crude oil

Lagos, Nov. 14, 2023: Mr Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has warned against  Nigeria’s potential reliance on imported crude oil for its existing and upcoming refineries.

This, he noted, could happen if immediate measures were not taken to address the current low production levels.

Wabote gave the warning in his goodwill message at the 41st Annual Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) on Monday in Lagos.

Wabote expressed his concern over Nigeria’s underwhelming production of crude oil and gas, despite the country’s abundant reserves.

He urged members of NAPE and other industry stakeholders to collaborate in reversing the situation.

Wabote specifically emphasised the need to closely monitor Nigeria’s 37 billion barrels of oil reserves, particularly due to the ongoing efforts to revamp existing refineries and establish new ones.

He cautioned that it would be unfortunate if, after ceasing the importation of refined petroleum products, Nigeria were to resort to importing crude oil for the operation of its local refineries.

Wabote commended the vital role played by petroleum explorationists in the energy sector.

He acknowledged their contribution to the discovery, evaluation, and establishment of reliable and sustainable oil and gas reserves.

 In terms of natural gas, Wabote revealed that Nigeria possesses approximately 208 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proven gas reserves, in addition to around 600 TCF of unproven reserves.

He encouraged petroleum explorationists to utilise their expertise and advanced technology to determine the recoverable volumes from these unproven reserves and develop the proven ones.

Highlighting the significance of gas, Wabote stated that it was no longer considered a transitional fuel in Nigeria but had become the ultimate destination fuel.

He assured that the NCDMB remained fully committed to supporting President Bola Tinubu’s gas business agenda.

Discussing the conference’s theme, “Repositioning the oil and gas industry for future energy dynamics”, Wabote stressed the critical importance of addressing the energy trilemma.

According  to him, this involves finding a balance between energy security, sustainability, and affordability.

He acknowledged that the world is currently at a crucial juncture where careful considerations must be made to tackle this challenge effectively.

He indicated that repositioning the Nigerian oil and gas industry for national development required collaboration and partnerships with key players and agencies across the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors and its entire value chain.

He said that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act (2010) provided the compass to enable the development and growth of local capacities and capabilities in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

Wabote commended the Federal Government’s determination to sustain the gains realised in the oil and gas industry and the eagerness to consolidate them rather than reverse the gains of Nigerian Content.

He conveyed the board’s readiness to support various oil and gas initiatives that would ensure patronage of local investments, boost investors’ confidence, and create jobs to sustain the relative peace in the oil and gas sector.

Abuja, July 20, 2023: The House of Representatives has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reveal without delay, all the interests and principal sums on the investments in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) Petroleum Profits (PTT) and Royalty Account to the Auditor-General for the Federation’s Office.

The call was sequel to a unanimous adoption of a motion by Rep. Esosa Iyawe (LP-Edo) at plenary on Thursday.

Moving the motion earlier, Iyawe said that the CBN is the banker to the Federal Government’s Banker and custodian of investment vehicles, including the PPT and the ECA among others.

He said that the 2015 Annual Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation showed that an interest of One hundre and $1.82 million dollars was deposited in the ECA as interest on Investments.

According to the lawmaker, there were no details as regards the principal sums deposited, the tenor and the interest rate.

“The CBN has flagrantly and consistently refused the requests by the Auditor- General for the Federation to disclose the details regarding the management of interests accruing from the PPT/ Royalty and Foreign Excess Crude Account;

“Reports which revealed unapproved and indiscriminate withdrawals from the ECA, including current year expenditures, fuel subsidies, debt financing and power projects, all of which are outside the fund’s mandate.

“Disturbed that the 2016 audit report revealed the disappearance of over $9.5 million interest accrued from the PPT investment,” he said.

Iyawe said that obscurity has consistently characteried the management of interests accruing on Federal Government investments, which is in contravention of the accountability principle, and points to misuse of much-needed government funds.

The rep said that the ECA has been riddled with controversy, allegations of corruption, and uncertain performance.

According to him,  its absence of rules governing deposits, withdrawals and investments led to the Natural Resource Governance Institute ranking Nigeria as the second-most poorly governed fund among 34 resource-rich nations.

He said that over the years, the ECA has consistently borne allegations of mismanagement along with a barrage of lawsuits challenging its legality as there is no law backing it.

Iyawe said that experts have raised concerns several times over ECA’s balances which seem to change at will without any corresponding evidence of withdrawals or approvals of such withdrawals.

He said that the lack of transparency from the CBN has significantly affected the revenue accruable to the Federation Account, as well as undermines the Federal Government’s efforts to plug leakages, reduce corruption, and improve revenue for the Federation.

The house resolved to set up an Ad-hoc Committee to determine the legality of ECA and investigate the status and management of all the principal sums deposited, tenor, and interest rate of the PPT/Royalty and ECA from 2015 to date.

In his ruling, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, mandated the committee, when constituted to ensure compliance.

Abuja, July 11, 2023: A vessel conveying 800,000 litres of suspected stolen crude oil has been intercepted by a private security contractor engaged by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd. (NNPC Ltd).

The vessel and its crew members were apprehended on July 7, by operatives of Messrs Tantita Security Services at an offshore location heading to Cameroon.

Mr Garba Muhammad, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPCL., said this in a statement on Monday Abuja..

He explained that the Vessel, MT TURA II, IMO number: 6620462, was owned by a Nigerian company, HOLAB MARITIME SERVICES LIMITED with Registration Number RC813311.

According to him, preliminary investigations revealed that the crude oil cargo on-board was illegally sourced from a well jacket offshore in Ondo State, Nigeria.

“There was no valid documentation for the Vessel or the Crude Oil Cargo on-board at the time of the arrest.

“Further investigation into the activities of the vessel at the NNPC Ltd. Command and Control Centre also revealed that the Vessel has been operating in stealth mode for the last 12 years.

`The last reported location of the Vessel was Tin Can Port in July 2011,’’ he said.

He further said that the details of the arrest and the outcomes of the investigations were escalated to the appropriate government authorities.

This, he said, was to destroy the Vessel to serve as a strong warning and deterrent to all those participating in such illegal activities.

According to him, destroying vessels involved in transporting stolen crude oil is of paramount importance as a strong deterrent.

“The illegal trade of stolen crude oil not only inflicts significant economic losses on Nigeria and legitimate stakeholders in the oil industry, but also perpetuates a cycle of corruption, environmental devastation, and social instability.

“NNPC Ltd. assures Nigerians that we will sustain the momentum in the war against crude oil theft until it is brought to a halt,’’ he said.

The Federal Government has announced plans to establish reliable database to determine appropriate tariff methodology for transportation and bulk storage of crude oil and natural gas in the country.

The Authority Chief Executive (ACE), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed stated this in a statement by Kimchi Apollo, General Manager, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, on Sunday in Abuja.

According to the statement, Ahmed revealed this at the 2022 Petroleum Liquid Inventory Reconciliation Exercise held from Feb. 6  to Feb. 10, in Lagos.

He said the exercise involved the NMDPRA, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory  Commission, Crude Oil and Gas Export Companies, Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

Represented by Mr Ogbugo Ukoha, Executive Director, Distribution Systems, Storage, Retailing Infrastructure (DSSRI), Ahmed said the expanded data ecosystem would cover petroleum liquid volumes evacuated by trucking, barging and pipelines.

“It will include a data system on terminal receipt volumes and terminal stock records, crude oil inventory records per company, per terminal, quantities delivered to and received into refineries.

“It will also include quantities evacuated to other midstream storage facilities, export permit volumes as well as actual export volumes per company, per terminal,” he said.

On the reconciliation exercise, the NMDPRA Boss said it was scheduled to establish and authenticate a common data on midstream statistics relating to crude oil, condensates, natural gas and its derivatives.

He said the reconcile data would provide the basis for the administration of petroleum liquid supply license and guide the appraisal of licenses,

authorisations and approvals issued in the midstream sector relating to petroleum transportation, storage and exports.

“This reconciliation will be beneficial to our stakeholders, in that, the dataset will also be of interest for NEITI audit, OPEC questionnaire and Joint Oil Data Initiative. It will also assist the National Assembly in its oversight function.

“ Similarly, it can be used by security agencies for investigations and the Federal Ministry of Finance for monitoring the repatriation of export proceeds and royalties remittance by exporters of crude oil and natural gas,” he said.

Ahmed said the Authority, as the custodian of petroleum products data bank would continue to ensure the provision of credible, reliable data for all petroleum operations in the country.

The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) mandates the NMDPRA to periodically reconcile data on crude oil terminal receipts, exports, refinery delivery, Oil and Gas transportation, and other related statistics that are of interest to the Federation as this directly affects royalties being remitted.

At a ground-breaking ceremony, President Muhammadu Buhari will, on Tuesday, supervise the first oil drill in oil fields located in Bauchi and Gombe States.

The oil drill involves the Kolmani Oil Prospecting Lease (OPL) 809 and 810 at the Kolmani field site will be the first oil drilling in Northern Nigeria.

Oil was discovered in commercial volume in the region about two years ago.

While Nigeria is already explore crude oil the southern Niger Delta, this exploration up north will be the first after an attempt in the Borno region was halted by insecurity.

NNPC Limited since 2016, launched a search for oil in some Northern states which led to the discovery of the oil in commercial quantity in Bauchi, Gombe, Borno and Niger States.

According to officials at NNPC Ltd, the oil field in Bauchi and Gombe axis will developed by Sterling Global Oil, New Nigeria Development Commission (NNDC) and NNPC Limited.

“The ceremony will be held on Tuesday, 22nd November and will be attended by Mr. President himself together with most of his cabinet members including the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva,” an official told Daily Trust.

NNPC Ltd has continually spent on frontier exploration as captured in its FAAC report.

With the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2022, funding for frontier exploration has risen to 30 per cent, which means the reformer NNPC Ltd would have more fund to develop oil fields in Nigeria.

At the moment, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said crude oil reserve is at 37 billion barrels.

Reports said the Kolmani fields holds over a billion crude oil reserve, which could significantly raise Nigeria’s oil reserve that has not grown in 10 years.

The oil discovery in the north is coming at a time when crude oil production in the south has dropped to about 1.2 million barrels per day mainly due to oil theft and vandalism.

Oil production in the north could be a backup to shore up revenue for Nigeria as it witnesses huge budget deficit so far, experts say.

Angola and Libya have overtaken Nigeria as Africa’s highest crude oil producer, says a report by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

OPEC made this known in its Oil Market Report for September 2022, which was released in Lagos.

According to the report, Nigeria’s crude oil production for the month of August averaged 1.100 million barrels per day.

The report said the figure showed a decrease of 65,000mb/d when compared to the 1.164mb/d produced averagely in the month of August.

However, the report said Angola was Africa’s highest crude oil producer for the month under review with an average production of 1.187mb/d.

It said Libya’s crude oil production averaged also 1.123mb/d for the month of August.

“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 29.65 mb/d in August, higher by 618,000 month-on-month.

“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya and Saudi Arabia, while production in Nigeria declined,” the report said.

The report said Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product expanded by 3.5 per cent year-on-year in 2022, following growth of 3.1 per cent in first quarter of 2022.

It noted that the expansion was mainly driven by the non-oil sector, which grew by 4.8 per cent y-o-y.

“On a quarterly basis, the GDP shrank by 0.37 per cent following a 14.66 per cent contraction in the previous quarter.

“Nevertheless, the annual inflation rate surged to the highest since September 2005, climbing to 19.6 per cent y-o-y in July from 18.6 per cent in June.

“This was a result of the weakening naira due to continued high imported input costs as well as soaring fuel prices.

“Moreover, food inflation increased to 22 per cent y-o-y, the highest since May 2021,” the report said.

It said reflecting these pressures, August’s Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Purchasing Manger’s Index dropped to 52.3 from 53.2 in July.

The report said this was amid slower growth in non-oil output as well as the slowdown in purchasing activity, while employment rose at a quicker pace.

It said looking ahead, Nigeria’s economy might still be impacted by the high level of employment associated with elevated prices levels.