By EricJames Ochigbo

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva says Nigeria is on course to end gas flaring by 2025.

Sylva made this known on Monday at a Public Hearing on gas flaring organised by the House of Representatives on Monday in Abuja.

The minister said that the public hearing was an opportunity to update the records and to bring stakeholders up to speed.

He said that elimination of gas flaring was an issue the ministry was taking seriously, saying that the ministry was committed to achieving the global consensus on elimination of gas flaring by 2025.

“Today, we have actually reduced gas flaring significantly to a very minimal level of eight per cent.

“If you all recall, in 2020, the ministry of petroleum started what we call the National Gas Expansion Programme and we declared year 2020 as the year of gas.

“At the beginning of this year, we also declared year 2021 the beginning of the gas decade. We believe that with all the programmes we have in place, we are on course to achieving complete elimination of gas flaring by year 2025,” he said.

The minister recalled that in December 2020, the ministry rolled out a gas penetration programme.

Sylva said that the ministry was aggressively pursuing it to attain total elimination and utilisation of gas that was being flared today.

Also speaking, the Minister of Environment, Mr Muhammed Abubakar said that gas flaring was one environmental challenge a lot had been said about.

Represented by the Director of Environment, Mr Abah Suleman, Abubakar said that gas flaring leads to global warming.

“The fear that the earth might snowball into a runaway greenhouse effect as we have on planet Venus is one of the major reasons why it has been globally accepted that all hands must be on deck to ensure that gas flares are totally put out.

“The Federal Government has made commitments to the Paris Agreement of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change through our intended national determined contribution.

“The Ministry of Environment is highly desirous and have been giving support to the Ministry of Petroleum in this regard.

“As far back as 2003 when the ministry along some oil companies pushed for the use of compressed natural gas, which went comatose.

“I am happy to say that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has kick-started the programme,” he said.

Abubakar said that the ministry had embarked on a programme that would accurately track gas flaring across the country.

He pledged the ministry’s support to enforce all laws and policies to ensure that Nigeria meets its global commitments on gas.

The General Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Mele Kyari, said that gas had value.

According to him, converting gas to value is so attractive and this is what we are doing today so we can use gas to develop our country, create wealth and opportunity.

He said that no one would want to flare gas when it could be commercialised but there must be a perfect framework to achieve that.

According to him, we are building major trunk lines that will receive most of the flared gas you are seeing today.

“We are connecting most part of the country to the gas network so that people can convert this gas either for power or industrial use and we hope to achieve this by the end of March.

“It is business that makes people invest, no matter how much penalty you put, if the cost of the penalty is cheaper than the cost of developing the gas that may not be commercial, people will continue to flare gas and pay the penalty.

“You can raise the penalty to any number and what it does, it completely makes people not to invest in anything, so increasing the penalty is not the solution.

“The solution is to clear the commercial towns that will enable companies invest in these flare so that we can convert them into money,” he said.

He said that the harm gas flaring was doing to communities and the environment would go away if commercialised.

The GMD pledged to work with the National Assembly to put in place every structure that was required to end gas flaring in the country. (NAN)

By Nathan Nwakamma

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), has commended Total Exploration and Production (Total E & P) for its confidence in the Nigerian economy.

Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Wabote made the commendation in a statement issued on Sunday and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The statement was signed by Mr Naboth Onyesoh, Manager, Corporate Communications at NCDMB.

Wabote said the Final Investment Decision (FID) by the French oil firm on the “Ikike offshore Project’ in spite of delays in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) showed that Nigeria remains a preferred investment destination.

The Executive Secretary urged international oil firms to emulate Total E&P in sponsoring new projects and stop being deterred by the delayed passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

According to the statement, Wabote spoke when he received the Managing Director of Total E&P, Mr. Mike Sangster at the Nigerian Content Tower, headquarters of the NCDMB in Yenagoa, Bayelsa.

He commended the MD for his emergence as the Chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Sangster’s appointment, Wabote said, was deserving because Total E&P was the only international operating company that had taken Final Investment Decisions on major oil and gas projects in recent times in Nigeria  in spite of the delayed PIB.

While expressing confidence in the determination of the 9th National Assembly to pass the PIB after it had been delayed for over 15 years, Wabote encouraged other IOCs to forge ahead with their new projects.

He explained that new projects were needed to grow Local Content and create opportunities for local fabrication and manufacturing yards, many of which have been idle since the conclusion of the Total’s Egina deep water project in 2018.

He also charged Total E&P to lend its full support to the ongoing NLNG Train 7 project, adding that the project held great prospects for the local oil and gas industry and host communities.

Wabote also solicited the support of the chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section towards the conclusion of the categorisation of in-country oil and gas capacities and capabilities.

The categorisation covers engineering, fabrication yards, testing facilities and training facilities.

Wabote said another area of collaboration with OPTS is in the study for local gaskets manufacturing: study, to determine what it will take to produce all the gasket requirements in-country.

He also asked OPTS companies to provide crude feedstock for newly established modular refineries to increase value addition, local refining, discourage illegal refiners and stealing of crude.

The  statement quoted Sangster as saying that the company had operated in Nigeria for 60 years and is the only IOC that operates in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

He explained that the company developed the last three Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) platforms in Nigeria and Egina in 2018 created new records, one of which is recording 40 million man hours in-country.

Sangster also reported that the company had made significant progress with the development of the Ikike Oil Field and would record first oil before the end of 2021.

He stated : “it had been difficult developing the project, particularly with the pandemic, but we are making progress and we appreciate the support from the NCDMB.”

On the PIB, the OPTS leader advised federal legislators and policy makers to ensure that the fiscal provisions in the law are fair to key stakeholders, to stimulate new investments in the industry. (NAN)

By Edith Ike-Eboh

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR)  has inaugurated  a Downstream Remote Monitoring System (DRMS) for transparency and accountability in monitoring movement of petroleum products in the country.

Mr Sarki Auwalu,  Chief Executive Officer of DPR said on Thursday in Abuja that the development was part of effort to enhance the downstream oil and gas sector.

DRMS also known as e-Station is an inventory and regulatory tool that tracks product level across retail outlets and depots.

The system also tracks the movement of product from depots to retail outlets.

” The Nigerian Oil and Gas industry is witnessing digital transformation in line with Presidential mandate for transparency, accountability and domestic energy security as well as ministerial key priorities for products sufficiency and availability.

“Today, we launch a game-changing platform that will reshape the conduct of businesses and operations in the Downstream.

” This solution will strategically position the industry for increased profitability and investments,” Auwalu said.

He said that DRMS was an inventory management solution for petroleum products supply and distribution designed to provide a holistic view of the downstream value chain in real time

According  to him,  the system guarantees the availability and reliability of real time data for decision making and planning purposes.

” For the downstream operators, DRMS will provide the required information to drive value from existing businesses, investments to fund expansions and growth opportunities for new ventures.

“It will also enable business owners monitor operations of their facilities from the comfort of their offices.

“Let me reassure our stakeholders that the DRMS solution is robust enough to accommodate all your needs for efficient petroleum products tracking and monitoring.

“To make the system readily available across all locations, we have integrated the USSD code *7117# into the DRMS portal.

“This code can be dialed on any of the mobile networks to submit data using a unique facility identification code,” he added

Auwalu noted that the recent commissioning of the National Oil & Gas Excellence Centre (NOGEC) in Lagos by the President  was one of the key components to  Integrating Data Mining and Analytics Centre (IDMAC).

He noted that IDMAC was structured to position Nigeria as a top-tier destination for credible, bankable and investment grade data in oil & gas and to provide cost-effective data and analytics solutions for investors, financiers, and operators.

“As an integral part of our suite of business automation solutions, DRMS has been configured to feed into IDMAC to harness all the insights and capabilities of the application thereof.

“As a business enabler and opportunity provider, the Department will continue to introduce strategic initiatives to guarantee growth and profitability in the Downstream sector and indeed, the entire Nigerian oil and gas industry,” he added.

in a good will message,  the Executive Secretary Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) Mr Olufemi Adewole said DPR had always been involved in initiatives that improves the sector.

He said that DAPPMAN was gladdened with the initiative adding that it would help to monitor product consumption in the country.

He assured that the the association would support and collaborate with all stakeholder and DPR to ensure implementation for the growth of the sector.

Also,  Clement  Izon  Executive Secretaryof Major oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) said  the downstream sector needed DRMS for efficiency.

He said that knowing the figures and data on. petroleum products consumption in the country would go a long was to ensure transparency in the industry.

” MOMAN will be committed to ensure that DRMS works: However,  we will like if the data  gathered from the initiative be made available  for use in doing business,” he said.

Alhaji Aminu Abdulkadir, Representative of the Independent Petroleum Markers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN)  urged DPR to carry all it members along on the initiative.

” We are the largest stakeholder in the downstream sector and we believe that this kind of initiative will bring more development in the sector.

“We believe that with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) the downstream oil and gas sector will develop better, ” he said. (NAN)