Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, says the federal government is working to make fuel available at N97 per litre, using the compressed natural gas (CNG) as an option to premium motor spirit (PMS).

CNG is a fuel that can be used in place of gasoline, diesel fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). It is used in traditional gasoline/internal combustion engine automobiles or specifically manufactured vehicles.

Fielding questions from reporters at his office in Abuja on Thursday, the minister said the common man would not notice that subsidy on PMS has been removed when they have CNG as an option.

“If we are thinking of reducing pump price for fuel? I could easily say yes and I’m sure all of you wonder why I am saying that,” he said.

“We are thinking of giving the masses an alternative. Today we are all hooked on PMS, what we want to do going forward is to see that we are able to move the masses to CNG gas.

“CNG unit for unit costs less than even the subsidised PMS. Per litre the subsidised rate of PMS is N145/l. CNG will cost N95 to N97/l that is why I could say we want to reduce the cost of fuel, that way when we are given an alternative Nigerians will not notice when the subsidy on PMS is removed.”

The minister said he is hoping that the petroleum industry bill (PIB) will be passed by the national assembly before May.

According to him, the PIB “has taken us back for too long.”

“We are very ambitious about the PIB and we are hoping that it will pass before May this year which is the first anniversary of this administration and second tenure of this government,” he said.

“We are counting on the excellent relationship between the executive and the legislature but I must say that it is a hope and that is why I am mobilising the support of all of you. We are also mobilising the support of the national assembly and everybody else in the industry.

“Let us build a consensus around the PIB because the PIB has taken us back for too long, it has held us down for too long and we need to get it passed quickly. It is taking us a while to tidy up because we want to take every interest on board.”

Crude oil prices spiked by 4% on Friday upon news that a top Iranian general was killed in an airstrike by the United States military. 

Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for crude oil, stood at $69.01 per barrel, an increase of 4.17%.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also stood at $63.34 per barrel, a 4% increase.

The Pentagon said the attack was carried out on the order of President Donald Trump to deter “future Iranian attack plans”.

It added that Soleimani was killed because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region”.

The airstrike comes days after an Iran-backed militia and its supporters breached the US embassy in Baghdad.

Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) confirmed that Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy head of the force, was also among those “martyred by an American strike”.

In September, oil prices increased by 14% after coordinated attacks were carried out on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities which cut off 5% of global oil supplies.

Working in Nigeria’s good

Although world leaders are holding their breath awaiting Iran’s next action, the situation is working in favour of oil producing nations like Nigeria.

Already, Brent crude price is $9 above Nigeria’s crude oil budget benchmark.

A reprisal attack by Iran could send oil prices as high as $100 as global crude supply could be threatened.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it supplied 1.16 billion litres of petrol in October translating to 37.30 million litres per day.

This figure represents a drop of 570 million litres from the 1.76 billion litres at 55.74 million litres per day distributed in July 2019.

The corporation said it recorded a trading surplus of N13.23 billion in October 2019, a 54% increase from the N8.59 billion posted in September.

In a statement signed by Samson Makoji, acting general manager for the public affairs division, said there were 35 vandalised pipeline points in the month under review compared to 186 vandalised points in September.

“Out of the vandalized points, eight failed to be welded, while only one pipeline was ruptured, with Ibadan-Ilorin axis accounting for 34% of the breaks, while ATC-Mosimi and other routes accounted for 23% and 43% respectively,” the statement read.

“To underline the increasing fortunes of the corporation in recent times, the September 2019 trading surplus of ₦8.59billion, in turn, indicated a significant increase of 65% compared to the ₦5.20 billion surplus posted in August 2019, even as that beat the ₦4.26billion surplus posted in July 2019, reflecting an increase of 22%.”

According to the 51st edition of the monthly financial and operations report, the total crude oil and gas export was worth $483.25 million in October 2019.

A breakdown showed that crude oil export sales contributed $396.94million (82.14 per cent) of the dollar transactions while export gas sales for the month amounted to $86.32 million.

Crude oil and gas worth the October 2018 to October 2019 crude oil and Gas transactions indicated that crude oil & gas worth $5.49 billion was exported.

In November, the federal government, through the Nigeria Customs Service, directed that petroleum products should not be supplied to fuel stations within 20km of the borders.

The action, which is ongoing, is being carried out under the Operation Swift Response which is supervising the land border closure to check smuggling activities.

Shareholders of Nigeria LNG Limited and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have announced the final investment decision (FID) on building a seventh train (production line) in the Bonny LNG plant.

The shareholders of the Nigeria LNG Limited include the NNPC, which holds 49% shares on behalf of the federal government; Shell Gas B.V (SGBV) holds 25.6%; Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France, 15% stake; and Eni International (N.A) N.V.S.a.r.l, with 10.4% stake.

The Train 7 project will complement the existing six-trains and raise Nigeria’s total production capacity from the current 22 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to 30 million tonnes per annum.

The project, which was first initiated in 2007, is estimated to generate 12,000 jobs as a result of local involvement in construction, production of cables, welding, valves, scaffolding, furniture, painting and medical.

NLNG currently has six trains capable of producing 22 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG, and five MTPA of natural gas liquids (NGLs), otherwise known as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or cooking gas, and condensate – from 3.5 billion standard cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas intake.

In March, the federal government and the shareholders had signed the Nigerian Content Plan (NCP) worth $1 billion to facilitate the actualisation of the project.

Speaking at the event on Friday, Mele Kyari, NNPC’s group managing director said the FID ceremony signifies a further demonstration of the restored and growing confidence of international oil companies of global repute in Nigeria’s petroleum space.

“Clearly, this is the result of the strong and focused leadership of His Excellency President Buhari toward the deepening and expansion of oil and gas revenues needed for national development and growth.

“For us in NNPC, today’s FID is the modest result of our focus and consistent commitment toward ensuring that we deliver on our promise to Nigerians as articulated in our TAPE Agenda of enhanced transparency and Accountability, as well as performance excellence.”

He said Nigerians should continue to expect more of ‘value-adding decisions’ from the NNPC, adding that “just last week we signed the agreement with Chevron on long dispute on EGTL in order to pave ways for further investment which we lead to increase in-country gas monetization, and just a week earlier we signed the FEED contract with Seplat on condensate refineries aimed at making Nigeria self-sufficient in gasoline and other white petroleum products productions”.

Tony Attah, the managing director of NLNG Limited, said the project will help reduce restiveness in the Niger-Delta region by providing jobs, calling for more projects in Nigeria to change the socio-economic narrative in the country.

Ibrahim Ciroma, Adamawa state operations controller of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), says the number of trucks entering Adamawa on a daily basis has reduced from 100 to between 30 and 40. 

Ciroma said this while on an inspection tour of villages in Bele, Maiha local government area and Gurin in Fufore local government area of the state. 

He said closure had ended fuel racketeering across the border and along the Adamawa borderline.

“Prior to this closure, the number of trucks we received in Adamawa was up to 100 trucks per day but today it has dropped to between 30 and 40 trucks. So, it’s a clear indication that fuel is not finding its way out of the country,” he said. 

Ciroma said the drop in supply and availability of fuel in the state is a confirmation “that 70 percent of the products lifted by some marketers were smuggled out of the country.

“I want the people of Adamawa to be rest assured that there will be no scarcity. We have substantial quantity at the Yola depot and all filling stations are selling except those in prohibited zones.”

The federal government had closed the land borders in August to check smuggling.

In November, the government also directed that petroleum products should not be supplied to fuel stations within 20km of the borders.

Maikanti Baru, a former group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), had raised the alarm about the increasing number of filling stations in border towns, saying they were funnels for fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries.

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of Sarki Auwalu as the substantive director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

Femi Adesina, presidntial spokesman, announced the appointment in a statement issued on Wednesday.

Auwalu is to take over from Ahmad Shakur who was appointed acting director of the regulatory body in June following the expiration of the tenure of erstwhile director, Mordecai Ladan.

Auwalu, a chemical engineer, joined the DPR in 1998 as principal chemical engineer.

A graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Adesina described Auwalu as “a driving force” of the DPR.

“The new Director is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and had his post-graduate studies at Bayero University, Kano, and PETRAD Norway, PetroSkill USA, among other institutions,” the statement read.

“Auwalu is Associate Member, Institute of Chemical Engineers, UK; Member, Society of Petroleum Engineers; Member, Nigerian Society of Engineers; and Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN).”

A federal high court sitting in Abuja has ordered the Bayelsa state government to transfer Soku oil field to Rivers state.

Delivering the judgement on Monday, Inyang Ekwo also ordered the National Boundary Commission to correct the error in the 11th edition of the administrative map which designated San Bartholomew River as the boundary between the two states, instead of River Santa Barbara.

The administrative map was produced in 2002 and the NBC was said to have admitted to the error in its letter dated July 3, 2002, and promised to rectify it in the 12th edition.

The Rivers state government had notified the commission about the error and filed a suit against the attorney-general of Bayelsa state and the attorney-general of the federation before the supreme court in 2009.

In 2012, the supreme court ruled in favour of the Rivers state government and ordered that the error be rectified.

In August 2019 after the mistake had not been rectified, Rivers state instituted a suit before the federal high court in Abuja solely against the NBC, seeking an order of mandamus compelling it to correct the error.

Ekwo ordered the commission to immediately produce the 12th edition of the administrative map restoring River Santa Barbara as the inter-state boundary between Rivers and Bayelsa states, as it was in 1996 when Bayelsa State was carved from Rivers State.

He also ordered that the judgment be served on the relevant statutory bodies, especially the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the office of the accountant-general of the federation for them to immediate recompute the amount of oil revenue accruable to it with the transfer of the Soku oil field to it.

Mele Kyari, the group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), says the country will stop fuel importation by 2023.

Kyari was speaking after signing the condensate refinery strategy programme front end engineering design; a project that is expected to deliver 20 million litres of petrol when it is completed.

“For a country that has been producing oil for over 50 years, it is really a difficulty to explain why we are still importing petroleum products,” he said.

“We have a clear mandate of Mr President to stop this and we believe this can be done between now and 2023; it is not a political deadline, it is a realistic, technical deadline that we can deliver on this.

“First, we will deliver on our refineries to make them work and significant work has gone into that and we believe that we can deliver on this.

“Secondly, we will support our partners to deliver on their projects that will make gasoline and other products available which is essentially the many other refinery projects intervention that are going on that we know and we support all of them, particularly the Dangote refinery, we will help them in any way possible to support them to deliver on that.

“Thirdly, which is where we come in, in the upstream as we all know, we haven’t done well, we are busy exploring for oil-producing wells but we haven’t bothered to say what additional value we can add to this country and that’s where the condensate refinery comes in.”

This is not the first time Kyari is speaking on ending the importation of petroleum products, at the valedictory service organised for Maikanti Baru, former NNPC GMD, he promised that all the country’s refineries would be fixed before 2023.

Omar Ibrahim, a Nigerian, has emerged secretary-general of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO).

His appointment was ratified at the extraordinary session of the APPO council of ministers, which held in Abuja, on Thursday.

Ibrahim took over from Mahaman Gaya whose tenure ended same day.

The Nigerian, with a focus in international energy relations, has served as governor of the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) for Nigeria since 2015.

He retired as group general manager in charge of international energy relations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

In a statement, Ibrahim was commended for the good representation of Nigeria in the comity of other countries in the continent.

“With this new appointment, Nigeria has firmly solidified its position in both Africa and the Global Oil and Gas Scene as an Industry Leader. In consolidation, it is important to note that the current Secretary-General of OPEC, H.E. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, is also a Nigerian,” the statement read.

“Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the immediate past President of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO), H.E. Chief Timipre Sylva, has continued to effectively provide the unparalleled leadership that has rightly emplaced Nigeria as an Industry Leader.”

The federal government, in collaboration with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has released a beneficial register which contains the list of the real owners of oil assets and companies.

A website (bo.neiti.gov.ng) which contained the list was unveiled in Abuja on Thursday.

According to Waziri Adio, NEITI’s executive secretary, the website contains a list of the owners of 270 licences in the mining sector, and the owners of 61 assets and 56 companies in the oil and gas sector.

He also said the register, which would be free for anyone to access through electronic means, would continuously be updated as more information becomes available and would periodically be upgraded to allow for better user-interface.

“Legitimate businesses and most businesses also stand to benefit from knowing who they are doing business with, from reduced exposure to reputational risks, from having a level-playing field, and from improved trust in their operating environment.

“So let me say this upfront: this beneficial ownership register is not against businesses. Rather, it is for the good of businesses as it is for the good of countries, and it is for the good of civil groups, the media, and individuals. So there is nothing for anyone, especially anyone engaged in legitimate businesses, to be jittery about.

“In a short while, the beneficial ownership register for the extractive sector in Nigeria will go live. At the touch of a button, anyone with internet access can find out, for free, the owners and the ownership structure of extractive assets that are in production in Nigeria. These are the assets covered within the scope of the NEITI audits.

“In this free electronic register, you will find the owners of 270 licences in the mining sector, and the owners 61 assets and 56 companies in the oil and gas sector. The register will continuously be updated as more information becomes available and will periodically be upgraded to allow for better user-interface.”

Adio said the register is in fulfilment of the commitment that President Muhammadu Buhari made at the London Anti-Corruption Summit in 2016, and fulfilment of Nigeria’s commitment under the Open Government Partnership and to the EITI.