Energy Briefs
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THE federal government has said that Nigeria is the only country in the world with the highest number of breaks and vandalism of key petroleum products pipelines. Chinedu Nebo, minister of power, said, currently, no country in the world records the number of petroleum pipeline breaks like Nigeria. At the unveiling of 25 kilowatts hybrid renewable plant constructed by the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, NAPTIN, in Kainji, Niger State, the minister said there is no other country in the world where gas pipelines were destroyed other than in Nigeria. “We have never seen a set of people that can be as wicked to themselves as we have in some Nigerians who are bent on perpetrating their wicked acts on our gas pipelines,” he said.
The minister noted at the launch of an interactive customer framework to improve service delivery to electricity that the menace of pipeline vandalism was taking a great toll on electricity generation in the country. Nebo said the country records only about four days of gas flow in a week before vandals attacked the pipelines conveying gas to power plants.
“For instance, as we speak, we have only four days that are vandals free. We have 53 days of vandalism. We have only had four days of free flow of gas without vandalism. That tells you how horrible the situation with vandalism is. Vandalism is affecting our capacity to generate electricity. We are hoping that in the next two weeks, with the other pipelines that are being repaired and the ones that are being serviced are put in use, we will have been back to, an even beyond where we are.
“When you are talking about thousands of kilometres on one stretch, to police this is not easy, because when these things were instituted or installed, nobody thought that Nigerians would hate themselves enough to directly vandalise the pipelines. What we are now trying to do using the various security agencies, especially the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Navy, Army, Police, and so on, is to make sure that these places are garrisoned. But this will not stop the problem.
“The most critical is what Mr. President is trying to do now, deploy resources to digitally survey the pipelines. It is very expensive. But we have to do that. Until that happens, we still have to worry about vandalism. But again, it is teaching us that we can’t just depend on gas. We have to do coal to power. We are already doing that. We have to do solar. Some licenses have been issued. We are doing more of the small to medium hydros as well. So, diversification of the energy mix is what would help us to surmount this.”
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Canadian Overseas Petroleum Partners Shoreline Energy
CANADIAN Overseas Petroleum Limited, COPL, has unveiled details of the joint venture partnership it entered into with Shoreline Energy International Limited. In a statement, COPL said that the partnership with Shoreline was focused on acquiring upstream oil and gas exploration, development and producing assets in sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the Canadian firm, the assets acquired through the joint venture will be held in a special purpose vehicle registered in Bermuda, called Shoreline CanOverseas Petroleum Development Corporation Limited (ShoreCan or the JV), with COPL and Shoreline holding a 50 percent interest in ShoreCan. “ShoreCan is currently building a portfolio of exploration and development assets in sub-Saharan Africa. To date, ShoreCan has taken positions in Tanzania and Namibia, and continues to evaluate a variety of assets in Nigeria, Ghana, and Mozambique. Shoreline’s interest in OML 30 in Nigeria and COPL’s interest in LB-13 in Liberia are outside of the joint venture relationship,” said the statement.
Speaking on the joint venture, Kola Karim, group managing director, Shoreline Energy International Limited, said it was his belief that the technical expertise of the Canadian firm would complement his company’s experience in Nigeria. “I believe that the technical expertise of the COPL team will complement our own experience in Nigeria and we look forward to working with a management team motivated by the opportunity that exists in Sub-Saharan Africa for exploration, development and quality production. Our objective is to grow our oil and gas interests in the region beyond our current production base in Nigeria,” he said.
In his response on the partnership, Arthur Millholland, chief executive officer, Canadian company, said as an indigenous company with a strong regional presence and an excellent track record of successfully developing assets, his company was delighted to partner with Shoreline Energy as they work together to identify high quality oil exploration, development and production opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa.
“The JV with Shoreline and formation of ShoreCan allows COPL to progress its stated strategy, offering exposure to a greater spread of highly value accretive assets and opportunities, while minimising risk and capital requirements for shareholders. The acquisition of the initial assets in Tanzania and Namibia by ShoreCan is the first of a number of opportunities we are currently pursuing as we build a balanced portfolio. ShoreCan does not envisage any requirement for material capital expenditure on these assets in the short term, with ShoreCan’s primary focus being to add cash generative assets. Finally, COPL is pleased to note the recent improvement of conditions in Liberia. Whilst we are working with our partners to restart operations, we are at an early stage, with international advisory notices remaining on travel and work in country,” he said.
— Mar. 16, 2015 @ 01:00 GMT
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Tags: Army Arthur Millholland Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited Chinedu Nebo COPL Electricity Generation Gas Pipelines NAPTIN National Power Training Institute of Nigeria Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps pipeline vandalism police ShoreCan Kola Karim Shoreline CanOverseas Petroleum Development Corporation Limited Shoreline Energy International Limited the Navy
