Energy
Fate of DisCos shaky as govt plans other options
BY: The Nation
Years after it was privatised, the power sector has failed to deliver the desired result, the Federal Government said yesterday.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who delivered the verdict, spoke of other options to re-engineer the sector for effective power supply to meet domestic and industrial needs of Nigerians. He was not specific on the options.
Prof Osinbajo laid it bare in his May Day address to workers at the Eagle Square in Abuja. He said the government was not happy that several years after the sector was privatised, it has failed to deliver.
The Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) Plc. was unbundled in 2013 during the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. It was to allow for private sector involvement in the generation and distribution of power.
The vice president, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari, said the government was “strongly committed to changing the narratives” in the power sector.
He said: “Today, that sector, after it was privatised, still remains stalled in delivering power to many Nigerian homes and businesses.
“We must act as a matter of national importance and we are committed to doing so, to work and re-engineer the sector for much more effective performance. Workers shall be called upon to play a greater role in supporting the government to attain all these goals.”
Osinbajo, who also told the workers that the new minimum wage would be fully implemented by the Buhari administration, however, expressed concern over incessant strikes by workers as a means of resolving industrial disputes.
He said the nation was losing so much in terms of resources and manpower to job boycotts.
The vice president said: “Industrial peace is central to economic stability. Every industrial disruption cost the national economy very dearly in terms of money and manpower that are lost.
“It is for this reason that I urged all actors in the industrial relations system to be circumspect and ethical in the use of industrial action as tools for resolving work place crisis. Industrial actions, because of the huge economic and social cost, should be the last and not the first option for resolving disputes.”
Osinbajo, who was silent on the crisis between Labour & Employment Minister Chris Ngige and organised Labour over the change in the chairmanship of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), however, assured workers that President Buhari will reciprocate the renewed mandate given to him by the electorate by ensuring prompt delivery on his electoral promises.
He said: “At the just concluded general elections, Nigerians and indeed Nigerian workers gave our administration another mandate to govern them. We shall reciprocate this electoral gesture by focusing on the critical issues that will advance and improve the quality of the lives and livelihood of Nigerians.
“These include the building of infrastructure, such as roads, rail, hydroelectricity and revaluing all sectors of the national economy in order to put our country on the path of a sustainable economic growth and prosperity.”
Osinbajo said the Buhari administration remained strongly committed to the goals of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) movement, adding that “on assumption of office in 2015, in spite of daunting economic challenges which confronted us at the time, we ensured that no worker was retrenched across the country.
“We followed this commitment by providing bailout funds for states that were unable to pay salaries at that time in order to pay their accumulated arrears. He also released Paris Club refund owed since 2005 to make sure that workers were not owed anything.
“We also ensure the payment of outstanding benefits of retrenched workers. Retrenched Nigeria Airways workers who were owed for decades were paid. We also ensured that the Pensions Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) also paid arrears owed to parastatals, civil servants pensioners covering about 101, 393 civil service pensioners in all grade levels and 76,310 parastatal pensioners across 186 ministries, departments and agencies. This is in addition to the arrears that were paid to officers of the Police, Customs and Immigration.
“The administration also settled pension issues of the Armed Forces and paramilitary personnel who were dismissed as a result of their participation in the civil war. All these veterans have now been paid their outstanding benefits.
Source: The Nation
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.
FORPS Donates Boreholes to 2 Bwari Communities in Abuja
Nigeria Doesn’t Need Applause—It Needs Access
A Joyous Milestone: Pamela Iweze Celebrates Daughter’s Graduation with Pride, Purpose, and a Message of Hope
LASG Acquires New Outboard Engines For Optimum Boat Performance
Elon Musk builds Hotel in Mars, Sets to launch soon at $5million per night – Photos
