Day: April 7, 2023

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), says Nigeria’s domestic gas infrastructure network has capacity to transport 6.9 billion Standard Cubic Feet (BCF) of gas to support power generation and gas-based industries.

Malam Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), NNPC Ltd., made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the 2023 edition of the Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (OLEF) hosted by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).

The forum, which was organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), had its theme as “Effective Gas Resources Utilisation: A Lever for Enhancing Energy Security and Achieving Net-Zero Emission Goals in Nigeria”.

Kyari said Nigeria’s huge investment in gas infrastructure is hinged on its growing natural gas reserves, thus supporting the Nation’s aspiration to create Africa’s biggest industrial hub, powered by low-carbon energy.

He said the NNPC Ltd. was taking advantage of Nigeria’s huge natural gas reserves of over 200 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) with a potential to grow to 600 TCF as more investment is expected due to recent resolution of the Production Sharing Contract disputes with partners.

He said this significant reserve would serve as a low-carbon energy alternative that would support growth in power and industrial sectors, address energy poverty, reduce carbon-footprint and create more employment opportunities.

“NNPC is playing a leading role in the realisation of National Gas Expansion Programme, which seeks to deepen natural gas utilisation as an alternative transportation fuel, and an important feedstock for gas-based industries development.

“We are working assiduously to ensure timely delivery of gas pipeline infrastructure projects, including the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline corridor, planned Nigeria-Morocco and Trans-Sahara Gas Pipelines, that will connect West African countries to deliver natural gas to international markets,” he said.

For the gas export market, he said the on-going Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Train Seven would expand Nigeria’s LNG production capacity from 22 Million Tons Per Annum (MTPA) to about 30 MTPA.

He said it was leveraging the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act to attract more investment in the Nigerian Petroleum sector, to continue to guarantee access to energy while aligning with global energy transition.

“As part of our sustainability strategy, NNPC is deploying carbon-reduction initiatives to gradually decarbonise our operations and improve our compliances with global emission reduction.

“All of these cannot be achieved if we do not have security of our operations. We will continue to further deepen collaboration amongst all the relevant stakeholders; government security agencies, host communities and others to enhance energy security.

“NNPC will deepen relationship with the Industry, Governments, Research Institutions and the Academia to strengthen its Renewable Energy Division to pursue commercially viable new energy ventures in line with Nigeria’s net-zero aspiration by 2060,” he said.

Kyari, while thanking the SPE for their efforts in promoting innovation, knowledge sharing required for our industry, urged them and other industry stakeholders to continue to collaborate with the NNPC Ltd to guarantee energy security.

In an address, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, Commission Chief Executive, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), said how to provide clean, sustainable and affordable energy to global populace is a critical challenge.

Komolafe, represented by Dr Nuhu Habib, Executive Commissioner, Production and Development, NUPRC, said it was committed to ensure access to enabling environment and regulatory frameworks for progressive investments in gas production and energy transition achievement.

Also speaking, Mr Farouk Ahmed, Authority Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), called for concerted efforts of all levels of government to ensure energy security was guaranteed.

Ahmed, represented by Dr Mustapha Lamorde, Executive Director of Health, Safety, Environment and Community (HSEC), said the authority drafted 20 oil and gas industry regulations to fully deliver value to Nigeria’s economy.

He said out of the regulations, 12 had been gazetted while five out of the gazetted regulations are gas based.

He, however, expressed assurance that the authority is positioned to ensure enabling environment and investments in gas value chain for business to thrive.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

A News Analysis by Angela Atabo, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Globally, poverty and food insecurity remain a huge challenge. Poverty, they say, nurtures hunger, illiteracy and diseases.

According to a 2022 World Bank report, 648 million, representing about 8 per cent of the global population live in extreme poverty, which translates to 2.15 dollars daily.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) brings the reality further home by declaring in a 2022 report that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor.

The report, which is a product of the Bureau’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey, said the study measured poverty from different perspectives including health, education, and money.

A study by Vanessa Wright and a team of scholars citing a 2021 report by the Department of Agriculture established a link between poverty and food insecurity in the United States, which, most likely is replicated around the world, including Nigeria.

The study was entitled: “Understanding the Link between Poverty and Food Insecurity among Children: Does the Definition of Poverty Matter?”

They declared that “32.1 per cent of households with incomes below the official poverty line face food insecurity, compared to 14 per cent of households with incomes above the official poverty line.

“Factors that put people at risk of low income (e.g., unemployment) were associated with a higher probability of food insecurity. Collectively, these findings draw a clear association between lower income and food insecurity”.

In the light if this, Oxfam Nigeria, with support from the European Union has tailored some of its intervention programmes in Nigeria towards tackling poverty and addressing food insecurity.

One of the projects is the European Union (EU) and OXFAM Strengthening Active Citizenship and Improve Service Delivery (OSAID) Project Adamawa and Kebbi states with a projected N434m in expenditure.

According to Dr Vincent Ahonsi, Country Director, Oxfam in Nigeria, it is a market improvement programme that is agricultural with gender mainstreaming in agriculture.

“What we try to do is to reach the poorest of the poor to see how we can improve their lives and livelihood and we know that most people in the rural areas of Adamawa and Kebbi states are farmers.

“So what we did was to provide them with the enablement, the farm inputs, we know that in Nigeria, women generally don’t have access, access to resources, access to finances, access to land and access to farm inputs.

“Oxfam came in and provided all these to facilitate wealth creation, so they will be able to produce more from their farms, they will have the markets to take them to and they will have people who are waiting for them to buy them off them,” he said.

Women play a major role in poverty alleviation and food security. In many instances, such as crisis situations, many women become breadwinners as they bear the burden of farming and fending for the children who fathers are crisis victims.

The project, therefore seeks to explore the potential in women as home builders and small scale farmers.

“So we organise village savings and loans association and through this, the women meet regularly and put money together through contribution and they can borrow from it for investments.

“You find out suddenly that a woman who has been alone in the community now has a group to lean on; with friends she finds her voice and she is now valued.

“We also ensured that we educate these women on the reason why they need to participate in elections and vote for the people they think is the best people to serve their interests,” he said.

Mr Enoch Bamaiyi, OSAID Project Coordinator, said that 80,000 households were reached in Kebbi and Adamawa states and with 70 per them being women.

Bamaiyi said that a lot of them have accessed finance while those without any means of livelihood have been able to access finance through the village savings and loan association programme.

To effectively use the money he said Oxfam also taught them technical skills on business management, business development, as well as facilitating linkages to market, promotional enterprise development agencies, both of government and also private sector players.

“They got grants, gifts, in terms of both assets like grinding machine milling machines, like animals to boost their asset base At home,” he said.

Dr Mary Paninga, the Executive Chairman of the Adamawa State Planning Commission, said that Oxfam did well in Adamawa in the fight against poverty programme.

“Today, because of the impact of OSAID and Oxfam, the community has come together, they produce community development plans, which the State Planning Commission incorporates into the budget of the state.

“This is so as to carry all citizens along; I want to tell everyone that what Oxfam and OSAID has done exceptionally well especially in the technical support components of the citizens monitoring programme that is ICTs”, she said.

Mr Basiru Kalgo, a representative the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Kebbi, commended Oxfam and its partners for the project .

“I want to appreciate the contributions of European Union, specifically Oxfam and its partners for the successful implementation of almost six years programme in Kebbi state.

“We have really learnt a lot of lessons, the citizens and government are trying everything possible to ensure that we maintain the good culture within the programmes.

“We have been greatly impacted and we will try to put all the necessary mechanism in maintaining it,” he said

A beneficiary Ms Zinge Ezekiel, from Adamawa, thanked Oxfam for programme adding that “I thank God I am benefitting from this”.

Ezekeil said that Community Development Plan (CDC) was introduced to include women and the less privileged including Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).

Another Beneficiary, Kabiru Danjuma, from Kebbi, said the presence of Oxfam in the state has reduced its poverty rate.

“Before then, we use to travel for over 250 kilometres to access banks but Oxfam helped us through the agency banking and I became one of the agents.

“I open accounts for villagers, enroll them for BVN and so far I have opened on the spot account for over 350 accounts for people and it made deposits, transfers and withdrawals very easy,” he said.

Danjuma said now, farmers have easy access to resources such as fertilisers and soft loans.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Federal Government says the utilisation of gas can help to diversify Nigeria’s energy mix and reduce the country’s dependence on oil.

It said in line with this President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021 declared 2021 to 2030 as “Nigeria’s Decade of Gas“, a period the government aspired to accelerate domestic and export gas production and utilisation.

Amb. Gabriel Aduda, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, made this known on Thursday in Abuja at the 2023 Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum (OLEF) organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE).

The event was hosted by the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).

Aduda spoke on the role of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources on “Effective Gas Resources Utilisation: A Lever For Enhancing Energy Security and Achieving Net-Zero Emission Goals in Nigeria”.

He said the ministry was playing a crucial role in the effective utilisation of gas resources in Nigeria, by developing policies and regulations to encourage the use of gas, promote gas infrastructure investments and competitive gas market.

This, he said, included creating enabling environment and partnerships with the private sector to build pipelines, storage facilities and other infrastructure necessary for the transportation and storage of gas.

He said the infrastructure was essential for ensuring availability of gas, especially in expanding domestic utilisation and reducing the cost of gas by increasing competition and efficiency.

“We are already achieving very amiable results in the domestic intake of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) also known as cooking gas and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in several small and medium scale industries across the country.

“Another important role is supporting the development of a competitive and efficient gas market by promoting the use of market-based pricing mechanisms and encouraging the participation of multiple players in the market.

“A competitive market can help to ensure that gas is priced efficiently, which in turn can help to encourage its use.

“Finally, the ministry is further playing a crucial role with the passage of the PIA 2021 in developing policies and regulations that encourage the use of gas in its various forms,” he said.

He said globally there were efforts towards the creation of an international market for fossil energy that could minimise gas flaring, methane and CO2 emissions across the value chain to the fullest extent practicable.

“Nigeria became the first African country to regulate methane emissions from its oil and gas sector in 2022.

“Achieving the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) goal of cutting anthropogenic methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030 will drive significant energy security, food security, health and several other development gains.

“The enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 has led to the creation of regulatory frameworks with clear-cut mandates for the growth and development of the oil and gas sector.

“If properly implemented, it would represent the gold standard of natural resource management, with clear and separate roles for the subsectors of the industry.

“It also creates the Midstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MGIF) for the purpose of supporting investments in the development of gas infrastructure, which includes pipelines, storage facilities, and processing plants, to facilitate the transportation and storage of gas.

Gas is a cleaner-burning fossil fuel than oil or coal and can play a significant role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

It is also essential to promote public awareness and education on the benefits of gas as a cleaner and more affordable source of energy.

“This will require targeted outreach and engagement with communities, as well as the development of programmes that provide affordable access to clean energy for households and small businesses.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Friday in Abuja announced eight different 2023 hajj fares regime for the Northern States and other parts of the country.

The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NAHCON, Alhaji Zikrullah Hassan, made the announcement at a news conference shortly after a meeting with the Chief Executives of the 36 States and FCT pilgrims boards, agencies and commissions.

“The 2023 Hajj fare incidentally has eight different costs. Pilgrims in Maiduguri and Yola departure centre in the North East will pay the sum of N2,890,000 and this includes their 800 dollars Basis Travelled Allowance (BTA).

” For the other Northern States, we have agreed that the cost is N2,919,000, we now move to South which has six different price regime, Edo State is N2,968,000 and the entire South-South and South East are in this same price regime.

” Ekiti and Ondo States N2,880,000, Osun state is N2,993,000 and Cross River State incidentally has the cheapest which is N2,943,000, while that of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states is N2,999,000.”

Hassan explained that the inflation rate both in Nigeria Saudi Arabia and the scarcity of aviation fuel were largely responsible for the increase in the fare when compare with the 2022 fare which was N2.5million.

” And I must also say that there has been an increase in the exchange rate of Naira to a dollar at the official rate.

” However, NAHCON and the state pilgrims boards and agencies made several efforts in order to keep the fare at the barest minimum level, while also considering the economic feasibilities and reality of the situation.

” I am sure all of you will also agree with me that there has been a global trend in countries of the world by hike in the hajj fare.”

He revealed that NAHCON and all the 36 states and the FCT pilgrims’ boards have reviewed the 2022 hajj operation and adopted strategies for a hitch free 2023 hajj operation.

” We have agreed with all having reviewed the 2022 operation to do everything that will make us to get every pilgrim that registered to Saudi Arabia in good time.

” We have also discussed the issue of Basic Travelled Allowance (BTA) and Yellow Card and we have devised means to ensure that we are in control of the situation .

” We have also agreed that there will be zero tolerance for flight delay or cancelation this year and if there is such there will be sanction on the state or pilgrim or airline that is responsible for it.”

Hassan also disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved seven airlines that the commission was going to operate with this year.

According to him, Air Peace, Azman Air, Flynas, Aero Contractors and Max Air, will fly pilgrims from the 36 states and FCT, while Arik Air and Value Jet Air will serve as chattered flights for the Licenced Tour Operators.

He noted that NAHCON and State Pilgrims boards have agreed to close the

portal for new registration of intending pilgrims who are going through the Hajj Saving Scheme for hajj on April 7.

” After deliberations with the Chief Executives of the State Pilgrims Welfare Boards, we have agreed on the day that the intending pilgrims must complete their money.

” Secondly, we have also agreed that today April 7, we are closing the portal for new registration of intending pilgrims who are going through the Hajj Saving Scheme for hajj.

” But we have also agreed that April 21, which is two weeks from today will be the day for the final remittance of funds by those who want to go to hajj either through the hajj saving scheme or through the normal pay as go.

” We have also agreed that May 21, 2023, will be the day for the inaugural flight for the 2023 Hajj.”

Also, the Executive Chairman, Yobe Pilgrims Welfare Board, Mai Aliyu Usmam, said all the states executives were part of the decision on the 2023 hajj fares.

He said that members of the various boards have been to Saudi Arabia with the NAHCON officials twice, adding that all decisions and agreements were done together in the interest of the intending pilgrims.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria