Air Peace begins flight to Warri

Nigerian and West African largest carrier, Air Peace on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019 began flight operations from Lagos to Warri,in Delta State

The airline's inaugural flight which took off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport 2, Lagos touched down at the Osubi Airport , Warri at 11.15pm.

The ERJ-145 aircraft piloted by Capt. Crosby Otobo was welcomed with a water guard salute by fire fighters stationed at the airport .

Mr Allen Onyema, Air Peace Chief Executive Officer, said the move by the airline to extend its operations to Warri was part of the airline's no-city-left-behind project 

Onyema, represented by Mr Adeyemi Ayodeji, Manager, Ground Operations, Air Peace, said Warri was the 14th city the airline was operating into in Nigeria.

"We want to assure our passengers that this is just the beginning. We have plans to introduce flights from Warri to Port Harcourt and also from Warri to Abuja, " he said.

Onyema said the airline operates to five regional locations in West Africa (Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gambia and Senegal) and had on July 5, 2019 began flight operations to Sharjah- Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

According to him, Mumbai in India and Guangzhou , China will soon come on board as part of the airline's expansion on the international routes with its fleet of B777 aircraft.

He said the flight to Warri would be once daily and assured the Air Peace passengers of on-time departure and safety which were very key to the airline's operations.

Receiving the airline's officials, Mr Paul Erugbenu, Chairman, Osubi Community and the Community Secretary, Comrade Williams Eyarunu, thanked Air Peace for extending their operations to the airport.

Also, passengers on board the inaugural flight who were gifted various items by Air Peace expressed delight with the development noting that it would make the route more competitive for the airlines thereby reducing air fares.

Increase in tariff not panacea to Nigeria power sector's problems, says expert

An energy expert, Dr Damola Omole, Head, Power and Energy Strategy, Dangote Industries, says increasing electricity tariff will not solve the the problems bedevilling the power sector in Nigeria.

 Omole made the assertion on Wednesday at the ongoing Power Nigeria Agenda Exhibition organised by Informa markets in Lagos.

Omole said increasing the tariff would only amount to funding inefficiency, adding that the Federal Government should intensify efforts to encourage more players to invest in the sector.

He said the government should dilute the Distribution Companies to minority stake and thereafter sell its major stake to more credible players.

According to him, consumers should be metered before effecting tariff increases as estimated billing is generally unfair.

Omole also urged the government to look into the issue of supply and cost of gas to the thermal power plants in order to reduce the over N7.5 trillion lost annually to irregular power supply.

He noted the country's manufacturing sector was worst hit by the irregular supply with about 17 million small and medium scale businesses spending over N2 trillion annually in running generating sets.

Omole said: "Manufacturers only get seven hours of supply on average with the balance of over two-third self sourced.

"Grid supply should be 20,000MW for manufacturing sector to thrive but supply is currently less than 4,000MW.

"Grid power supply is irregular and unpredictable for manufacturing processes."

He explained that electricity consumed through alternative means cost N78 per kilowatt while supply from the grid was at N32 per kilowatt , thus increasing the cost of production for manufacturers.

According to him, the ripple effects of power shortages include reduced production, job losses, outright closure of factories or relocation to other African countries.

Omole noted that the power sector reforms  had failed to yield the desired result due to the failure of the generating companies,the transmission company and the distribution companies to align for a common purpose.

He said the lack of synergy between the layers in the energy value chain had resulted in over 2,000MW of electricity not been supplied to the end users by the distribution companies.

Omole also decried the lack of industrial clusters across the country which would have been of great benefit to Nigeria manufacturers and enable them compete with their contemporaries outside the country.

On his part, Mr Gareth Rapley , Group Exhibition Director, Informa market, said the exhibition which had over 130 local and international exhibitors was put in place to find solutions to the challenges facing the power sector in Nigeria.

Rapley noted that the energy problem was not peculiar to Nigeria and could be overcome with collaboration between the government and the private sector. 

He said the conference therefore was an opportunity for players in the energy sector to dialogue and exchange ideas on how best to address the issues confronting the sector.

Nigeria Adopts 10 standards to boost oil and gas industry

Industry demands and the need to keep up with best international practices in the Oil and Gas sector in Nigeria has spurred Standards Organisation of Nigeria into paving the way to adopt ten America Petroleum Institute(API) Standards for the nation.

This was disclosed by the Director General/ Chief Executive Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) Osita Aboloma Esq. during a joint Technical Committee (TC)meeting on Oil and Gas / Petroleum and Petro Chemicals convened in Lagos recently

Speaking at the meeting, the Director General SON, represented by the Director Standards Development Mrs. Chinyere Egwuonwu revealed that all the standards are critically relevant to operations in the Oil and Gas industry, hence the need to adopt them in collaboration with the stakeholders as Nigerian Industrial Standards (NIS)

According to him, adopting of international standards as national standard is not a new development, especially where the standards are elaborated by global leaders such as API who since 1919 have established a clout for convening subject matter experts in establishing, maintaining and distributing consensus standards for the oil and gas industry.

He further indicated that, “the API standards being adopted today are recognised not only for their technical specifications but also for their third party accreditation which facilitates acceptance by international bodies and has been a cornerstone in developing standards for the worldwide oil and natural gas industry.”

However, Aboloma cautioned that “in adopting international standards we must ensure that the standards are not in conflict with our statutory regulatory requirements and special consideration should be on or environmental factors, economic considerations, security of products, national interest and most of all global best practices.”

According to Aboloma, the nation’s oil industry does not exist in isolation therefore the standards adopted will ensure the availability of the NIS, enhancing market competiveness, prevention of dumping of goods, promoting export and a reliable basis for technological transfer and industrial development.

The Joint Chairmen of the TCs, on Oil and Gas/ Petroleum and Petrochemicals, Prof Joseph Ajienka of the University of Port-Harcourt and Prof Sunday Ojolo of University of Lagos sitting in for Prof Boniface Okorie of the UNN respectively, in their varying capacities spoke separately during the meeting

They both appreciated the DG SON for giving them the opportunity to serve, while exhorting all the participants to carry out what was described as a call to national duty with zeal and ensuring their comments and contributions are vibrant and robust enough to achieve the purpose of the TC

The API Standards adopted and rechristened NIS include are as follows:
API RP 50 2013 Natural Gas Processing Plant Practices for Protection of the Environment

API RP 520; 2014 Sizing, selection and Installation of Pressure-relieving devices in Refineries Part 1 Sizing and selection
API RP 520 2: 2015, Sizing, Selection and Installation of Pressure- Relieving Devices in Refineries Part II Installation
API 553: 2012 Refinery Valves and Accessories for Control and Safety Instrumented Systems
API 554: 2007 Process Instrumentation and Control

API 12L: 2008 Specification for Vertical and Horizontal Emulsion Treaters
API 2000:2014 Venting Atmospheric and Low –Pressure Storage Tanks
API 12F:2008 Specifications for Shop-Welded Tanks for Storage of Production Liquids
API 12D: 2008 Specification for Field Welded Tanks for Storage of Production Liquids
API STD 610: 2011 Centrifugal Pumps for Petroleum Petrochemical and Natural Gas Industries.

Mr Agboola Afolayan, Deputy Director Standards Development / Head Chemical-Tech moderated the proceedings of the day while Engr Oljuie Head Lagos 1 office / Group Head LPG Engr. Nwaoma Olujie was also on hand to support in driving the process which culminated in the adoption of the API standards

Stakeholders represented from the oil sector include representatives of, Cakasa Nig Comp. Ltd., Peachlite Eng. Consulting Services, Winelight Analytical Systems, Lopa Energy Ltd. Addax Petroleum, Dorman Long Engineering, Mobil Producing Nigeria and agencies like Nigeria Society of Chemical Engineers, FIIRO, Nigeria Institute of Mechanical Engineering and the Nigerian Institute of Welders.