Energy
MD Sahara Power Group, Kola Adesina, Advocates for Policies Re-Appraisal, Charts Path for Energy Sector Growth
To further stimulate growth in the Nigerian energy sector and create enabling environment that drives development across the sub-sector, Managing Director, Sahara Power Group, Mr. Kola Adesina, has urged policymakers to critically re-assess existing policies with the aim of analyzing their consequential impact on stakeholders.
Mr. Adesina made this remark at the maiden edition of Sahara Power Roundtable, a high-powered forum where stakeholders including government, policymakers, Consumer Advocacy Groups and industry watchers converged to analyze issues in the sector with a view to tackling the challenges.
He said: “There is need to constantly do a systemic revaluation of every policy that is churned out. I want to recommend to government and policy makers that any action being taken, every stakeholder, the relevant public that will be affected by the policy must assess the degree to which those policies will affect them.”
According to him, significant results have been recorded by some operators across the sub-sector following the privatization, but certain setbacks caused by misalignment of vision, objectives, strategy, policy and regulations in the sector have inhibited its progress.
“While it is easier for economists to speak to the theory of pricing from the standpoint of cost, revenue and profit, affordability is another issue some are not paying attention to. We all are aware that there are citizens in Nigeria who are not employed and/or incapable of paying the appropriate tariff, it invariably behoves on the government to step in and cover the gap so that the shortfall currently impeding on the success of the sector can be erased. The social contract of government is to ensure everybody lives a good life. So for everybody to live well there is a need for everyone to be electrified,” he added.
He noted that there is no economic margin that anyone can put in place to remedy and guarantee efficiency and effectiveness of supply when the cost of the commodity is higher than the commodity itself.
“Every Nigerian deserves to have electricity, it is a right. The value chain equally have a right to be paid cost reflective tariff. If the revenue of every member of the value chain is not guaranteed, there cannot be guarantee of supply of commodity in question,” he noted.
Mr. Adesina while speaking on the objectives of Sahara Power Roundtable said: “Through discourse and constructive conversation, we hope to examine the current state of the power sector in Nigeria and how both the intrinsic and extrinsic are combining, evolving and reacting against each other to shape the future.”
An affiliate of Sahara Group, a leading international energy conglomerate, the Sahara Power Group is one the largest private power businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its operating entities include, First Independent Power Limits, FIPL; Egbin Power Plc, sub-Saharan Africa’s largest privately owned thermal power generation plant and Ikeja Electric Plc, Nigeria’s leading Electricity Distribution Company.
The Sahara Power Roundtable featured two interactive panel sessions where the panelists including Managing Director of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), U. G Mohammed; Lagos State Commissioner for Ministry of Energy & Mineral Resources, Mr. Olawale Oluwo; President/founder, Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria, Mrs. Sola Salako and Head, Procurement, Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc. (NBET), Mr. Eugene Edeoga, examined the plethora of issues affecting players in the value chain with a view to proffering solutions.
Managing Director/Publisher of Business Day, Mr. Frank Aigbogun, during the second panel session noted that political parties and aspirants could gain support of electorates on the basis of promise to improve power supply, while the media plays critical role in shaping the opinion of consumers.
MD of TCN explained the series of ongoing projects being carried out by TCN as part of efforts to boost transmission. He also noted that manpower development was identified as one of the ways to achieve sustainability in the subsector.
Mrs. Salako who spoke on behalf the Nigerian consumers submitted that customers will only be ready to pay for services if they are well informed and knowledgeable about the issues in the power sector and if offered desired services.
Energy
NNPC, Dangote Strengthen Strategic Partnership
Bot partners reaffirmed commitment to Healthy Competition Towards National Prosperity, reports SANDRA ANI
As part of ongoing efforts to promote mutually beneficial partnerships and foster healthy competition, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) and Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals (DPRP) have pledged to deepen collaboration aimed at ensuring Nigeria’s energy security and advancing shared prosperity for Nigerians.
This commitment was made during a courtesy visit by the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Mr. Aliko Dangote, and his delegation to the Group CEO of NNPC Ltd., Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari, and members of the company’s Senior Management Team at the NNPC Towers, on Thursday.
During the visit, Dangote pledged to collaborate with the new NNPC Management to ensure energy security for Nigeria.
“There is no competition between us, we are not here to compete with NNPC Ltd. NNPC is part and parcel of our business and we are also part of NNPC. This is an era of co-operation between the two organizations.” Dangote added.
While congratulating the GCEO and the Senior Management Team on their “well-deserved appointments,” Dangote acknowledged the enormity of the responsibility ahead, noting that the GCEO is shouldering a monumental task, which he expressed confidence that, with the capable hands at his disposal in NNPC, the task is surmountable.
In his remarks, the GCEO, Mr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari assured Dangote of a mutually beneficial partnership anchored on healthy competition and productive collaboration.
Ojulari highlighted the exceptional caliber of talent he met in NNPC Ltd., describing the workforce as a dedicated, highly skilled and hardworking professionals who are consistently keen on delivering value for Nigeria.
Expressing the company’s readiness to build a legacy of national prosperity through innovation and shared purpose, Ojulari said NNPC will sustain its collaboration with the Dangote Group especially where there is commercial advantage for Nigeria.
Both executives also committed to being the relationship managers for their respective organisations through sustained productive collaboration and healthy competition, thereby envisioning limitless opportunities for both organizations.
Energy
AVEVA is providing data management support for renewable natural gas projects
Reporter: Godwin Ezeh
Key Highlights
● AVEVA’s industrial information infrastructure has been selected by Archaea Energy to provide key data management support
● AVEVA’s industrial software to optimize performance across Archaea’s RNG plants
AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software driving digital transformation and sustainability, has been selected by Archaea Energy, the largest renewable natural gas (RNG) producer in the US, to build a comprehensive operations data management infrastructure.
Using AVEVA’s software, Archaea Energy can collect, enrich and visualize its real-time operations data, enabling performance analysis across its growing network of plants.
Using AVEVA PI Data Infrastructure, a hybrid solution with cloud data services, the plants will be able to share data to highlight operational opportunities and optimize efficiency.
Caspar Herzberg, CEO, AVEVA, stated,
“Through this collaboration and the use of AVEVA PI Data Infrastructure, Archaea’s growing network of plants will have streamlined operations with accurate performance analysis throughout the expansion. AVEVA’s CONNECT software platform leverages industrial intelligence from a central location, making it easier to deploy additional digital solutions in the future.”
“As the largest RNG producer in the United States, we are dedicated to delivering reliable, clean energy,” said Starlee Sykes, chief executive officer of Archaea Energy. “This relationship will allow us to optimize operations and offer detailed performance analysis as we continue to expand across the country.”
…OML 13 Asset Eyes 80,000 bpd by End of 2025
In a major boost for Nigeria’s crude oil production, revenue generation and economic growth efforts, the NNPC Ltd has officially unveiled its latest crude oil grade, the Utapate crude oil blend, before the international crude oil market.
It would be recalled that in July, 2024, NNPC Ltd and its partner, the Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company (SEEPCO) Ltd introduced the Utapate crude oil blend, following the lifting of first cargo of 950,000 barrels which headed for Spain.
During a ceremony held at the Argus European Crude Conference taking place in London, United Kingdom, on Wednesday, the Managing Director, NNPC E & P Limited (NEPL), Mr. Nicholas Foucart described the introduction of the Utapate crude oil blend into the market as a significant milestone for Nigeria’s crude oil export to the global energy market.
“Since we started producing the Utapate Field in May 2024, we have rapidly ramped up production to 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) with minimum downtime. So far, we have exported five cargoes, largely to Spain and the East Coast of the United States; while two more additional cargoes have been secured for November and December 2024, representing a significant boost to Nigeria’s crude oil export to the global market,” Foucart told a packed audience of European crude oil marketers.
He added that since its introduction into the global market, the Utapate crude oil blend has enjoyed a positive response from the international crude oil market, due to its highly attractive qualities.
Foucart said the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NEPL and Natural Oilfield Services Ltd (NOSL), a subsidiary of SEEPCO Ltd, boasts a huge reserves of 330million barrels of crude oil reserves, 45 million barrels of condensate and 3.5 tcf of gas.
“We have a number of ongoing projects to increase our production from the current 40,000bopd to 50,000bopd by January 2025 and 60,000bopd to 65,000bopd by June 2025. Essentially, we are targeting opportunities to increase production to 80,000bopd by the end of 2025,” Foucart added.
He said the Utapate crude oil terminal is sustainable, affordable and fully compliant with the rigorous environmental regulations and sustainability principles especially those aimed at reducing carbon emissions and other ecological effects.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of NNPC Trading Ltd (NTL), Mr. Lawal Sade said the pricing structure of the Utapate crude oil blend is similar to that of Amenam crude as it is a light sweet crude which is highly sought after by refiners across the world due to its low sulphur content, efficient yield of high-value products, API gravity and other similarities.
He said in bringing the new crude oil blend to the global market, NNPC Ltd wanted to optimise value for both its producers and counterparties across the globe.
He added to ensure predictability and sustainability of supply, the NNPC Trading intends to run a term contract on the Utapate crude oil blend cargoes, principally targeting off-takers from the European and the US East Coast refineries.
Produced from the Utapate field in OML 13 in Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria, the Utapate crude oil blend is similar to the Nembe crude oil grade. It has a low sulphur content of 0.0655% and low carbon footprint due to flare gas elimination, fitting perfectly into the required specification of major buyers in Europe.
The NNPC E&P Ltd and NOSL partnership is also committed to operating in a manner that is safe, environmentally responsible, and beneficial to the local communities.
The Utapate field development plan, executed between 2013-2019 and approved in October, included converting wells and facilities from swamp/marine to land-based operations.
The plan involved a multi-rig drilling campaign for 40 wells and the development of significant infrastructure such as production facilities, storage tank, a subsea pipeline and an offshore loading platform to facilitate crude oil evacuation and loading.
The entry of the Utapate crude oil blend into the market is coming barely a year after the NNPC Ltd announced the launch of Nembe crude oil, produced by the NNPC/Aiteo operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 Joint Venture (JV).
This remarkable achievement signals the commitment of the NNPC Ltd to increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production and growing its reserves through the development of new assets.
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