Category Oil & Gas

Dangote
By Edith Ike-Eboh/Nathan Nwakamma
Yenagoa, Dec. 4, 2019(NAN) The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDM), Mr Simbi Wabote, says the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Refinery project is an actualisation of Local Content development in Nigeria.

Wabote made this known while fielding questions from newsmen at the ongoing 9th Practical Nigerian Content Forum in Yenagoa on Wednesday.

The private refinery owned by the Dangote Group is under construction in Lekki Free Trade Zone, Nigeria.

When completed, it will have a capacity to process about 650,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

He said that project was the only way to drive local content, especially by establishing  it in the country.

“Dangote might as well have taken the refinery elsewhere but deciding to execute the project in Nigeria is a plus.

“Secondly, at the peak of the construction of the refinery, about 65, 000 workers are on site, and the majority of those workers in terms of ratio that are providing various services are Nigerians.

“Also, there is a lot of sub-contracts that have been awarded, contracts within the project site, the majority of those contracts are executed by Nigerian companies.

“To a very large extent, that is an example of believing in your country and trying to do things to enhance the development of your country,” he said.

Wabote commended the company’s plan to integrate young Nigerian graduates to manage the refinery, noting that the younger ones remained the future for the industry.

“Those of us at the industry, at 60 we will all retire and then these engineers will take over from us.

Commenting on failure of proper management of the country’s refineries,  he said that the state of the current four refineries should not  be likened to Dangote Refinery.

According to him, Dangote Refinery is a private investment that will do everything possible to run and maintain the refinery effectively.

“The other four refineries are government-run, and most times government is not in the position to run businesses effectively because of so many factors.

” Private investors will do a lot better than when you have the government run it.

“This is why they have pushed for privatisation of refineries. An example of private individual handling an asset is the case of Hilton Hotel in Abuja which has been privatised.

“Currently, you can see the profitability and what has been achieved thus far because it is being run privately.

“Dangote Refinery is purely private initiative and he will put everything well to ensure it is run successfully,” Wabote said. (NAN)
ENO/NN
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Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie

Tax
By Edith Ike-Eboh/Nathan Nwakamma
Yenagoa, Dec. 3, 2017 (NAN) Some stakeholders have called on the Federal Government to ensure reduction of  taxes on companies in the oil and gas sector to indigenous companies to grow.

The stakeholders spoke on Tuesday at the ongoing 9th Practical Nigerian Content Forum with the theme,   “Leveraging Local Expertise for Market Growth and Expansion”, and holding in Yenagoa.

Mr wale Olafisan, the Group Managing Director of Amni International Petroleum Development Company  said numerous taxes in the industry adversely affected the  development of indigenous companies.

Represented by Mr Tijani Adewale, a Director in the company, Olafisan identified the taxes as Value Added Tax, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board, tax, NDDC tax, among others.

“We need to support the indigenous companies and encourage them to contribute to the growth and development of the country,” he said.

He called on government to ensure good governance in the sector to enable it to compete globally.

He said that world’s future was on gas and that it was necessary that Nigeria adopted good policies to rive gas development.

“Government must look at gas production critically and prioritise its development.

“We have huge deposits of gas in the country and must take its development very seriously.

“We must support indigenous companies, especially those that want to be involved in the upstream sector,” he added.

Mr Victor Okoronkwo, the Managing Director, Aiteo Exploration and Production Limited,  said that ensuring local content would help the growth of the sector.

He said that indigenous companies, such as Aiteo, had so many challenges affecting their  development.

According to him, apart from taxes, constant attacks on its facilities remain a big challenge.

“We witness constant vandalism,  thereby interrupting our operations and in turn an economic sabotage.

” In 2019, we have rerecorded substantial shutdown, we have a cumulative of two months shutdown and it has negative impact on the revenue of the company and the economy,’’ Okoronkwo said.

He added that the company recorded crude loss of  25 per cent to 35 per cent “between what is injected to the facility and what is received at the terminal”.

He said the company had lost four million barrels of crude through damage on pipelines and other facilities during the year. (NAN)

ENO/NN/JCE
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Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie

Refinery
By Nathan Nwakamma/Edith Ike-Eboh
Yenagoa, Dec. 3, 2019 (NAN)  Waltersmith modular refinery, a 5,000 barrels per day production capacity facility being promoted by Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), will commence operations in July 2020,  an official says.

The Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote, made the fact known at the opening ceremony of the 9th Practical Nigerian Content conference and Exhibitions in Yenagoa, on Tuesday.

The theme of the conference is “Leveraging Local Expertise for Market Growth and Expansion”.

Wabote said that the board was determined  to push Nigerian content in the oil and gas sector to 70 per cent by 2027.

He said that under his leadership, Nigeria content had grown from 26 per cent to 30 per cent in the past two years.

He said that the board would focus on gas value chain , LPG cylinder production and offload plant projects.

He said that the establishing of such in Nigeria would help to reverse an estimated capital flight of 360 million dollars per annum associated with production outside the country.

“We are working hard to ensure that local content is extended to other sectors of the economy.

In his remarks, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, lauded  NCDMB for providing a world class facility at its newly built 17-storey office complex in Yenagoa.

The minister urged international and local Oil companies to emulate NCDMB and ensure full support for local content in their operations.

Sylva said that the Federal Government remained committed to deploying Nigerian content to drive down the cost of crude oil production to make more revenue for development.

He said the government was leveraging on the success of the Nigerian Content Act 2010 and planned to deploy the policy to other sectors of the economy through Executive Orders.

“Under my watch at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, my priorities will include ending the smuggling of petroleum products into neighbouring countries, further reduction in gas flare and increasing oil output to three million barrels daily.

” We shall also work to bring down the cost of crude oil production by between three and five per cent,” Sylva said.

The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),  Malam Mele Kyari, said the corporation had supported all efforts to ensure local content in the oil industry.

Represented by Chief Operating Officer Corporate, Services Alhaji Faruk Sa’id, the NNPC managing director said that it had become imperative to raise the bar for local content in the sector.

He said that there was need to ensure local content in oil lifting, exploration among others and pledged the corporation’s support for the development of the oil and gas sector. (NAN)
NN/ENO/JCE
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Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie

Marketers
By Solomon Asowata
Lagos, Dec. 3, 2019 (NAN) The Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers(NALPGAM) has appealed to the Federal Government to dredge the Escravos Channel in order to ease supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to South South zone.

Its President, Mr Nosa Ogieva-Okunbor, made the appeal in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

Ogieva-Okunbor said the expansion of the Escravos Channel which leads to Koko, Sapele and Warri Ports would also ease congestion in the Lagos Port and improve LPG availability for consumers.

He said: “The government should look into expanding the channel in Escravos so that bigger vessels can bring in products to Warri and the South South areas.

“The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) recently started bringing products to Port Harcourt which is a laudable achievement but this can be improved on by opening up the Escravos Channel.

“Statistics have shown that there is an upward movement in the consumption of LPG. So supply to Port Harcourt alone is not enough.

“The depots should be continuously wet and there should be product availability all the time. Dozzy Gas, Matrix and others in the South South should have products all the time.

“By the time the depots in the south south are wet, there will be no need for people from those areas coming to Lagos to buy products. By so doing, you are reducing the traffic on Lagos Port.”

Ogieva-Okunbor also appealed to the NLNG to consider increasing its 350,0O0 MTPA set aside for local consumption of LPG in order to increase availability.

According to him, LPG consumption is about 624,000MT as at July 2019 with the country expecting to hit the one million metric tonnes mark by the end of the year.

He said: “The allocation from NLNG is low compared to the demand. I want to appeal to the NLNG to look into increasing the volume being given to local consumption.

“I know that by 2020, we might be hitting over one million metric tonnes and it is one of our drive that before five years time, at least 25 per cent of Nigerians should be using LPG.

“This should be not only for cooking but in driving their vehicles and electricity as well manufacturing purposes.”

The NALPGAM president also decried the upsurge in the price of cooking gas in spite of the efforts of the NLNG.

“The NLNG has been delivering back to back but because of that shortage when products were not brought in and because of the congestion problem in Apapa Port, the price still remains high.

“They are selling for N4.35 million for 20MT and this was a product that was being sold for N3.2 million only four weeks ago.

“So our projection is that this will remain like this for sometime and the only solution is for the NLNG to saturate our terminals with products. When there is product at all times, this panic buying will not be there and marketers will be able to plan properly,” he added. (NAN)
ASO/ISMA
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Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz

The berthing of vessel carrying the largest equipment for the Dangote Refinery in Lekki Arrived
Dangote Jetty on Sunday Dec. 1, 2019

Dangote refinery takes delivery of largest single-train crude refining equipment

Equipment

By Yunus Yusuf

Lagos, Dec.1, 2019 (NAN) The Dangote Oil Refinery Company on Sunday took delivery of what it described as the world’s largest crude distillation equipment.

Capt. Rajen Sachar, Head, Maritime and Ports Infrastructure of Dangote, told newsmen at the arrival of the equipment in Lagos that it was the biggest single-train facility used for refining crude oil.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the atmospheric equipment which was manufactured by Sinopec company in China, is the primary unit processor of crude oil into fuels.

Sachar noted that crude oil consisted of various chemical components that had different molecular sizes, molecular weights and boiling temperatures.

According to him,  the crude distillation column works on the principle of fractional distillation, leading to separation of various components in the mixture on the basis of their different boiling points.

He said: “Crude oil enters the top of the column, where the inlet temperature is 165 degrees centigrade gradually increasing to 357 at the bottom of the column.

“During this passage, the crude and its vapours pass through a complex web of internal trays to increase the contact time and surface area.

“Within the column, the hot vapours travel upward  through bubble caps which allow the vapour to pass through the tray with the cooler liquid flowing downward the column.

“When the vapour reaches the height within the column where its boiling point is equal to the temperature of the column at that height, it condenses to form a liquid.

“The liquid then collects on various trays in the column at differing heights from where it is extracted out of the column.

“It is, therefore, critical to control the heat load of the column to optimize the crude crack.

“These separated fractions are mainly middle distillates: namely, naphtha, jet fuel, kerosene, gasoline and gas oil,” Sachar added.

He said that the crude column would enhance the economy of Nigeria and all neighbouring countries in Africa by making available refined petroleum products meeting world standards emission norms of Euro 5 and Euro 6.

The captain said the strategic location of Nigeria in West Africa continent would help in reducing the transportation costs of the fuels to other countries in Africa thereby provide cost effective high grade petroleum products to them.

“This refinery with a capacity of 650 kbpsd is higher than the total demand of Nigeria; thus, catapulting Nigeria’s  position from a net importer of petroleum products to a net exporter of petroleum products.”

He said that the development would  redefine Nigeria’s position in the global petroleum products market.

He said that the equipment was capable of refining 650,000 barrel per day (bpd), adding that the refinery was designed to be Africa’s largest.

Sachar said that the technology was significant to Nigeria and Dangote Oil Refinery Company.

According to him, the technology will bring multiplier effect positive to the company and Nigeria through supply to huge markets.

Sachar said that the project was  expected to generate over 9,500 direct jobs and 25,000 indirect jobs.

“The crude distillation column is the largest in terms of distilling capacity which is 650 thousand barrels per stream day.

” At present, this is the world’s largest single train refining column.

“This equipment has dimension weight of 2,250 metric tonnes, 1,12.5 metres length, 14.036 metres width and 13.752 metres height.

“It is the largest diameter, longest length and the heaviest single-unit equipment in domestic export equipment.

“It will be installed in the world’s largest single-series refinery – the 32.5 million tonne/year Dangote refinery in Nigeria,” he said.

He said that the  crude oil processor took 14 months in construction by Sinopec company in China and eight weeks to be brought  down to Nigeria.

“Dangote refinery also invested heavily in dredging the sea from  the refinery to Apapa for easy passage of the vessel,” he said.

He said that the President of the company, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, was passionate about technology transfer to Nigerians.

Sachar said that Dangote Oil Refinery Company was currently training young Nigerian engineers in Mumbai, India, in refinery operations in preparation for the take-off of its Lagos Refinery and Petrochemical Plant.

He said that the training was a continuum as more engineers would be trained to work effectively in a fertiliser plant and refinery being built by the company.

In his remarks, Mr Lawal Saheed, Pilot Grade 1 of the Nigerian Ports Authority, who accompanied the vessel from Apapa Port to Dangote Jetty commended the vessel crew who brought the equipment from China.

He said that it took seven hours to drive the vessel from Apapa to Dangote due to the heavy equipments.

Saheed said: “It took an experienced and patient pilot to move the vessel to the final destination due to sea waves.

” I am  happy  that l am part of  the progress. l am proud to be associated with such a landmark achievement.” (NAN)

YO/ IKU/IGO
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Edited by Tayo Ikujuni/Ijeoma Popoola

OPEC

By Edith Ike-Eboh

Abuja, Dec.1, 2019 (NAN) The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva says Nigeria has met the 100 per cent target agreement entered into by Oragnisation of  petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and 10 Non-OPEC Member States.

Sylva said this in a statement issued by his Spokesman, Alhaji Garba Muhammad in Abuja on Sunday.

OPEC and10 Non-OPEC Member States are also known as the OPEC plus or the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) Countries.

The minister spoke in a tele-conference with the Chairman of the OPEC-Non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) and Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and some other DoC Ministers over.

He recalled that at  the last meeting of the JMMC held in September, in Abu Dhabi, he assured that Nigeria would within three months be 100 per cent compliant with the Agreement that it had voluntarily entered into.

Sylva said that in fulfillment of that pledge, Nigeria’s compliance level had witnessed tremendous progress month by month since  August resulting in 100 per cent compliance in November.

The minister commended member countries of the DoC that had consistently met and even exceeded their targets of production cuts.

He attributed the successes achieved in bringing stability to the oil market to the whole group but especially  due to the extra efforts of these countries.

Sylva commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the extra burden it had taken on its own volition to help stabilise the global oil market.

He thanked Prince Abdulaziz and the Government of the Kingdom for the exemplary leadership role they had been playing in the DoC.

On his part, Prince Abdulaziz commended Nigeria for the efforts it had made since August to ensure compliance, noting that the Agreement came into effect at the same time when Nigeria’s Egina was coming on-stream.

OPEC Ministers are expected to meet in Vienna next week to review developments in the global oil market for the first half of 2020 and take some critical decisions affecting the oil industry and by implication the global economy.

The first decision is on the fate of the current Agreement which expires on March 31, 2020.

The Organisation will decide whether to renew it or not, if it is to be retained, decision has to be taken on the need for modification or allow it to stand as it is.

The second decision is expert to look at the outlook for the oil market in the first and second quarters of 2020, where demand is forecast to dampen while production from non-DoC members is forecast to rise.

Experts believe that the DoC Countries need to make deeper cuts to sustain the stability that they have been able to bring to the market.

The JMMC is expected to meet in Vienna on Dec. 5 and the OPEC Ministerial Conference same day, while the OPEC and NON-OPEC Ministerial Meeting is expected to take place on December 6 in Vienna. (NAN)

ENO/EEE

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Edited by Ese E. Ekama

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DPR
By Edith Ike-Eboh
Abuja, Dec. 1, 2019 (NAN) The Department of Petroleum Resource (DPR) has assured Nigerians of adequate supply of products across the country before, during and after the yuletide season.

Acting Director of Operations, Abuja Zonal Office, Alhaji Idris Mohammed, disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday.

“You can be rest assured that we cannot encounter the problem of scarcity during the yuletide season.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the major supplier of the products, is on top of it and DPR as the regulator is equally monitoring distribution of these products.

“We monitoring as we do before and we are sure that marketers are working because what causes scarcity most time is the shortage of supply.

“And as you know, with the closure of the border, the smuggling is not there again and we have enough products, the marketers are selling. So, we don’t envisage any scarcity at any point ahead of the celebration for Christmas and New year,’’ he said.

Commenting on accuracy of pumps for dispensing petroleum products, he said that the DPR had been going round to ensure that filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) does not short change motorists.

He said that with the introduction of the digital Seraphin measurement, any operator found wanting would be sanctioned according to the rules.

“Our concern is to make sure that marketers did not shortchange anybody, what we want is accuracy. If it is two litres, let it be two litres.

“But I can tell you that in Abuja, most of the filling stations are dispensing accurately, may be because we are always checking on them, but you cannot rule out some miscreants but we always clamp down on them.

He advised motorists to be watchful and attentive when buying products at petrol stations, adding that “sometimes motorists are being cheated when they are in a hurry’’.

On regularisation of registration by illegal operators of filling stations and Gas plants around the FCT, he said that the DPR and other relevant agencies were working together to get them do the right thing.

He said that those apprehended during the clampdown exercise were under the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp (NSCDC) for prosecution.

He said that DPR before embarking on any clampdown on illegal petrol stations or gas plant, sensitizes the public so that those involved would have time to do the right thing.

“The NSCDC is on it, the last time we met, they informed us that a good number of those illegal operators apprehended have been charged to court.

“As you know, we don’t have the legal right to arrest anybody, we only stop you if you are not legally operating,’’ he said

He advised all illegal sellers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), known as cooking gas and petrol station in the FCT and its environ to get their  business properly registered with the DPR.(NAN)
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Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz

Refinery
By Leonard Okachie
Umuahia, Jan. 30, 2019 (NAN) Mr Chizuru Kalu, Commissioner for Petroleum Resources in Abia, said that the state government was still considering proposals from different firms for the establishment of a modular refinery in the state.
Kalu said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Umuahia.
He said that the ministry had received many proposals and was trying to accomplish its own due diligence.
“Very soon we will have the ground-breaking because we have received so many proposals and we are considering them.
“Already there is a draft memo and very soon we will send one of the proposals to the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice for his input,” he said.
The commissioner further said that the ministry had, in partnership with the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC), engaged a group to explore the oil mineral deposits in Ukwa West Local Government Area (LGA).
He also gave an update on the work of the state government’s committee of enquiry on the NNPC pipeline fire in Osisioma Local Government Area of the state in October 2018.
Kalu, who is a member of the committee, said it had made meaningful progress.
“We started public hearing a few days ago.We have also visited the scene,” he said, adding that some of the survivors had appeared before the committee.
He said that the report of the committee would soon be ready for submission to the state government.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the pipeline fire left hundreds of lives in Umuaduru and Umuimo communities dead. (NAN)
LEO/MAM/USO
(Edited by Modupe Adeloye/Sam Oditah)