he Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, has dissociated itself from an alleged negotiations for the immediate commencement of oil extraction in Ogoni between the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Limited, NPDC, and some Ogoni natives.

MOSOP warned the NPDC, an NNPC subsidiary, to steer clear of Ogoni, adding that the corporation should be held responsible for any crisis that may engulf the community.

President of MOSOP, Mr. Legborsi Pyagbara, in a statement made available to SweetcrudeReports also dissociate itself from a workshop by NPDC, saying the worshop was intended to be used in deceiving unsuspecting Ogonis into buying into the anti-Ogoni approach.

Pyagbara called on all sons and daughters of Ogoni not to attend the said workshop, maintaining that it is against the collective interest of Ogoni.

"It is most annoying that

Steer clear of Ogoni oil, MOSOP warns NNPC whilst the corporate world and other friends of Ogoni are joining effort with MOSOP to ensure that the environmental injustice inflicted us is resolved; NPDC is exploiting our disadvantaged circumstances to advance a covert, capitalist agenda lacking human face," he said.

He added: "We would like to make it very clear that Ogoni oil will not be extracted now that Ogoni is in environmental grief. What is on the Ogoni card now is the clean-up of the spreading and deepening

ecological footprints in the area and nothing else.

"It is a shame that whilst well-meaning Ogoni citizens are intensifying and concentrating efforts on how best to move the Ogoni environmental recovery process forward, a notorious Ogoni gang whose social license with the people has collapsed have been holding clandestine meetings with NPDC to negotiate through t h e b a c k d o o r , commencement of oil

It is a shame that whilst wellmeaning Ogoni citizens are intensifying and concentrating efforts on how best to move the Ogoni environmental recovery process forward, a notorious Ogoni gang whose social license with the people has collapsed have been holding clandestine meetings with NPDC

production in Ogoni, a highly sensitive issue that requires openness, caution and m a j o r i t y participation. This we consider anti-Ogoni and an affront against our collective interest and should be abated forthwith.

"MOSOP is aware that officials of NPDC unceremoniously entered Ogoni last week and held secret meetings relating to oil production in Ogoni with a selected few, an approach reminiscent of the past, and which has pitched some traditional rulers and their cohorts against the rest of the community. We would thus warn Ogonis not to allow themselves to be used to cause trouble in the region.�

Pyagbara

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Ijaw group chides govt over military invasion after ceasefire declaration

Niger Delta militants MKPOIKANA UDOMA, Port Harcourt

T

he Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, has criticised the Federal Government for alleged insincerity in the handling of the current crisis in the Niger Delta orchestrated by the Niger Delta Avengers.

According to the Ijaw youth

body, the government cannot in one breath declare ceasefire and at the same time forcefully invade Ijaw communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom of Delta State allegedly looking for militants.

S p e a k i n g w i t h SweetcrudeReports, the IYC spokesperson, Mr. Eric Omare, expressed doubt about the sincerity of the government to dialogue with

the Niger Delta people.

He alleged military invasion of Tebujor community in Gbaramatu Clan on June 15, 2016, saying: "While we do not support sabotage of oil facilities considering the negative effects on our environment, the IYC seriously frowns and condemns the continuous invasion and harassments

of Ijaw communities and innocent people by the military under the guise of looking for pipeline vandals."

Omare stated that the military had no reason to embark on continuous invasion of Ijaw communities and to arrest people in the name of looking for Avengers or pipeline vandals, maintaining that Ijaw communities and people were

Group calls for award of oil blocs to Niger Delta indigenes

T

he National Youth Council of Nigeria, NYCON, has appealed to the Federal Government to consider Niger Delta indigenes in the award of oil blocs as part of measures to bring peace to the region.

Rivers State Chapter of NYCON made the appealed when youths took to the streets of Port Harcourt in a peaceful protest against the continuous attack on oil facilities in the Niger Delta region.

The protesting youths, who said they were aggrieved over incessant criminal activities in the region, marched along Aba Road in Port Harcourt with placards bearing several

inscriptions, including: "We need peace in the Niger Delta", "Attacks on oil facilities must stop", "Support Belemaoil to restore peace in the region", "We don’t need cultism", among others.

Leader of the protest and president of NYCON in Rivers State, Mr. Sukubo Sara-Igbe, explained that the protest was imperative as cultism and related activities, attacks oil facilities and oil theft were on the increase in the region.

Sara-Igbe said the activities of vandals were affecting the economic

wellbeing of the region, calling on aggrieved youths not to resort to destroying pipelines and other oil facilities.

He commended Belemaoil for providing 520 jobs for youths in Rivers State, and warned that youths should desist from cultism, pipeline vandalism and every other activity that would threaten peace in the region.

peaceful and law abiding people.

He also called for the immediate release of the youths arrested by the military during the invasion of Tebujor community.

"The continuous invasion of Ijaw communities is a demonstration of lack of sincerity on the part of the federal government to genuinely dialogue with the people of the Niger Delta region to address the renewed militancy and issues affecting the region.

"We wish to state that no meaningful dialogue can take place without sincerity of purpose and confidence in the process by the people of the Niger Delta region and events of the last few days is fast eroding our confidence.

"We call on the military to carry out deep intelligence gathering and stop the unlawful arrest and invasion of Ijaw communities. The arrested youths of Tebujor community, Gbaramatu Clan, Delta State should be released," he said.

Community

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E-mail: johniyene@yahoo.com

STRIKE:

We‘ve got Boko Haram & the Avengers, who needs PENGASSAN?

O

Nkpah

Group accuses NPDC of trying to divide Ogoni

T

he National Youth Council of the Ogoni People, NYCOP, has accused the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, of trying to create division amongst Ogoni people.

The group, which is the youth wing of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, criticised moves by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, subsidiary company to commence oil production in Ogoniland.

Speaking to newsmen in Port Harcourt, President of NYCOP, Dr. Young Nkpah, called on the Federal Government and "wellmeaning Nigerians to prevail on NPDC to stop forthwith its attempts to cause trouble in Ogoniland".

"The activities of NPDC in Ogoni is aimed at creating division that would occasion avoidable crisis in the region.

"When we are talking about revival of our hydrocarbonpolluted environment, they are canvassing for commencement of oil production now in Ogoni, a

matter that had caused the death of a generation of the Ogoni leadership including sung and unsung Ogoni citizens.

"If this is not the case, how would one explain the situation where the Federal Government has flagged-off implementation of the Ogoni environmental rejuvenation exercise and the corporation (NNPC) is on the other hand luring gullible Ogonis to sanction its intent of resuming oil production in Ogoni now?"

Nkpah said.

The NYCOP president also warned "NPDC and her Ogoni collaborators to stay away from the communities", expressing disappointment at

the level of involvement of local politicians belonging to one of the dominant political parties in the area in the schemings.

"We are concerned that these politicians have always ganged up against the collective interest of our people. Evidence abound that these political actors and their cronies have openly denounced and fought against the legitimate, just and credible struggle for justice of the Ogoni people but would now want to reap from where they did not sow or what they hate," he lamented.

The activities of NPDC in Ogoni is aimed at creating division that would occasion avoidable crisis in the region.

When we are talking about revival of our hydrocarbonpolluted environment, they are canvassing for commencement of oil production

n Thursday, the 7th of July, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, working in collaboration with the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, embarked on an industrial action to press home demands for the funding, by the Federal Government of the Joint Venture Partnership. The other reason for the strike action as highlighted by the National Public Relations Officer of PENGASSAN, Comrade Emmanuel Ojugbana, is the inability of government to meet its Cash Call obligations under the JV Agreement. In the gentleman’s own words: “the inability of the government to fund the Joint Venture (JV) operations and (sic) settle Cash Call arrears has denied the country of new investments, while the existing operations and activities are being stalled. This has resulted to lack of new job opportunities, while our members who have been in employments, are losing their jobs because their employers could not meet their salary obligations to them…” Underlining, mine.

In truth, the words which I underlined are the sum of PENGASSAN and their degenerate cousins, NUPENG. From the time of their registration as unions between 1976 and 1977 PENGASSAN and NUPENG have constituted themselves into the unsolicited guardians ad litem of the Nigerian masses, pretending to act in loco parentis to a largely illiterate and ill-informed public that is deployed by the duo shamelessly as bargain chip, fodder, canon and shield, depending on the unions’ interests at risk. Between 2012 and 2013 these unions went to war against the government of Jonathan over the plan by that government to increase the pump price of petroleum products by removing the oppressive subsidy bill that was throttling the government. The operatives of these unions, most of whom are stupendously rich, cried out against Jonathan’s government, calling out the masses to fight against the plan to hike prices of commodities that are extracted from a locally produced resource. Jonathan’s government retracted its laudable plans that would have shrunk government expenditure, expanded investments through savings of trillions of Naira and grown the economy. For their perfidy, those operatives were rewarded by the very folk who commissioned their rain dance: the marketers. And the economy continued its downward slide.

Let us analyse together the twin reasons for the current strike. JV Funding comes from the Federal Government which has allotted to itself the role of Nigeria’s oil and gas business manager. In truth JV Funding and Cash Call Payments are two sides of a coin because the Cash Call Payments are the set of payments made by the Federal Government to her JV Partners for picking government’s own tabs in the JV arrangement, thereby funding her aspects of the Joint Venture. The unions recalled their workers to pressure the Federal Government into honouring her obligations ostensibly to the employers of PENGASSAN and NUPENG members. They could have stated so and received the plaudits of their members and employers but having become ossified in the habit of deception and dissembling they had to state that Government’s neglect to inject funds into the JV arrangement was affecting the oil and gas industry adversely, like they really care!!!

The strike itself is a blow to the Nigerian economy as it stifles movement, communication and commerce. PENGASSAN and NUPENG have mastered the game of manipulating the Nigerian masses to fight their selfish battles and leaving the masses in the lurch while they run back to their cosy air conditioned and “safe” offices to count their gains. Without any variation, it is the masses and the Nigerian society that suffer the effects of industrial actions carried out by these unconscionable elements but they always managed to convince the masses they act for the public good. They say in the Niger Delta that men who are born with too many ears get to hear too many incredible stories. Within two days of the commencement of the strike, PMS is selling in Port Harcourt for N250.00 a litre where it is found; most stations are without products with the promise that the sufferings visited on the city two weeks ago when truck drivers affiliated to NUPENG went on strike for the dismissal of some drivers adjudged by their employers to be dangerous at their jobs, shall soon become the lot of the people again.

In what ways would this strike aid the oil and gas industry?

Even without this senseless strike, Nigeria faces crossroads at several points. The Niger Delta Avengers are destroying oil installations and causing monumental waste and damages to the industry and the environment, oil prices are down, the income streams of states and the Federal Government are impacted negatively, capital projects all over the country are being starved of funding and the economy is grinding to a halt.

The story gets worse as insecurity in and around the theatres of production is mopping up the private equity injected into the country in the form of Direct Foreign Investment. As PENGASSAN’s Ojugbana observed, job opportunities are dwindling as venture capital takes flight of the country.

This is the inauspicious time that PENGASSAN and NUPENG have chosen to deal further discomfort to the Nigerian economy and society. And that is why we must finally as a people throw pretense to the winds and openly celebrate the denudation of the fake “consultants” of the Nigerian people in oil and gas matters. As Nigeria rolls down the cliff in response to the shoving and prodding of the many interest centres in the polity we need not tolerate counterfeiters and cheap tricksters who pretend to care for the economy while damaging it. I mean, we‘ve got Boko Haram and the Avengers. Who needs PENGASSAN!?

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