Nigeria has again lost its Africa’s top oil producer status to Angola, as the country’s crude oil production fell by 67,000 barrels per day last month, latest data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries have shown.
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OPEC, in its Monthly Oil Market Report for April, which was released on Wednesday, put crude oil production from Nigeria at 1.677 million bpd in March based on direct communication, down from 1.744 million bpd in February.
Nigeria recorded the biggest drop in output in the month among its peers in OPEC, followed by Venezuela, based on direct communication.
Exports and production of Nigeria’s popular crude grade Forcados continued to be shut in due to a sabotage-related spill on the subsea Forcados pipeline. The country has recently seen a rise in militant attacks in its main oil-producing region, the Niger Delta, denting oil production.
The country’s production figure for March was put at 1.722 million bpd by secondary sources, compared to 1.762 million bpd the previous month.
According to secondary sources, total OPEC crude oil production in March averaged
32.25 million bpd, a marginal increase of 15, 000 bpd over the previous month.
The 13-member oil cartel, said in the report, “Crude oil output increased mostly from Iran, Iraq and Angola, while production decreased in UAE, Libya and Nigeria.”
Angola saw its oil output rise to 1.782 million bpd last month from 1.767 million bpd in February, based on direct communication, according to the OPEC report.
The southern African country had in November 2015 overtaken Nigeria in output level as it produced 1.722 million bpd, compared to 1.607 million bpd produced by Nigeria, OPEC’s December report showed.
According to the latest monthly report, OPEC believes crude supply outside the producer group is set to fall more than expected, with weaker Chinese, Colombian, UK and US oil output eclipsing better outlooks for Canada, Norway, Oman and Russia.
The outlook for non-OPEC supply has been hit largely by lower expectations for crude oil production from China’s onshore mature fields.
OPEC also cited the postponement of major new projects due to reduced cash flow as the impact of lower prices takes its toll.
It now sees output falling by 730,000 bpd over the year, up from a previous estimate of 700,000 bpd, to average 56.39 million bpd in 2016.
OPEC also partly attributed the 20 per cent surge in oil futures in March to weaker non-OPEC supply in 2016, supply disruptions in Iraq and Nigeria, signs US shale is shrinking, along with expectations of a supply intervention plan by major crude exporters in Doha on April 17.
Three oil workers have reportedly lost their lives in pipeline explosion in Bayelsa State.
The victims, said to be employees of an oil servicing firm, died on Sunday.
It was learnt that the pipeline explosion occurred in Olugboboro community of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.
The pipeline is owned by Nigerian Agip Oil Company.
It was further learnt that the deceased were carrying out repair work on a leaking pipeline when the tragedy struck.
The explosion, which occurred on Easter Sunday, according to community sources, also left several persons injured.
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency on Tuesday confirmed the pipeline blast.
The Director-General, NOSDRA, Dr. Peter Idabor, who confirmed the development on the telephone, said that an employee of the agency escaped death in the explosion.
Idabor said that the survivor had allegedly drawn the attention of the oil workers to the breach of safety procedure and left the scene shortly before the incident occurred.
He said, “I received a report of the incident from our employee in Yenagoa office and luckily one of our officers on the team survived. Because of the safety conditions of the place after inspection, our employee left the place and he was not affected.
“ I am going to report the matter officially to the Minister of Environment today (Tuesday).”
It will be recalled that July 9, 2015 explosion at Agip’s oil field in Azuzuama, Southern Ijaw, left 14 persons dead.
A regulatory official of the Bayelsa Ministry of Environment and NOSDRA and 12 maintenance crew members were among the victims.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, on Saturday got a tongue-lashing from the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over his recent comments on the lingering fuel scarcity in the country.
Bola Tinubu
The former Governor of Lagos State took a swipe at the minister, who is also the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, for saying he was not a magician who could end the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol.
The APC leader stated that the minister was answerable to Nigerians and not the other way round.
Tinubu stated this on Saturday in a statement titled, ‘Kachikwu Needs to Know That Respect and Good Performance Will Do What Magic Cannot.’
Referring to the minister, Tinubu said he believed a member of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government “has strayed from the progressive calling required of this administration.”
Kachikwu had on Wednesday, while speaking with State House correspondents shortly after he led a joint delegation of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers to meet with Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said since he was not a magician, the fuel queues could not be eliminated with a magic wand.
He added that despite the efforts being put in place by the Federal Government, fuel queues might not be completely eliminated until about two months (May).
The minister noted that with the reality on the ground, it was by sheer magic that the country had the amount of products it currently had at the filling stations.
However, Tinubu, on Saturday, stated that there might be no economic matter more difficult to unravel and more sensitive to the purse of the average person than the current fuel scarcity.
The APC leader said despite that, he was confident of progress because he knew the commitment of the President to resolving the issue.
“I make no attempt to hide it. I am an avid and partisan supporter of this government and of the progressive policies of the party, the APC, upon which this government is based,” the ex-governor stated.
Tinubu added, “With that, I do reserve the right and the duty as a Nigerian to voice my opinion when I believe a member of this government has strayed from the progressive calling required of this administration. I do this because my greater devotion and love are for this nation and its people. Party and politics fall secondary.
“Much public ire has been drawn to the statement made by the Minister of State (for Petroleum Resources) Ibe Kachikwu that he was not trained as a magician and that basically Nigerians should count themselves fortunate that the NNPC under his stewardship has been able to bring in the amount of petrol it is currently doing.
“Perhaps the statement by Kachikwu was made in a moment of unguarded frustration or was an awkward attempt at a joke. Whatever the motive, it was untimely and off-putting. The remark did not sit well with the Nigerian people; they were as right to feel insulted as the minister was wrong to have said such a thing.
“The fuel shortage is severely biting for the average person. They are forced to remain in lines far too long — for too much time — to pay too much money for too little fuel. This is no joking matter. Livelihoods and people’s welfare are at stake.
“With so much on the line, Kachikwu’s flippancy was out-of-line. He was basically telling Nigerians that they should be lucky that they are getting the inadequate supply they now suffer and that they should just be quiet and endure the shortage for several weeks more.”
Saying Kachikwu’s intervention was unhelpful, the APC leader said it rather panicked and disappointed the public as to the duration of the crisis.
“It insulted the people by its tonality. He spoke with the imperious nature of a member of the elitist government the people voted out last year and not the progressive one they voted in,” he added.
Tinubu also said Kachikwu must be reminded that he was not coerced to take the job, adding that the minster accepted the job and its responsibilities “knowingly.”
The ex-governor said the NNPC GMD must also remember that he does not own the corporation and that the NNPC was not a private company that owes nothing to the public except the duty of fair dealing.
Tinubu added, “He is a public servant. The seat he sits upon is owned by Nigerians, not by him. The company he runs is owned by Nigerians, not by him. They are his boss. He is not theirs. Power is vested in the people. He is a mere custodian or agent of their will.
“In talking to us in such a manner, he committed an act of insubordination. If he had talked so cavalierly to his boss in the private sector, he would have been reprimanded or worse. If wise, the man should refrain from such interjections in the future.
“As his ultimate bosses, the people have a right to demand the requisite performance and respect from him. He should apologise for treating them so lightly in this instance.”
The APC leader noted that as Kachikwu’s portfolio was a strategically important one, the minister needed to re-establish the correct relationship with the public.
He said Nigerians no longer felt Kachikwu was working for their optimal benefit as their servant. “Instead, he seems to be standing above them, telling them to take it or leave it,” Tinubu added.
The politician stated that for the minister’s policies and stint in office to be successful and of help to the government, he (Kachikwu) must have the support and belief of the people at this tough time.
Tinubu said the NNPC boss must talk to them in a way that they believe he seeks their best interest and understands the hardship weighing upon them.
“He must ask them to work with him and, perhaps, to endure a bit longer but with the knowledge that he is working to resolve this matter as fast as he can and as permanently as possible; that he is dedicated to the position that once these current lines are gone, never again shall they reappear, as long as he has any influence in the matter.
“To do this requires no magic or training in that strange craft. It requires empathy, compassion and the willpower to forge a better Nigeria. These must be the common trademarks of those serving in a progressive government, for these attributes are integral parts of the spirit and ideals upon which the APC was founded,” Tinubu added.
When contacted, the Director, Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Idang Alibi, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the ministry had yet to see the statement by Tinubu.
He stated that the ministry would wish to react to it when it gets the statement and promised to get across to Kachikwu and respond to our correspondent.
Alibi said, “We will need to find out what Tinubu actually said before getting across to the minister.”
When asked if he would get back to our correspondent after speaking with the minister, he replied, “Well, it depends on the response from the other side. If I get a response, I will get back to you.”
When probed further if he would get across to the minister on Saturday night, Alibi replied again, “I hope so.”
Also, calls to the mobile phone of the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr. Garba Deen, were not answered.
A detailed text message sent to him was also not replied.
Up till the time (8.53pm) of filing in this report, no response was received from the ministry and the NNPC.
The scarcity of petrol has lingered since January, as hundreds of motorists besiege few filling stations that dispense the product on a daily basis.
Kachikwu’s comment had drawn heavy criticisms from various stakeholders, including the organised labour, petroleum marketers, oil industry workers, manufacturers, experts in the oil sector and the latest from Tinubu.
The Trade Union Congress had specifically asked Kachikwu to resign instead of giving Nigerians excuses on why it would be impossible to get fuel easily in the country before June.
The TUC, through its President, Mr. Bala Kaigama, said the positions occupied by the minister were too demanding for him and urged Buhari to appoint a new GMD for the NNPC.
Kaigama stated, “If he is not a magician, he should resign now. What we are saying is that Nigerians are getting impatient with him.
“So, if he has no quick fix to it, he should just quit. We are getting impatient. He is moving from one unpopular policy to another, yet we cannot see any quick fix.’’
Similarly, the Nigeria Labour Congress had described Kachikwu’s statement as unfortunate.
The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said it was wrong of any agent of government to resign himself to a position that would subject Nigerians to months of long fuel queues.
He said, “As far as we are concerned, one day of queues is unacceptable to Nigerians and the hardship Nigerians have been subjected to, through the queues over a long period now, is actually something that should be condemned.
“Apart from the hardship to Nigerians, the cost of these protracted queues on an economy that is already in crisis is enormous, and actually makes the issue of the revival of the economy even more difficult.”
Also, workers in the oil and gas sector on Wednesday said they were at a loss as to what was really the cause of fuel scarcity in the country.
The workers, who spoke under the aegis of PENGASSAN and NUPENG, stated that the minister should be questioned on the development.
World oil prices rose for a third straight day today with traders brushing aside news of a rocket attack by jihadists on a gas plant in OPEC energy producer Algeria, the AFP reported.
The development sees the price of Brent crude, against which Nigeria’s oil is priced, rise to $42.29 dollars, $4.29 higher than the country’s proposed benchmark of $38 for the 2016 budget.
According to the AFP, with confidence growing that the world’s biggest crude producers will hammer out a deal to curb output, investors piled back into the commodity after they toyed with 13-year lows last month.
Qatar’s energy minister, Mohammed al-Sada, confirmed this week that exporters from within and outside the OPEC cartel will meet April 17 in Doha, stoking hopes of an agreement to ease a global supply glut.
Around 1215 GMT on Friday, United States benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in April was up 72 cents at $40.92 a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for May delivery won 75 cents to $42.29 a barrel compared with Thursday’s close.
WTI had advanced 4.5 per cent Thursday, closing above $40 for the first time since the start of December.
Buying in recent days has been fuelled also by the Federal Reserve, which on Wednesday halved its forecast for US interest rate hikes this year.
The outlook, citing a global slowdown and market turmoil, sent the dollar plunging, which in turn makes oil cheaper for holders of rival currencies.
“The expectation that the leading OPEC oil producing countries and Russia will agree on binding production caps on 17 April is lending prices additional buoyancy,” said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
Elsewhere Friday, jihadists launched a rocket attack on an Algerian gas plant jointly operated by foreign companies, three years after a deadly hostage crisis at another facility in the Sahara desert.
There were no reports of casualties in Friday’s attack, companies and workers at the site said.
Algeria is one of the world’s largest exporters of natural gas, with revenue from fossil fuels accounting for 95 per cent of its exports.
The industrial action embarked upon on Tuesday by oil workers across the country due to the restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has been suspended.
Fuel Scarcity
As a result, work resumed at both the Abuja headquarters of the corporation and all its subsidiaries, as well as at petrol stations operated by the national oil firm.
It was learnt that the strike was suspended on Thursday morning after a marathon meeting between officials of the Federal Government and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria on Wednesday night.
However, the suspension of the strike did nothing to relieve motorists in different parts of the country of the pains they have been experiencing in the past two weeks due to shortage of petrol.
In Lagos, very few filling stations which had the product to dispense recorded long queues of desperate motorists, who were joined by those who wanted to use the product to fuel their generators as a result of the prolonged blackout being experienced in the state and the attendant heatwaves.
The situation was the same in Abuja, Kaduna, Ogun and Nasarawa.
The workers had staged a protest at the headquarters of the NNPC, blocked the entrances to the firm and shut its operations nationwide on Wednesday, a development that worsened the already bad state of fuel supply across the country.
On Thursday morning, the Group Chairman, NUPENG, NNPC Branch, Mr. Odudu Udofia, told one of our correspondents that the strike had been suspended.
The suspension of the strike was also confirmed by an official of the NNPC in an email, in which he said officials of “NUPENG and PENGASSAN had a marathon meeting with the GMD/Minister of Petroleum (State) and NNPC top management for several hours, ending this (Thursday) morning at 4:30am on the ongoing industrial action.
“After exhaustive deliberations, a resolution was signed by the two parties. In view of that, the industrial action is hereby suspended.”
It was also gathered that marketers of petroleum products were currently avoiding the Lagos market, which they said was heavily regulated in terms of product pricing, adding that this was making them to have low margins.
One of our correspondents gathered that this was the reason why the current petrol scarcity was more pronounced in Lagos and its environs.
With the product selling in most states of the federation above N100 per litre instead of the regulated prices of N86 and N86.50, two marketers who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of anonymity, said it made more market sense to concentrate on markets outside Lagos, where prices were arbitrarily fixed.
“As it is right now, supplying product to Lagos is not as good as supplying to other states. For independent marketers especially, there is a strong urge to sell their products in other markets for better yields,” one of the marketers said.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman, NUPENG, Lagos Zone, Alhaji Tokunbo Korodo, said the workers unions had called off the strike they embarked on and loading of products had commenced at the depots.
He also confirmed that more marketers were interested in supplying to markets outside Lagos owing to the fact that the strict regulation of the business in the state did not give room for higher prices above the N86.50 official price per litre.
“Marketers come here, pick products and move to areas outside Lagos. They sell at prices above the N86.50 official price and make more money,” he explained.
Nsukka – Ferdral government has said it will spend zero amounts in petroleum subsidy in 2016 and would not remove the subsidy while in periods of high oil prices, expenditures were allowed to rise substantially with little ability to control spending in periods of low prices.
Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Emmanuel Kachikwu
The minister of state petroleum resources, Dr Emmanuel Ibe kachikwu disclosed this at the 45th convocation lecture he delivered at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka titled ‘the petroleum industry and the future of the Nigerian nation’ adding that government has started pumping oil from two out of the three refinaries in the country which would be used to provide oil and gas needed for the country.
The minister noted that it may sound unbelievable to people, explaining that it is part of change mantra of the present administration of President Mohammadu Buhari, meanwhile, 70 per cent of vandalized pipelines has been recovered which will supply more crude to the refinenaries.
Dr Kachikwu said that the objective of Buhari reform agenda in oil and gas industry in the country centered around having the right people doing the right hing at the right time for the purposes of moving the country forward.
“With the right people in petroleum sector there will be increase in revenue for the country via sales of petroleum products. The products will be affordable prices at the lowest minimum cost for factor inputs that will encourage economic growth and international competiveness. The reform agenda in the oil and other sectors will also provide more employment opportunities in the country, ‘he said.
The minister pointed out that what the country suffers now was poor management of the oil sector in the past twenty 25 years, adding that in the past the cost of production of crude oil as well as importation of fuel remained the highest in the world while weakness in the fiscal administration of the oil sector led to inadequate allocation and collection of oil and gas revenues for the government.
‘’In recent past, the oil and gas industry has emerged from the scourge of militancy in the Niger Delta when production was at a low of 1.6 million barrels per day in 2009 to its current levels of about 2.2 million barrels per day. Over the years, little attempts was made to diversify revenue base from huge oil and gas resource income’’ he minister noted.
He also said that the mainstream and downstream have witnessed challenges which was why government has focussed ite reforms on libralising the sectors, explaining that Nigeria has three refinaries with nameplate capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, 5,120 km of products and crude pipelines, 21 storage depots and one petroleum products import terminal at Atlas Cove all of which have suffered from vandalism and poor maintainance over the years because of lack of a cmmercially viable framework for cost recovery.
He explained that the oil boom of the 70’s, the country experinced large public spending and fiscal deficits that fuelled macroeconomic voattlity, noting that the countr’s budget increased from the 70’s onwards as expenditure rose faster than revenues.
Kachikwu urged Nigerians to support president Buhari in his fight against corruption in order retrieve the looted funds in the countryas the fight would restore the dignity of the county and banish poverty.
“The aim of the present administration is to leave a good legacy through fighting corruption and making judicious use of the country’s resources. Nigerians should give the president maximum support in his determination to rid the county of bribery and corruption’’ he said.
He expressed appreciation to University management for finding him worthy to present the 45th convocation lecture, adding that as an alumnous of the university he would continue to contribute meaningfully to the University.
In a welcome address, the Vice-chancellor of University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof Benjamin Ozumba said that the 45th convocation lecture was a unique one for the fact that the lecture was delivered by an icon in petroleum industry who had within a period of time transformed the oil sector.
Prof Ozumba said that the Nigerian National petroleum corporation (NNPC) has witnessed series of transformation within a short period of time the minister assumed duty in the industry.
Nigeria’s crude oil export operation has suffered a serious setback following a major crack-up of a giant underwater pipeline at the Forcados export terminal.
Following the incident, crude oil lifting has now been suspended at that platform, officials said.
The pipeline, described as a big artery in the nation’s oil production was said to have suffered a huge rupture under circumstances that are at the moment still hazy.
Nigeria is already bleeding from the impact of low oil prices, with revenue dipping month after month.
”With export now cut as a result of the incident, oil revenue will descend even lower until the pipeline is fixed,” an insider at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation told PREMIUM TIMES.
Industry experts say repairing the pipeline might cost the country as much as 100 million dollars.
Sabotage by Niger Delta militants is completely ruled out but the same cannot be said at the moment of rogue elements within the system who are known to have in the past orchestrated similar damages in the hope of benefitting from the repairs and clean-up contracts that must follow.
Forcados terminal in Delta State is one of Nigeria’s biggest terminals with capacity to export about 400,000 barrels of oil a day.
Illegal interference with pipelines, with attendant leaks, has always dwindled crude oil receipts into Forcados, a terminal operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC).
Oil majors most hit by disasters at this terminal include Shell and Septlat.
PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the latest incident at Forcados occurred about 10.55pm last Saturday but it wasn’t until Sunday that Shell discovered a spill.
Forcados is made up of two parts: namely the Tank Farm which receives crude oil produced from oil wells in Delta, Ondo, Edo and parts of Bayelsa States, and the Crude Oil Loading Platform where ships must come to lift crude.
The affected pipeline links the tank farm and the platform. Insiders say it is a very mighty pipe on the waterbed going to the sea. The ruptured section of this key pipeline is located at Tokebeleu, near Ojulagha, an Ijaw village in Delta State.
In a written response to PREMIUM TIMES enquiry, Precious Okolobo, Media Relations Manager of Shell, said his company was already investigating the source of a crude oil spill observed on water around Forcados Terminal on Sunday February 14.
He said the initial investigation would enable the company to quickly determine what suitable response was further needed.
According to Mr. Okolobo, Shell’s joint venture and third party production into the terminal has been suspended as a precautionary measure while the company’s Emergency Response and Oil Response teams have been activated to manage the incident.
In what appears as a large-scale disaster management, Shell said booms and other oil containment resources were being deployed to the area to try to stop the spread of spilled oil.
“The support of industry group, Clean Nigeria Associates (CNA), has been enlisted for a comprehensive response to the spill,” Mr Okolobo said.
”The relevant authorities including security agencies have been informed of the incident, preparatory to a joint investigation visit which will determine the cause and volume of oil spilled.”
The spokesperson for the NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, declined to comment for this story.
Nigeria earned N3.27 trillion from the oil and gas sector in 10 months, between January and October 2015, data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has revealed.
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The CBN, in its Economic Report for October 2015, disclosed that oil and gas revenue in the 10-month period accounted for 55.93 per cent of the N5.847 trillion total federally collected revenue in the period under review.
In addition to revenue from oil and gas, the country also recorded non-oil revenue of N2.577 trillion, representing 44.1 per cent of federally-collected revenue from January to October 2015.
Giving a breakdown of components of the country’s oil revenue, the report stated that Nigeria earned N737.5 billion from crude oil and gas sales; N1.289 trillion from Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)/Royalties; N1.159 trillion from domestic crude oil/gas sales and N85 billion from other unlisted sources.
On a month-by-month basis, the report revealed Nigerian earned as follows:
January – N486.4 billion; February – N359.7 billion; March – N364.6 billion; April – N286.2 billion; May – N267.2 billion and June – N285.6 billion respectively. Others are July – N369.4 billion, August – N314.9 billion, September – N265.2 billion and October – N271.1 billion respectively.
In terms of federally-collected revenue on a month-by-month basis, the CBN report showed the country collected for January, February, March, April and May, the sum of N692.1 billion, N554.8 billion, N808.7 billion, N472.2 billion and N462.5 billion respectively.
While N462.6 billion, N679.3 billion, 682.6 billion, N533.1 billion and N499.4 billon were collected in the months of June, July, August, September and October 2015 respectively.
In its analysis of the financials, CBN said the N499.37 billion collected in October was lower than both the monthly budget estimate and the receipt in September by 38.7 per cent and 6.3 per cent, respectively, which it attributed to the shortfall in receipts from oil and non-oil revenue, during the month of October.
In addition, the CBN stated that Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, stood at an average of 2.02 million barrels per day (mbd) or 62.62 million barrels (mb) in October. It added that this represented an increase of 0.04 mbd or 2.0 per cent above the average of 1.98 mbd or 59.40 mb, recorded in the preceding month.
As Nigeria inches towards full deregulation of the oil sector, the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), FRANCIS JOHNSON, says its members are fully in support of the planned deregulation of the sector by the Federal Government. But he is quick to warn that the action should not result in handing over the common wealth of Nigeria to a few shylock businessmen out to further exploit Nigerians.Excerpts:
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Deregulation of the petroleum industry means different things to different people – government, investors, marketers, etc. What does it mean to oil workers?
Deregulation is a universal economic concept that promotes free market enterprise. When the regulator relaxes regulation and permits market forces to determine the means of production and distribution of an economic product, deregulation is achieved.
While deregulation is desirable, it must be approached with caution and highest sense of good conscience. For us in the oil and gas industry, deregulation would have been a non-issue if the critical issues of legal, regulatory and fiscal reforms as posited in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) were addressed.
Today, we are talking about deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry as a single item whereas what is required is a complete overhaul of both operational and policy frameworks in the industry.
The laws currently in operation cannot support the demands of the sector, because it is in dire need of reformation.
The 1968 Petroleum Act is what the industry is currently surviving on. How can the country rely on an obsolete body of regulations and still demand efficiency from an industry that has been stretched beyond its elastic limit? Why would Nigerians be talking of deregulation at all if we had a functional products pipeline operating at a user-fee basis?
If the nation had taken the intervention of PENGASSAN seriously enough in 2001 after the submission of the White Paper report on Supply and Distribution of Petroleum Products headed by the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufot Ekaette, the country would not have the problems it is facing today.
The union, at the time, had called for a systematic review of all aspects of the supply and distribution of products, including regular turnaround maintenance, TAM, of the refineries.
Today, we are talking of shutting down the refineries for a year to carry out a comprehensive TAM. This is the action needed 15 years ago, while fuel importation lasts. By now, the country would have achieved self sufficiency in local fuel production and thin out the subsidy margin.
Some people say deregulation is the answer to the perennial fuel scarcity. Does PENGASSAN share this view?
Some say it is ‘the answer’ but we say it is only an answer. Deregulation is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. If we understand to that level, then part of the problem is solved.
Our stance has always been to put in place necessary structures that will enable and sustain the policy. When the sector has achieved full deregulation, there will even be a greater challenge than scarcity, namely consumer protection.
Post-deregulation, the first aspect of the policy that will be most felt is price liberalisation. That is the greater concern for us as a pressure group. It is not enough to deregulate.
What have we put in place to prevent collusion and predatory tendencies of operators? We do not have strong protection or cover for consumers’ in Nigeria.
See what we experience daily with service providers, in aviation, telecommunications, etc. We seem to be engrossed with the quest to deregulate the sector, but no one is paying attention to the public utilities, like the pipelines, jetties, depots and even refineries.
We seem to forget that the very reason for scarcity is the neglect and lack of maintenance culture with which public infrastructures were left unattended to for so long.
So, deregulation yes, but it’s just an aspect of addressing the myriads of problems confronting the sector.
Do you think the country is ripe for deregulation policy?
Same as what I said earlier. The unions are not against the policy in any way, rather deliberate steps should be taken to address weightier issues of employment, sectoral development, corruption, inefficiency and profitability for the Nigerian state.
In fact, the labour movement in Nigeria has been in the forefront of restructuring of the downstream sector for a long time.
Sometime ago, between 2000 and 2003, the Unions participated in the various interventionist committees set up by government to address the problems in the industry.
At a point, we proposed phased deregulation of the downstream sector to enable the Federal Government fix the ailing refineries, grant licenses to private refiners, stimulate investment drive, improve human capital capacity, institute legal and regulatory framework and a whole lot of institutional policy to engender sectoral development.
If the proposals were taken seriously, we definitely would not be where we are today 15 years after. So, we are not ready for full deregulation yet until those concerns are addressed, otherwise we shall be riding in the air.
Deregulation works better in a free market moderated by competition. With regulated fuel price of N87 per litre, how would the policy work with subsidy in place?
Deregulation and subsidy are two different regimes. No system ever works that way. It is either we deregulate or we subsidize. It can only be one of the two, and not both.
Subsidy is an intervention aimed at moderating volatility of prices at the pump. It became necessary to subsidize premium motor spirit, PMS and household kerosene, HHK, because these products were closest to Nigerians in terms of use.
However, there was a moratorium for the subsidy regime when the Petroleum Support Fund, PSF, commenced in 2006. It was dependent on other variables including periodic TAM on the refineries to boost local production up to the point of complete sufficiency.
But, that has not been done. So, at what point can we now say we are ready for deregulation?
Then, we must be very careful with this overt capitalist approach of market forces determining everything in free enterprise, especially in a developing economy such as ours.
The regulatory agencies are not fully independent and inadequately funded, yet we desire to free the market to operators to feed on consumers? No! The union will not subscribe to that conspiracy against the Nigerian people.
The combined products supply from the country’s refineries cannot meet domestic demand. How would deregulation work under a products import regime?
The major challenge in the refineries is feedstock. Crude supply to the refineries must not only be systematic, but statutory.
The daily fuel consumption is between 30 and 32 million litres per day, with provision for strategic reserve. If capacity is boosted to refine 80% of the domestic demand, and work towards bringing on stream private refineries to complement the balance, why should we still bother about importation? Now, why I said earlier that we need to put up structures that will sustain the policy of deregulation?
Under a products import regime, government will only put in place a mechanism that monitors the price parity to prevent oligopolistic tendencies of operators.
There are strong arguments for and against deregulation of the downstream petroleum industry. What’s the way forward?
Straight away, the way forward is for government to show the will in eliminating inefficiencies and corruption in the sector by strengthening the regulatory agencies by establishing their independence for greater efficiency. This is where the much anticipated passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is important. Like I said before, the Unions are not averse to deregulation as a policy, but it must be approached taking cognizance of Nigeria’s socio-economic realities.
For deregulation to thrive, all regulatory issues and laws capable of frustrating its effectiveness must be removed. Don’t you think the absence of the PIB could pose a major problem? What do you think the government should do?
Absolutely! The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) remains the panacea for the myriads of problems in the industry. We have heard government say it will implement provisions of the Bill piecemeal in order of needs and priority.
We don’t know how that will play out. Our expectation is for the Executive arm to re-present the Bill to the National Assembly and take advantage of the majority of membership for accelerated passage. Graciously the Senate President has promised to work assiduously at passing the Bill.
Crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism are two issues capable of frustrating the deregulation policy. How do you think these problems can be resolved?
We empathise with NNPC Management on the negative impact and colossal loss to the nation caused by the menace of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, which have become a major dent on the national and business integrity.
These criminal incidences are major causes of incessant shut-in production, force majeure, massive divestment, environmental degradation, and unbearable cost of maintenance and repairs.
Apart from causing unimaginable economic/revenue losses to the Federation Account, pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft continue to deter confidence in industry’s operators and players.
Refineries’ operational and functional effectiveness are truncated by pipeline sabotage. There should be a review of pipeline installation techniques and the maintenance policy, regular surveillance by core experts to evaluate pipeline integrity and proffer necessary solutions, well-coordinated security network, strict enforcement of Pipeline Right of Way, and review of enabling legal instruments for sanctioning violators/defaulters.
Troubled pipeline spots should be clear of all obstructions to ensure effective monitoring. We demand creation of a specialized security agency for monitoring and securing pipelines. Such specialized agency’s offices should be strategically located in troubled areas.
Do you think oil workers’ interest would be adequately protected under deregulation?
That is why Labour associations exist. The Labour movement in Nigeria will support anything that will advance the development of the country just as we shall resist attempts to mortgage our common wealth and hand them over to shylocks under the guise of a free market enterprise.
The oil and gas industry in Nigeria is endowed with some of the finest professionals and operatives the world can boast of.
Our engineers, geophysics, chemists, humanists, environmentalists’ are the finest you can find anywhere around the globe. So, who is afraid of deregulation?
Our laws are clear on job protection and wealth creation along the value chain, so we are not losing sleep over the effective implementation of deregulation.
Oil workers in the industry’s three regulatory agencies have rejected the redrafted Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) soon to be presented to the National Assembly.
OIL
The PIB is to replace the one passed by the Seventh Assembly but which was not assented by the president.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu had announced plans by the government to send another draft of the bill for the lawmakers’ consideration. The old bill, he said could not meet the yearnings of value-addition to the oil industry. But the content has not been made public.
But yesterday, workers in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) and Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), said they would not accept the draft bill because it neglects their welfare.
The workers said: “Petroleum Industry Governance & Institutional Framework Bill 2015”, if allowed to be passed into law, the bill, will lead to job cuts in some of the regulatory agencies. The bill seeks to provide the governance and institutional framework for the petroleum industry and other related matters.
The workers operating under the auspices of Regulators Forum have petitioned the national leadership of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) not to allow the bill scale through without taking care of the anomalies contained in it.
The petition signed by PENGASSAN Chairman, PPPRA Chapter, Victor Ononokpono, along with his DPR counterpart, Garba Bello, and PEF, Aminu Ahmed, said the concerns of the workers bordered on observations that the redraft institutional and legal framework for reforms in the oil and gas industry may have inadvertently left the oil workers in the cold.
While commending the Minister’s effort to stimulate reforms in the industry after several failed attempts, they argued that some inconsistencies in the draft PIB had stirred some fears about a veiled attempt by the government to sack its members.
They drew attention to some of the inconsistencies, especially in Part 3 of the redraft PIB which seeks to establish the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPRC), Section 13, on the composition of its Board, and Section 87, on the Transfer of staff.
They noted that the Bill provides that the Commission would combine the monitoring and regulatory roles and responsibilities of DPR and PPPRA to “administer and enforce policies, laws and regulations relating to all aspects of petroleum operations.”
They expressed concern about the silence of the redraft Bill on the fate of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) vested with the responsibility of ensuring uniform pricing of petroleum products, adding that “the union senses a subtle ploy to retrench or drop some of the work force transiting to the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission with the contentious clause on ‘transfer of certain employees.
“Cessation of employment and transfer of staff should be automatic and guaranteed as provided by the Public Service rules and Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
According to the workers, unlike the former PIB, the redraft bill does not make provision for the representation of the organised labour on the board of the Nigeria Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NPRC).
To the workers, the redraft bill is a departure from the provisions of the original draft 2012 Bill. Part D, Section 47 (2) (f) and (g) on the Board of the Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency (DPRA), representatives of the two major oil workers unions, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and PENGASSAN were listed as members.
“Apart from the uncertainty of the agency’s institutional role, the draft Bill as currently drafted will create job loss, as no provision for absorption or transfer of service for the work force is contemplated,” the oil workers’ representatives said.
“The Central Working Committee must make a public position known on the non-inclusion of organised labour in the composition of the governing Boards of Commission against international best practice.”
They asked the national unions to extract a memorandum of understanding on the re-drafting of the contentious issues, particularly as it concerned job loss of PENGASSAN members across the existing agencies (PEF, PPPRA and DPR).
Despite repeated denial by oil giants, Shell and Eni, that they did not know that the $1.1 billion they paid for OPL 245 was meant to be diverted to Malabu Oil and Gas, leaked emails have revealed that both companies were culpable in the plan to transfer the money to the dubious firm.
Malabu Oil and Gas, a shady oil firm, was incorporated by former Petroleum Minister, Dan Etete, five days before the oil bloc was awarded to it by the military regime of Sani Abacha.
Shell and Eni claimed however that they only paid the money to the Federal Government and have dismissed suggestions they knew the money would ultimately be sent to Malabu and Mr. Etete, an ex-convict.
But leaked email exchanges between officials of Shell and Eni obtained and published by Italian journalist, Claudio Gatti, showed that both companies actually wanted the money transferred to Malabu.
The mail showed the oil giants were involved in plans to make the transfer possible through the Federal Government, and also conspired to hide their involvement in the shady deal.
According to the leaked emails, six weeks before the deal was signed, an escrow agreement dated March 7, 2011 was drafted among the Federal Government, Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE) (Eni’s Nigerian Subsidiary), Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Nigeria Limited (SNEPCO) (Shell’s Nigerian Subsidiary), and J.P. Morgan Chase with the following passage showing the money was destined for Malabu:
(C) Pursuant to the Resolution Agreement, NAE, on behalf of SNEPCO and NAE, has the obligation to wire transfer to the Escrow Account an amount of XXX million US Dollars ($XXX) to the benefit of FGN, within five (5) days from the date of execution of the Resolution Agreement.
(D) The above amount shall be released by the Escrow Agent to MALABU on behalf of FGN pursuant to this Agreement, upon receipt of the Completion Notice.
But on March 30, 2011, conscious of the fact that it was getting involved in a criminal act, Shell sent another email to Eni which basically suggested a “new structure” for the deal that would hide its involvement with Malabu.
This new structure, which was later agreed by all involved in the deal, including the Federal Government, was tagged Resolution Agreements (RAs). An email from an Eni manager to Shell reads:
In general terms, Shell’s proposal to divide the RA in two separate agreements addresses part of Eni’s concerns, although it will need some re-work on our side. More specifically:
[…]
– FGN is envisaged to be the one paying Malabu directly. There is no need to refer to the Escrow Agreement no2, NAE paying to FGN etc; FGN shall pay Malabu and the fact that the money shall come to FGN from NAE is another matter dealt with under RA2.
– In general, we request to de-link, as much as possible RA 1 from RA 2, so that completion of RA 2 in [sic] not subject to the transaction under RA 1. […]
Two weeks before the deal was finalized, a meeting was held to discuss the final resolution.
The leaked email revealed that those present at the meeting were: Malabu representatives, Rasky Gbingie, Dele Adesina (Mr Etete’s lawyer), Shell managers Peter Robinson and Nike Olafimihan, Eni managers Roberto Casula, Vicenzo Armanna and Giorgio Vicini, Attorney General Mohamed Adoke and officials of the Ministry of Justice and Department for Petroleum Resources.
The minutes of the meeting reads:
Agenda
Discussion of draft OPL 245 agreements
The parties discussed the New Structure of agreements, in particular with respect to the comments from DPR.
Parties agreed to have 3 separate agreements and discussed the body of the text.
Finally parties agreed on the final wording as per attached documents
Way forward
The 3 agreements have been initialled by the respective parties. Parties to define the date for execution of the agreements.
A final email from Eni to Shell days before the deal was finalized further discussed whether Malabu would be in the room when the deal would be signed with the Federal Government.
Would Malabu attend the meeting as well? The resolution agreement with Malabu shall be signed at the same date, as well as the Shell resolution agreement. Is this going to happen?
When UK-based transparency organization, Global Witness, confronted Eni with the email exchanges it replied saying the organization misinterpreted the letters.
“We believe the interpretation in your letter is erroneous,” Eni said.
It added that it contracted a United States audit firm to investigate its involvement in the deal and nothing incriminating was found against it.
It however did not provide further details of the audit when Global Witness demanded for them.
Eni, however, did not respond to Global Witness’ questions, but in April 2015, it told Global Witness that: “We do not agree with the premise behind various public statements made by Global Witness about Shell companies in relation to OPL 245”.
On Tuesday, a British judge turned down request by Mr Etete for $85 million to be released to his fraudulent company, Malabu.
Justice Edis of the Southwark Crown Court ruled that he was not sure the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan acted in Nigeria’s interest when it approved the transfer of the money to Malabu.
“I cannot simply assume that the FGN, which was in power in 2011 and subsequently until 2015, rigorously defended the public interest of the people of Nigeria in all respects,” the judge ruled.
The judge also suggested that former President Goodluck Jonathan was beneficiary of the slush funds and was the person Italian investigators referred to by the code name “Fortunato”.
“The suggestion from the wiretaps is that “Fortunato” was implicated and I am told that this was a reference in code (not subtle) to the former president of Nigeria, President Goodluck Jonathan,” the judge said.
Fortunato is an Italian word that means “luck”, “lucky” or “good luck”.
Calls for government to cancel the deal and prosecute culprits
The director of Global Witness, Simon Taylor, said, “We now know beyond all possible doubt or denial that Shell and Eni knew exactly where their payment was going.
“It’s high time they stopped trying to mislead the public and investors about their role in this dirty deal, which deprived Nigeria’s citizens of over $1.1bn.
“To put that into context, $1.1 billion is equivalent to 80% of Nigeria’s health care budget for 2015.”
A Nigerian anti-corruption campaigner, Dotun Oloko, said “the Nigerian government needs to demonstrate to Nigerians and the wider public that it can and will rigorously defend Nigeria’s public interest by cancelling this contract and prosecuting all found culpable of wrongdoing.”
Nicholas Hildyard of The Corner House argued that “this evidence shows that high level executives in Shell personally took part in the creation, negotiation, and execution of this corrupt deal.
“It is now a matter of urgency that the judicial authorities in the UK, the US, the Netherlands and Nigeria, join forces with the Italian investigation into Eni, and properly investigate the role of Shell and its senior executives in this deal.”
Antonio Tricarico of Re:Common said: “Given the gathering pace of investigations into this deal and a call by the Nigerian House of Representatives to cancel the deal in 2014, investors in Shell and Eni, including the Italian public should demand to know why they were exposed to such risk.”
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Sunny Onuesoke has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s allocation of N39.4 billion for oil exploration in the Northern part of Nigeria.
Reacting to the pronouncement of the allocation as enshrined in the 2016 budget, Onuesoke, while speaking to newsmen in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State said it was amazing that when the West and other parts of the world were embarking on renewable energy exploration, Nigeria was allocating funds for oil exploration in arid Northern part of the country.
“I wonder if Nigeria is thinking ahead or backward. I am saying this because when countries like America are selling their reserve and diversifying into other sources of energy generation, it is now Nigeria is exploring for more oil in the North. It should be noted that Nigeria cannot be an advocate of climate change and at the same time invest on oil exploration instead of renewable drive for sustainable energy like solar,” he argued.
The Niger Delta Self-Determination Movement has appealed to the United Nations to assist the Niger Delta in its quest to own and control its resources.
Ankio Briggs
Niger Delta activist and convener of the NDSDM, Ms Annkio Briggs, explained that their demand was not for a secession.
“This is not a call for secession. After consultations, we came up with the position to control our resources,” she said.
According to her, their demand for self-determination is based on the lopsided nature of resource allocation in the country.
Briggs urged the UN to assist the Niger Delta with the conduct of a credible referendum in the region in order to enable it exercise its rights and the will of the people.
She said, “After due consultations with our various peoples, we have reached a conclusion and our position was reached pursuant to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
“We are also relying on the UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples and the various bills of rights in the Niger Delta.
“We also rely on the UN address by President Muhammadu Buhari at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 28, 2015.
“The President stated in his address that the unresolved question of self-determination for the Palestinian people and those of Western Sahara, both nations haven’t been adjusted by the UN as qualifying for this inalienable right must now be assured and fulfilled without any further delay or obstacle.”
She noted that being granted self-determination would enable the people of the Niger Delta to exercise their right to autonomy in matters relating to their local affairs, religion, education, economic activities, lands and other natural resources management, among others.
“Pursuant to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the people of the Niger Delta have articulated our demand for self-determination through various ethnic nationalities’ bills of rights.”
When Boko Haram captured territory in Nigeria’s northeast last year and declared a caliphate, there were real fears for the sovereignty of Africa’s most populous nation.
OIL
A deadline is looming for the military to end the six years of violence, with signs that troops have wrested back control of most of the towns and villages lost to the Islamists.
But now President Muhammadu Buhari is facing another potential headache with the revival of separatist sentiment in the country’s southeast and renewed debate over the sharing of oil wealth.
Recent weeks have seen a wave of protests calling for an independent state of Biafra, 45 years after the end of the brutal civil sparked by a previous declaration of independence.
Now, campaigners in the oil-producing Niger delta are demanding total control of resources to develop the region, which remains under-developed despite billions of dollars earned from crude.
Last Friday, the Niger Delta Self-Determination Movement (NDSDM) lobby group, declared the current agreement, whereby oil revenue is divided among Nigeria’s 36 states, was unfair.
“The 13 percent (share for the Niger Delta) enshrined in the 1999 constitution by the military is depriving us of our God-given resources,” the group’s convener Annkio Briggs told reporters in Lagos.
“We want 100 percent control and ownership of our oil so that we can control our future.”
– Northern ‘dominance’ –
Nigeria’s crude-reliant economy has been battered by the fall in global oil prices, hampering government spending and even the payment of state-sector salaries.
Crude accounts for 90 percent of Nigeria’s export earnings and 70 percent of government overall revenue.
In 2014, the country earned $77 billion from oil exports, according to the US Department of Energy, down from $84 billion in 2013 and $94 billion in 2012.
How much each state in the federation gets from the sector has long been a thorny issue, exposing barely concealed regional and ethnic rivalries.
Demands for a greater share of oil revenue were a factor in the violence that gripped the delta in the 2000s until a government amnesty programme, which ends this year, bought off militants.
Briggs’ group argues Nigeria’s political architecture, with 19 states classed as northern and 17 in the south, unfairly penalises the southern states where oil is found.
“Of the 774 local government areas (administrative divisions within each state), the north is given almost 70 percent,” she said, calling it “manipulations for… socio-economic and political dominance”.
She blamed a succession of northern-dominated military governments for forcing through the revenue-sharing agreement down the barrel of a gun “without our free, prior and informed consent”.
Briggs denied calling for a break away from the federation but argued every region instead should use its own natural resources to develop itself.
The NDSDM was founded last year during a national conference convened by former president Goodluck Jonathan at which delegates recommended the delta region received 18 percent of oil revenue.
The recommendation was not implemented before Jonathan left office.
– ‘Politically motivated’ –
Nigeria is almost evenly split between a Muslim-majority north and largely Christian south and the sharp division informs most aspects of political debate.
But the argument for so-called “fiscal federalism” is seen by some as unrealistic, with sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing not sufficiently developed yet to be sustainable.
Anyakwee Nsirimovu, of the Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition pressure group, said demands from southern pressure groups were predictable now Buhari, a northern Muslim, was in power.
“Why is it after the defeat of Jonathan you see the likes of Annkio Briggs, MASSOB (Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra) and IPOB (Indigenous Peoples of Biafra) asking for resource control and self-determination?” he asked.
The complaints in fact exposed the failure of Jonathan, from the oil-producing Bayelsa state, to help his southern kinsmen during his six years in power, he argued.
“Those who lost out in the power equation are behind the crisis,” he claimed.
But Tony Nnadi, of the Movement for New Nigeria, said every ethnic group had the right to either belong to or pull out of Nigeria, nearly 102 years after the country was formed.
“In 1914, the so-called Nigeria came into being through an amalgamation of southern and northern protectorates by the British colonial power,” he said.
“By the provisions of the amalgamation, we have the right since 2014 to renegotiate the basis of our continued existence.
The experiences of various ethnic groups “in the last 100 years have shown we cannot continue in the marriage”, he added.
Nigeria earned N2.512 trillion from the export of petroleum products in three months, between April and June 2015, according to data released Wednesday, by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
Fuel Subsidy
The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the Second Quarter of 2015, also stated that Nigeria recorded total merchandise trade of N4.372 trillion and a trade surplus of N1.4 trillion in the month under review.
It is instructive to noted that the amount the country earned from petroleum products sale in the second quarter of 2015, was 56.8 per cent of the country’s N4.49 trillion 2015 budget.
Also the amount earned from the export of petroleum products accounted for 57.5 per cent of Nigeria’s total merchandise trade and 87.3 per cent of total export.
In its classification of petroleum products export in the period under review, the NBS data revealed that the country exported petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals and crude oil valued at N2.121 trillion; liquefied natural gas valued at N260.7 billion, while liquefied petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons valued at N66.41 billion was also exported.
Others are: liquefied propane — N43.88 billion, partially refined oil including crude oil having gone primary refinement —N13.577 billion and liquefied butanes — N6.15 billion.
Specifically , giving a breakdown of Nigeria’s merchandise trade, the NBS stated that Nigeria’s total export stood at N2.879 trillion, while total import stood at N1.49 trillion, thereby, leading to a trade surplus of N1.39 trillion.
The value of total merchandise trade, according to the NBS, was 0.5 per cent less than the total of ₦4.393 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2014 and 34.3 per cent or N2.287 trillion less than the amount recorded in the second quarter of 2014.
In addition, the report stated that at N2.879 trillion, Nigeria’s total export appreciated by 8.0 per cent or N214.1 billion when compared with the value of exports in the first quarter of 2015, while it represented a decline of N1.8 trillion or 38.5 per cent when compared with total exports of N4.682 trillion recorded in the second quarter of 2014.
Continuing, the report stated that, “Other products exported by Nigeria include vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof; vessels among others at ₦250.6 billion or 8.7 per cent; Vegetable Products at ₦36.7 billion or 1.3 per cent, and Prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; tobacco at ₦24.6 billion or 0.9 per cent of the totals respectively.”
Furthermore, the report stated that Nigeria’s major export destination was India, with export trade of N406.1 billion or 14.1 per cent of total export.
Other top export destinations in the period under review were: Spain, Netherlands, South Africa and Brazil with ₦297.4 billion or 10.3 per cent, ₦296.3 billion or 10.3 per cent, ₦240.9 billion or 8.4 per cent and ₦147.8 billion or 5.1 per cent of the total exports respectively.
In the area of imports, the report said, “The value of Nigeria’s imports stood at ₦1.493 trillion during second quarter 2015, a decrease of 13.6 per cent from the value of ₦1.728 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter.
“Year-on-year, analysis showed that import trade was lower by ₦484.0 billion or 24.5 per cent.
“Nigeria imported goods mostly from China, United States, India, Belgium and Netherlands, which respectively accounted for ₦336.5 billion or 22.5 per cent, ₦143.6 billion or 9.6 per cent, ₦115.4billion or 7.7 per cent, ₦83.4 billion or 5.6 per cent and ₦ 80.9 billion or 5.4 per cent of the total value of goods imported during the quarter.”
Abeokuta – Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Tuesday identified bunkering and vandalism as the “most challenging problems’’ that confronted his eight-year tenure as Nigeria’s President.
Olusegun Obasanjo
Obasanjo made the remark at his Hill top residence in Abeokuta when he received Mr Ade Abolurin (rtd), the former Corp Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC).
He said that in his bid to effectively tackle vandalism, he ensured that he institutionalised the NSCDC through an Act of Parliament.
Obasanjo said he had no regret for doing that because the corp had turned out to be one of the government agencies that “I am very, very proud of.”
“Some of the things that I had to confront during my tenure as President of Nigeria were pipeline vandalism, holdup, and stealing of crude oil.
“That stealing is what they call bunkering; there is nothing like bunkering, it is outright stealing.”
“We used all the available agencies and resources; and your organisation as a voluntary organisation, unpaid, unremunerated, unrecognised and not institutionalised, was doing great job without being armed and without being equipped.
“That meant the height of commitment, nationalism, patriotism and service to fatherland and service to humanity.
“Of course, I didn’t hesitate to move ahead for an Act of Parliament to be able to organise you into what you are today,” he said.
Obasanjo commended Abolurin for leading the organisation to an enviable height.
He expressed hope that his successor would be able to maintain, if not improve on the standard left behind by Abolurin.
He said: “one of the major problems of this country is lack of continuity.
“I hope in your own case and this organisation, there would be continuity; continuity not for the man coming after you to do everything exactly like you have done it.
“It is not possible even if the person coming after you is your biological son, he wouldn’t do everything the way you would want to do it.
“As I am talking to you, I am also talking to your successor and I believe that where you have taken this organisation to, those coming after you will be able to build over it.”
Obasanjo said there were some essential things that should be preserved and maintained, especially the issue of value, integrity, commitment, patriotism.
“Those cherished values and virtues that you have maintained in this organisation should be maintained,” he said.
Earlier, Abolurin, an indigene of Abeokuta, said he escaped several attempts to assassinate him while office.
“The journey was rough, tough and challenging but I was able to stand tall and I am returning a champion and conqueror,” he said and promised to stay in touch with his successor.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Hajiya Zainab Shamsuna-Ahmed, on Wednesday said between 2009 and 2012, about 160 million barrels of oil valued at $13.7bn was stolen under the watch of the national oil giant, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
She also said that subsidy payment from 2005 to 2012 indicated that $11.63bn had been paid to the NNPC but that “there is no evidence of the money being remitted to the federation account.”
The NEITI boss, who called on the Federal Government to privatize the refineries, stated this during a courtesy call on Governor Nasir el-Rufai, at Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, on Wednesday.
El-Rufai is among the four governors appointed by the National Economic Council to scrutinise the accounts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Excess Crude Account managed by the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.
Part of the terms of reference was to unravel the N3.8trn not remitted to the Federation Account by the national oil giant between 2012 and May 2015, as well as $2.1bn said to have been deducted from the Excess Crude Account.
Governors of Akwa-Ibom, Edo and Gombe states were members of the team.
Hajiya Ahmed said, “Crude product swap of $866m was lost from 2009 to 2011 and $8243m in 2012. Total amount expended in subsidy payment from 2005 to 2012 as captured $11.63bn have been paid to the NNPC. However, there is no evidence that these amounts were remitted to the Federation Account,” she stated.
Meanwhile, Governor El-Rufai disclosed that since he called for the scrap of the NNPC, the corporation has being sponsoring articles in the media to attack him to fight on till NNPC will be killed.
He added that the corporation would be made to pay all monies it owed before its final death.
El-Rufai said, “NNPC has become a monster that is too powerful. I will continue to fight NNPC till it dies for Nigeria to survive.
“It is either Nigerians kill NNPC or NNPC will kill Nigeria.
“Since, I called for the death of NNPC, the corporation has sponsored articles attacking me, but I am telling them my skin is thicker than an elephant.”
The All Progressives Congress has said it was shocked at the magnitude of cases of corruption it has so far unearthed while going through the records of the previous administration.
Lai Mohammed
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja, on Thursday.
He was reacting to the announcement by President Muhammadu Buhari that some officials of the immediate past administration were involved in stealing one million barrel of crude oil daily.
Mohammed said, “We are not just shocked but taken aback by what we have found. We have always known that there was monumental corruption under the previous regime but we did not know it was this huge.
“Anybody who calls the questions we are asking a witch-hunt is a person who condones corruption, and again, when we were raising the alarm over this level of corruption they were engaged in, they said we were crying wolf where there was none.
“They said it never happened. They even went as far as manufacturing figures to cover up. We must ask questions so that whoever is coming into government will know that it cannot be business as usual and that he/she must be prepared to answer questions after they leave office.”
On its part, the Peoples Democratic Party said the allegations of impropriety levelled against the officials of the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration must be proved in court.
The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Jalo, said to the best of his knowledge, the PDP-led administration conducted its affairs transparently, as such, the party was not afraid of any probe.
He said, “Like I told you before, the PDP provided a transparent leadership for this country for the 16 years we were in power.
“It was the PDP that established the anti-corruption agencies we are celebrating today, like the EFCC and the ICPC. All we ask is that any probe of the last administration should not be used as an avenue to villify people who served this country diligently.”
Former Niger Delta militant leader, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, has called on the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to pay contractors of the oil pipeline surveillance project in the country.
Asari-Dokubo, who is one of the former Niger Delta agitators awarded pipeline surveillance contract by the Federal Government, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the three-month deal elapsed on June 15.
Asari Dokubo
He said that the ex-minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke, did not sign for the payment of the pipeline surveillance contract before she left office.
The pipeline protection project, which cut across Lagos, Ogun, Bayelsa, Ondo, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States, was executed from March 15, 2015 to June 15.
Asari-Dokubo urged President Buhari to pay the contractors their money if he was truly committed to the rule of law.
“Diezani (Allison-Madueke) did not sign payment for the contract before she left. All across the six states (Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa) where the contract was awarded none of us were paid; none of the companies were paid. The Federal Government should do what is needful by paying the money they owe. The same mandate that was given to Buhari to become President was the same mandate that was given to us in a legal and binding contract.
“If Buhari is law-abiding and if his government respects the rule of law, the contractual obligations will be followed. The contract was awarded to corporate entities by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. We did not go in as individuals and the corporate entities are regarded as individuals under the law. No contract was awarded to any specific individual,” he said.
The former militant added that he and other contractors would follow due process to get their money from the Federal Government.
He appealed to the President not to set a bad precedent where government will fail to pay contractors who had executed their contracts.
“The same way they give contract to people to lift oil; the same way they give Julius Berger contracts to build roads; the same way they give people contracts to build houses; that is the same way pipeline surveillance contracts were given to us. But they (FG) are not paying for the work done. It is against the law of the land. Paying us our contract money is the right thing he (Buhari) ought to do and for any reasonable human being,” Asari-Dokubo said.
It was learnt that the pipeline explosion occurred in Olugboboro community of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.
Following the incident, crude oil lifting has now been suspended at that platform, officials said.
