Majorwaves Energy Report July Edition

J U LY 2 0 2 1 VOL 4 NO 7

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ENERGY REPORT

LOCAL CONTENT

SUSTAINABILITY

INFRASTRUCTURE

Marginal field operation: what piialls lie ahead?

NCDMB, NEXIM Bank Deploy US$40m Fund For Women in Oil Sector Critical Review of Potential Benefits from NLNG Train7 Giving communities a new lease on life through social investment - Shell’s winning formula Sonangol Contracts Vitol and Totsa to Impoo Refined Products into Angola Sustainable Cobalt Mining, Baaeries and Africa's Energy Poveey

ENERGY WOMAN

"I don't see any glass ceiling. I just believe that, it's the value you pooray that determines your remuneration…"

Charlooe Essiet DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE & REGULATORY AFFAIRS AOS Orwell

Majorwaves Energy Report JULY 2021, Vol 4 No 7

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Majorwaves Energy Report JULY 2021, Vol 4 No 7

CONTENTS J U LY 2 0 2 1 VOL 4 NO 7

MAJORWAVES

NGN2,000 10 Ghc US $5.00

www.majorwavesenergyreport.com

ENERGY REPORT

LOCAL CONTENT

SUSTAINABILITY

INFRASTRUCTURE

Marginal field operation: what piialls lie ahead?

NCDMB, NEXIM Bank Deploy US$40m Fund For Women in Oil Sector Critical Review of Potential Benefits from NLNG Train7

PIB: Gas Will Become Nigeria’s Major Revenue Source - Nabasu

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Africa Will Remain an Integral Player in Oil Industry’s Efforts to Meet Rising Energy Needs -OPEC

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Giving communities a new lease on life through social investment - Shell’s winning formula Sonangol Contracts Vitol and Totsa to Impoo Refined Products into Angola Sustainable Cobalt Mining, Baaeries and Africa's Energy Poveey

ENERGY WOMAN

"I don't see any glass ceiling. I just believe that, it's the value you pooray that determines your remuneration…"

Charlooe Essiet DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE & REGULATORY AFFAIRS AOS Orwell

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Nigeria’s Proposed Upstream Projects May Experience More Delays as E&P Companies Cut Investments By $285b

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Nigeria, African Oil Producers Canvass Regional Investments, New Climate Change Deal

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CRUTECH, Others Emerge Winners At The Nigerian Content Science Contest

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Giving Communities a New Lease On Life Through Social Investment- Shell’s Winning Formula

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Charkin Maritime Academy Port Harcourt Obtains Nbte Accreditation, Admits Cadets Through Jamb/Utme

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Between the Battery Challenge, Sustainable Cobalt Mining and Africa’s Energy Deficiency

Marginal Field Operation: what pitfalls lie ahead?

“I Don’t See Any Glass Ceiling. I just believe that, it’s the value you portray that determines your remuneration…”

- Essiet

Majorwaves Energy Report JULY 2021, Vol 4 No 7

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ORGANIZED BY

FROM THE PRODUCERS OF

NIGERIA

MEET SAFELY IN PERSON AND HEAR FROM THE STAKEHOLDERS SHAPING THE NIGERIAN OIL & GAS INDUSTRY AT NOG 21 THIS JULY

H.E. Dr. Timipre Sylva Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Federal Republic of Nigeria

Sen. Teslim Folarin Senate Committee Chairman – Local Content National Assembly

Osagie Okunbor Country Chair & Managing Director

Shell Companies in Nigeria

Mele Kolo Kyari Group Managing Director

NNPC

Mike Sangster Managing Director Total E&P Nigeria

H.E. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo Secretary General

OPEC

Richard Laing Chairman & Managing Director Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited

Sarki Auwalu Director Department of Petroleum Resources

Simbi Wabote

Olalekan Ogunleye

Executive Secretary Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board (NCDMB)

Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria

Richard Kennedy

Audrey Joe-Ezigbo

Nicolas C. Odinuwe

Chairman & Managing Director

Co-Founder & Deputy Managing Director

Chairman PETAN

Chevron Nigeria/Mid-Af rica Business Unit

Falcon Corporation

PLATINUM SPONSORS

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

For more information on NOG 21, please contact Odiri Umusu on M: +234 813 893 8564 | D: +44 2080 780 789 or email NOGENQ@dmgevents.com

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#20NOG21

Slowly grinding but taking positive steps The Sustainable Development Goal 9 (SDG 9) is based on three interconnected pillars. They are: infrastructure, industry and innovation. These pillars share the objective of achieving socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable economic development.

Though SDG 9 has approximately 20 targets and indicators that are related to its three pillars, it is closely linked to other SDGs that address job creation, sustainable livelihoods, improved health, technology and skills development, among others.

Without deliberate statements on SDG 9, or an assessment report by UN Economic and Social Council’s (ECOSOC), the Nigerian government has pursued two major pillars of the goal 9 and today have a reasonable number of projects to attest to that.

Among others, the commencement of construction of Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna (AKK) pipeline with alternative source of funding at a time when the country couldn’t afford it; construction of railway lines and bridges; rehabilitation of road network; dredging of sea ports; and partnerships with private entities towards building free trade zones (FTZ) across the country all point to its commitment on building infrastructure.

However, without a deliberate shift in strategy to harness the nation’s resources, the full benefit of the built infrastructure would be missing.

That isn’t about to be the case with Nigeria. Government’s passing of the PIB shows it understands the times and the threat energy transition poses for its teeming youth population if the nation approaches this decade with the same attitude of the previous. Another key pointer to the political will and readiness for change is the Train 7 project; we witnessed the ground breaking ceremony recently. Bonga SW is next.

Details of energy sustainability and capacity development stories across Africa have been captured in this edition for your reading delight. Also, please look out for the local content feats, spotlights, Energy Woman and more.

And…let’s hear from you, please. Cheers.

Publisher Joshua Bretz Managing Editor Jerome Onoja Editor Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu Senior Correspondents Ikenna Omeje Oluwatoyin Bayagbon Correspondents:Lagos Daniel Terungwa Abisoye Vincent Emeka Enunwah Port Harcourt Stella Odogu Arit Dan US Omaya Joko UK Kunle Kazeem Research Analyst Simon Olanipekun Production Solomon Obande Toma Stephen Business Development Stanley Etim Taiwo Olamilekan Amicable Aluu

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Jerome Onoja

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Editor’s Note

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Majorwaves Energy Report is published by Majorwaves Communications, 25B, Adebayo Doherty Street, Lekki Phase 1. Lagos Phone: +2349035477966 Email: info@majorwavesenergyreport.com www.majorwavesenergyreport.com

Majorwaves Energy Report JULY 2021, Vol 4 No 7

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INDUSTRY NEWS

PIB: Gas Will Become Nigeria’s Major Revenue Source - Nabasu

By Oluwatoyin Bayagbon

Bitrus Bako Nabasu

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i g e r i a’s n e a r-t o t a l dependence on crude oil earnings to power its domestic economy will become a thing of the past with an increased focus on gas revenue when the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is signed into law, the federal government has said.

Bitrus Bako Nabasu, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources made this known in an interview with Majorwaves Energy Report at the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) which held in Abuja last week.

According to Nabasu, once the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is signed into law, gas will become a major source of revenue as the nation will experience a shift from reliance on crude to gas.

In the pre-summit conference held in March, President Muhammad Buhari, who also doubles as the

Minister of Petroleum Resources, had heralded the “Decade of Gas in Nigeria’, aimed at transforming the nation into a gas-powered economy by 2030.

Nigeria, a predominantly gas nation with proven reserves pegged at 206.53 trillion cubic feet (tcf) and potential gas reserves of about 600tcf (according to the Department of Petroleum Resources-DPR), has for several decades, relied heavily on earnings from crude oil exports which accounts for an estimated 86% of total export revenue. In the last one year, the nation has experienced the double whammy effect of COVID-19 and oil price volatility, with earnings from crude exports falling to $1.764 million (approx. N723 million) in April from $87.14 million (approx.

N35.72 billion) earned in Marchrepresenting a 98% decline within the period. Domestic gas receipts also dropped from N6.6 billion to N4.7 billion between December 2020 and January 2021, a report

by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) showed.

But speaking on the potentials of gas relative to demand for oil in the global energy market, Nabasu said that the ministry is “well-positioned” to compete in the global landscape and has put structures in place to implement various policies geared towards revitalizing the gas sub-sector and monetizing the vast resource.

“The ministry is well-positioned and that is why the ministry launched the initiative, ‘The Decade of Gas’.

We have realized that gas is the next resource that will take Nigeria further,” he said.

“The big thing we are looking at is our shift from reliance on crude to reliance on gas. You know that we have already started the Ajaokuta -Kaduna-Kano Natural Gas Pipeline (AKK Gas Pipeline).

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INDUSTRY NEWS “The big thing we are looking at is our shift from reliance on crude to reliance on gas. You know that we have already started the Ajaokuta -Kaduna-Kano Natural Gas Pipeline (AKK Gas Pipeline).

“This is one of the things that will bring in gas; to power the power generating sector, to power the industries-the gas-based industries, and also provide gas for domestic use and even for auto- auto cars.

“Once the Bill (PIB) is passed, those are the things we are looking at.

We will rely on gas as our source of revenue rather than relying on crude which is almost becoming extinct.”

Outlining some milestones of the

federal government in the last one year, the Permanent Secretary said the ministry “did very well,” adding that the gas sub-sector is poised to witness exponential growth owing to incentives that will attract private-sector led investments once the PIB is signed into law.

“We had the auto gas rollout; we had the LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) penetration, and the CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) penetration. We want the consumption of gas in-country to be expanded and we have put all structures in place for this,” he said.

“One of the structures is the national gas expansion programme committee which is piloting gas penetration in-country. Other structures are coming with the

signing of the Petroleum Industry Bill (which will become an Act once it is signed). We have been promised that it will be passed within the next two weeks or before the end of this June. Mr. President is just waiting. Once that Bill is passed, Mr. President will assent to it and it becomes an Act. Structures are also there to run this decade of gas.

“There are incentives in the Petroleum Industry Bill. There are people waiting for the Bill to be passed. Once that Bill is passed, then there is certainty in the oil and gas sector. People do not want to invest because there is so much uncertainty. The moment the Bill is passed, the road will now be clear and people will know that ‘I will put my money and I know how it will end.”

DPR Reiterates Commitment to Support Investment in the Oil and Gas Industry

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he Director/ CEO, DPR , E n g r. S a r k i Auwalu has reiterated the commitment of DPR to support investments in the oil and gas industry for all stakeholders.

He stated this commitment when a delegation from Portland Gas in company of th eir technical par tners from Turkey, Negmar Shipping Investment paid him a visit in his of fice in Abuja to foster collaboration and explore business opportunities with DPR specifically in the area of gas development.

He reassured the

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delegation of the Department’s commitment to creating opportunities for investments and enabling businesses in the Nigeria Oil and Gas industry.

He reiterated the Federal Government declaration of the Decade of Gas (DoG) as very timely and opens an array of investments for Nigeria’s gas resources (Gas to power, Gas to people, Gas based industries, Autogas) gas infrastruc ture development etc

INDUSTRY NEWS

Africa Will Remain an Integral Player in Oil Industry’s Efforts to Meet Rising Energy Needs -OPEC

By Ikenna Omeje cross-border and regional energy projects in the context of energy transition.

On his part, Anibor Kragha of ARDA noted that the “First OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue was very timely, especially in harnessing Africa’s contributions to the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November. Our positive deliberations on promoting sustainable investments across Africa’s oil and gas industry, developing a robust energy transition roadmap and securing the required funding to execute crucial regional projects will usher in a new era of prosperity for the continent.”

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frica will continue to be an integral and important player in the oil and gas industry’s efforts to meet the global rising energy needs, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Co untrie s (OPEC), M ohamma d Barkindo, has said.

OPEC in a statement recently, stated that Barkindo who was speaking at the maiden OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue, noted the importance of energy stakeholders to continue to dialogue and collaborate at all levels to achieve their common goals.

OPEC-Africa Energy Dialogue is a joint effort by OPEC, in collaboration with the African Energy Commission (AFREC), the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) and African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA), to promote continent-wide energy cooperation initiatives.

He said: “Africa will continue to be an integral and essential player in the oil and gas industry’s long-term efforts to meet the rising energy needs of the world’s rapidly growing population.

“As energy stakeholders,” he said, “we must continue to dialogue and collaborate at all levels to achieve our common goals. In this regard, I invite all of our fellow African energy producers to join with us as we will only get stronger with the enhanced support and cooperation of our continental partners.”

According to Barkindo, OPEC has a long history of prioritizing cooperation

through dialogues with a number of oilproducing and consuming countries, as well as with international organizations and global corporations.

“These events have proven to be highly effective in promoting mutual understanding on key energy issues, while also enhancing our common efforts as energy stakeholders to tackle industry challenges, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Executive Director of AFREC, Rashid Ali Abdallah, said that to maximize the local added value of the whole oil chain in Africa, “we should explore the relevance of investment in refining facilities and increase cross-border trading, especially through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). These dialogues are therefore key to strengthening our relations, help facilitate the mobilisation of Africa’s own energy resources and potentials, continue to bring energy to the top of national and regional agendas, whilst taking approaches that put Africa directly on to innovative and low carbon energy development pathways.”

In his keynote address, the SecretaryGeneral of APPO, Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim, expressed the need “to join efforts to tackle the daunting challenges facing the global energy sector, and particularly Africa, which informed the decision of the APPO Ministerial Council to conduct a ‘Study on the Future of the Oil and Gas Industry in Africa’ in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and COP21.”

The APPO Executive Director also stressed the necessity to undertake

He added: “ARDA, along with AFREC and APPO, is fully committed to this laudable OPEC initiative and that it will ultimately ensure that Africa’s full energy potential is realized and our citizens’ future energy demands are met with cleaner petroleum products, especially low-sulfur fuels and LPG for clean cooking in the near-term.”

The high-level dialogue highlighted that energy poverty remains a major challenge that requires expanded cooperation to achieve solutions; all sources of energy are needed to meet anticipated energy demand as well as expand energy access; expanded crossborder energy trade and connections could strengthen energy access and reliability; a sustainable finance plan for African energy sector is very important; enhanced continental cooperation on data collection and sharing is needed to support energy planning and stability; a harmonized African energy transition plan is needed to prepare for the COP26 meetings in Glasgow, scheduled for 1-12 November 2021; and the need for additional dialogue and stronger advocacy to support the strategic energy interests of Africa.

The objective of the dialogue is to bring together top energy policymakers from various energy institutions to provide support and policy guidance to the technical meetings of the energy dialogue, aimed at enhancing cooperation and collaboration in energy data acquisition and joint studies, with a view to optimize their limited resources in pursuit of wider objectives.

In particular, the mutual goals of the organizations are based extensively on energy access and energy poverty alleviation in Africa.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Expert Advocates Decentralisation of National Grid

By Ikenna Omeje that some of the ways to leverage technology as a country and continent towards energy transition, to attract investment in a very dynamic environment like that of Nigeria, is to have it focus on decarbonization, decentralisation, and digitisation.

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nergy expert, Ms Rosario Osobase, has advocated for the decentralisation of energy access in Nigeria, to mitigate the challenges associated with the current grid-based approach used in the country.

Ms Osobase who is the Executive Secretar y of the Petroleum Contractors Trade Section (PCTS), a division of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said

She stated this while speaking on a panel at the 2021 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) held in A b uja with the theme, “From Crisis to Opportunities: New Approaches to the Future of Hydrocarbons.”

Osobase said that from available statistics, about 46 percent of Nigeria’s population and about 800 million people in Africa do not have access to energy, adding that members of her forum are well positioned in leading service and technology deployment, not just in Nigeria, but across Africa and the world.

“From the statistics standpoint, and looking at the gaps we have across Africa, World Bank states that Nigeria has about 45 percent of the population lacking energy access.

And across Africa the number is even higher. I think roughly at about 50 percent. Precisely, about 800 million people lacking energy access. I think it is imperative and calls for a very strong commitment from the African leaders on energy transition,” she said.

Osobase noted that in view of the current challenges in terms of access to finance, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has a projection that $100 billion is needed to make energy accessible to all in Africa by 2030. As such, she stated that technology is needed to make sure that access to energy across the continent is sustained.

According to her, Nigeria is well positioned to lead energy transition in Africa, adding that the country has sufficient resources from the supply perspective to drive energy transition, while not lacking in the market with its over 200 million population.

OPEC Mulls Oil Output Increase in August

T

he Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries(OPEC) and its allies are considering a further easing of oil output cuts from August as oil prices rise on demand recovery.

However, no decision had been taken yet on the exact volume to bring back to the market, two OPEC+ sources said yesterday.

The Organisation and its allies, known as OPEC+, is returning 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) to the market from May through July as part of a plan to gradually unwind last year’s record oil output curbs.

OPEC+ meets next on July 1.

“It is highly possible to increase

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gradually from August,” said one of the sources, adding that, no final decision has been made and the exact volumes are yet to be agreed on.

The talks mean that OPEC and Russia are likely to find common ground again on oil production policy. Moscow has been insisting on raising output further to avoid prices spiking, while key OPEC producers, such as Saudi Arabia, have given no signals on the next step until now, reports Reuters.

Russian producers see August as a good time to further ease oil output cuts despite the expected return of Iranian barrels as the market is in deficit, an industry source told Reuters recently.

“Limping” U.S. production also supports the case for easing the curbs, the Russian source said.

Crude oil prices retreated on Tuesday, after Brent rose above $75 a barrel for the first time since April 2019 and as OPEC+ begins discussions on raising oil production, but a strong demand outlook underpinned prices.

INDUSTRY NEWS

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LOCAL CONTENT

Critical Review of Potential Benefits From NLNG Train 7

By Ikenna Omeje and Jerome Onoja

Representing the Executive Governor of Rivers State, Deputy Governor Dr. (Mrs.) Ipalibo Harry Banigo, flanked

by Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, laying the project’s foundation stone.

T

he Federal Government in December 2019, achieved a major milestone in its effort to increase gas production and usage in Nigeria with the signing of Final Investment Decision (FID) for the multi-billion dollar Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Train 7 Project between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its partners.

The Train 7 project consists of the construction of one complete LNG train and one additional liquefaction unit with total capacity of approximately eight million tones per annum (mtpa) taking the total volume to around 30 mtpa in addition to other related infrastructure and utilities.

Following endorsement of the Final Investment Decision (FID), the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Contracts were also signed in May 2020, by the SCD

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JV Consortium, comprising affiliates of Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo.

Train 7 project will be financed partly from NLNG’s balance sheet. Another $3 billion will be derived from multiple-sourced deals which NLNG recently signed with 30 reputable institutions. Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) and Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria were the financial advisers on the transaction which involved export credit agencies, development financial institutions, international commercial banks and Nigerian banks.

President Muhammadu Buhari, on June 15, 2021, flagged off construction work on the project.

Speaking at the launch, he charged all stakeholders including the Board of Directors, management, and staff of Nigeria LNG; the host communities, the Rivers State government, and federal government’s agencies, to

collaborate fully to enable completion and eventual commissioning of the project in a safe and timely manner.

This, he said, would hasten the commencement of Train 8.

The president noted that his administration was focused on boosting the development of the country’s vast gas resources, strengthening the gas value chain, developing infrastructure, and enhancing safety in the sector in line with the 2017 National Gas Policy. The Decade of Gas initiative, according to him, will set the nation on a sure path of industrialisation.

NLNG’s Evolution NLNG was incorporated as a Limited Liability company on May 17, 1989, to harness Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources and produce Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) for export.

LOCAL CONTENT Its establishment as a company is backed by the Nigeria LNG (Fiscal Incentives, Guarantees and Assurances) Act. Cap N87, Laws of Federation of Nigeria 20 0 4 which amongst other provisions, guarantees and makes true, assurances by the Federal Government of Nigeria to the company and its shareholders.

NLNG, which has two subsidiaries, Bonny Gas Transport Limited (BGT) and NLNG Ship Management Limited (NSML), is today a major player in the global LNG business.

The company has 23 vessels in its fleet, 13 of which are owned by its subsidiary, BGT. NSML, initially set up as a manning outfit in 2010, grew into an ‘international maritime ser vices company, providing world-class services including vessel management, crew management and administration, terminal management and maritime training, project management, and consultancy.

Presently, NSML has achieved over 85 percent of its Nigerianisation target. As at December 2021, the company had in its employment 681 competent and professional employees, primarily of Nigerian descent (286 Officers, 332 Ratings and 63 shore-based personnel).

Significantly, over 70 percent of NLNG’s profit goes to the Federal Government through dividends accruing to the NNPC and through Company Income Tax paid to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Other applicable taxes include Value Added Tax (VAT) and Education Tax. NNPC also gets 5560 percent of the feed gas revenues through its participating interest in the upstream JVs. A Nigerian Project for Sustainable National Development The Train 7 project, which by all projections will be completed within five years from start of construction, has so many benefits for the country.

It will extend to site, civil works on roads, piling, and jetties, 100 percent local procurement of all low voltage (LV) and high voltage

(HV cables), non-cryogenic valves, protective paints and coatings, sacrificial anodes and many other direct procurements from local manufacturing plants, and more.

Apart from these immediate benefits, here are some mid to long term gains the Train 7 project will bring to the economy as the government continues Nigeria’s industrialization drive.

Increase In Revenue for The Federal Government Train 7 will increase NLNG production by 35 percent, and it is expected to attract about $10 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The project upon completion, will support the Federal Government’s drive to diversify its revenue portfolio and generate more revenue from Nigeria’s proven gas reserves of about 206 Trillion Cubic Feet (Tcf).

Noting NLNG’s contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the groundbreaking ceremony of Train 7, Buhari said: ”I am proud that NLNG as the pioneer LNG company in Nigeria, has conscientiously proven the viability of the gas sector over the years, currently contributing about one percent to our country’s GDP; NLNG has generated $114 billion in revenues over the years, paid $9 billion in taxes; $18 billion in dividends to the Federal Government and $15 billion in feed gas purchase. These are commendable accomplishments by the company’s 100 percent Nigerian management team.

“With this level of performance, I can only hope that the company continues to grow starting with this Train 7 project but also positioning Nigeria to thrive through the energy transition.”

Increase in Value for Shareholders Over the years, the NLNG has proven that a Nigerian company can operate a world-class business; safely, profitably, and responsibly.

With Train 7 in the works, NLNG, being an Incorporated Joint Venture owned by the NNPC (49%), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6%), Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France (15%), and Eni International N.A. N.V. S.àr.l (10.4%), will increase value for shareholders.

“Train 7 is the crux of a growth agenda which will ensure the Company’s position as the 5th major supplier of global LNG is maintained, increasing value to its Shareholders and other stakeholders, as well as further reducing the gas that would otherwise have been flared, in fulfilment of its vision of ‘being a global company, helping to build a better Nigeria,” the Managing Director, NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah said while speaking at the signing ceremony of FID on Train 7.

Local Content and Job Creation Train 7 will increase local content by 55 percent from engineering activities, and create 12,000 direct jobs and about 40,000 indirect jobs.

It will also lead to retention of incountry expertise through training and technology transfer, while also patronizing and developing local capacity of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMES). The project will create investment opportunities in manufacturing and capacity development in addition to creating employment opportunities for Nigerian service providers and manufacturers.

More so, 55 percent of all procurement for execution of the project will be done by Nigerian vendors, with 100 percent of the installations and construction happening in Nigeria.

According to Attah, “Over 12, 000 jobs will be created during the peak of construction, trade, and commercial activities with the Niger Delta region equally receiving a boost as a result. The Project will support the development of local engineering and fabrication capacity in the country.

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LOCAL CONTENT “With Nigeria’s enormous gas reserves, I am not in doubt that with the right drive from the government and the support of corporate organizations, we as a nation can stand with our head held high to be counted among major players.

The government has demonstrated its readiness to take the gas sector to the next level by declaring this decade our nation’s Decade of Gas.

L-R NNPC GMD, Mele Kyari; NLNG Board Chairman, H.M. Dr. Edmund Daukoru; Mrs. Oma Attah; NLNG MD, Tony Attah; Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs.) Ipalibo Harry Banigo; the Amanyanabo of Grand Bonny Kingdom, H.M. King Edward Asimini William Dappa Pepple III, Perekule XI; NLNG GM, External Relations & Sustainable Development, Eyono Fatayi-Williams; and NLNG Deputy MD, Sadeeq Mai-Bornu, at the NLNG’s Train 7 groundbreaking Ceremony in Bonny today.

Other opportunities for local content include procurement, logistics, equipment leasing, insurance, hotels, office supplies, aviation, haulage, and many more.”

The high level of unemployment in the country will become history when Train 7 comes onboard fully. In the construction phase, the project will provide equal opportunity to Nigerians, especially the increasing youth population, many of whom are without jobs. With over 50,000 jobs the project will create in the country, the economy will be characterized by higher levels of productivity backed by sound human capital development.

Speaking in December 2020 at a reception ceremony organised by the Junior Chambers International to mark the reappointment of Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Attah said: “I dare say that without the support of the Executive Secretary, personally committing, we may not have Train 7 today. Train 7 means 12,000 jobs directly and based on the board’s calculation 40,000 additional jobs indirectly.

“Let me dimension it for you, the relative peace that the entire Niger Delta enjoys today called the Amnesty Programme was 35,000 people who were positively put to some good and

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employment.

“So think about one project that is bringing the opportunity of 50,000 people directly or indirectly being gainfully employed, then you understand what this man has done for Nigeria and did for Niger Delta.

“On top of that we are saying 55 per cent of that scope will be domiciled and domesticated and Nigerians will be directly involved in more than half of the scope of this particular project and we are talking of over $10bn in terms of the overall Train 7 investment.”

Business Opportunities for Nigerian Companies The NLNG, recently signed 10-year LNG Sales and Purchase Agreements (SPAs) with three Nigerian offtakers for the domestic supply of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in-country. The company will supply 1.1 mtpa of LNG on Delivered Ex-Ship (DES) basis to Asiko Power Limited, Bridport Energy Limited and Gas-Plus Synergy Limited. The SPAs will facilitate the project’s execution and infrastructural development by offtakers to aid LNG delivery into the domestic market.

Train 7 will expand this noble initiative and empower Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMES) to take advantage of the various opportunities that the Decade of Gas will attract.

“We believe this will be the decade for us to leverage on our gas reserves to accelerate our power generation solutions through Gas-to-Power projects. It will be the decade when as a nation we stop reporting deaths from pollution through the use of wood and solid fuels as domestic energy sources. And it will be the decade for empowering local SMEs to take advantage of the various investment opportunities that the Decade of Gas will attract, “ the NLNG boss, Attah said on the initiative.

Reduction In Gas Flaring For decades, gas flaring has been a major problem in the Niger Delta region. Among other things, it has led to environmental degradation, bringing about huge economic loss to the country.

Train 7 is poised to reduce, if not eliminate gas flaring. So far, the NLNG has converted about 193.6bcm (billion standard cubic metres) or 6.8Tcf (trillion cubic feet) of Associated Gas (AG) to LNG and NGLs, thus reducing gas flaring by upstream companies from over 60 per cent when it commenced operations to less than 12 per cent currently.

With Train 7, Nigeria’s zero flare status is not far off.

Social Investment The NLNG has time and again expressed dismay at the healthrelated issues and death that stem from “hazardous” cooking practices which is prevalent in rural

LOCAL CONTENT communities and even in some urban regions across the country.

Quoting a World Health Organisation (WHO) report in a statement, it said: “A recent World Health Organisation (WHO) report revealed that about 4 million people die annually from hazardous cooking practices, using polluting stoves, paired with solid fuels and kerosene. Thousands of people are believed to die annually from firewood smoke making it the third highest killer in Nigeria after malaria and HIV. Painfully, this population is mainly women (our mothers, our wives, our sisters) and children who are only doing their best just to put food on the table. This is not acceptable to NLNG.” In mitigating and providing solution to this challenge, the NLNG recently launched a community insurance scheme, which provides a oneyear health coverage for a single individual, estimated at N10,000. This is unprecedented, and commendable as hundreds of thousands without access to healthcare can now take care of their health-related challenges. With the ongoing construction work on Train 7, cleaner and affordable cooking options would become available nationwide. Other social investment programs will be launched as part of the company’s sustainability agenda.

Creation of New Town, Improved Environmental Safety To reduce influx of workers on Bonny Island, the NLNG plans to construct a purpose-built workers village on a sprawling 31-hectare expanse of land.

According to the company, “The ESHIA demonstrates that Train 7 Project fully complies with standards subscribed to by our shareholders as well as the applicable statutory requirements in Nigeria and international standards. NLNG is fully committed to the ESHIA which outlines plans to mitigate any impact of Train 7 on its host community. As part of the projects considered for the mitigation of the impact of workers influx into Bonny Island, NLNG plans to construct a new Workers Village on about 31 hectares of land and is considering an upgraded Joint Venture Village to accommodate

construction workers.”

However, there’s expected to be some positives with the number of workers at the built Joint Venture Village when complete. This will spur an increase in social engagements, opening opportunities for various types of Bonny SME business owners to offer services.

Before the commencement of construction work on Train 7, the NLNG submitted an Environmental, Social and Health Impact Assessment (ESHIA) to the Federal Government, which was approved by the Federal Ministry of Environment. The firm’s activities, including the plan to build the proposed Workers Village is consistent with its ESHIA goals.

Power Generation Nigeria generates about 8,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity, though just about 5,000 MW is distributed. With a population estimated at over 200 million, the country needs at least 200 gigawatts of electricity to power its economy and drive industrialization. Train 7 is expected to boost Nigeria’s ability to improve the power sector and build the domestic gas market. The country has 206 trillion cubit feet (tcf) of proven gas reserves, and an estimated additional 600 tcf of potential reserves. There is therefore an abundance of natural gas reserves for both domestic power generation and for export.

Nigeria can now compete effectively and from a strong position, in the global energy market.

Industrial Clusters and Eventual Industrialization With increased inflow of foreign direct investments (FDIs) spurred by the train 7 feat, we expect to see more companies take position to latch onto the abundance of LNG, CNG and LPG provision for the domestic market through Train 7. Along with that will come industrial clusters of companies and manufacturing hubs scattered around the nation space based on infrastructural growth pattern. There’s no better time to see that Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna (AKK) pipeline is being built.

With sufficient provision of gas for factories via subsequent Trains, power generation is guaranteed, several industries will naturally spring up, leading to industrialization which is one of the pillars of SDG 9.

Conclusion Seeing the zeal with which the chief executive, the management at NLNG, government agencies and other industry stakeholders pursued the Train 7 into reality, one can say the right attitude, including the political will for advancement of the Nigerian people has been birthed.

Tony Attah has continued to narrate the comparison between Nigeria and Qatar, despite both countries being miles apart when considered against the backdrop of several social indices.

While Nigeria celebrates the additional 8 mtpa, bringing the total to 30 mtpa upon completion

by NLNG, its counterpart Qatar Petroleum (QP) has finished plans to move up to 126 mtpa by 2027!

Whenever he has the opportunity, Attah often notes that, Nigeria was barely two years behind Qatar in the 90s but Qatar has gone ahead to become an industrialized nation from being a poor fishing one.

He once said, “We just touched on a quick case study of Qatar. Someone mentioned Qatar moved from being a poor fishing country to a gas giant and it took just 10 years, which is why we, as Nigeria LNG, firmly believe in the conversation and the narrative about the declaration of the decade of gas.

“We believe it is possible. If you look at Qatar from 1995, when they really went into gas development, we were just two years behind Qatar. So, Qatar’s first LNG was in 1997.

“Nigeria’s first LNG was in 1999, just two years behind. But then, within 10 years, because of the deliberateness of the government and focus on gas, they have gone to 77 million tonnes and we are at best, 22 million tonnes.”

In his words: “…it’s time for gas. It’s time for Nigeria to diversify”. And on the benefits of gas, he notes, “Gas is life!”

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LOCAL CONTENT

NCDMB, NEXIM Bank Deploy US$40m Fund for Women in Oil Sector

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ualified women entrepreneurs in the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry can now benefit from the US$40m Women in Oil and Gas Intervention Fund deployed by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nexim Nigerian Export-Import Bank.

The NCDMB is contributing US$20m to the pool and it will be matched by the same amount in Naira by NEXIM, to be converted at prevailing official exchange rate.

The Executive Secretary NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote and the Managing Director of Nexim Nigerian Export-Import Bank, Mr. Abubakar Bello signed the memorandum of understanding on the administration of the Fund on Tuesday in Yenagoa.

The target beneficiaries are firms where women hold majority shareholding of 51 percent or where at least 50 percent of management are women or where the Chief

Executive Officers and at least 40 percent of management are women.

According to the Executive Secretary, the roll-out date of the fund is July 1, 2021 and the scheme would be availed to both startups and existing companies. The scheme would cover Manufacturing, Oil Service Contracts, Environment management, Leasing, Logistics, Catering and Training.

He confirmed that the maximum amount that can be borrowed by a single obligor is US$500,000 or its Naira equivalent at the official exchange rate prevailing at the time of borrowing.

He added that the tenor shall be up to five years and the applicable interest rate would be five percent all-in per annum, fixed throughout the tenor of the loan.

Wabote also confirmed that the maximum processing time shall be 21 working days from the date the

applicant has provided all required documentation and all applications shall be through the web.

In his comments, the Managing Director of Nexim Nigerian ExportImport Bank, Mr. Abubakar Bello explained that the partnership with NCDMB fits into the bank’s framework for supporting inclusion as well as its strategy to grow the service industry in Nigeria and take it to the point of export to the West African region and other oil and gas economies.

Also speaking, the Chairperson of the Diversity Sectoral Working Group, Nigerian Content Consultative Forum, Mrs. Alero Onosede commended the Board for providing practical enablers to support diversity in the oil and gas industry. She assured that women in the oil and gas industry would take advantage of the Fund to increase capacity in the industry and grow the economy.

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LOCAL CONTENT

NCDMB, NNPC Invest in N10.5bn Brass Petroleum Products Terminal prices because of the huge cost of transporting products to those locations. He also attributed the prevalence of illegal refineries in the region to the non-availability legitimate alternatives and expressed hope that the Brass Petroleum Products Terminal Limited (BPPT) would solve some of the problems of the Niger Delta region.

The Minister also commended the smooth collaboration between the NCDMB, NNPC and ZED Energy on the project, hinting that such partnership was needed to move the Nigerian oil and gas industry forward.

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he Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and ZED Energy Limited has signed shareholders agreement on the construction of Brass Petroleum Products Terminal Limited (BPPT), to be located at Okpoama, Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State.

The estimated cost of the project is N10.5bn (Ten Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira). NCDMB and NNPC own 30 percent respectively while ZED Energy – a private firm holds 40 percent and would operate the terminal upon completion. The terminal would make refined petroleum products available at riverine communities of the Niger Delta at the standard prices, discourage the operations of illegal refineries and create job opportunities for citizens of the Niger Delta and other Nigerians.

The terminal would serve as a strategic reserve for the country as it would hold up to 50 million litres of products. It would also serve as a two-way product jetty – land and marine trucks loading of automotive gas oil (AGO), premium motor spirit (PMS), dual purpose kerosene (DPK)

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and aviation turbine kerosene (ATK).

According to the promoters, the project would enhance energy security in the Niger Delta and is expected to create 1000 direct jobs during construction and another 5000 direct and indirect jobs during the operations phase, because of the nature of downstream operations to create huge employment opportunities.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva described the project as another major achievement of President Muhammadu Buhari in the Niger Delta region.

Listing some of the landmark projects, notably the Oloibiri Museum and Research Center (OMRC), the Brass Fertilizer and Petrochemical Company Ltd (BFPCL, the Nigerian Oil and Gas Park, among others, the Minister insisted that no former leader of the country had impacted the oil sector in the Niger Delta region more than President Buhari.

Sylva noted that residents of riverine areas had perpetually bought refined petroleum products at astronomical

The Executive Secretary NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote underscored the economic benefits of co-locating the BPPT with the Energy Infrastructure Park being developed at Okpoama and the Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Company Ltd (BFPCL), at Odioma, Brass – both projects being developed with equity financing by the NCDMB. He said: “If you go to developed economies, there are parks for manufacturing and industrialization.

When you have the Brass Fertilizer, the BPPT and the refinery that is being built in the same area, you get the benefits of being within a Free Trade Zone. It will bring down the costs of developing those products simultaneously because the raw materials are just behind them. There is no reason to take the investments to distant locations where costs would increase.”

The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari said the national oil company should have invested in the terminal 30 years ago and expressed delight that it is happening now and would be delivered.

LOCAL CONTENT He said: “Beyond the clear social responsibilities, this makes business sense. The location of the planned depot would create a platform for the delivery of petroleum products to some of our offshore facilities “NNPC is playing the role of facilitating the supply of petroleum products to all sections of this country, more importantly to the region that produce the resources, where refined products are not readily available.

This initiative would make sure that we deliver products in the most fair and equitable means.”

Group General Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and Project Lead of the BPPT, Mr. Bala Wunti noted that since the commencement of oil exploration at Oloibiri in Bayelsa in 1958, there has not been any significant downstream activity or investment in the state.

He further stated that Bayelsa State produces 40 percent of Nigeria’s onshore and swamp crude oil and hosts some of the nation’s Deepwater prospects and assets, yet there was no correlation with the level of socio-economic development and employment. “Our intention is that this adventure would try to close that gap,” he promised.

He also confirmed that the cost of the project had been estimated at N10.5bn (Ten Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira) and it was arrived from the pre-engineering and pre-frontend engineering design (Pre-FEED).

He stated that the funds would come the partners and there are no risks regarding finance.

He added: “We have done our baseline survey and we want to start procurements of long lead items and several other things, including engineering. The idea is that long before 2023, we would have this depot up and running. It would bring a uniqueness and innovative depot platform. This will be a dual loading facility; it would load land trucks and marine trucks. It means we are creating something that is better that floating storage. It will also reduce demurrage. “

PEARL Partners Canadian Energy Solutions (CES), Boosts Local Capacity

L-R: Chairman, Pacegate Limited, Marnoj Kirpalani; His Excellency, Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Abhay Thakur; Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo; General Manager, Project Authorisation and Certification, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Paul Zuhumben and Managing Director, Pacegate Limited, Umesh Armanani at the launch of Pacegate Energy And Resources Limited (PEARL), a subsidiary of Pacegate Limited in Lagos on Monday, May 24th, 2021.

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acegate Energy and Resources Limited (PEARL), an arm of Pacegate Limited recently launched an ultra-modern manufacturing plant where drilling chemicals, water and oil-based production chemicals are formulated and manufactured in Nigeria and accessible to clients. PEARL, an Integrated Management System (ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 & ISO45001:2018) Certified will provide chemical treatment solutions, laboratory testing and services, and professional field support services to the upstream and downstream sectors, as well as other relevant sectors. This is in a bid to meet the growing needs of the Oil and Gas and transportation sectors of the Nigerian economy and Africa at large.

This has been made possible by its partnership with global energy solutions provider, Canadian Energy Solutions (CES). The partnership sees PEARL’s wide reach in both offshore and onshore operations supported and extended by CES’ global capabilities. PEARL will commence the formulation of eco-friendly products and provide superior innovative treatment chemicals and application technology services to Oil and Gas exploration and production platforms, refineries, petrochemical plants, among others.

PEARL’s well-trained and highly

experienced engineers’ partner with clients to identify and proffer proper resolutions to challenges related with upstream production and downstream chemical treatment solutions, as well specialised chemical solutions for the transportation sector. The team of engineer’s support customer needs with extensive laboratory and real-time field testing to help solve queries using world class standards and industry best practice.

Speaking on the partnership, General Manager, PEARL, Franklin Oranusih said that PEARL was established out of a desire to solve industrial challenges with innovative solutions and partnerships. “We have a commitment to deliver quality and eco-friendly products as we continue to play our part in supporting local content in Africa. As the oil & gas sector continues to grow, it is expedient that we consider the effect it has on the environment, among others. This partnership is a sign of our commitment and we are delighted to announce it. We also appreciate the support of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the Nigerian Content and Development Board – NCDMB for its support as we continue to fulfil this commitment.”

Commenting on the partnership, the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Otunba

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LOCAL CONTENT Adeniyi Adebayo stated that there is a need for innovative partnerships such as this to boost local content in Nigeria. “I am pleased to formally commission the first local content fluids and chemical solutions manufacturing plant in Nigeria, which represents a significant landmark for the country’s industrialisation programme. Domestication of products has been at the centre of this administration’s industrialisation programme to drive job intensive growth of the Nigerian economy. It will increase local production, create job opportunity and improve our foreign exchange reserve position.

I believe this will help in taking us ahead in our effort to diversify the economy and increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to GDP. Most especially, the plant will provide jobs to Nigeria’s workforce, promote local content, and save the nation the extra cost of importing the now locally produced input’’.

Founded in 2001, CES Energy

Solutions has extensive testing capabilities for corrosion, scale, hydrogen sulphide scavenger and other production related requirements. The company will provide technical assistance to PEARL who is the exclusive representative for production chemicals in the oil producing countries of Africa. CES manufactures raw ingredients that PEARL formulates within Nigeria to provide field strength chemicals. CES who wanted a partner in Africa that brought their own in-house expertise and facilities to compliment CES’ capabilities in North America, chose PEARL because of its impressive resume and the track record of Pacegate.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), represented by the General Manager, Project Authorisation and Certification, Engr. Paul Zuhumben, said, “We commend the effort of Pacegate Energy Resource Limited for investing an installed capacity

of 12.9 metric tonnes into the manufacturing of chemicals solutions aspects of the hydrocarbon value chain in Nigeria. At the beginning of local content implementation, the board had always emphasised that its focus will be on developing incountry capacity in manufacturing, fabrication, engineering and other high-end services supporting the oil and gas industry. This project by Pacegate speaks effectively to this” PEARL manufactures a wide range of chemicals and products such as Demulsifiers & Water Clarifiers, Corrosion Inhibitors, Scale Inhibitors, Biocides, and so on, while its technology partner, CES provides upstream chemical products bases. With PEARL’s access to CES Energy Solution’s global state of the art analytical and R&D laboratory capabilities as well as domain expertise for specialized test work, both companies continue to conduct innovative research and development activities to provide site specific solutions across Africa.

General Manager, Project Authorisation and Certification, Engr. Paul Zuhumben, represented the Executive Secretary, NCDMB

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LOCAL CONTENT

CRUTECH, Others Emerge Winners At The Nigerian Content Science Contest

By Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu

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he Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH) has won the top prize in the maiden edition of Nigerian Content Science and Technology Innovation Challenge (S TIC) sponsored by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

The team emerged the best among the six finalists at the grand finale held at the Nigerian Content Tower in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, taking home the star prize of N10 million.

The CRUTECH team known as Team DC worked on Solar Element Stove.

The team which included Victoria Effiong and Paul Agbor produced a stove will ensure renewable, environmentally friendly, and cheaper fuel for cooking.

Apart from the prize money for the winning team, NCDMB will also award N20million investment towards the development of a

research and development centre in their institution.

Team Quester of the University of Jos emerged as the first runner up, having designed a Hydroponic system of growing food indoors without soil and won N4million, while Team Ted of the Federal University, Makurdi came third with a noiseless, fuel-less electric generator to provide alternate power source, and went home with N1.5million.

Other finalists included teams from the Federal University of Technolog y, Owerri, Anchor University, Lagos and Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State.

In his keynote address, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Wabote said the STIC was initiated to fill the missing gaps in research and development, innovation, and local manufacturing in the country.

developed the programme with the aim of encouraging students of accredited Nigerian tertiary institutions to apply science, technology, and innovation to finding brilliant home-grown solutions to everyday problems across all sectors of the economy.

In his words, “This challenge is aimed at engaging, developing, showcasing, supporting, and awarding deserving students, lecturers and universities who excel and have bragging rights when it comes to technology development “.

Wabote pointed that the ENACTUSS TIC is one of the Board’s platforms to encourage talented Nigerian youths to showcase their resourcefulness and innovative abilities towards developing homegrown technologies and solutions to solve Nigeria’s challenges.

He noted that the Board will sponsor the six finalists to the the UNICORN

He explained that the Board

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LOCAL CONTENT

Incubation Campus in Lagos to further refine their innovations into compelling business, hinting that innovation held the key to national development.

In his remarks, the countr y coordinator, ENACTUS Nigeria, Michael Ajayi described STIC as a strategic enterprise development programme designed to challenge undergraduates of all accredited Nigerian tertiary institutions to stretch their ingenuity, and apply science & technology to create home-grown, innovative, technology-driven, and smart/ digitalized solutions that address critical problems facing our society, economy, and country at large.

As part of the competition, the participating teams demonstrated their func tional protot ypes, especially how their proposed innovation works to solve identified problems and how the innovation will continually create opportunities for job and wealth creation if accelerated and transformed into business ventures.

The dedicated online portal for the competition, www.stic.org.ng, was opened from November 19, 2020 until January 31, 2021. Five hundred and eleven entries were received from undergraduates in 129 tertiary institutions across the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory.

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To ensure ease of management, three zones were designated for the contest: Northern region, Eastern/ Southern region and Western region.

After entries were submitted, a panel of 63 individuals from diverse fields, ranging from business development to information technology, business strategy and social enterprise development committed over 156 man-hours to select the best five teams for three major regions designated for the contest.

The five institutions that came tops from the Northern region included University of Ilorin, Kwara State; University of Jos, Plateau State; Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State; Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State and Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto State.

From the Eastern /S outhern region are Cross River University of Technology, Cross River State; Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State; Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State; Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State and Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State.

Also, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ogun State; University of Ibadan, Oyo State; Yaba College of Technology, Lagos; Anchor University, Lagos and Babcock

University, Ogun State, were selected from the Western region.

Each of the 15 universities in the competition was represented by two undergraduates and a faculty guide. Each team received ₦500,000 to develop functional prototypes of their ideas. Subsequently, the 15 teams moved on to compete at the regional finals, which held at the University of Abuja for the Northern zone; NCDMB Towers, Yenagoa, for the Southern/Eastern and Covenant University, Ota, for the Western regional competitions.

During the in-person regional final competitions, the teams were challenged to demonstrate their functional prototypes to the panel of judges. Their task was to show how their proposed innovations would solve identified problems, create jobs and wealth, if supported and transformed into business ventures.

The six teams that participated in the final emerged from the 15 groups that competed at the regional finals.

They had also undergone a four-week mentorship programme and oneweek boot camp where seasoned business development, marketing and communication professionals worked with NCDMB and Enactus Nigeria to review and enhance the teams’ business plans and transform their ideas into sustainable business venture

STIC PHOTSPEAK

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SUSTAINABILITY

Giving Communities a New Lease On Life Through Social Investment- Shell’s Winning Formula

By Oluwatoyin Bayagbon

A

s the United Nations’ 2030 target for the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) inches closer, one thing remains certainprivate sector participation is needed to galvanize the implementation of the global goals across communities, countries, and geographical divides.

With good intention, companies familiar or involved with the SDGs usually fall into three categories: a small group who have integrated the global goals into their core businesses or strategic objectives, a larger subset that has an initiative, project or partnership tied to the goals and a third group that highlight corporate sustainability as part of their operations but do not back their words with action. Of these three, it is easy to see what category Global oil multinational, Shell, falls under.

Over the years, Shell, in responding to an exciting and aspirational agenda, has invested significantly in tackling big-ticket issues with the aim to end poverty, improve health and education, and make cities sustainable through clean energy and climate change initiatives.

Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCiN) have championed social investment in the country, as

Africa’s largest economy continues its struggles with achieving the SDGs especially with regards to access to healthcare and quality education. SCiN consists of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC); a wholly-owned Shell subsidiary, which operates an unincorporated joint venture (SPDC JV) in which SPDC holds a 30% interest; two wholly-owned subsidiaries; Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) and Shell Nigeria Gas Limited (SNG). The fourth is Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited; an incorporated joint venture in which Shell B.V. has a 25.6% interest.

In its 2021 briefing notes, SCiN revealed that along with its joint venture partners, direct voluntary social investments of between $40 million to $50 million were made each year over the last five years to help improve the lives of millions of Nigerians. This makes the country the largest concentration of social investment spending in the Shell Group.

These social investments are focused on healthcare and education initiatives as well as in-cash and inkind support to young Nigerian entrepreneurs across the country.

According to statistics, in 2020 alone, $49.4 million was spent on direct social investment with another $87.3 million poured into communitydriven programmes in the three key areas since 2017. For their special health outreach programme called Health in Motion, SCiN said over 100,000 were beneficiaries, while over 9,500 secondary school grants and 6,000 university grants had been awarded since 2011.

Building Nigeria’s future leaders through education Education, according to a popular saying, is a powerful weapon, one powerful enough to change the world and ensure sustainable development. In Nigeria, disparities still exist with children from poor households more likely to be out of school or at best have limited access to quality education.

Through various initiatives, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria joint venture (SPDC JV) and the Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Company (SNEPCo) have offered thousands of Nigerian children, mostly from poor families in the Niger Delta, the opportunity to achieve quality education for free.

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SUSTAINABILITY One of such is the Cradle-to-Career (C2C) scholarship programme. The C2C is an all-inclusive scholarship p ro g ra m m e that o p e n s up opportunities to brilliant children from less privileged backgrounds and from underserved communities to attend reputable secondary schools in Nigeria. Since 2010, some 653 candidates from Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta have been handpicked to be part of this scheme. The scholarships have also been extended to applicants across the country, with another 548 beneficiaries, bringing the C2C scholarship recipients to a total of 1200.

Students completing the C2C programme also receive support through the University Scholarship scheme which funds their tertiary education once they secure admission into a Nigerian university.

With deliberate efforts to secure the future of young Nigerians across the country through inclusive and equitable educational opportunities, SCiN has continued to blaze the trail with a winning formula in achieving Goal 4 of the UN SDGs. Collaboration and quick response to health challenges Although the effect of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) still ravages parts of the world, and with Africa experiencing the third wave, Nigeria has managed to contain the spread of the virus via public-private collaboration.

In response to an obvious need, SCiN had a clear action plan and generously donated varied resources to lend support to the government at the state and federal levels. Commending the collaborative effort, Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director-General, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said the support from SCiN “came at a crucial time,” enabling the agency to easily access medical and laboratory supplies which improved

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testing capacity for COVID-19 and helped with the national preventive campaign.

To amplify its healthcare drive, SCiN also launched the COVID-19 Feeding Support Programme to provide food to frontline workers and patients in select isolation centers across the country. The unrivalled support, “gave a human face to the pandemic and reduced the financial burden on patients and the government,” Dr. Ferdinand Oshonwoh, Executive Director, House of Rennaisance for Health Initiative said in an interview.

Prior to COVID-19, SCiN has demonstrated its commitment to providing affordable and quality healthcare to Nigerians across the country.

Recent figures from the World Bank showed that Nigeria’s public spending on health care amounts to just 3.89% of its $495 billion GDP (gross domestic product), compared to 8.25% in South Africa and 5.17% in Kenya. Indeed, numerous success stories have seen the light of day with SCiN’s fit-for-purpose initiatives focused on reducing infant and maternal mortality, HIV/ AIDS, malaria, cancer, and vision care through increased access to health services, expansive health insurance schemes and stronger health system- all in support of government efforts.

For example, the remarkable Community Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS), a partnership between the SPDC JV, Rivers State Government and local communities has improved access to affordable, quality health care. In 2020, an average of 14,000 individuals enrolled in the scheme which has seen over 75,000 participants since inception. The Obio Cottage Hospital, a specialist maternity hospital in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, is funded by the CHIS. The hospital is well equipped for antenatal, post-natal and neo-natal care

and has successfully delivered over 30,000 babies since 2010.

The mobile community health outreach programme, Health-inMotion (HIM) is another social investment that enriches lives.

With HIM, free medical services are made available to people in hard-to-reach areas including the workplace. Created in the 1980s, around 100,000 people have benefited from the programme in the last five years with management and treatment of HIV/AIDS, Cancer, Malaria and other hereditary or lifestyle diseases.

Summing up the entire vision of SCiN in line with the various outreach efforts, Osagie Okunbor, SCiN’s Country Chair said in the briefing note: “The idea of collaboration lies at the heart of the Shell Companies in Nigeria, with government; with local business partners; with schools, universities and hospitals; and with communities. We know that Nigerians have the power to achieve their own prosperity and we want to help them do that. Our support for health services, education and entrepreneurship show just how much we value those we work alongside.”

For SCiN, engagement on the SDGs is a continuous journey on a road that more companies should travel to reach their desired destination.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

‘Nigeria Will Continue To Be The Driver For Local Content Within Africa’ - Onafowokan

Mr. Onafowokan

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s Nigeria’s oil and gas industry steps up to the global transition into clean energy, the relevance of indigenous companies as key players in this value chain has become increasingly obvious. Out of these numerous companies, we have Coleman Wires & Cables a pioneer of the Cable industry in the West Africa and poised to become a reference point for homegrown expertise.

At the manufacturing giant’s helm of affairs is Mr. George Olutope O nafowokan , the M anaging Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Mr. Onafowokan, an experienced business analyst and seasoned entrepreneur grew the company’s assets to N15 billion in 12 years using strong business acumen and innovative solutions. Under his leadership, the company is launching a Marine/Ethylene Propylene Rubber Cables (EPR) factory that will be in operation by the end of second quarter 2021- the first in-country facility in Nigeria and only the second in Africa.

In this virtual interview with Majorwaves Energy Report’s Editor, Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu, Mr.

Onofowokan shares the company’s journey and its success recipe in the last two and a half decades, its plans in line with new oil and gas projects on the horizon, as well the role of local content development in the Nigerian and African context. Excerpts: We know that during COVID-19 you had this idea of backward integration for your company. How has this played out?

For us, pre-Covid we had a lot of scheduled projects that we were looking at- some in the oil and gas

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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT industry and others with telcos (Telecommunication Companies) and some increases in distribution in various areas. But we had started most of our projects pre-covid while some came in post-covid. One of the key ones pre-covid was regarding the oil and gas marine cable which is the ERP-based rubber cables which would be for 100% FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) cabling- topside of the FPSO. We are now at conclusion stage of that project. I believe we are about another 60 days to a maximum of 90 days from fully going into operations in Nigeria. That would enable Coleman to be the second producer of such a cable within the African market and that to us is one of the big game changers for the future where we see ourselves as being a major participant in projects like the Zabazaba, Bonga SouthWest in the future for 100% of the topside cabling and partly some of the subsea cables. Those are the game changers, which basically is at the completion stage, we are 90% done, the remaining 10% is now the commissioning stage- building-wise, machine-wise- all in-country today and that would set us apart. Give or take, one of the other areas we have looked at also would be on transmission- bringing in gap cableswhich would also still affect some aspects of the oil and gas industry because transmission of power and distribution of power is key to oil and gas locations and movement of power from whatever location to other parts of the communities of those oil and gas situated platforms.

We are also now doing Gap Cables and ACCC (Aluminium Conductor Composite Core) power Cables with Gap cables being the fundamentally new cable that has been the focus of transmission in the world today in the last 15years, although, Nigeria has not been a participant in Africa and not really been a key producer of Gap cables. By the time we are finished also in the next 60 days, we should be the second or third producers of gap cables within Africa. Those are key projects, and this is a project that is today over $28 million USD. Figures have risen a bit because pre-covid and post-covid costs have changed; but we are coming to the tail end of most these of projects, and we see a fundamental shift in what would 28

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happen for the foreseeable future both in the oil and gas sector and in the transmission sector. Those are the key areas I think we played.

Secondly, we talked about backward integration, referring to copper and aluminum which would be incountry, that is still set. Due to covid we have had a bit of a delay on that project, but it is 60% done. I believe that by quarter 1 2022 (Q1 2022), we should be about 100% done. The final project is ongoing till today. That one actually started almost at the beginning of the post-covid phase which was in Q4 2020. This has to do with fiber optic cables, also used in telecoms, used in part of the cables found in oil and gas structures and we are proud of the fact that we would be the 4th country in the continent by this 4th quarter producing such.

The project is about 60% complete.

We expect that before the beginning of November, we should be 100% complete. Coleman has always been pioneers for anything in Nigeria and West Africa. I consider us the pioneer for the West Africa, Central Africa, and the East African region, taking out South Africa and North Africa, where development and movement has been a lot higher than this middle part of Africa. For Coleman, the pride is the mere fact that we can bring all these types of products in-country. Those are the key ranges of product that are the game changers and definitely yes, both pre-covid and post-covid, we have managed to actually see that by the end of this year we would have done capacity expansion of almost 200%, 300% of our size and we have made it achievable irrespective of the crisis we have all been through in the last one and half years.

Excellent… You just mentioned a new range of cables Coleman is ma nufac tu ring. Are they manufactured locally, or do you assemble them?

No, they are all going to be manufactured locally, there is nothing like assembling. Coleman has been a business that has never believed in importation of cables.

I have always said that word “Coleman Challenge”. The Coleman challenge is: You put a cable on our

doorstep that you think we cannot do. Most likely within 12 months, we would have put our investment into it. For us we believe in local capacity: local capacity building and local content building rather than actually building capacity from the outside or just enabling more capacity from building your business offshore. So, for us they are all local.

The fiber optic cables would be yes first for Nigeria, I think we will be the only source solution for fiber come November this year and yes, we have got partnership with very good partners to do this. But we are a 100% invested in this. It is a Coleman investment, and we are building capacity in the oil and gas, building capacity in the telcos and in the transmission industry- every facet of life really. Of course, yes, we have our power base which is the wiring cable and the power cable but there are other areas of cable, which we pioneered but then, there are other newer areas which I would not call pioneer products, but they are areas which we as a country should have local production capacity. If you look at what has happened precovid, all of us had our meetings and interviews one on one but post covid, the utilization of data became a major player. It has changed everything in the world basically.

We are all having our meetings on Zoom, Microsoft teams, all sorts of different type of virtual meetings.

That has changed the use of data and that has also fundamentally placed what we are trying to do with the fiber optic cable. It does not matter whichever facet of life you are in, you need data, you need video, you need audio, you need telecommunication to happen and within that prospect irrespective of whether it is oil and gas, finance, no matter the business, communication has become a key to the business. Even within the oil and gas sector, fiber cables have been embedded as part of communication to carry data of what is being done with specific projects.

We are pleased by the fact that by this year also, Coleman will be the first fiber optic cable in-country producer. So, all our projects are all in-country production and that is what makes us stand out. We put in investment. If you look at the fiber

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT cable investment, it is a $22 million investment, the rubber cable is almost $30 million USD. When you look at it, were still doing backward integration of copper and aluminum which is also another investment of up to $25 million to $30 million.

About a month or two ago, we started another $15 million expansion project. All these expansion projects done simultaneously which are now coming to its tail end, were done both pre-covid and post-covid, but in my own view, I saw that the economy needs a “restart” and once this happens, we expect a high speed of growth. The covid period did not stop our decision to continue with all our projects.

Tell us how your company fared during the COVID-19 Global pandemic.

Most of the industries like ours had a really massive experienced the negative effect of covid. This arose from the fact that you were shut down, there was restriction in movement of materials and general movement restrictions everywhere and this went on for a couple of months. That of course affected books negatively, affected expec tations and budgetar y expenses and budgetary targets were really hit. For us, it lowered our projected earnings and turnover for the period and that would be the same for every other company that was affected during that period. But to take the positives out of COVID, it made every business reinvent itself.

We all had to think out of the box and

refinance and reposition ourselves during the period. This made us get ready for the restart such that by the time the restart came, we were in a better position.

Did your business model change as a result of all these?

Most of the things that had to change about one’s business model had to do with operations, with how you did business. A fundamental part of business model which was when everything was physical, had to also change- even with us. Yes, we are in a technical type of engineering business which needed a lot more physical hands, but from our team that we had that had been trained, from the engineers we had and with a lot more virtual training going on, I think our team was able to cope with a lot of demand that would have needed a lot of expatriates coming in. Covid forced everybody in-house to step up. We had a lot of machines coming in from different parts of the world. The engineers could not come but we still needed to install. Our team started delivering this installation where normally we would have needed the expatriates flying in for maybe a 30-day period or 60-day period. I would say pre-covid which would have been January last year we have been installing till today and we have had no expatriate coming in. When you look at the amount of machinery that they have been installing, which I will say would be in excess of $10 million to $20 million, by a fully Nigerian

team just by having virtual support, it just shows you that we are able to step up to the game because covid forced everybody to do so. It also forced the manufacturers, and It was a good thing because under normal circumstances, some of those information they gave out would not be released to their customers, but they had to release it. So, I think for us, it has had its negatives, but we have also taken out the positives from it in terms of added value and training.

So, it looks more like COVID-19 helped to boost local content?

Yes, I would say it did. Because it forced everybody to look inward to all local solutions to whatever challenges you had, especially human resources, and I think covid has proven that human resources should be localized especially when you need to build capacity on these human resources in the aspect of training. You need to stabilize you capacity and improve the capacity of your human resources within the system to be able to cope with this type of situation in the future. I think it also changes the mindset of those supplying, I mean the supply chain element of most businesses in terms of machinery and spare parts, and in terms of the support element of those businesses. So, we have moved a lot more into virtual support and It has been able to get our businesses running properly.

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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT Coming out of the pandemic, a lot of businesses are optimistic that there will be a renewed boom. What is Coleman’s strategic plan to cash in on this expected boom?

The strategic plan was there from day 1, pre-covid. Our strategy was not to stop our own expansion projects.

None of our projects stopped. We actually even added more. It is not just about why we are in a project.

It is about the end of the project and what we are trying to position for. In fact, whether COVID or no COVID, most of those projects were a necessity and most likely, they will be high in demand after COVID, so we went on with our project. If you look at it today, the amount of demand for fiber optic cable is well beyond any one reliability for most of the telcos or the companies needing them. Therefore, Coleman making fiber optic cables is a big change and a big advantage to some of the strategies we have put in place.

Taking an example also of Train 7, Coleman is the only company that is actually offering a 100% local content via the cable. 100% will be made in-country- from the low voltage to the high voltage to the fiber cable. Coleman is offering incountry solution within the time frame of the delivery. Now, if you have not built capacity, there is no way we can deliver those types of cables within the time frame. Having to build capacity in the first place and having installed capacity incountry would enable a company like Coleman to take advantage of the supply of Train 7, which they have done groundbreaking for a week or two ago. That is a game changer. There are projects that are coming up that we are seeing in the oil and gas sector, that are now being pushed back into pipelines so that those projects are now completed.

The major part for us is that capacity has been built for those types of projects today and now available in-country. Now, if you take Coleman out of the picture, sincerely you have got no capacity in-country for these cables, they would be imported. But we have driven the capabilities of Coleman and the ranges of Coleman to be so big and so huge, that it is not now possible to hear someone say that they want to import the cables for a project like Train 7. It 30

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does not make sense. This is what has made it possible for Coleman to work within this new dispensation of opportunities that would not have come to businesses like ours. We are the only cabling company that has a rating as an investment grade rated company today. With Agusto, Coleman is a BBB (triple B) rated company on the long term and near term. With CGR which is another ratings agency, we are BBB and A3.

Now, it is really not heard of for a cabling company to be an investment graded company, especially where they are not listed in the stock market. We are still a privately run company that basically has the status of any investment grade Plc or multinational today. When you get to this level, that means your corporate governance and ethics are very high and your accountability is very high because those ratings tell anybody in the world how you are. I remember one of the IOCs (International Oil Companies) where we were pushing for a vendor registration increased their barriers in order to cut numbers. They said any company coming on board must have an investment grade rating.

We are the only cable company in Nigeria that has an investment grade rating, so that means you have cut everybody else out. We were able to get in although we did not know that this was part of the criterion but today, we already have an investment grade rating.

Coleman is having an outing into the bond market soon. We are coming out with long term bonds and short-term bonds that will be sold unsecured to the debt market.

Those are major changes that are happening that really you would not have seen happen in our own sector or within the cable industry in Nigeria. It is a real game changer from where Nigeria was in 1965, doing local production of cable and where Coleman has been in the business. We have been the pacesetter with everything coming out from the industry in Nigeria as a whole.

Please tell us more about your production capacity.

With regards to production, Coleman

has the biggest and the largest capacity in terms of copper and aluminum in-country within Nigeria and the West African region. In the whole of Africa, we are one of the top three in terms of capacity. We have an inbuilt capacity today of about 7,000 tonnes of copper a month and about 3,000 tonnes of aluminum.

We expect at the end of this quarter, we should have increased capacity by another 2,000 tonnes and 1,000 tonnes of aluminum and copper per month, respectively. By beginning of next year, we expect that that total would be almost doubled with regards to the number of expansions we are also doing. Within that scope, we are looking at about 15,0000 tonnes to 16,000 tonnes capacity.

Even at a utilization of 50% of that, we would account for 70% of the total demand capacity of the whole of West Africa within one factory. So basically, we would be able to supply both Nigeria and the whole of West Africa on our own single-handedly.

Those are the built-in capacities we have put in place. We see our business doing over a trillion (Naira) within the next three to five years.

The business dynamics of both for us is very big. We are looking at the fundamentals of growth into areas such as fiber. Fiber production capacity that we have put in place is for almost a billion dollars a year capacity and that is also a game changer for us not only for the oil and gas but for the industry as a whole in West Africa. So, when you are moving capacity or you are moving volumes, you tend to look at what the long term is. For us, most projects are long-term based projects which means that we put in full capacity on day one. So rather than looking for capacity to be filled, or building capacity as you go on in years, we actually build huge capacity first and then fill the capacity, then expand more on the capacity as its filled up. For us, it has worked because investment in Nigeria is time based and situation based. When you look at the situation of the currencies for example, or what you do at a particular time, if you do not act fast, the currency movement may act against you. Your investment and your CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost begins to fluctuate depending

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT on the percentage of devaluation you get. So, for us, we take a position, and we go ahead with it. It is all about the capacity of the project. I will say today, to meet all the expectations of West Africa as a whole- in both the oil and gas and the industrial sector and all other sectors- there is no area that we do not participate and do not have full capacity to control actual deliveries within the country and outside the shores of the country.

ones that we believe are on ground at the moment which we are moving forward with.

Now let us talk about the projects you are currently engaged in… We would like to know more about your role in the NLNG Train 7 project and any other project Coleman is currently handling like the Zabazaba/Bonga project you mentioned earlier.

We are grateful for the recognition in 2019 and we are still carrying the badge since there was no 2020 edition, so we will say we are 2019 and 2020 holders of the indigenous award. We were quite proud of having that award because when you look at the history of most of the companies the indigenous award had gone to, they have been majorly oil and gas servicing companies owned by

This year will be the Train 7 project where we have offered 100% incountry solution for the cables, and we are working to try and make sure that we can deliver what everybody wants. We are the only cable company actually offering 100% to the providers and to the EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) contractors. We have not firmed up everything yet, so to us its hush hush till everything is firmed up. We have very clearly told all the EPC contractors all contractors involved that we are offering 100% within time frame of their delivery schedules and also that NCDMB (Nigerian Content Development Management Board) and even NLNG (Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas) is well aware of our capacity to meet those demand levels.

Some of the projects which are still back upstream which we were and are still involved in and are expected to come back is the SSGA, SSAGA, Shell Projects, these are now coming back on stream .

We also expect Asa North. But all these other projects will start within time before the new projects start coming up. The big ones are all on technical or commercial discussions now and we expect the big changes to happen most likely between Q3 2021 and Q4 2021 where delivery of those projects would start coming in. Sometime next year, we all can start talking of Bonga Southwest or Zabazaba coming back on to the table. So, for now, our focus is on the

Coleman won the indigenous company of the year in NOG (National Oil and Gas) 2019 and you have risen to the point of regional integration with strong local content. Give us your appraisal of how far local content has come 11 years after and what the next level should be.

A lot of us have benefited from the NOGICD Act ( Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act) and from the success story of what NCDMB has done. For us to win the NOG indigenous award shows that we are the embodiment of local content and what the Act is all about.

Prior to the Act, companies like us would not have seen the light of day and we would not have invested in that type of business in the first place because we would have been unable to guarantee that we would be patronized by these other companies. They just were not used to doing so. So, the local content Act in the first place is very laudable and cannot be faulted. Talking about what it has achieved in the 11 years it has been in existence, a lot has been done and a lot more needs to be done. Capacity building is always a continuous thing. You cannot have all capacity on day one.

Our expectations were a bit high for local content and I can say that we have not gotten there yet. We are not at the level which I expect even the KPIs for NCDMB should have reached.

I think we are moving at a pace.

We are moving a lot better under the leadership of the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB Simbi

(Wabote) and his team. I was one of those pleased with the continuity his second term will bring. Mainly I think it has been a good driving force and we have had a more technical Executive Secretary than we have had before. He was coming from the side of the IOCs and as a technocrat could understand the issues better than someone coming from the side of government. Overall, the drive of the NCDMB and the local content Act has been a lot better.

He better knows the loopholes and can corner the IOCs (International Oil companies) to be a lot more focused on local content. He has done a fantastic job in that area. They can still do a lot better but doing better means we would all be patient so much so that whatever they are doing will be for the benefit of the country as a whole in the long run.

There will always be positives and negatives of the NCDMB and the NOGICD Act. The negatives everybody talk about is that cost will go up but there is no way you can build efficiency without first experiencing increase in cost.

Later on, the more efficient those businesses become, the more the efficiency drives down cost. Today, we are almost the best price you can get for cabling in the country because we have built capacity and this capacity has dropped down price levels to be more competitive. So, for me, NCDMB and the NOGICD Act has played a fundamental part to improve the participation of companies in Nigeria. It is not about Nigerians only; it is the companies within and the protection of investments within the country and those investments being able to actually grow based on being given opportunities within the oil and gas sector. For what they have done so far, we need to commend them. We need to commend Simbi Wabote and his team on what they have done so far. I just think we need to give them a bit more opportunities and support whatever they are doing in order to get us “there” more and faster.

If you look at the level of KPIs that were given for local content under Train 7, it is a lot higher than the benchmarks you could have ever seen within Train 1 to 6. If you were

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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT to compare Train 1 to 6 with what we are expecting from Train 7, it is not even comparable! With Train 6, did we even achieve 10% of what is expected to be achieve at Train 7 level? The NOGICD Act was not there with Train 6. So, you can see the difference or gap level because the NOGICD Act happened after Train 6. Prior to the NOGICD Act, there was just local content policy until it became a law in 2010. Now do a comparative analysis of Train 6 with the number of companies involved in the Train 7 project, those interested or even pre-qualified as vendors, there is a massive gap. You will be talking of maybe 1000% or 2000% to the number of vendors that are now local content-based vendors. That tells you what the impact of the NOGICD Act is. We cannot event compare Train 1 to 5 with Train 7 because it was not even close to the NOGICD Act. We have had 11 years of the NOGICD Act, and we can now see the difference.

So, you can imagine if we have had just between a 10-year and 11-year scenario, almost 1000% to 3000% percent increase in vendor local content representation on Train 7, you could imagine what the next 10 years will hold for Nigeria. It just tells us that we need to continue to focus on local content. Everybody is copying the NOGICD Act now, so I expect that we will be the drivers for NOGICD. Nigeria will continue to be the driver for local content within Africa and our capacity that has been built in-country will enable us to fight for businesses outside Nigeria.

Even most of the companies that were created under the NOGCID Act are going outside the Nigerian shores and tendering and bidding for projects. The more experiences that Nigerians or Nigerian companies get during this last 11 years and the future of the NOGICD Act, the better we would become, even with the impact of the Act in almost every part of the economy today. However, I would also want us to be careful in that direction, that we do not create too many multiples of the Act that it becomes a problem latter on, then you have too many agencies fighting the same thing where you have just one job, but 4 to 5 agencies are claiming the right to local content.

This can bring about bureaucracies and further problems. I think we 32

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should develop local content. We should develop the NOGICD Act. We should solidify it and not scatter it but should be careful of what comes out next from the NOGICD Act. For me, the next 10 years of what we see from the NOGICD Act will be positive, therefore we need to continue to support it.

You must have been following industry updates and therefore aware that the country has declared 2021 - 2030 as the Decade Of Gas. How is Coleman positioning for this?

I believe we are positioning for the decade of gas. Even for us, we have moved our total power generation to gas because we see gas as being the future. Nigeria has massive gas reserves which is even greater than crude oil. We see that it is going to be the energy of source for us in the future and as it is, the energy of source for really the rest of the world- from liquefied gas to natural gas for power and for heating. For us, we expect to see a lot of projects happening in the gas sector. We expect to see Nigeria get to zero flare, because really there is no reason why gas should be flared. It does not make logical sense because gas is so useful.

I think that now that people have seen capacity built in utilization of gas in-country and outside the country, we could see a lot more projects coming up under gas. So, for us, positioning has to do with the capacity that will be built in that industry- the oil and gas and services- and being able to provide the right solutions and cables for those industries that are being built.

You are going to see gas to petrol, gas to diesel conversions that will happen. So, gas is the future, and we are making sure that Coleman has built capacity for all these projects that are going to be coming onboard or coming upstream over the next decade and making sure we have capacity to feed and sustain demand levels from all these companies that are going to be coming up in the gas industry. The opportunities are going to be great, and it is for us to know that whatever opportunities that will be gotten will be from generation to gas utilization to liquified gas to

propane. It is a sustainable energy that is cleaner than fossil fuel crude and I think the focus of the world will continue to be on gas for the foreseeable future. Nigeria needs to focus on projects that are related to gas, and we need to provide solutions for that in terms of power solutions and cabling solutions for those types of projects.

Talking about capabilities, how is your staff faring and where do they get their training to acquire this specialized skill set?

For us, majority of these training have been in-country. Some have been outside the country, but majority of our staff have been trained incountry. We have been training for 20 years. Some have been with us for more than 10 years and 15 years and it is because of the in-house training.

Some of them started off as trainees and others graduated through the training scheme into the system and continued with training.

The system in-house has always been: Let the trainers train the trainees. We bring in so much technology that is more advanced than what most our Nigerian workers have seen. We have agreements with all our suppliers and manufacturers to train our staff for 30 days or 60 days periodically. So, they do actually come into Nigeria to train. Today, Coleman has about 423 workers as at last count. With all these extra projects coming on, we expect to be over 1500. If the training they have been receiving has not been that good or effective, our business would have shut down during COVID until now because you cannot bring in anybody. The training has worked.

The ratio of staff to expatriate is 1:100 and the expatriate is even a middle manager helping to train and improve on certain areas within the factory. We are very proud of that.

It just tells you that if we believe in our Nigerians and put more time and training to our human capacity and build on them, even in engineering, they can and are able to cater to our needs, meet our expectations and even surpass them. We believe the Nigerians must be trained, can be trained and have been trained periodically and continuously.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT I will give you an example. The fiber optic project needed a 12-week training course although it was done virtually. We had a team of Nigerians who were trained over this 12-week period who understood what they needed to do and today, they are moving the business forward. So, the

opportunities for training have changed from just physical to virtual and has given us the opportunity to manage the growth and capacity build on the human resource. That has made us sustainable in the last 20 years. Coleman has therefore been able to sustain its team, sustain its

growth and sustain its technology without having to have expatriate oversight on-site and that has helped over the years. We are consistent with training, and it has improved us over the years.

Coleman’s High Voltage Cables

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CHARKIN MARITIME ACADEMY PORT HARCOURT Obtains National Board for Technical Education Accreditation and admission of cadets through JAMB UTME

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AZIMUTH STERN DRIVE (ASD)

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MARITIME

Charkin Maritime Academy Port Harcourt Obtains NBTE Accreditation, Admits Cadets Through JAMB/UTME

By Daniel Terungwa

We had to meet certain equipment level, human resources and other standards. The audit team were amazed with the kind of initiative they saw.” he stated.

Charkin Maritime Academy Port Harcourt has come a long way from initially conduc ting short programmes to the commencement of Diploma programmes in Marine Engineering and Nautical Sciences among others, having been accredited by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in 2019.

With its state-of-the-art facility located on East-West road in Port Harcourt and another within the main campus of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, the academy joins other foremost maritime institutes in Nigeria to contribute significantly towards filling the local capacity deficit in the sector.

Presently, it is the only academy and training outfit in Africa which offers the Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) simulator training.

Sir Wami said the academy has reached a Memorandum of Understanding with some foreign companies to provide 12 months mandatory training on board to cadets after their class room work.

C

harkin Maritime Academy Port Harcourt, an institution dedicated towards building human capacity in the Maritime, oil and gas industries has obtained accreditation by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and is now admitting cadets through the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).

The Chief Executive Officer of the Academy, sir Charles Wami made this known recently in an exclusive interview with Majorwaves Energy Report. Wami stated that the recent

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feat was a manifestation of the Institutes’ drive for excellence to bridge the human capacity gap in both the Maritime and Oil and Gas Sectors.

“Through a good number of unique courses, we have made it possible for companies, community leaders, government agencies to key in and build human capacity in the industry.

“Our quest to produce qualified and highly skilled Maritime professionals without compromising local and international standards aided the NBTE and JAMB accreditation process.

“Our dream is to market our Nigerian Seafarers. We have MoU with some foreign companies that will provide 12 months Sea time mandatory training on board the ship to cadets after their classroom work. The companies might meaningfully engage outstanding students and give them jobs to serve the world.”

“It took us over three years to prepare before the accrediting body came for inspection and auditing in 2019.

The recent introduction of some core courses by the training centre has helped ease the hassles of traveling

MARITIME abroad to acquire certain certifications as nearly 95 percent of those products in the maritime and the oil and gas Industries are obtained in Charkin Maritime Offshore Training Centre.

Worthy of note is the newly introduced ASD Training, which includes a variety of rare courses such as; Basic Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) Tractor Tug, Advanced Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD); Tractor Tug, Advanced Ship Handling, Basic Mooring Master/Loading Master, Advanced Mooring Master/Loading Master, Basic Open Waters/ Restricted Waters Pilotage; Advanced Pilotage, Mooring Master/Loading Master Refreshers and Pilotage Refreshers all of which are offered within a 3-5 days duration.

Other courses offered by the academy are; Dynamic Positioning (basic, advanced and the technical programmes) which is a computer-controlled system to automatically maintain a vessel’s position and heading by using its own propellers and thrusters, Well Control Training, an online programme with accreditation by the International Well Control Forum (IWCF); Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training (BOSIET), NCCW and others.

Charkin Maritime Academy also boasts of a Welding and Fabrication School with modern equipment for effective learning.

The school is accredited by the International Welders Forum, (IWF) and Nigerian Institute of Welders (NIW).

According to the CEO, the institute has the approval of the Nautical Institute of London to conduct mini training on nautical courses.

“We have approval from the Nautical Institute London to conduct mini training on nautical courses. They are not in-country courses, it’s a five-day training, on the fifth day, the participants will sit for the examination.

The examination is conducted online by the Nautical Institute of London. As soon as they finish the examination, they’ll get their results immediately, the same way it is conducted anywhere in the world.”

He therefore called on government agencies, oil and gas companies and other stakeholders involved in human capacity development in the maritime, oil and gas industry to look inwards in training their employees or students rather than sending them abroad to undergo same courses which are obtainable in Nigeria at affordable costs, as this would save capital flight and in the long run boost the economy of the country.

Improved Regional Navy Cooperation Takes Centre Stage at Gulf Of Guinea Forum Daniel Terungwa

T

he Gulf of Guinea Maritime Collaboration Forum and Shared Awareness and Deconfliction conference (GOGMCF/SHADE) has identified cooperation at sea between regional and international Navies as the focus at its inaugural plenary meeting scheduled to take place in July 2021.

This was disclosed recently in a joint communiqué signed by the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and the Inter Regional Coordination Centre (ICC) Yaoundé. The online meeting will be hosted by the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Institute (GOGMI) in Accra, Ghana, and will be by invitation of the SHADE Co-chairs, the ICC, and the Nigerian Navy.

ICC Yaoundé and Nigeria noted that the meeting is to produce meaningful actions and measures that translate to a significant increase in the cooperation at sea between regional and international navies , the international shipping industry, and the maritime stakeholders in the Gulf of Guinea.

“These ac tions would be delivered by three working

groups: Cooperation at Sea (Operations), Reporting and Information Sharing, and Air DeConfliction, with each working group chaired by a regional representative and supported by a Subject Matter Expert.

“The maiden GOG-MCF/SHADE plenary will be an invitationonly working meeting initially focusing on implementing the framework by bringing together stakeholders who have committed to tackling piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea,” the communiqué read.

The co-chairs said they would provide a full report of the activities of the forum on an ongoing basis and consequently review and adapt the meeting as required to achieve its intended goals.

Nigeria and the Inter Regional Coordination Centre (ICC) Yaoundé recently floated the GOG-MCF/SHADE following discussions between the Director General of NIMASA, representing Nigeria, and Executive Director of ICC Yaoundé, Admiral Narciso Fastudo Jr. The forum aims to galvanise regional and international efforts for security in the Gulf of Guinea.

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MARITIME

Shipping Institute Tasks New NSC Boss on Continuity

T

he Nigerian Institute of Shipping (NIS) has urged t h e n e w l y -a p p o i n t e d Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr Emmanuel Lyambee Jime, to continue from where his predecessor, Mr Hassan Bello, stopped.

The President of NIS, Capt. Tony Onoharigho, made the appeal in an interview recently in Lagos.

It was reported that President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday approved the appointment of Emmanuel-Lyambee Jime as the Executive Secretary of the NSC.

He was also the Speaker of Benue House of Assembly from 1992 to 1993.

Onoharigho said that starting from where Bello stopped would ensure that legacies, which Bello instituted for the industry’s growth, would make greater impacts.

“It is unfortunate that most Nigerians, when they take over in an office, do not continue from where their predecessors stopped.

“They start to push out their own policies, and this makes things to be backward.

Jime, who holds a bachelor’s degree in law, is hoped to bring his wealth of experience to bear on his new position.

“If someone has a laudable idea, it should be followed up and finished with, and there will be continuity and progress.

Jime is a former Managing Director at the Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority a and two-term member of House of Representatives.

“Issues such as making the inland dry port functional, which Bello started, should be looked into.

He represented Makurdi/Guma Federal Constituency from 2007 to 2015.

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“Jime should ensure smooth delivery of cargo from the ports and lend his voice to develop other transport

infrastructure in the industry,” he advised.

The NIS president said that Bello did a great job as Executive Secretary of NSC, “He is a man of the people, very accommodating; he had a lot of concern for all of us in the industry.

“I pray that Jime should follow the footsteps of Bello; let him continue from where he stopped,” Onoharigho said.

He urged the new executive secretary to ensure that tariff and charges by service providers in the maritime industry would be accommodated by the economy.

“This is an industry that we have built over the years and it is still growing; so, he should make things work for everyone,” the NIS president said.

It was also reported that Jime’s appointment is for a renewable fouryear tenure.

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Marginal Field Operation: what pitfalls lie ahead?

By Ikenna Omeje and Jerome Onoja

W

hile it is prestigious to own a marginal field, the recent winners of Nigeria’s 57 fields who received their letters dated March 1, 2021 would need to be extra cautious in order to avoid the mistakes of those who had gone ahead. The worst case scenario is to have one’s licence revoked from non-performance. However, there are producing marginal fields today which should be doing better than the results they have posted.

Unfortunately, many unsuspecting operators encountered pitfalls in the early days of their operations. This article addresses some of these issues.

Marginal Fields in Nigeria evolved from the Petroleum Amendment Act 1996. The Federal Government in February 2003, awarded 24

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marginal field licences to 31 indigenous companies, 24 of them designated operators with seven partners. Some of the beneficiary companies include, Midwestern/ Suntrust partnership, WalterSmith, Energia/Oando partnership, Pillar Oil 2, Brittania U, Platform Petroleum, and Frontier Oil. In November 2013, 10 years after, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) announced the commencement of the 2013 Marginal Fields Licensing Round. According to the guidelines by the Department, the objectives of the 2013 bid round were to, “Grow production capacity by expanding the scope of participation in Nigeria’s Petroleum sector, through diversification of resources and inflow of investments;

increase oil and gas reserves base through aggressive exploration and development effort, in particular the deeper hydrocarbon plays; provide opportunity for portfolio rationalization; promote indigenous participation in the sector thereby fostering technological transfer; provide opportunity to gainfully engage the pool of high level technically competent Nigerians in the oil & gas sector; and promote common usage of assets/facilities to ensure optimum utilization of available capacities.” Unfortunately, the bid round did not hold as planned.

However, on June 1, 2020, the DPR flagged off another bid round, with a total of 57 fields located on land, swamp and shallow offshore terrains on offer.

COVER STORY oil and gas companies in the upstream sector, grow the country’s oil reserves’ production, encourage economic development through revenue generation, promotion of indigenous participation in oil and gas sector and discouragement of the abandonment of depleting oil fields in Nigeria.

that the affected fields had been unattended.

Prolonged litigation against Federal Government

“…thereafter, we had interaction with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources who advised us to withdraw our matters from court so that we can have meaningful discussions. Based on that the cases were withdrawn from court,” they explained.

A Federal High Court in Lagos had in June last year issued a restraining order against the Federal Government from selling or accepting bids for eight marginal oil fields (Oil Mining Licences) pending determination of a suit challenging their status.

The order was given following a suit filed by 10 marginal field operators against the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, and the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as respondents in the suit.

However, in a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, who doubles as the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the operators acknowledged that they had withdrawn their cases from court.

“Following the assurances from the Minister of State for Petroleum we withdrew our cases from court. Even the Director of DPR gave the same assurances on live television but these govt functionaries have not called for any meetings and we have received feedback that the DPR and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources are in the process of reassigning the affected fields to new interests,” the operators stated.

The operators and their marginal oil fields include: Independent Energy Ltd - Ofa OML 30; Associated Oil and Gas Ltd/ Dansaki Petroleum Unlimited - Tom Shot Bank OML 14; Bayelsa Oil Company Ltd - Atala MFOG-2C and Bicta Energy and Management System Ltd - Ogedeh OML 90 MFOG-2D.

Payment by interested bidders attrac ted non-refundable chargeable fees as follows: Application fee of N2 million per field, Bid Processing Fee of N3million per field, Data prying fee of $15,000 per field, Data Leasing fee of $25,000 per field, Competent Persons Report of $50,000 and $25,000 for Fields Specific Report.

According to DPR website, a marginal field is any field that has been discovered and has been left unattended for a period of at least 10 years, from the date of first discovery or anyone so-called by the president of Nigeria.

The goal of marginal field program is to create opportunities for Nigerian

Timipre sylva

The court restrained the respondents from advertising a bidding process for the marginal fields which were awarded to the plaintiffs, or selling them, and granted an interim injunction authorising the plaintiffs “to continue to manage, operate, control, explore... the marginal fields pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

The operators had gone to court to challenge the revocation of their licences by the DPR under the guise

Others are: Del Sigma Petroleum Ltd - Ke OML 90 MFOG-2E; Goland Petroleum Ltd -Oriri OML 88 MFOG2F; Sahara Energy Ltd/African Oil and Gas Ltd - Tsekelewu OML 40 MFOG2G and Sogenal Ltd Akepo - OML 90 MFOG-2H. The counsels to the operators had argued in court that the purported

“

a marginal field is any field that has been discovered and has been left unattended for a period of at least 10 years, from the date of first discovery or anyone so-called by the president of Nigeria.

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COVER STORY

“

the issuance of the instant revocation letters has jeopardised the investments of several state governments, Nigerian entrepreneurs and their foreign technical partners. revocation of the operators’ licences by the DPR violated their constitutional rights to fair hearing, their rights under the Petroleum Act and under the guidelines governing marginal fields in the country.

They urged the court to prevent the Federal Government from including the affected marginal fields in the 2020 bidding rounds for award of marginal fields pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Also, in the letter to President Buhari, the operators argued that the issuance of the instant revocation letters has jeopardised the investment s of several state governments, Nigerian entrepreneurs and their foreign technical partners.

by energy firms to Nigerian banks rose by N200bn to N5.85tn in the third quarter of 2020.

Oil and gas firms increased their debt

by N180bn to N5.12tn in Q3 from N4.94tn in Q2, while the amount of Non-Performing Loans in the sector declined by N30.53bn to N238.26bn in Q3 from N268.79bn in Q2.

“Not only are the actions of the DPR at complete variance with the Marginal Field bid guidelines and the duly executed Farm-out Agreements, we are extremely concerned that the DPR has chosen to pursue such a course of action in the midst of a global economic crisis with its resultant impact on the Nigerian economy at large, and in particular the primary economic contributor thereto, being the oil and gas sector.

“The revocation of the licences will certainly lead to litigation against the Marginal Field Operators by foreign partners and banks who have financed the development of the Marginal Fields, in addition to sending the wrong signal to both Foreign and local investors” the operators argued.

country is targeting to substantially increase its oil reserves, including condensates, to 40 billion barrels by 2025.

The 57 fields awarded by DPR is estimated to generate additional 100 million barrels of crude oil to the country’s current production capacity in years to come.

Out of the 24 fields awarded in 2003, 11 fields have remained undeveloped locking in over 40 million barrels of oil. However, the DPR has identified the challenges that affected the attainment of full development of the 2003 marginal fields award.

“With the lessons of the previous exercise we want to refocus, change the approach, we have developed strategy to ensure you (the companies) and the awarded fields achieve early development.

“The DPR will continue to guide all of you every step of the way. For instance, the guiding template for working agreement has been drafted for joint awardees and discussions have reached advance stage between DPR and lease holders on the farm out agreement”, Auwalu said at the award ceremony.

The operators explained, “We have conservatively invested over $ 400 million in developing the affected fields, with a number of them in production, whilst others are in various advanced stages of development including testing of oil wells, drilling of new wells, construction of production facilities, etc.

President Muhammadu Buhari

They further noted that the revocation of their licences has created additional Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) for the local banks.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the debts owed

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“These investments were made despite low crude oil prices, militancy and insecurity in the Niger Delta region, resulting in frequent shut down/ vandalisation of crude export pipelines.”

First oil, the game changer The outlook over the three year period of 2021-2024 is to boost the nation’s crude production capacity by an additional 600kbpd. Also, the DPR last October, said that the

Engr Sarki Auwalu,

“

“The revocation of the licences will certainly lead to litigation against the Marginal Field Operators by foreign partners and banks who have financed the development of the Marginal Fields,

COVER STORY Speaking with Majorwaves in the same vein, Emeka Ene the chief executive of Oildata and a member of the Board of Directors at Energiathe Joint Venture Operator of the Ebendo/Obodeti Marginal Field, has come out to say that, the new operators should focus on the goal of attaining first oil as quickly as possible.

“Because of the issue of forced marriage, we may see the human element come to play and distract the operators. If that can be handled, I’ll suggest the best approach to the operators would be to push for production as quick as possible.

“Re-entry into existing well should be a priority, not drilling new wells.

The operator should then nurture the production for a while before commencing plans for drilling campaigns.

On his part, Abiodun Adesanya, chief executive officer of Degeconek told Majorwaves in an exclusive interview that operators who veered off existing wells into fresh drilling campaigns, most of the times, were unfortunate. He noted that every drilling campaign has a margin of error and as a result could be unsuccessful in spite of the cost.

“Marginal fields are existing oilfields.

It is better for the new marginal field operators to approach the development of the fields by reentering those wells to find the gas or oil that have been discovered, try to complete them and bring the oil out.

that, the 57 fields had 3-D seismic data acquired for them in the past.

He said rather than use seismic at this stage, the operators should instead use the money for seismic to re-enter those wells and begin to generate revenue, which will accrue more advantages to them, such as lenders being willing to lend them money, categorization of their fields by the DPR as producing fields, and elimination of chances for revocation of licence.

On the cost of seismic, he said, “A typical land seismic will cost not less than $60,000 to $65,000 per square kilometer. So, if you are doing 100, you are already at about $6.5 million. With a bit of luck, we can beat it down. With a bit of bargain, we can beat it down. With a bit of knowledge, we can cut it and it comes around $5 million or $5.5 million.”

He noted that seismic in the swamp area is a bit more expensive than in land area. He said that in some swamp areas, the cost may go up to $80,000, while in other areas, it might go up to $90,000 per square kilometer.

For onshore, he said that if the operator is not close to the coast line, or is in a water depth of 100 feet, seismic per square kilometre might cost up to $25,000 or $30,000 per square kilometer. But if an operator is close to the cost line, it is about $100,000 per square kilometer.

Choice of technology Ene also noted that, rather than focus on cost reduction, it is more profitable to improve efficiency and productivity.

He advocated Rigless Workover and Enhanced Oil Recover y technologies as innovations that can help operators increase production without incurring the huge cost associated with deploying an entire rig to the site.

Rigless Workover is fitted for marginal fields, because they are usually old wells that have been discovered, such that an operator can actually re-enter an oil well without having to bring a rig in place, he said.

“It actually has fair application for brown fields and marginal fields. If you have a damaged well, you need to bring a rig to fix it. That alone will cost you at least $3 million; though it varies around $5 to $10 million to fix that problem. Also, it is going to take an average of 30 to 45 days to fix it.

“

“There are mechanical and geological challenges an operator may encounter in the course of deploying seismic. Because the fields are small, in comparison to blocs, there have been several failed drilling campaigns. Should a wrong location be drilled on a marginal field, the entire investment, despite the opportunity cost, would have been lost.

According to Adesanya, the use of additional seismic for the development of the 57 marginal fields is not mandatory. He added

“

“A typical land seismic will cost not less than $60,000 to $65,000 per square kilometer.

So, if you are doing 100, you are already at about $6.5 million.

rather than focus on cost reduction, it is more profitable to improve efficiency and productivity.

Emeka Ene

“Rather than spend $5 to $10 million, you can spend less than a $100,000 by intervening with a Rigless Workover, without a rig.

You save on the cost of mobilizing a rig, you save on time, because you can fix the problem in less than a week, compared to 45 days or even 60 days as the case may be,” he said.

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COVER STORY while 482 were bids submitted by 405 applicants.

“In the end, 161 companies were shortlisted as potential awardees, out of which 50 per cent has met all conditions and therefore eligible for awards today. We are set to ensure opportunities are extended to other deserving applicants to fill the gap.

Abiodun Adesanya

“

“Rather than spend $5 to $10 million, you can spend less than a $100,000 by intervening with a Rigless Workover, On the level of production, Ene said that though production is peculiar with the field, because every field is different, with Rigless Workover, production problem is zero. He noted that the average well production in the Niger Delta is between 800 and 1,000 barrels per day, but with the Rigless Workover production is significant, because the operator is going to bring back a well that was completely dead or damaged back to production.

Similarly, he said that Enhanced Oil Recovery allows an operator to unlock lost barrels. He said that in the Niger Delta, recovery factor is between 35 to 45 percent, which means that in a field an operator loses about 55 percent of the production, which they cannot produce, because the oil is bound to the rock. But with Enhanced Oil Recovery, the operator can recover 80 percent of the barrels that are normally lost.

“The DPR is not just a regulator, we are an opportunity house. We drive creativity and transformation and we use these in all of our activities.

This is done in the overriding national interest,” he said.

Some of the successful companies awarded letters, included: Matrix Energy, AA Rano, Andova Plc, Duport Midstream, Genesis Technical, Twin Summit, Bono Energy, Deep Offshore Integrated, Oodua Oil, MRS and Petrogas.

Others are: North Oils and Gas, Pierport, Metropole, Pioneer Global, Shepherd Hill, Akata, NIPCO, Aida, YY Connect, Accord Oil, Pathway Oil, Tempo Oil and Virgin Forest, among others.

A major issue of concern is the p urp or te d force d marriage of companies. Speaking with Majorwaves on this concern in January, the Managing Director of IESL, Dr Diran Fawibe said that oil and gas is a multi-million dollar investment, and for that reason, companies should not be forced to work together, rather, it should be willingly done by companies who are interested in working together.

Economies of scale, collaboration and joint facility ownership Speaking at the presentation of letters to the winners of the 2020 marginal bid round, Auwalu, said that a total of 591 firms submitted expression of interest forms, out of which 540 were pre-qualified, 44

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Dr. Diran Fawibe

But with increasing oil price volatility and increased pressure for cost reduction, the Nigeria’s oil and gas industry needs to reinvent itself so that it can fully utilize the dividends to set the country on the path to industrialization and prosperity.

Speaking in this regard in his opening remarks at the 2021 Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), now Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES), which held in Abuja, with the theme, “From Crisis to Opportunity: New approaches to the future of hydrocarbons,” the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, called on the leaders in the country’s’s oil and gas industry to embrace the culture of collaboration.

Sylva said, “We need to fully entrench that culture of collaboration by working together, sharing knowledge and expertise, pooling talent and resources amongst teams, industry peers and MDAs at all levels. That is a sure way the industry can decrease waste, improve efficiency and lower its breakeven costs for the industry’s survival and chart its eventual return to sustainable profitability.”

He said that with the recent issuance of licences to successful bidders in 2020 bid round, there is no better time to embrace collaboration than now, adding that the unprecedented crisis caused by Covid-19 pandemic has made collaboration key to achieve success, especially for the new marginal fields.

T h e M i n i s t e r, h o w e v e r, acknowledged that increased competition and low level of trusts put stumbling block to collaboration, but noted that there is no better way to deal with the increased risks and global market instability the industry is facing at this time than through collaboration.

He said, “I know that collaboration has been a buzz word in the oil and gas industry for years but the industry has equally paid lip service to it. With new set of marginal field licenses on the scene, there is no better time to shift the mindset but now. I say this because at this time

COVER STORY of unprecedented crisis occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no better strategy to achieve success for these new marginal fields especially for the cluster of contagious fields.

“I understand that increased competition, low levels of trusts are all barriers to collaboration but at the same time there is no better way to deal with the increased risks and global market instability we face at this time. The industry needs to overcome the strategy of working in silos and embrace collaboration and knowledge sharing.”

Lower cost is critical. This will continue to matter as the world pushes towards greener energy.

The industry needs to drive down cost per barrel before it is exterminated by crisis, falling below production cost – a phenomenon the country experienced at the onset of Covid-19 pandemic. In this regard, collaboration becomes key. Joint facility ownership by field holders should be encouraged, so that they can enjoy economies of scale.

“

“The DPR is not just a regulator, we are an opportunity house.

We drive creativity and transformation and we use these in all of our activities.

This is done in the overriding national interest,” Deliberate mining of gas As at January 1, 2021, Nigeria’s proven natural gas reserve stood at 206.53 trillion cubic feet (tcf), according DPR boss, Auwalu.

Auwalu who disclosed this while speaking at NIPS 2021, said the new figure represents an increase of 3.37tcf, representing 1.66 per cent percentage increase over the 203.16tcf recorded in the corresponding date of January. 1, 2020.

He said: “Nigeria attained the target of 200tcf of natural gas reserves by the Reserve Declaration as at Jan.1, 2019, before the 2020 target “Thereafter, the government set a target to attain a Reserve Position of 2020tcf by 2030.

“As a department, we have continued to drive industry performance to grow reserves via dedicated gas exploration, deep drilling, optimal appraisal, field studies and improved oil recovery.

pipeline points between October 2018 and October 2019.

It goes to prove that above ground cost happens to be the highest in Nigeria, compared to other oil producing countries due to insecurity issues. For instance, from January 2019 to January 2021, repairs of NNPC pipelines and other facilities came at an outlay of about N15 billion. The destruction is largely from vandalism and oil theft.

“It is, therefore, my pleasure to formally declare the National Gas Reserves Position as at Jan. 1, 2021 at this important forum.

Over a third of that amount was expended within two months. May 2021 saw NNPC spend about N3.2 billion on repairs. Prior to that, March 2020 gulped N2.6 billion for the same purpose.

“Nigeria’s Natural Gas Reserves as at Jan. 1, 2021, stands at 206.53tcf.

Associated Gas is 100.73tcf and Non-Associated Gas is 105.80tcf, making a total of 206.53tcf.’’

A gainst this backdrop, new operators would need to manage the host communities in order to have the indigenous youths as first line of defence.

The growth of gas reserves is a critical factor to achieving the Federal Government’s “Decade of Gas” initiative’’, which aims to make the country a gas-powered economy by 2030

Adesanya warned that the new marginal field operators need to be more sensitive to the host community. He urged that due diligence be conducted in getting to know more about the area in which they are to operate in, so as to avoid clashes with the host communities. He said that data from the DPR might be minimal, adding that the new operators need to get all the necessary data from the former operators, so as to develop a good Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) with their host communities.

The current global push towards low carbon energy presents the country with an opportunity to harness its huge gas reserves. Gas will become the dominant fuel for generating power, especially in Africa and Asia, and the country needs to position itself to take advantage of this opportunity.

“

“Nigeria’s Natural Gas Reserves as at Jan. 1, 2021, stands at 206.53tcf. Associated Gas is 100.73tcf and Non-Associated Gas is 105.80tcf, making a total of 206.53tcf.’’

Host communities as defence wall According to Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Monthly Financial Report, the country recorded 2,181 vandalised

Funding options available locally and international Investment in exploration and production of oil and gas is capital intensive, and there are not many financial options for indigenous firms locally. On the international scale, it is a bit difficult to secure credit facility without a big guarantor, like the Federal Government.

While speaking with Majorwaves on the margins of 2019 Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, on the challenges of indigenous E&P companies in this regard, the Head,

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COVER STORY Energy Covering Downstream and International Oil Trading within Corporate Banking Directorate, First Bank of Nigeria, Oluwatoyin Aina said, “Hedging is a major requirement for most Reserve Based Lending financing as it provides a buffer to falling prices. Commercial banks generally are not positioned to take exploration risk due to the nature of our foreign currency capital which isn’t long term.

Our long term financing are usually in local currency. For foreign currencies, banks borrow the funds at an expensive cost and the tenure is usually short.”

S he a dmonished loc al E&P companies in the country to look outside of Nigeria while seeking credit facility to fund their projects, like targeting African Finance Corporation (AFC) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) for fund.

But with the trend in favour of greener energy, access to credit from big lenders has been a big challenge lately.

Many big lenders in Europe and the United States are taking steps to stop funding investment in fossil fuel, while others have announced plans to reduce the environmental impact of their financing activities from engaging with clients in fossil fuel-intensive sectors to lower their carbon footprints or stop financing of certain sectors entirely.

“

“Hedging is a major requirement for most Reserve Based Lending financing as it provides a buffer to falling prices. Commercial banks generally are not positioned to take exploration risk due to the nature of our foreign currency capital which isn’t long term.

In the United States, American Banker reports that the four largest United States banks decreased their fossil fuel financing by a combined

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$44 billion in 2020 from the year before, according to a report from the Rainforest Action Network and five other groups that analyzed bank financing of 2,300 fossil fuel companies worldwide.

However, a report published in the Q1 of this year from a collection of climate organisations titled “Banking on Climate Chaos 2021”, 60 largest commercial and investment banks have collectively financed $3.8 trillion in fossil fuel companies between 2016 and 2020, the five years since the Paris Agreement was signed.

During the period under review, two banks from China led the chart of banks that financed fossil fuel.

Postal Savings Bank of China had the largest percent change in fossil fuel financing — it increased over 1,200 percent from $168 million in 2016 to $2.2 billion in 2020, according to CNBC analysis using data from the Banking on Climate Chaos 2021 report.

“

four largest United States banks decreased their fossil fuel financing by a combined $44 billion in 2020 from the year before, according to a report from the Rainforest Action Network The same analysis showed that China Minsheng Bank had the second highest percentage change in fossil fuel financing from 2016 to 2020 with a 550 percent increase, as its financing went from $1.7 billion to $10.8 billion.

Currently, most of the International Oil Companies are already cutting down investments in oil exploration and production. They are now shifting investments into renewable energy, which means that if the country wants to harness its vast crude oil resource, new funding models need to be adopted going forward.

As part of the solutions to address challenges regarding access to credit facility, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources should partner with the Central Bank of Nigeria to ensure that Nigerian banks begin to engage in long term financing of projects in oil and gas industry. This will help indigenous exploration and production companies not to lose their licences due to their inability to develop their fields.

Also, China looks like the next port of call regarding credit facility, as most of the banks in Europe and the United States are taking drastic measures to stop funding exploration and production of fossil fuel.

Locally, operators could have alternative funding arrangement for operations and drilling campaigns with service companies without upfront cash commitments. This model was deployed by a consortium consisting of indigenous service companies largely under the aegis of Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), when they helped deliver first oil for Waltersmith.

Exit strategy and conclusion As at 2005, the contribution of indigenous oil and gas companies to Nigeria’s oil reserves was less than 10 million barrels. Currently, it has grown significantly to about 62 million barrels in 2020.

Speaking at NIPS 2021, DPR Direc tor, Auwalu, said that indigenous oil and gas companies are now contributing as much as 33 percent to the country’s crude oil reserves and about 30 percent to its gas reserves. This growth, he attributed to current efforts being made on gas exploration in the country, especially the Decade of Gas Initiative.

He said, “Nigeria attained the target of 200tcf of natural gas reserves by the Reserve Declaration as at Jan 1 2019, before the 2020 target.

ACROSS AFRICA

“

four largest United States banks decreased their fossil fuel financing by a combined $44 billion in 2020 from the year before, according to a report from the Rainforest Action Network

“So, the belief is that if we really aim to look for gas dedicatedly, we will find up to 600 trillion cubic meters of gas.”

Thereafter, the government set a target to attain a Reserve Position of 2020tcf by 2030.’’

With the current global push towards energy transition, Nigeria should depend less on the International oil companies to develop its oil and gas resources, but should rather look inward and build the capacity of indigenous companies. This is the opportunity that the award of marginal field licence provides.

According to Auwalu, independent companies are driving value addition to gas. He added that acquisition of divested assets, as well as accelerated appraisal and development efforts, are other driving factors, and that the country is already benefiting from the deliberate national efforts to boost indigenous participation in the sector.

Beyond the present 57 fields, the Federal Government needs to apply some urgency to its exploration campaign in the frontier basins. There should be a deliberate strategy to quickly move in and exploit the reserves through JV, sole risk or other arrangements that will bring in the right partners to develop the fields.

Similarly, while speaking at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum recently, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Sylva said that the present 206tcf of proven gas reserves in the country were accidentally discovered, adding that the country could discover an additional 600 trillion cubic feet reserve to enable it achieve the desired development required of a gas nation.

To harness the country’s huge gas reserves, the Federal Government must continue to create friendly b usin e ss environm ent to encourage indigenous oil and gas companies. Also new funding models need to be developed to provide easy access to credit facility. With these things put in place, the new operators of marginal field will build capacity to drive the country’s oil and gas industry in no distant time.

He said, “We have a lot of gas in this country. We have 206 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

“This number is already discovered in gas reserves and this 206 trillion cubic feet reserve was found while looking for oil, so it was accidentally discovered.

“We were actually going to look for crude oil and we found gas, and in that process of accidentally finding gas, we have found up to 206 tcf.

“

indigenous oil and gas companies are now contributing as much as 33 percent to the country’s crude oil reserves and about 30 percent to its gas reserves.

Dangote Looking to Expand into Oil and Gas in Cameroon

A

liko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, said he plans to diversify his group’s investments in Cameroon, starting with energy.

“We have plans to expand our investment to other sectors beginning with oil and gas,” Dangote told reporters recently after meeting Cameroonian President Paul Biya in the capital, Yaounde. He didn’t provide further details.

The Nigerian billionaire, founder of the multinational industrial conglomerate Dangote Group, also announced his company will double cement production in Cameroon.

Dangote opened a 1.5 million-ton cement grinding facility in the central African nation in March 2015 that ended a 40-year French monopoly in the industry.

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ACROSS AFRICA

South Sudan Launches its First Oil Licensing Round

Nigerian Gov’t Prepares to Construct NigeriaMorocco Gas Pipeline

T

he Nigerian Federal Government prepares to construct the Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline, said the Chief Operating Officer of the gas and power of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engineer Yusuf Usman.

S

outh Sudan’s Ministry of Petro l e um ha s announced the launch of the country’s first oil licensing round.

The Ministry of Petroleum (MoP) has identified new exploration blocks with potential hydrocarbons and has compiled crucial data to provide to interested investors, operators and counterparties.

According to the new analysis commissioned by the Ministry, approx. 90% of South Sudan’s oil and gas reserves remain unexplored, providing unprecedented opportunities to international investors.

This Oil Licensing Round aims to attract interest from a diverse group of foreign investors to a region that is already home to oil and gas majors from China and Malaysia. The country is hoping to welcome back experienced partners and operators following significant progress in returning to peace

and stability.

With the new data, analysis, and government mechanisms, the Ministry seeks to attract highquality investors and partners.

The MoP will use set criteria to facilitate and evaluate interested parties bidding for the available blocks. The available blocks range between 4,000 and 25,000km2, with most comprising between 15,000 and 20,000 km2.

Currently there are three consortia operating producing blocks in South Sudan, with another four oil exploration companies having acquired production sharing contracts.

Potential investors have until 23 August 2021 to request all relevant information from the Ministry of Petroleum by completing the Request for Information Form.

During an exclusive interview recently, Usman recalled that this large-scale project took on concrete form with the signing of an agreement between Nigeria and Morocco during a ceremony chaired by HM King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.

He added that the gas pipeline will take the West African pipeline route and benefits several African countries.

According to him, this gas pipeline “will pick up a lot of African countries. Some of these African countries have gas they will inject into the pipelines while some don’t have but can take the gas for development, if they cannot pay for the gas, they can get electricity.”

“It is this kind of vision that is required to lift Africa from the picture that you saw which is currently in the dark into light. It is a wonderful initiative to do,” he pointed out.

When asked about the time frame of this gas pipeline project, he explained that they “have finished feasibility studies. We are just launching the Final Investment Decision for the project.”

Usman also expressed Nigeria’s readiness to complete the Decade of Gas Master Plan into a viable project.

Launched in 2016 in Abuja under the chairmanship of HM King Mohammed VI and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, this large-scale project will link Nigeria’s gas resources, those of several West African countries and Morocco and will thus promote regional economic integration.

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ENERGY WOMAN

“I Don’t See Any Glass Ceiling. I just believe that, it’s the value you portray that determines your remuneration…”

- Essiet

C

harlotte Essiet is the Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs at AOS Orwell. She is also the Publicity and Business Director, Board of Directors and Board of Trustee member of the Women in Energy Network (WIEN).

Charlotte is a highly motivated and knowledgeable professional with several years of experience, and a successful track record for taking on cross-functional leadership roles in global conglomerates like Baker Hughes, Halliburton in addition to successful indigenous companies.

Her professional experience spans Business Strategy, Project and

Process Management, Supply Chain Management and Business Consultancy and Analysis. Her Problem Solving skills fuel her resultdriven orientation and constant willingness to learn.

well as an Executive Certificate in Leadership, Excellence and Corporate Governance from London School of Economics.

With over 18 years in the Oil and Gas industry, She brings professionalism and extensive experience to the table.

Charlotte has worked on several pipelines in the Niger Delta as an Engineer and sold various solutionoriented offerings in the Industry at large.

She holds a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering, from the Lagos State University, an MBA in Engineering Business Management from Manchester Business School and an Executive Certificate in Strategic Marketing Management from Stanford Business School as

In this interview with Majorwaves Energy Report’s Editor, Margaret Nongo-Okojokwu, she speaks about the trending Energy transition, the role of disruptive technology in business and life, and key issues of national and global importance.

Excerpts.

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ENERGY WOMAN What informed your choice of working in the Oil and Gas Industry?

After my first degree in Mechanical Engineering, I was modelling in South Africa and had just returned. One day, my mom said to me: “You’ve done all the engineering, you’ve done your majors in Power, Electricity, Turbines, just go into the Oil and Gas Industry. You will be taught how to manage your time and be a well-structured person’’. That’s how I found myself here.

A recent report says it will take over 200 years to realise gender equity in terms of workplace remuneration; do you see this glass ceiling as psychological or cultural? How do you handle it?

I don’t see any a glass ceiling. I just believe that it’s the value you portray that determines your remuneration.

It’s either you earn because you deserve it or not. Gender issues exists in terms of positioning to sit at various boards or at leadership levels but for remuneration or wages, I don’t see any.

What’s your take on the Energy Transition?

Energy Transition is a pathway towards transformation of the global energy sector from fossilbased to zero-carbon by the second half of this century. In Africa, we have Oil and Gas in abundance.

I think Energy Transition is what we can embrace for tomorrow especially when we look at the various ESGs (Environmental, Social and Governance) and of course Sustainable Development to give us a safe, reliable and affordable Energy Future alongside the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we have at hand. Energy transition exists, but you need to learn, to master research and development, and position yourself for the near future.

How does this now come in terms of Africa for Energy Poverty?

We need to focus on infrastructure to help us scale up with the rising demands in the continent because the game changers will be power 52

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generation with the growth of renewables and natural gas and perhaps electric vehicles for transportation. In Africa, we are blessed with all the major elements, we should have different agendas for infrastructural development and the most crucial--Research and Development (R&D). Without this, you cannot transform gas, hydrogen, renewable or solar. Investors, Government, Energy Companies etc. should jointly create a playbook that shows immediate, medium and long terms SMART achievable goals on how we can tackle the energy poverty in Africa and I believe in Lighting up Africa. Once we have electricity (power generation) in Africa, half of our problems are gone.

Do you think the narrative for renewables and hydrogen is moving the discussion further away from gas as a transition fuel? How does it sit with you as regards energy poverty in Africa seeing it’s directly related to economic indicators?

Renewables and Hydrogen are obviously under the new Energy today. In the Nigerian economy, Hydrocarbon is a major indicator. We have Gas in abundance. What we need to scale up capacity in our sector is Infrastructure as it is the biggest game changer for Power Generation with the growth of Renewables and Natural gas. Today in the North, with a lot of sunlight, we can scale up our solar capacity.

This focus will deal with a lot of social economic concerns like poverty, lack of infrastructure, clean water etc.

In the country’s South, abundance of Gas and sunlight can both be managed. when the rains are gone, you jump into a ready-made infrastructure for gas and continue with gas and solar because there is plenty sunlight coming in.

“

I don’t see any a glass ceiling. I just believe that it’s the value you portray that determines your remuneration. It’s either you earn because you deserve it or not.

Does AOS Orwell have its own Local Content target? If yes, where is it coming from and what are the future targets?

AOS Orwell is one of the major indigenous companies which takes a lot of strides with our local content target and we have demonstrated that in our various services. We’re first for many things: 1st ICSS assembling shop, 1st Machine Shop, 1st Oilfield Service Company with API & ISO 9001:2008 Certification in Port Harcourt, Nigeria in 1996, 1st Conductor Casing Threading and Welding Shop in Onne, Nigeria, 1st HE/NOV Drilling Jar Service Shop in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 1st Emerson Licensed Process & Automation Training School in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 1st EXIDA Certified Cabinet manufacturing Plant in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 1st to launch Casing Drive Systems in Nigeria, 1st Fisher approved Valve Servicing Center in West Africa. We’ve been able to provide services with a lot of manpower training and all our facilities show for it. Take for example, our ICSS workshop, machine shop, Valves Shop, LVMV workshop, Wells Construction, Drilling, Wireline, Coil Tubing- the entire value chain.

This is what we will continue to do.

The future target is to transit into manufacturing, machine shopping, etc. Don’t forget you will build your future target as you foresee what the industry is going through.

ENERGY WOMAN

“

In Africa, we have Oil and Gas in abundance. I think Energy Transition is what we can embrace for tomorrow especially when we look at the various ESGs (Environmental, Social and Governance) and of course Sustainable Development to give us a safe, reliable and affordable Energy Future alongside the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) we have at hand.

Where is your company when it comes to community content development?

Before Covid-19 and the lockdown, we cleaned up our environment, sponsored children of the Indigenous Communities for University, did a lot of training. We have different projects where we operate in Eket, Ibeno,down to Rebisi / Elekahia; we’ve conducted training in Electricals where we brought the students to the facilities to be trained.

So, in terms of CSR, we continue to do a lot. We are currently in Bonny now for the NLNG Train 1-6 Operations and Maintenance (O&M) project which we won and have started conversing and liaising and doing a lot for the Community. So I think its plug and play- where you live and work is where you chop.

commenced, I lost my Dad, Aunt, and a few good friends. Work wise: Our sector was hit badly. A lot of discounting with Contracts, Travel Restrictions, Motivating, and encouraging colleagues etc. I spent a lot of time listening to webinars on the different Economies, Oil Price analysis from EY, McKinsey etc.

And then we eventually started having in-person meetings. That we are able to come out of all this just taught me that there’s really nothing in this world. We should aspire to do everything we can and be the best that we can be at what we currently do; be it your relationship, be it your career or occupation because COVID-19 just leveled everybody to zero, be you a minister, a janitor, an engineer, or a teacher; it just taught us life!

The key things I learnt: be resilient, be courageous, care for people, “CARE”. We don’t have that again; we have lost that value as a people, and take life one day at a time. Today you might be the Minister or Head of State, tomorrow morning you might be 6 feet below.

Those are the major lessons I learnt from COVID-19.

COVID-19 taught me the vanity of life. Sharing, the key things I learnt include, resilience, courage, care for people and taking life one day at a time.

“

We need to focus on infrastructure to help us scale up with the rising demands in the continent because the game changers will be power generation with the growth of renewables and natural gas and perhaps electric vehicles for transportation.

Parenting is a full time job. For a career woman, how have you managed it thus far? What’s the life hack you deployed?

Parenting is a full time tough job.

Chasing my dreams and aspirations, it’s been a tough job for me so I try to strike a balance. I have support systems around me. And I’m also grateful for technology that makes work easy. My support system consists of my fantastic home manager and my family in short. it’s easier these days because all you need to do is plug. I deploy technology and monitor my son’s progress in and out of school. Parenting is tasking and overwhelming; some days you win, some days you lose. I have also learnt not to be too hard on myself when things go out of plan.

What is the big thing we are expecting from AOS Orwell in the nearest future? (laughs) It’s big, so it’s still cooking and I’m not permitted to say it yet until we clear all contractual conversations. Then, we’d announce fully.

What is the biggest lesson you are taking from Covid-19?

Personally, it was “double bumper” if there’s a word like that. As the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions

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ENERGY WOMAN

“

Investors, Government, Energy Companies etc. should jointly create a playbook that shows immediate, medium and long terms SMART achievable goals on how we can tackle the energy poverty in Africa and I believe in Lighting up Africa.

Once we have electricity (power generation) in Africa, half of our problems are gone.

What’s your thought on Work-Life balance?

This is not as realistic as it sounds. I have meetings weekdays and have to do things over the weekend. Where is the balance? Some Mondays I’m yawning because I haven’t really slept, dealing with stuff at work, and dealing with others at home and with my kind of job, no matter how proactive you try to be, some things will give. I just take one day at a time. I just cover both ends; home, and work and if you call that balance then it is okay.

What do you make of disruptive technologies like Blockchain, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and general digital literacy?

I am 100 percent for Blockchain network updates, there is a difference to duplicated digital ledger of transactions for the Blockchain Wallets and like I did say to you I am technology savvy.

For me, technology is it. I am very much into big data. I think AI is the best thing that has happened and I’m looking forward to the full blown technology stage where all I need to do is click on my phone and organise my house therein. Thanks to technology, everything I need is in my phone; booking tickets, making transfers, etc. This makes life easy, so I’m happy with disruptive technology.

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If you weren’t in Oil and Gas, what would be your profession? Would you do same if money wasn’t a factor?

I would still be possibly working for maybe an FMCG. Or in the hospitality or medical field, even as an engineer because I have learnt different skills.

I am big on corporate governance, frameworks, playbooks as I learned to understand Contracting, Negotiating, Conflict Management etc. One time in my life I learnt to read Contracts, understand the clauses and interpret them effectively. If I took that skill and I ran so far, you could say she’s a lawyer but I’m not one. I just think that you learn skills and develop it to the next level. Money has never been the main factor. Love and passion are. I like interfacing with people, networking, and troubleshooting; either operational troubleshooting or just clarifying different terms and conditions for easy understanding. When the skills and experiences you have acquired is EXPENSIVE and valuable, money comes with it, like in my case.

What’s that passionate pet project you are nursing for the future?

I’m not nursing for the future, I do it every day. I go to different hospitals especially where there are children and try to clear their monthly hospital bills.

Sometimes, for just N20, 000 or N15, 000, the children are kept in hospitals.

I also care for the Eyes by catering for balance of operation costs for children and sometimes, adults. These projects complete me. The joy on the faces of the person(s) that you assisted can’t be traded for anything.

“

We have Gas in abundance. What we need to scale up capacity in our sector is Infrastructure as it is the biggest game changer for Power Generation with the growth of Renewables and Natural gas.

ENERGY WOMAN Who was your role model while growing up?

I had a few, my Aunts, Mom etc. As I grew in my career, I picked and studied Indira Nooyi because she basically came from Asia, entered into the career world in the United States and conquered. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala is Strong, Fierce yet gentle.

Like I always say, where you think is the height for you, that’s your limit.

This, for me, is key.

How tall are you? Kindly narrate a scenario where you leveraged your intimidating height?

I’m 6ft tall without my shoes. I practically wear a lot of high heels and few times you’d see me wear sneakers and flat shoes. I literally don’t intimidate folks with my height, you might feel intimidated but I doubt. In secondary school, I learnt that regardless of how tall I was or I am, I must stand up tall.

So I took that courage, confidence and ran with it. When I stand close to you, you’d say I’m intimidating so I have just learnt to accept and work with everything I have to my advantage. I’m not sure I can come up with a scenario that I leveraged my intimidating height. I get compliments- “oh you’re so tall and you wear high heels” and I just crack up when I hear it.

Lastly, accountability; I have to be accountable for certain things; I should boldly own up to my acts and explain why I felt it was necessary.

“

AOS Orwell is one of the major indigenous companies which takes a lot of strides with our local content target and we have demonstrated that in our various services. We’re first for many things:

What ways do you support gender inclusion?

I deliberately work around this because it’s not about gender inclusion, there must be value. I support gender inclusion by making my team more gender sensitive so

that everybody I work with or has worked with me in the past understands that everyone is equal, every skill is equal. You must be able to assist each other irrespective of gender. Ask what basically is the culture, the value the entire team is bringing. Once you have managed this, you would have dealt with gender inclusion, because you are with people who abide with that organizational culture that you have set aside. There are certain must-have values in my team as this is important for gender inclusion.

When I started with AOS Orwell, I had more guys on board and so I changed the narrative by being an example and started making deliberate effort by training certain females to a certain level so they too can come up as that’s the only way. It is very imperative that we have to do a lot to intentionally support gender inclusion so as not to have a dearth of female executive talents.

Very interesting. What is the guiding philosophy of life that you hold close to your chest?

Live life as it comes. There are a few others I have but COVID-19 humbled us all.

So live life everyday as it comes.

What’s your biggest fear and how have you managed it thus far?

Failure. A few times I have failed and I understood that perhaps that wasn’t my place hence the failure. Failure makes me understand that I have to strive to be better than I was.

Also Excellence. I must be top notch in everything. I’m a perfectionist so excellence just comes right behind.

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ENERGY WOMAN

“ in terms of CSR, we continue to do a lot. We are currently in Bonny now for the NLNG Train 1-6 Operations and Maintenance (O&M) project which we won and have started conversing and liaising and doing a lot for the Community.

What’s the Nigeria of your dreams?

I am one of the major fans of this great country, Nigeria. The Nigeria of my dreams is where we have no concerns whether a woman can lead or head a position in any Sector; where I do not have to lock my doors when I am going to bed, where we have young people who are able and placed in certain positions because they can deliver at work and have leadership skills.

The Nigeria of my dream is a Nigeria where corruption is flagged and not worshiped; where your values tell me who you are and not how much you have; and until we start to understand that actually corruption brings poverty, we are not there yet. I am very enthusiastic that Nigeria will be a different place and a better place tomorrow. Thanks.

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Nigerian Power Distributors Get CBN Loans to Tackle Funding Crisis

T

he Central Bank of Nigeria is now providing loans to electricity distribution companies to cover the collection and operational expenditure shortfalls of the firms and halt the liquidity crisis in the country’s power sector.

The Discos are mainly the revenue collection arm of the sector, as they sell and distribute electricity generated by power generation companies, which is transmitted to the Discos by the Transmission Company of Nigeria.

Since the sector was officially unbundled in November 2013 and the generation and distribution arms privatised, there have been complaints by other players that the Discos remit below 30 per cent to the sector.

This created severe liquidity challenges in the sector, a development that made the Federal Government to pump in over N1.3tn into the sector within a period of four years, despite the privatisation carried out in 2013.

Punch correspondent gathered in Abuja recently that in order to put an end to the liquidity hassles in the sector and ensure that the Discos make the right remittances to the industry, the CBN had to

intervene.

Impeccable industry sources from the Federal Ministry of Power and directors in some Discos told our correspondent that the CBN had been supporting power distributors with loans to cover up their shortfalls and remittances to the industry.

“What the CBN did and is doing is to loan the Discos to pay for any shortfall so that in total, there won’t be any shortfall in the sector,” said an official in the ministry, who pleaded not to be named as he was not authorised to speak on the matter.

The official added, “What this means is this: Let’s say that the NBET (Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading company) invoiced N1bn to a Disco and the Disco was able to collect, let’s say, N800m from customers, you will have a N200m shortfall.

“The loan from CBN also includes coverage for the OPEX (operational expenditure). So, let’s say with the OPEX and collection the bill rises to N1.2bn and the Disco was able to collect say N900m, the shortfall will be N300m.

POWER

“So the CBN is ready to lend the Disco the N300m to make it up to the N1.2bn bill, so that there won’t be any shortfall for anybody. With this loan, the Discos will be able to pay their energy bills and settle other operational costs.”

When contacted and asked if the latest development had made it possible for Discos to settle their obligations to the market by 100 per cent, an official with a power firm in the South-West said, “That is what it is supposed to be.

“But the lapse that is not closed yet, which is the MDAs (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) debt, is still there.”

Asked whether the loans from CBN to Discos were fixed amounts to each Disco, the source said the facility was different for the various power firms depending on their respective shortfalls.

“It is not fixed. It depends on the energy load that is delivered and the shortfall incurred by each Disco,” the source said.

The official added, “The idea is basically to ensure that there won’t be any form of liquidity issue in the sector. And this has been ongoing for almost eight months.”

The official, however, said any time the TCN failed to deliver power to a location as required in the Service Reflective Tariff agreement, the Discos meant to get supply from the TCN would not be able to distribute the required quantum of electricity to the affected areas.

According to the official, there have been complaint s by consumers whenever Discos failed to meet the requirements as agreed in the SRT.

Nigeria Mulls New Law to Unbundle Power Sector

The Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 (EPSRA), introduced privatisation of the power sector may become obsolete by the end of the year as the National Assembly, yesterday, revealed that a new legislation was being planned to unbundle the sector.

Speaking in Abuja at a programme organised by Nigerian Elec tricit y Management Services Agency (NEMSA), principal members of the House of Representatives and the Senate disclosed that the EPSRA has loopholes, which hindered sustainable solution to electricity challenges in the country.

The Guardian reports that the Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Gabriel Suswam told journalists that the bill has already gone through first reading while the second reading may follow in the coming months, adding that the bill would be passed before the end of the year.

Suswam noted that the existing law had served the purpose of reform and was no longer capable of offering the needed solutions and emerging issues in the nation’s power sector.

The Federal Government had in 2013, privatised the electricity sector through the EPSRA. The Government had raised about $2billion from the unbundling of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), creating a number of distribution and generation companies. But the sector has failed to live up to expectations, becoming a burden to taxpayers as most Nigerians are without electricity.

Suswam said an electricity law was supposed to be in place after the sector was decoupled, stressing, “There is no law as it were now that actually governs the electricity sector in the country.”

“So, what we are trying to do is to put up an Act that comprehensively covers the power sector. New issues have arisen from those entities which were taken over by private companies. And so those issues need to be addressed in the Electricity Act.” The lawmaker disclosed that the new legislation is being tailored with regulations in other countries like India, Germany and others with comprehensive legislation, noting that at the moment, there are litigations left to the discretion of the judiciary.

“You also now have the renewable energy sector, which was not covered in what we had in the Reforms Act. All of these

are going to be covered,” Suswam noted.

Minister of State for Power, Goddy JedyAgba, who said there was need to ensure compliance with existing regulations being enforced by NEMSA, noted that the plan by the National Assembly is in line with the plans of the ministry.

According to him, the ministry would be part of the process to ensure that the sector is properly carried along in the process of a new legislation.

Speaking on the need to create awareness on the regulatory roles of NEMSA , Jedy-Agba disclosed that litigations had repeatedly been filed ignorantly by members of the public only to be withdrawn for lack of understanding of the roles of the agency.

Meanwhile, NEMSA , a Federal Government agency saddled with the responsibilities of enforcing technical standards and regulations in the power sector through inspection, testing and certification of electrical equipment and products, said there would be no importation of equipment that violates National Low Voltage regulations.

Managing Director of NEMSA, Peter Ewesor, said: “What we have decided is to enforce what the regulations say and that is ensuring that from now on, you will no longer be allowed to use any equipment running on 415 voltage unless it already exists in the country. We are starting from July.”

He noted that extant regulations stipulates that equipment must run 400 to 230 and not 415 to 240.

Speaking on the new legislation being planned by the lawmakers, Ewesor said the country could not be undergoing reforms forever, stressing that there were areas that must be strengthened, including the NEMSA Act. Ewesor lamented that some electricity deaths being recorded in the country were avoidable if extant regulations could be followed.

Ewesor disclosed that the government would embark on nationwide demolition of buildings sited on the right way of electrical infrastructure, noting that the government has already started disconnecting such buildings from power supply.

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SUSTAINABILITY

Platform Petroleum Targets Zero Gas Flare Status By 2021

By Oluwatoyin Bayagbon

I

ndigenous oil and gas firm, Platform Petroleum Limited, has set a yearend target to achieve zero flare status in its gas operations.

A breakdown of the data obtained from Nigeria’s Gas Flare Tracker, reveals that 452.5 million standard cubic feet (SCF) of natural gas was flared in the country- both onshore and offshorebetween January and December 2020, a significant decrease from an estimated one billion SCF flared two decades ago, in 2002.

The Gas Flare Tracker is an online environmental monitoring tool launched by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) in 2019 to monitor oil spills and track gas flares in the Niger Delta region.

The federal government had last month, announced its plans to grant 45 gas flare licenses to qualified bidders before the end of June under the Nigerian Gas Flare Commercialization Programme (NGFCP).

But speaking with Majorwaves Energy Report during the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit in Abuja, John Anim, Acting Managing Director (MD) of the company, said that deliberate efforts were made to utilize over 80% of the gas produced from its Egbaoma Field, situated in OML 38 (Oil Mining Lease) in the northern onshore Niger Delta.

“The latest achievement or development we have is on the gas flare down project.

We have been able to mobilize gas facilities and by last year November we installed the project that has made it possible for us to eject more than 80% of the gas we are currently flaring into the OB-3 (Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben) gas

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pipeline. So, over 80% of the gas we are producing in the field is completely utilized, thereby driving down our gas flare rates. For the remaining less than 15%, we are putting machinery in place to ensure that by the end of this year, we should be able to achieve zero flare status,” he said.

According to Anim, Platform Petroleum has contributed largely to the supply matrix of Nigeria’s domestic gas market while remaining committed to local content development through Joint Ventures and collaboration with indigenous firms.

“We are using our gas in the field to power facilities, but for the remaining one, we have different offtakers like Power Gas who takes the lean gas, compresses it into bullets (cylindrical storage tanks) and supplies to big companies. Then we also have the remaining one going into the pipeline which is being taken by NGMC (Nigeria Gas Marketing Company) and it goes into sales for the power plant. So, as it is, the gas we are producing from the field is supplying the domestic market,” he continued.

“In 2003, when we successfully got the farm-in agreement with Shell the previous operator, in the course of raising funds to develop the field, we divested 40% percent of the asset to Newcross. That is how they became our Joint Venture (JV) partner. So, we are actually operating this Egbaoma Field as a Joint Venture business. That is two indigenous companies that collaborated to achieve success and we have recorded this success in many ways. For example, if you look back to 2010 when Shell started the divestment of their onshore facility, Platform and Shebah (Shebah Exploration and Production Company

Limited) collaborated, leading to the emergence of Seplat (Seplat Petroleum Development Company), which is one of the big independents today. That is how Platform, like the name implies, is a springboard for many other companies and we look forward to having many other big companies emerging from Platform.”

The Platform Petroleum acting MD said the company is primed to take advantage of Nigeria’s “decade of gas” and is building capacity in that regard.

“Before now, we were targeting and harnessing the oil reservoirs. But with our capacity now to convert the gas we are producing to revenue, instead of flaring, the focus on the company now is to tap into all the gas resources and reserves and transform it into wealth,” he said.

“One of the strategies of the company is to look into assets that have gas and see how we can harness them, direct them into that field, because that area around Ukwuani local government- between Umutu and Abraka- is beginning to turn into a gas hub, with different companies coming up.

“It is the presence of Platform, trying to develop that field, that has led to the emergence of that place as a gas hub.

Paying a visit to that place, you will see what indigenous companies have done.

Egbaoma Gas is one of the vehicles for the gas utilization project.”

Platform Petroleum is a marginal oil field company that commenced operations in 2001 and was eventually assigned the Egbaoma field in 2003/2004 after a successful bid round by the federal government.

SHELL PHOTOSTORY

L-R: Bonga Asset Manager, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), Elohor Aiboni; Public Affairs Manager, National Petroleum Investment Management Services, Aliyu Ja’afaru; Comptroller General, Nigerian Immigration Service, Mohammed Babandede; and Vice President Human Recourses, Shell Nigeria, Kayode Ogunleye; at the handover of the NNPC/SNEPCo-sponsored ultra-modern lounge for passport services at the Nigeria Immigration Service Passport Office, Ikoyi Lagos… on Wednesday.

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SUSTAINABILITY

Between the Battery Challenge, Sustainable Cobalt Mining and Africa’s Energy Deficiency Jerome Onoja & Monday Edet

A

s the transition from fossil fuels to green energy gains speed, one of the biggest hurdles standing in the way of adoption of energyefficient devices on an industrial level is the battery problem. Beyond the battery problem, the massive investments required to offset energy poverty especially in Africa and other developing countries and/or replace ongoing fossil fuelbased energy with green energy may not come overnight. Batteries make many of our past and current technologies work, but they are not yet advanced enough to store the large amounts of energy generated by a large scale wind or solar farm or required to power a plane traveling across the continent. This means that while small devices like laptops and even cars might run on lithiumion battery, heavy duty vehicles must still rely on other forms of energy such as fossil fuels.

But that is changing. Given the importance of finding a cheap, reliable and effective alternative to carbon-based fuels in the next few years, progress is indeed being made, with many potential solutions in the works - some of which may be

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implemented in various applications and devices in a few years to come.

In the world of lithium-ion batteries, MIT Scientist, Yet-Ming Chiang’s recent breakthroughs, for instance, will allow battery manufacturing costs to be cut in half. Lithium-ion is not the only battery on the horizon.

Yet-Ming Chiang and his team have created another potential solution to the world’s battery problem: an air-breathing battery that may be able to store renewable energy for a fifth of the cost of current cost.

Researchers at Stanford, also in the US, are working on a waterbased battery that uses reverse electron exchange between water and manganese salt, which might be able to store solar or windgenerated energy cheaply and efficiently, with a potential lifespan of more than a decade.

produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal. Cobalt is primarily used in lithium-ion batteries, and in the manufacture of magnetic, wearresistant and high-strength alloys.

Cobalt is an essential component in making batteries. It is a byproduct of copper and nickel mining. As a chemical element, it has the symbol Co and atomic number 27.

Like nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth’s crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element,

Around one-fifth of cobalt mined in the DRC comes from small scale artisanal mines. People, including children as young as 7 years old work in hazardous conditions without protection from dermatitis or breathing cobalt-laden dust that is associated with potentially fatal lung disease.

Some 60% of the world’s cobalt supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where nearly three-quarters of citizens live in extreme poverty, and a 2017 USGS report described as having a high-risk for doing business and a substantial risk of civil war. Most cobalt extraction in the DRC takes place in larger industrial mines but these come with their own issues such as pollution. A bit of good news is that both cobalt and lithium are recyclable, although almost no lithium-ion battery recycling currently takes place.

SUSTAINABILITY Miners work in unsafe tunnels that are liable to collapse and bury them, all in settings that are prone to violence and sexual exploitation.

Mark Dummett of Amnesty International has hinted that there is a whole range of human rights violations connected to cobalt mining in the DRC, generally stemming from the fact that it is a very poorly regulated activity by the Congolese Government.

Present African investments across the 54 countries are not enough to just transition from carbon-based energy renewables. A lot of the funds bankrolling infrastructure in Africa are coming from the West and China. A better way of improving poverty energy in Africa in the current and foreseeable future might be a blending of fossiland green-based energy. It has to be a gradual process.

People die for this mineral.

Children suffer for it. Livelihoods, educations, neighborhoods, environments and personal safety are sacrificed for it. That is because cobalt is hot property.

It is used in medicine for imaging, cancer radiotherapy and sterilizing medical equipment. The metal has important other uses in electronics and in the super-alloys used in jet turbines. It is in the rechargeable batteries in smartphones and laptops. And it is a component of the lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles and store energy from solar, wind and other renewable sources, giving it an essential role in the transition from fossil fuels to green energy.

As interest in cobalt grows, so has interest in ensuring that it is ethically produced, minimizing harm to the people who mine it and the environment from which it is removed. The project “Cobalt for Development” aims at sustainably improving artisanal mining working conditions as well as living conditions for surrounding communities in DR Congo. In cooperation with the local mining cooperatives, government authorities and civil society organizations, the project intends to strengthen legal compliance, improve health and safety conditions, environmental management as well as economic and social well-being.

A June 2018 McKinsey & Company report indicates that the underlying driver of both lithium and cobalt demand is the electric vehicle revolution which is gathering pace. The same report forecasts that global demand for cobalt will increase 60% above 2017 levels by 2025, with batteries projected to make up more than half of that use.

Also, a new report by the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) in Germany suggests that worldwide supplies of lithium and cobalt will become critical by 2050; the situation for cobalt appears to be especially dire; and the cobalt demand for batteries might be twice as high as today’s identified reserves.

In January 2019, the companies BASF, BMW, Samsung Electronics and Samsung SDI commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to implement this cross-industry initiative and in 2020, Volkswagen joined the project. Project “Cobalt for Development” seeks to pilot an approach to address challenges in artisanal mining. As it is limited to pilot mines and surrounding communities, it seeks to contribute to identifying workable solutions that lead to better working conditions at the mine site. If proven effective, these measures could then be scaled up to other legal artisanal mine sites and enhance systemic challenges in the longer run.

In as much as there seem to be recognition of the need for sustainability, in the effort to offset energy poverty for the 1.2 billion people in Africa, it does not look like prioritizing the future over the present is the way to go.

Considerable amount of investment is required for the transition.

cooperatives will participate from the beginning in developing and implementing these measures to strengthen local ownership and sustainability of the approach.

In the nearby communities, the focus will be to improve access to education, as well as financial literacy and alternative incomes for its residents. The progress of “Cobalt for Development” is regularly evaluated to continuously improve the project approach. The lessons learnt could then form the basis if project measures are extended to other mine sites.

“Cobalt for D evelop m ent ” initiative sounds good, but there seems to be a loop hole. There is no independent third party that measures progress of the initiative.

It may not be reliable to bank on a process that is conducted and governed by the self-same party.

An independent third party would balance the efforts and also speak for the public. That balancing structure remains to be built into the “Cobalt for Development” model.

While the race to renewable energy progresses and the issues of battery storage, sustainable cobalt mining and energy poverty in Africa and the developing world remain unsolved, we are still going to see a blending of fossil fuels and renewable energy. This scenario lays credence to the prediction of OPEC that among the fossil fuels, oil and gas in particular will continue to play leading roles in meeting world energy demand.

The pilot project will focus on analyzing occupational and environmental risks to develop and implement responsible mining practices. Local partners such as the artisanal mining

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SUSTAINABILITY

Schneider Electric, Bantog to co-exhibit Nigerian-made, smart switchgear panels, others to oil sector

By Daniel Terungwa

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eaders of digital transformation, energ y management and automation, Schneider Electric, has entered a partnership with Bantog Engineering to exhibit its newly launched locally manufactured IECStandard Switchgears and other electrical solutions at the Nigerian Oil and Gas (NOG) Conference and Exhibition slated for July 2021 in Abuja.

The Head of Building Business Unit, Schneider Electric, Mr Mojola Ola, who disclosed this in a press release noted that the partnership with Bantog has lasted more than four years. He also stated that the collaboration between Schneider Electric and Bantog for joint exhibition at NOG was targeted at showcasing locally manufactured, smart and innovative electrical solutions with features that can be easily integrated into installations and platforms of oil and gas companies using the cloud.

In recent times, Nigerian companies have shown an improvement in capacity to design, assemble and completely manufacture essential components being used in various industries, the oil and gas inclusive.

Not resting on its oars, the umpire body for Nigerian Content development, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB has set a 10 year target of achieving 70 per cent local content.

Policies and enablers are being put in place to encourage and see Nigerian companies manufacture products

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locally, and that such manufacturers are patronized - consistent with several Executive Orders by the Presidency.

Among the locally-manufactured products to be showcased at the apex oil and gas conference is the Prisma Smart Panel which has a capacity of up to 4000 amps and 415 volts and the ability to synchronize with other equipment as it connects to the cloud. The smart panel contributes to optimum safety of persons as well as to high reliability and continuity of service of the electrical installation.

Prima Smart Panel conforms with IEC 61439-1 & 2 standards. The device can be used for all types of low voltage electrical switchboards and it integrates seamlessly with other smart devices, including Schneider Electric offerings with electrical, mechanical and communication features.

According to Mr Ola, “Schneider Electric, in fulfilling its commitment towards growing indigenous companies and enshrining local content policies in Nigeria, partnered with Bantog Engineering, which is certified as a Prisma Partner Panel Builder for Schneider Electric to build panels with up to 600A and tested to 1000V insulation level at 415V rated voltage. “ T h e se e quip m ent w hich are manufactured to schneider Electric’s raphsody playbook processes also have the technical expertise of well trained engineers to provide technical services.

Gone are those days when entire panels are imported. Whenever there was a fault, expatriates would be flown in and downtime was a regular occurrence.

“Today, our well trained engineers and system integrators are up to the task. That reduces the pressure on the nation’s hard-earned foreign reserves” Reacting to this, CEO of Bantog Engineering Services Ltd, Mr Olusegun Adebanjo commended Schneider Electric for its unwavering support to indigenous companies and by extension the growth of the Nigerian power sector through similar partnerships.

He stated that Prima Smart Panel was built with the intent to solve power challenges peculiar with the oil and gas industry.

“Schneider Electric and Bantog Engineering have applied Shell standards in the manufacture of its low-voltage switchgears and they are built to to serve the oil industry. They also have features which help them function as prompt and smart circuit breakers,” Adebanjo stated.

Bantog Engineering is known for expertise in power and control engineering. The company builds various low and medium voltage panels that meet international standards with offerings of electrical and engineering services across West African countries, such as Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Local Content: Servon Banks on its Experience, Assures New Marginal Field Operators of a Dependable Local Partner

Coleman’s High Voltage Cables

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atrick Nnamdi Okoluko is the Managing Director, Servon Nigeria Limited.

Servon is an engineering firm that is into facility maintenance, hydraulics, lifting equipment and NDT (Non-Destructive Testing).

In this interview with Majorwaves, he discusses how the over 20 years experience of Servon in the Nigerian oil and gas industry makes it a dependable local partner to the newly marginal field operators; he also took us through the journey of how his company responded to the impact of Covid-19 and crude price decline; how the Department of Petroleum Resources’ (DPR) revised guidelines for lifting equipment has improved safety guidelines in lifting operation in the oil and gas industry; and more. Excerpts.

About 161 indigenous oil and gas companies were recently shortlisted as winners of the 2020 marginal field bid round. How does

Servon Nigeria Limited hope to take advantage of this in terms of collaboration and strategic partnerships?

Sevron Nigerian limited has had over 20 years working with major IOC’S in Nigeria on various projects, especially in production operation and assets integrity maintenance departments which are critical areas of operation of the IOC’s. We have over the years gained a lot of experience in managing production assets which grantees the flow of crude oil. This experience we have gained, I believe will be very vital to the new players in the recently awarded marginal field operators because they are assured of dependable local partner with a vast experience in managing and maintaining their newly acquired asset that are at different level of production life. We also like Bosch Rexroth of Germany, Nuova Smiat of Italy, Misia of Italy and street crane of UK just to list a few with

us. You have all these OEM at your service with Over 300 products.

Will this boost local capacity and if yes, how?

With the number of new fields coming up it will require manpower which we will generate locally, truly our new in-house training programs supported remotely with our technical partners this will greatly boost local capacity.

Oilfield servicing companies were among the worst hit as a result of the twin shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic and oil price decline which led most oil exploration companies (including those in Nigeria) to cut down production -a development that led to reduction in rates and even lower demand for the services of oilfield companies.

Did this adverse period affect your business? How did you remained resilient and ensured business continuity?

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COMPANY SPOTLIGHT The pandemic was and is still a challenge to both oil exploration and oilfield servicing companies.

As an oilfield servicing company, we had to be innovative with the way we do business we invested more in deploring IT solutions and reduce our office foot print which translated to cost savings per person per square meter.

With our investment in IT system we were able to revamp two 25 tons offshore pedestal cranes for NPDC at Agbara offshore platform with Bosch Rexroth supporting our local technician remotely from south African. A huge saving was made on expatriate cost (travel, boarding, security and personnel charge) and it also increased our technical ability in installing those OEM parts independently in the future.

In August 2020, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) issued revised guidelines for lifting equipment and lifting operations in the sector, in order to establish uniform requirements for lifting in

SERVON AT NIPS 2021

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the sector. How has this helped the sector? Do you think compliance levels are high considering the precision, technical expertise and safety standards that should characterize the oil and gas industry?

The revised guidelines are a welcome development and long overdue and it has greatly improved safety guidelines in lifting operation in this sector. If these guidelines are fully implemented by DPR, it will greatly improve the safety of personnel and equipment. Presently compliance level is still low because we see a lot service company been invited for bids in this very specialize area that are not qualified to participate especially in the area of lifting equipment maintenance. I believe DPR should be more involved in the maintenance and re-certification in lifting equipment just like they are involved in PSV’s, tanks, vessels and NDT activities. This will ensure that all parties comply to international standards.

Do you think we are out of the 2020 debacle with Covid-19?

We have to learn to live with COVID. COVID is here and it will take a while. We are not going to flick a switch and it’s gone. We’ve learns to live with Covid and we have also deployed technology to keep the business alive during he pandemic.

In particular terms, how have you incorporated this new normal in your business to take care of Covid-19 and similar disruptions in business in future?

Most of our transactions, our documents, are cloud based. Our meetings are done online. We have actually learned to live with the challenges and incorporate remote working into our operations even while also working from the office.

Its 50-50 and we still get things done.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT Has this changed client relationship and operations in the field?

Field operations no. Office relationships, yes, because we are now mainly on Zoom. We now use more social media to communicate.

During Covid-19 travel restrictions, experts from other countries could not come to the country. How did you cope?

We revamped a crane for NPDC during the COVID period. Initially Bosch was to be on board, but because of the COVID travel restrictions, we had to use our local engineers and we had to have online training with them. We were able to install and commission that crane.

SERVON AT NIPS 2021

What do you think should be the policy thrust of the federal government considering the shift or focus on gas-based industrialization?

In other words, tell us one thing the federal government should focus on which will have a positive multiplier effect on the oil and gas industry.

I do not believe there is a single thing the Federal Government should do, but rather there are few things that should be done. The oil and gas exploration companies should make gas available to the domestic market off takers at local currency. The oil and gas exploration companies should make gas available to medium and small players, give tax incentives, and support bankability of gas domestic gas projects.

SERVON TOOLS AND EQUIPMENTS

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SERVON TOOLS

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gas development:

chevron's success story is

nigeria's success story...

Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL), has an aggressive gas development strategy that aims to end routine gas flaring and build a profitable gas business through a portfolio of domestic, regional and export supply projects that fulfill the NNPC/CNL Joint Venture Domestic Gas Supply Obligation and support the Nigerian Gas Master Plan We have been the highest supplier of high quality domestic gas in Nigeria since 2015 and will continue to explore opportunities to maintain this position. We have since 2008 also reduced continuous gas flaring in our operations in Nigeria by over 90%.

We led the development of the West African Gas Pipeline project through which Nigeria supplies gas to Benin Republic, Togo, and Ghana.

All these are proofs that …in the area of natural gas development, Chevron's success story is Nigeria's success story

CHEVRON, the CHEVRON Hallmark and HUMAN ENERGY are registered trademarks of Chevron Intellectual Property LLC. © 2018 Chevron U.S.A. Inc. All rights reserved

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