Sahara Group unveils 2019 sustainability report

(L-R)Executive Director, Sahara Group, Ade Odunsi, Director, Governance and Sustainability, Pearl Uzokwe, Executive Director. Moroti Adedoyin-Adeyinka and Executive Director, Kola Adesina at the unveiling of the Sahara Group 2019 Sustainability Report in Lagos on Wednesday.


Energy Conglomerate, Sahara Group, has released its 2019 Sustainability Report which reflected  its commitment to creating shared value for stakeholders through economic development, protection of the environment and building a sustainable society.
The report tagged: ” Transformative Innovation” was released by the Director, Governance and Sustainability, Sahara Group, Mrs Pearl Uzokwe on Wednesday in Lagos.
Uzokwe said the report highlighted  how the firm continues to leverage innovation and technology in achieving its corporate goals and sustainability ambitions across its businesses in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
She said the group had continued to foster partnerships and initiatives which had co-created a desirable future through innovation.
Uzokwe said: “We have aligned our business operations within our entities with the demands and expectations of our changing world – digitisation – which in turn increases our competitive advantage for sustainable growth.
” Beyond measuring our performance in numbers and outcome, we have raised our lever of sustainability excellence by committing to more strategic partnerships and setting targets to achieve sustainable development from the micro to global scale.”
She said Sahara had aligned its operations and processes in furtherance of the urgent global transition to cleaner energy and low-carbon solutions. 
Uzokwe said “Sahara entered an MoU with the United Nations Development Programme in 2019 to provide access to affordable and sustainable energy in sub-Saharan Africa. This is in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal 7.
“During the year, we were pivotal to the success of the United Nations Private Sector Advisory Group (PSAG).
“We joined hands with other stakeholders in  advancing the mission of the African Influencers for Development (AI4Dev) World Economic Forum’s Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) and other institutions in providing a better quality of life to the world,” she said.
According to Uzokwe, Sahara inaugurated its Green Life Initiative in 2019 in line with its commitment to fostering sustainable environments via the protection of the environment, promotion of a circular economy and recycling of waste within and outside our business. 
 
“Among other activities, we established a Recycling Exchange Hub in the Ijora Oloye community and executed upcycling vocational training for the conversion of tyres to usable products,” she said.
 
Uzokwe also reiterated the firm’s commitment to environmental sustainability and compliance with the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARA) standards – the only pan-African organisation for the African downstream oil sector. (NAN)

DPR warns depot owners against hoarding of petroleum products

Mr Sarki Auwalu, Director, DPR

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued warning to depot owners against hoarding of petroleum products in their facilities. 

Mr Sarki Auwalu, Director, DPR , issued the warning in a statement issued on Wednesday in Lagos.

Auwalu said it was necessitated  by reports received by the agency  on the wholesome activities of some depot owners who have created artificial scarcity by hoarding products in some parts of the country.

According to him, their nefarious activities is causing untold hardships to Nigerians. 

He stated that from available records,  there was product sufficiency in the country and that there was no need for such practices by these group of unpatriotic citizens. 

Auwalu emphasised that the Department, as the licence issuers to all oil and gas facilities in Nigeria including the depots, would not hesitate to apply appropriate sanctions on any depot found wanting in this regard. 

He further stated that the agency has set up a special taskforce to intensify surveillance and monitoring of all depots to check this anomaly. 

The Director assured that DPR would continue to provide its regulatory focus of quality, quantity,  integrity and safety ( QQIS) for the   effective operations of the Downstream sector.(NAN)

Deregulation : LCCI tasks FG on social pricing window for vulnerable Nigerians

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Federal Government to set up a social pricing window for vulnerable Nigerians to mitigate the impact of deregulation policy .

Mr Muda Yusuf, Director General, LCCI, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

Yusuf said the removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, would cause some challenges which could be for a short term if the right programmes were put in place.

He said: ” I will say that the deregulation policy is something that should be sustained and we should be looking at how we can mitigate the short term challenges on Nigerians.

“In the short term, we can look at a social pricing window for the vulnerable segment of society.

“The way we think this can work is to designate all the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) stations and provide a social pricing mechanism in the NNPC stations alone.

“The Federal Government can set aside a certain amount to subsidise in these windows and it should not be more than 10 per cent of the total consumption of fuel in the short term before we transit into full deregulation.

”For instance, if our total consumption is 50 million litres, we can earmark like five million litres for the purpose of serving these vulnerable groups through the NNPC stations which we have all over the country.”

According to him, the other petrol stations should be allowed to function fully within the deregulation framework and provide services for more economically empowered persons.

“The vulnerable people who can afford to queue for some hours can use the NNPC stations but those who have the ability to pay can go straight to other stations to buy fuel.

”This is a model that we can consider and it will also bring some comfort to the Organised Labour that something is being done immediately to assist the vulnerable groups in society.

“Of course, there will be issues of corruption but we have to live with some of these things in this transitional phase so that we can move forward otherwise government will be seen as being very insensitive.

“That is why I think that we should have that kind of social pricing window to take care of vulnerable Nigerians using only the NNPC stations,” Yusuf said.

He noted that another way to mitigate the impact was to look at the challenges it posed to cost of the transport and energy cost for Small and Medium Enterprises in particular.

Yusuf said: “We need to look at the issue of mass transit once again. We need to ensure that we structure our budgets both at the national and sub-national levels to ensure that we prioritise mass transit.

” We also need to accelerate the process of ensuring that we produce refined petroleum products domestically and in order to accelerate that, this deregulation has to be in place.

“I have heard arguments that we should allow refineries to be working before we deregulate but that is not going to work.

”Unless we have a deregulation policy in place, it will be difficult to attract direct capital into the refineries.

“So, deregulation should come before attracting investment to the refineries because as things stand, we cannot depend on government owned and managed refineries.

”It has been proved that this is not sustainable. We should be looking at how we can incentivise private investment in refineries. We need this policy reform to make that happen.”

#EndSars: Mr Macaroni, others arrested

Popular Instagram Comedian, Mr Macaroni alongside other protesters arrested by the Lagos state police command on Saturday morning, have been subjected to inhumane conditions.

In footage shared online by actor, Yomi Fabiyi, Macaroni is seen without a shirt crammed with other arrested protesters in a small bus. Some of the protesters had their hands tied behind their backs.

The video has generated negative reactions from Nigerians, condemning the police for subjecting the protesters to such terrible conditions.

DPR promises to upgrade downstream operations to global standard

Mr Sarki Auwalu, Director, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has promised to upgrade downstream operations to global standards with improved technology in  its ongoing automation process. 

A statement issued on Tuesday in Lagos by Mr Paul Osu, Head, Public Affairs, DPR, said Mr Sarki Auwalu, the Director of the agency made the promise

at a virtual meeting with the members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria ( MOMAN).

Auwalu said the DPR was currently deploying appropriate technology to enhance value for operators and investors alike in the downstream sector.

According to him, DPR has concluded plans to inaugurate the Downstream Remote Monitoring Systems (DRMS) on Feb. 11  in Abuja.  

He said the DRMS was an inventory  and regulatory tool designed to track product levels across retail outlets and depots using  the short code-  *7117#.

Auwalu said  the introduction of DRMS would create value for the sector by providing access to data for efficient  management of their operations. 

He noted that DPR as partners in progress would continue to engage with MOMAN to ensure seamless communication and feedback on our regulatory activities. 

The director said that DPR had developed a framework around quality,  quantity,   integrity and safety (QQIS) for petroleum products in response to the current situation of price freedom in the downstream sector.

 

He lauded the support of MOMAN for the gas expansion programme of government and advised the association to ensure  their members compliance with the gas add-on directives for their stations as they are the energy bridge of the nation.  

The Chairman of MOMAN,  Mr Tunji Oyebanji, assured  the DPR of the readiness of the association to always partner with the department for the development and growth of the sector.

He lauded the technology deployment by DPR in its operations which had enhanced its approval processes and data collection drive. (NAN)

DPR licenses first floating LNG production plant

Director/CEO DPR,  Mr Sarki Auwalu (Right) presenting Licence to Establish (LTE)  the first floating LNG production Plant in Nigeria to Managing Director   UTM Offshore limited, Mr Julius Rone at DPR office Abuja

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued Licence to Establish (LTE), the first floating Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production plant to UTM Offshore Ltd., an indigenous oil and gas company.

A statement issued on Monday in Lagos by Mr Paul Osu, Head Public Affairs, DPR, said the licence was presented to the company at the DPR headquarters in Abuja on Monday.

Mr Sarki Auwalu, Director, DPR who presented the licence said the company would be processing 176MMcfd natural gas and condensate.

Auwalu said the milestone was a reinforcement of the promise and commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to Nigerians to promote indigenous participation in the oil and gas sector.

According to him, it is to ensure that companies come to Nigeria and do business in an equitable way to stimulate the economy and create jobs for Nigerians .

He added that the licence was a demonstration of government’s resolve to harness safe and reliable technology for the development of the oil and gas industry.

Auwalu said that the DPR would continue to create opportunities for companies by providing the regulatory tools of licences, permits and approvals for investors.

The Managing Director of UTM Offshore Ltd., Mr Julius Rone, while receiving the licence promised to abide with the terms of issuance within the 24 months validity period of the LTE from the date of issue. (NAN)

DPR targets $500m from signature bonuses of 57 marginal oilfields

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) says Nigeria will earn about $500 million dollars from the signature bonuses to be awarded for 57 marginal oilfields in the country.

The agency said the bid round processes for the oilfields which began in June 2020 ,would be concluded by the end of the first quarteruarter of 2021.

Mr Sarki Auwalu, Director, DPR , made the disclosure while speaking on Friday during a television programme monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

NAN reports that a marginal field is any field that has reserves booked and reported annually to the DPR and has remained unproduced for a period of over 10 years.

Auwalu said the objective of the exercise was to deepen the participation of indigenous  companies in the upstream segment of the industry and provide opportunities for technical and financial partnerships for investors.

The director said out of the over 600 companies which applied for pre-qualification, 161 successful companies 

were shortlisted to advance to the next and final stage of the bid round

process.

"For the signature bonus, what we did internally is to look at the Competent Person Report and objectively estimate the average signature bonus on that field. 

"Some fields are high while some fields are low. We estimate to have not less than $500 million which is very much on the conservative side," he said.

The director noted that this was aside the monies already generated by the agency through the applications and data leasing for the marginal oilfields applicants.

He said the DPR had also gotten approval for the signature bonuses to be paid in either dollars or Naira to simplify the process for Nigerian companies and reduce strain on the nation’s foreign exchange reserve.

"Immediately after the payment of the signature bonuses and compliance with the farm out agreement, farm out demarcation area, then we will issue the award and bring the companies together for them to arrange how to enter the fields.

”We hope to finish the entire programme before the end of Quarter 1 this year.

"Going forward, we will give about 90 days in which the Oil Mining License holders will have discussions because no two fields are the same so that we allow these assets to be developed.

”We believe it will increase the reserves of this country as well as providing a lot of stimulant to the economy," Auwalu said.

He explained that the DPR had learnt from the mistakes made in previous marginal oilfield bid rounds, adding that the 2020 exercise would be devoid of such issues leading to lingering litigations and unproductivity.

Auwalu said the agency had put measures in place to ensure that the

awardees would be credible investors with technical and financial capability.

He said the DPR carried out due diligence on all the applications with the assistance of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, the Department of State Security and the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

Explaining the rationale behind the non-publishing of the names of the 161 successful applicants selected for the final stage of the exercise, Auwalu said such an action was premature.

"All of them will not be successful. When we are finished,I can assure Nigerians that all the names of the successful companies who will be awarded will be known by Nigerians,"he said. (NAN)