Energy Briefs
–
THE Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas, NUPENG, has warned that the federal government should not unbundle the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, before the passage into law of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB. Igwe Achese, president, NUPENG, who was reacting to reports that the government was planning to unbundle the firm before the passage of the PIB, advised it not to, in any form balkanise the NNPC.
He, however, urged the government to expedite action on the passage of the Bill at the National Assembly. The NUPENG boss, who spoke at a press briefing after the union’s National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting in Abuja, added that when the PIB becomes law, “we will sit down to discuss the next line of action, the balkanisation and business model for the NNPC, that is the position of NUPENG.”
Achese also recalled that oil workers had reached an agreement with the federal government on the conditions to meet before the privatisation of the four refineries. He said the government was yet to meet the conditions. Among the conditions, he said was that the refineries’ Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, must be carried out, the pipelines must be secured, the existing depots of NNPC should be made to work effectively.
“The government must also make sure that new refineries are built in this country. If you don’t meet these demands in making sure that these refineries are being rehabilitated, and also working optimally as expected, we will not allow government to sell our refineries for peanuts,” he said.
On the strike ultimatum given by the union, he said the workers had suspended it pending the outcome of the findings of the investigating team drawn from the State Security Services, SSS, the federal ministries of justice and labour as well as the National Judicial Council, NJC, which is investigating the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, crisis.
The team, according to him, would present its report on June 26, while the union would take its decision on the matter at its June 30th meeting. “So far, in the course of our meeting, an agreement was reached and a team was constituted -the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Justice, the NJC, are being mandated to meet with the Directorate of the State Security Service, to investigate these allegations of NUPENG, in the cause of the lingering crisis and to proffer a solution to them.” He added that NUPENG did not issue the ultimatum to inflict pains on Nigerians but to pursue the issue of the union’s collective agreement that was signed with IPMAN in 2009.
GE Unveils Distributed Power Solutions
ABOUT 60 percent of Nigerians or 80 million of the country’s population are not connected to the national grid. Consequently, they lack access to electricity. Speaking Monday, June 16, in Lagos when General Electric Power and Water unveiled its distributed power solutions for Africa, Chinedu Nebo, minister of power, stated that those who lack access to electricity in Nigeria do not constitute just 50 percent of the population as erroneously believed.
“The question now is how do we quickly reach these communities, these homes, schools, hospitals, markets, and farms? There’s no faster way to bring electricity to these communities, scattered all over the country, other than through distributed power,” he said.
Nebo further stated that he was impressed with GE’s involvement in the search for solutions to Nigeria’s power challenges. The minister noted that one critical thing about distributed power is its ability to cater for specific needs where it is needed most.
He said that he was excited because of GE partnership with the government of Nigeria in providing affordable power solutions to the people. “I am more elated because GE chose Nigeria as the springboard for its distributed power generation to power African communities. I congratulate GE for not only bringing it in big parcels like as much as 100 megawatts, but of also bringing in smaller packages for as low as 10 kilowatts. This is the fastest way to get power generation for Africa.”
Also speaking at the event, Lorraine Bolsinger, president and chief executive officer, GE’s Distributed Power, said the company formally introduced its new distributed power business for Africa to build on the company’s corporate commitment to help address the continent’s need for more reliable, local energy supplies that could promote greater economic development and security in urban and rural areas.
She said the Distributed Power business focused on power generation at or near the point of use, on or off the grid. “In areas of Africa where traditional grid service is poor or does not exist, we are seeing more customers seeking to install distributed power technologies that can help ensure that homes and businesses have more reliable supplies of electricity. GE’s Distributed Power is committed to helping customers throughout Africa use more of their own domestic energy resources which, in turn, enhances the economic security of the region for future generations,” she said.
NNPC Increases Gas Production and Supply
IN spite of the fact that the federal government has developed a good framework for domestic gas supply, Andrew Yakubu, group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, says we are not yet there. “We have a good framework now than what we had before. Are we there yet? No, we are not there yet. We are working with the relevant agencies to ensure that the right environment is there,” he said.
The NNPC boss, who identified lack of commercial framework as a major challenge in the effort to push domestic gas supply in the country, stated that power sector operators have continually complained of gas shortages to feed their plants. “Gas investment is capital intensive. Commercial framework has been put in place and gas price is one major factor in the process today, because gas investment is demand-driven. Recall that power operators continually complain of gas shortages to feed their plants, thereby resulting in the very poor electricity supply that Nigerians have faced in the recent time.”
Yakubu maintained that gas production has been on the rise in the last three years despite the challenges faced in the sector, as he disclosed that as at present, the NNPC has become the largest gas supplier in the country. According to him, plans are afoot to jerk up NNPC’s output by 250 million standard cubic feet before the end of this year. “Today, NNPC is the largest producer of gas for domestic use. We produce over 400 million standard cubic feet, and as we speak, plans are underway to jerk it up by 250 million cubic feet by the end of the year.”
Compiled by Anayo Ezugwu
— Jun. 30, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
Tags:
