OPEC Emergency Meeting In April to hold in Saudi Arabia

An emergency meeting for oil producers has been slated to hold in the Qatari capital, Doha, in April.

Some 15 oil-producing nations representing about 73 percent of world output have agreed to take part, according to a statement from Qatar, which is the head of Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). "The continuous efforts of the Qatari government have been instrumental in promoting dialogue among all oil producers to support the Doha initiative, helping the stabilization of (the) oil market to the interest of all," al-Sada said in the statement.

"Since Russia and other countries agree on having an emergency meeting for oil producers in Doha on April 17, Saudi Arabia fully supports this initiative.'

Crude futures prices rose by $2.12/barrel, almost 6%. The Fed's decision to pass on another rise in rates provided another push higher.Since its low, the OPEC Reference Price has rebounded by 50%. The gain has been relatively steady since the freeze announcement in mid-February.

China seeks increased Crude oil exports from Nigeria

Despite the recent global fluctuations in oil prices, China through the Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Nigeria, Zao LingXiang, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.  He said that current trade volume between both countries stood at $14.94 billion in 2014 making Nigeria third largest trade partner of China in Africa.

The total amount of export to China was only about one million barrels in 2015 that was just 1.3 per cent of Nigerian annual oil export. "In my opinion, it really doesn't matter whether Iran comes back or not; Chinese companies want to import more crude oil from Nigeria," he said.

The economic counsellor added that Nigeria's trade figure was 8.3 per cent of China's total trade volume with Africa and 42 per cent of the total trade volume between China and Africa.  "China is the largest developing country in the world and Nigeria is the largest developing country in Africa and both countries have complementary advantages in natural and human resources, funds and markets.

“In my opinion, it really doesn’t matter whether Iran comes back or not; Chinese companies want to import more crude oil from Nigeria,” LingXiang said.

"Right now, the Nigerian Government is trying to diversify its economy which is fully in line with the 10 China-Africa cooperation plans announced at the summit on China-Africa trade in Johannesburg in 2015.

"There are great potential for cooperation between China and Nigeria in the fields of industrialisation, agricultural modernisation, infrastructure construction, financial services, trade and investment facilitation, among others."  He, however, added that both countries had made "remarkable achievements" in the areas of infrastructure cooperation.

He said that the coming visit of President Muhammad Buhari to China in April would facilitate the implementation of agreements reached at the 2015 China-African summit in Johannesburg. "The president's visit would also deepen cooperation between both countries".

Mr. LinXiang explained that the total investment volume between China and Africa exceeded $100 billion in 2015 in spite of the decline in imports from Africa. He however stated that Africa has remained China's largest trade partner despite recent changes in that country's economy.

"The amount in import from Africa to China declined but did not decline remarkably", he said.

Discos mandated to provide pre-paid meters to Nigerians with immediate effect- Fashola

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN, has on Monday the 14th of March, given marching orders to Electricity Distribution Companies, (DISCOs) to issue prepaid meters to Nigerians, immediately.  He made this known at the end of his third monthly meeting with operators in the power sector at the Ugwuaji Transmission Station, Enugu,

Fashola said that the meeting discussed the issue of availability of gas, volatility of the foreign exchange market, financial capability of discos as well as difficulties in of pricing gas in dollars instead of the local currency among others, adding that discos must meet  their responsibilities of meeting the demands of their customers to supply them with pre-paid meters to avoid estimated billings.

Majority of Nigerians who use electricity are not metered, hence the Nigerian government is accelerating ways to ensure that issues of estimated bills by electricity distribution companies ends as soon as possible.

The communique issued after the meeting read, “The Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, chaired the third monthly meeting of operators in the electricity industry in furtherance of identifying, discussing and finding practical solutions to issues facing the Nigerian electricity supply industry.

“If you are not getting power from the transmission company, you must tell your customers so. The issue of review of tariff was arrived at after consultations. You (discos) did the consultations. Why don’t you step out and explain the issue to your customers. All of us must explain to our different customers where we operate…,” he said.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/fg-gives-marching-orders-to-discos-on-mete

It is Cheaper to Import Fuel than to refine Locally- Kachikwu

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has said that judging from current economic realities, importing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, is cheaper than producing the product in the country’s refineries.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Kachikwu disclosed that until the upgrade and total refurbishment of the refineries are concluded, as well as ensuring that the pipelines are fixed, it would be uneconomic and very expensive to refine PMS locally. He maintained that local refining of PMS would make much more economic sense if all the refineries undergo full set of repairs and Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM), and when new refineries are set up in the country through co-locative initiative.

Kachikwu further noted that even if the current set of refineries were working on a 100 per cent basis, they would only be able to account for 20 million litres of PMS per day, about 50 per cent of the country’s total consumption. This means that the country would still resort to importation to meet up with the shortfall.

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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that at the moment, importing Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, is cheaper than producing the product in the country’s refineries.

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/its-cheaper-to-import-petrol-than-refine-locally-kachikwu/

FG may soon declare NNPC sole importer of petroleum products

Before now, the importation of petroleum products was done by the commercials, but since this responsibility was handed down to Crude Oil Marketing Department (COMD), there has been delay in arrival. The COMD most times do not realise the urgency needed when importing products. In practice, the COMD sells crude oil, then buys refined products with the proceed, and this sometimes causes the delay.

In view of this, there are indications that Federal Government has plans to restrict major and independent marketers from import of petroleum products beginning from the second quarter of 2016.

This is  allegedly due to the failure of the marketers to deliver the 22 percent allocation granted to them which is causing the current scarcity of petrol in the country. Consequently, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) may allocate 100 percent of petroleum products import to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the second quarter.

The PPPRA is expected to release the list for the second quarter import as well as review the N86.50 per litre of petrol as prescribed by the price modulation regime. Even within the NNPC itself, the relocation of petrol importation from commercial to Crude Oil Marketing Department (COMD) has further exacerbated the importation bottlenecks.

Coal utilization in the Nigerian power sector - the way forward

In these days of persistent power outages and fuel scarcity, a regular issue being deliberated among stakeholders is the availability of alternative energy sources.  One of such option is coal. This is as a result of the good potential coal is said to have in terms of power generation, and the fact that this mineral is readily available in Nigeria.  Nigeria's coal reserves is estimated to be over 2 billion metric tonnes, of which 650 million tonnes are proven.

The federal government through the ministry of mines and steel development initiated the coal to power project with the aim of generating 30 per cent of power using coal by the year 2020.  While this initiative appears to be a promising means of enhancing power generation, stakeholders fear that this project may not pull through as very little has been done to address the many challenges hindering development in the coal mining sector such as lack of infrastructure and poor technical know-how.

More so, the solid minerals sector remains one of the most underfunded sectors due to the fact that funding institutions have not shown much interests in investing their finances in such a venture, which is usually capital intensive and long term in nature.  Another major challenge raised in terms of the coal sector’s development is the inconsistent policies the nation suffers from, as different administrations come and go.

A member of the National Assembly, Ibrahim Gobir, was recently quoted to have said that Nigeria could generate 45,000 mega watts of electricity if it utilized its coal reserves.

While coal may seem a worthy alternative for power generation in Nigeria, due to it being cheaper and more affordable than other energy  sources, there are attendant consequences that may result from its utilization in power plants.  Such side effects includes Greenhouse gas emissions, which cause a lot of pollution and contribute to global warming and ultimately, climate changes. Also, Mining of coal not only results in the destruction of habitat, but also displacement of humans as well.  Thermal plants like coal fired plants also emit harmful substances to the environment. These include mercury, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, mercury, selenium, and arsenic. These harmful substances not only cause acid rain but also are very harmful to humans as well.

In view of the above, is Nigeria really ready to exploit this seemingly lucrative option??

Federal Government declares war on fuel and power saboteurs

Mr Segun Adeyemi who is the Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has in a statement issued on Sunday 13 March 2016,  warned that the the Federal Government (FG) has promised to take remedial action against saboteurs responsible for the ongoing fuel scarcity and drop in power generation.

He further stated that “Vandals, whatever their motives are, cannot be treated with kid gloves because their actions constitute a clear and present danger to the nation’s economic, social and political wellbeing. “The attack on the Forcados Export Terminal that has affected gas production by oil firms and reduced gas supply to power generating plants and the shutdown of Utorogu gas plant are totally condemnable and cannot be allowed to continue,”

“The shutdown of the national transmission facility in Osogbo and the Ikeja Disco by some unionists amount to economic sabotage,” he added. Mohammed said government was not unaware that as it steps up the fight against corruption, corruption would vigorously fight back in many forms which include destruction/sabotage of key national infrastructure to make the government look bad. “However, nothing will make this government to slow down in its anti-corruption fight and no one who is corrupt will be spared,” he warned. He appealed to Nigerians to join hands with the government to check the activities of unpatriotic elements working against the interest of the people. “When oil and gas facilities are vandalised, the impact is felt directly by Nigerians; when power infrastructure is sabotaged for whatever reasons, Nigerians bear the brunt.

“While those actions may be aimed at discrediting the government, those who pay the price are the vast majority of innocent, law-abiding and well-meaning Nigerians, not just the vandals or the saboteurs,’ he added. The minister, however, noted that the power situation was gradually improving as generation had now increased to around 4,000 megawatts. He said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, had assured that the prevailing fuel queues would gradually ease in the next few days. Meanwhile, lack of adequate functional facilities in the downstream sector has emerged as fresh fact for the prolonged fuel scarcity in the nation.

Kachikwu Says Petrol Queues Will Ease Off By Monday

The Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has apologised to Nigerians for the biting petrol crisis and assureed them that it would ease off by Monday.

He said more volumes of petrol had been deployed across Nigeria to ensure that fuel service stations had enough products to serve their customers. He appealed to Nigerians to desist from hoarding the product, saying all efforts were being made to ensure there was no further instigating crisis in the sector to save Nigerians any further hardship.

The government had blamed the situation on sabotage and pipeline vandalism, which he said had affected the amount of electricity generated.

Labor unions react as NNPC undergoes restructuring

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation had recently announced a major re-organisation of its management structure, which resulted in 54 new appointments.  The restructuring exercise at the NNPC by its Group Managing Director, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, gave rise to the appointments of new managers into the corporation, as well as the redeployment of units’ heads.

Some labour union members and employees of the firm explained that the re-organisation was causing apprehension among the workers, as it appears like a disguised move to relieve workers of their jobs, notwithstanding the promises made to them. it was learnt that the re-organisation at the firm affected most senior officials at the corporation and most of them had yet to fully settle down to perform their roles.  

However, Kachikwu has opined that the restructuring at the national oil firm, is in a bid to make it a profitable venture. This development resulted in a nationwide strike by key labour unions in the oil and gas sector – the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria.

The one-day industrial action heightened the scarcity of petroleum products across the country and also impacted negatively on electricity generation by power producers. However, the NNPC had assured that it was doing all it could to address the petrol scarcity.