OIL AND GAS EXPORT SALES UP 35% TO $416M

                                                       Dr. Maikanti Baru, GMD, NNPC

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he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced a total crude oil and gas export sales of $416.07 million in June, 2018 which is 35.78 per cent higher than the previous month.

Details of the figures contained in the June 2018 edition of the Monthly NNPC Financial and Operations Reports, indicated that the crude oil export sales contributed $274.95 million which translates to 66.08 per cent of the dollar transactions compared with $244.72million contribution in the previous month.

The export Gas sales for the month amounted to $141.12million, the report said.

The 35th Edition of the Monthly NNPC Financial and Operations Report also indicated that the corporation undertook the repairs of raptured gas pipeline which supplies gas to most thermal electricity generating plants in the country, leading to appreciable leap in power generation.

 In all, a total of 744million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) was delivered to the gas fired power plants in the month of June 2018 to generate an average power of about 2,970MW compared with the May 2018, where an average of 742mmscfd was supplied to generate 2,940MW.

A total of 211.51billion cubic feet (bcf) of natural gas was produced in the month of June 2018, translating to an average daily production of 7,056.22mmscfd.

For the period between June 2017 and June 2018, a total of 3,080.90 bcf of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,826.41mmscfd.

During the period under review, Production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) contributed about 69.35 per cent, 21.77 per cent and 8.88 per cent respectively, to the total national gas production.

Out of the 209.55bcf of gas supplied in June 2018, a total of 113.08bcf of gas was commercialized, comprising of 36.23bcf and 76.85bcf for the domestic and export market respectively.

This translates to a total supply of 1,207.74mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 2,561.70 mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month, implying that 53.96 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized while the balance of 46.04 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.

The gas flare rate was 10.33 per cent for the month under review, that is, 721.83mmscfd, compared with the average gas flare rate of 10.4per cent, that is,  813.37mmscfd for June 2017 to June 2018.

In the downstream sub-sector, 1,194.93million litres of petrol were supplied into the country through the Direct-Sale-Direct-Purchase (DSDP) arrangements as against the 1,096.45million litres of petrol supplied in May 2018.

The petroleum products (petrol, diesel & kerosene) production by the domestic refineries in June 2018 amounted to 205.73million litres compared to 161.91million litres in May 2018.

FUND IMPEDES PROGRESS FOR NIGERIAN OIL COMPANIES

                    Lorenzo Fiorillo, Agip MD, with Maikanti Baru, GMD of NNPC

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ne of Nigeria’s International Oil Companies (IOC), Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) Joint Venture, comprising Agip, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Oando, recently stated clearly that lack of funding as a major constraint to Nigerian companies operating in the oil and gas industry.

The oil company made it known that it was important to explore ways to make funds available for Nigerian-owned ventures if the country was to achieve the projected self-sufficiency in executing significant contracts and projects. Mr. Lorenzo Fiorillo, Vice Chairman/Managing Director of NAOC said during a workshop organised for industry operators.

However, the Joint Venture collaboration with three Nigerian banks had greatly minimised the problem.

According to Fiorillo, “Over time, we have identified financing as a major gap in the ability of Nigerian companies to bid and execute contracts in the oil and gas industry. Consequently, in the last four years, NAOC has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding on vendor financing schemes with three major banks in Nigeria- Stanbic Ibtc, UBA and Zenith in order to support her contractors in providing funds for the execution of projects and contracts awarded by the company.”

TOTAL LINKS OIL TANKERS’ ACCIDENTS TO ILLITERACY, POOR ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

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ne of Nigeria’s downstream major player, Total Nigeria Plc attributed accidents caused by oil tankers’ in the country to illiteracy among tanker drivers, ageing equipment, substandard tank construction and low quality of road infrastructure.

Total’s Management System for Transport Manager, Mr Ajibola Alaga, made the assertion when members of the Major Oil Marketers’ Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) visited the Total Truck Drivers’ Training School and Inspection Centre in Ibadan.

Alaga said that in aggregate terms, 120 major tankers accidents had been recorded since 2014, comprising 94 rollovers, 16 collisions and 10 fires.

While on a tour of the school’s facilities, the manager said the oil firm and other MOMAN members understood the sensitivity of transporting petroleum products across the country in tankers.

According to the Total boss, the company was committed to bringing on board global best practices in ensuring safety of lives, property and the environment. “Twenty-five per cent of tanker accidents on Nigerian roads are as a result of errors from other road users, while 21 per cent of the accidents are linked to drivers of the trucks. Mechanical default in the vehicle constitute 18 per cent of accidents, speeding 16 per cent, fatigue- eight per cent and the environment- eight per cent. Dangerous overtaking constitute three per cent and security issues one per cent.”

Alaga made it known that on the major risk factors in petroleum products distribution via road networks is, “The behaviour of drivers largely because of an over 90 per cent dearth in training is one factor. Others are aged equipment; substandard equipment like truck heads; substandard tank construction of manholes, valves, among others.”

He was of the view that the second phase of the training school, which is the Track Centre, was underway, adding that construction work had commenced. Total Nigeria had installed two high-tech driving simulators at its Truck Drivers Training School and Inspection Centre in Ibadan and its Head Office in Lagos.

The manager said that this was to enhance the skill of drivers and promote safe haulage of petroleum products across the country, “These moves are part of its commitment to improving road safety with the broad objective to replicate and model real-life driving conditions.”

He spoke further, “This will aid the building of safe driving practices and culture amongst truck drivers in the country. The simulators will serve as active training tools to prepare drivers for the management of unpredictable hazards that may occur while driving, such as collision avoidance.”

It is hoped that Alaga’s revelations will go a long way to solve issues bothering distribution network including the human factors.

Prior to Alaga statement, petroleum workers in the downstream sector had threatened to go on strike citing the country’s bad roads hampering effective distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and other petroleum products across the country.

NNPC NATIONAL SCIENCE QUIZ COMPETITION: GRAND FINALE HOLDS

                                               

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ith less than one week to the Final and Grand Finale of the 2018 Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) National Science Quiz Competition billed for October 8th-9th at the Corporate Headquarters of the corporation in Abuja, participating states are taking measures to ensure successful outing by their representatives.

Edo State, one of those presenting finalists in this year’s competition, has taken the event a notch higher with pledge by the State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, to provide the needed fulcrum that will ensure successful outing of Alikah Joseph Ehiagwina, the state representative in the 2018 competition.

The governor, in a widely publicized statement, said the impressive performance by Ehiagwina, was a call on other Edo youth to apply themselves vigorously in socially approved and rewarding ventures to make their parents and the state proud.

In his words, “We will continue to provide the needed support for Edo children such as Alikah to excel academically. His performance at the state level of the competition is encouraging and goes to show that, when given the opportunity, our children can compete favourably with their peers anywhere in the world.”

Obaseki noted that the exploit also shows that much could be achieved through sustained collaboration with all stakeholders in the education sector and government’s insistence on standards. He urged the student to make the best of the opportunity offered by the NNPC and return home with the coveted trophy.

Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said provisions had been made by the corporation to provide adequate comfort and moral boosters to the 18 whiz kids across the six geo-political zones that would lock horns in what promises to be an exciting final showdown.  

Ughamadu quoted the corporation’s GMD as having expressed satisfactions with the arrangements so far made for the 2018 edition of the Competition, saying as the flagship of the corporation’s Corporate Social Responsibility Projects (CSR), NNPC would back the context with necessary resources to ensure its success and continued relevance.

The NNPC Quiz Competition was inaugurated in 2000 and limited to participants from the Niger Delta but went national in 2001. This year’s event would mark the 16th edition of the competition.

Designed mainly for students in the nation’s secondary schools, the competition has impacted positively on the intellectual attainment of young Nigerians. It has provided financial succour to successful contestants who have been placed on scholarship throughout their university education. Many of the awardees had moved on to achieve academic laurels in tertiary institutions, locally and internationally.

Fulfilling aspects of its slant, records show many of the past awardees ended up studying Science and Technology related courses in the universities. In 2010, a past winner of the competition, emerged 2nd in a contest involving others from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Member Countries, and Austria to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of OPEC. Several years after its inauguration, the horizon of the competition soars.

Among the main objectives of the competition are: To implement a core element of NNPC CSR package, to promote Science education in the country and to encourage students in the study of Science and Technology related subjects.

Also, to prepare students for promotional and qualifying examinations, to build friendship amongst the participating students and to develop students’ competitive spirit.

The competition is to break down long-held stereotypes and engendering a better sense of national being in participating students, through the cross-cultural interactions that the contest offers.

It provides a platform for enlightening the students and the public on the activities of the corporation.

POWER SUPPLY AVERAGES 3,761MW, SECTOR LOSES N381BN

                                                  Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria

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ower sector in Nigeria, again, struggled to sustain an average daily supply of 3,761 megawatts (MW) in 2018.

The sector also lost N381 billion during the period under review as a result of high frequency resulting from unavailability of distribution infrastructure, poor gas supplies to generation companies, and water management constraints, which were the major challenges of the sector.

Data obtained also revealed that after the sector achieved a peak power generation of 5,222MW on December 18, 2017, it managed to generate and supply up to 4000MW for only 72 out of the 263 days of 2018.

However, the office of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo revealed that the performance trend has also drop below 4000MW

NNPC RECORDS N18.12BN MONTHLY TRADING SURPLUS IN MAY

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he Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced a trading surplus of N18.12bn for the month of May, 2018, a performance which is relatively higher than the trading surplus of N17.16bn recorded in the preceding month.

Details of the transactions contained in the recently released May 2018 edition of the Monthly NNPC Financial and Operations Reports also indicated that the additional monthly trading surplus of N0.96bn was mainly due to increased performance of some of the corporation’s subsidiaries namely: the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC) and Marine Logistics.

Within the period, the NNPC Group performance was mainly impacted by NPDC’s performance which recorded a favorable variance of N18.22bn due to increase in revenue with parallel decrease in expenses. This resulted in N20.93bn net increase in the upstream gas & power surplus.

Overall, the report indicated that the increase in performance was bolstered by the relatively high production volumes of 1.97 million barrels per day in April 2018 which was sold in May, 2018 thereby reducing cost per unit. 

Under the national crude oil and natural gas production, lifting and utilization segment, the report noted that 58.96 million barrels of crude oil and condensate were produced in the month of April 2018 representing an average daily production of 1.97 million barrels. This represents 1.02 per cent increase compared to the preceding month.

A breakdown of the production figure indicated that Joint Ventures (JV) and Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) contributed about 32.82 per cent and 41.77 per cent respectively, while Alternative Financing (AF), NPDC and Independents accounted for 14.68 per cent, 7.65 per cent and 3.08 per cent respectively.

It was also indicated that the NPDC’s cumulative production from all fields within the period amounted to 47,759,229 barrels of crude oil which translated to an average daily production of 120, 909 barrels per day.

In terms of national gas production, the 34th NNPC Financial and Operations Report highlighted that 231.59 Billion Cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced in the months of May, 2018, translating to an average daily production of 7,785.01 Million Standard Cubic Feet per day (MMSCF/D).

In the downstream sub-sector, NNPC continued to ensure increased petrol supply and effective distribution across the country. In May, 2018, 1.19billion litres of petrol were supplied by NNPC, translating to 40.59mn Liters/day to sustain seamless distribution of petroleum products which resulted to zero fuel queue across the nation.

In the month under review, the corporation continued to monitor petrol evacuation figures from depots across the nation, and engaged, where necessary, the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and other stakeholders through existing Joint Monitoring Team.

                        NIGERIA IS A LEADER, KEY ALLY

                                       -US

                      Michael Pompeo, US Secretary of State

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pparently showing its unreserved support for Nigeria, the U.S. has described Nigeria as an indisputable leader in Africa, a friend and a key ally of the country.

US Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, on the occasion of Nigeria’s National Independence which was celebrated on Monday throughout the country, the government congratulated Nigeria and its people on the nation’s independence anniversary.

Pompeo said: “I would like to convey warm wishes to the government and people of Nigeria on the 58th anniversary of your independence. Nigeria remains a key partner and friend of the United States. Through its strengthening democracy, its dynamic economy and the great entrepreneurial spirit of its people, Nigeria is a leader in the region and beyond. We count on Nigeria to continue its leadership through free, fair, transparent and peaceful elections in 2019. The United States offers our continuous support to Nigeria in its efforts to expand trade and investment, counter-terrorism, ensure regional stability and tackle corruption. As you celebrate the anniversary of your independence, please know that the people of the United States celebrate with you.”

The former British Colony, gained Independence on Oct. 1, 1960 and since then had been celebrating the day of its birth.

Although, most Nigerians believed that the country would have advanced to a reasonable level in terms of technology, human capital development, economy and infrastructural development, there is room for improvement. When compared with its contemporaries, the country still needs to put all distractions aside such as ethnicity, religion and tolerance which have bedevilled the West African country for more than five decades of its existence.