Ending petrol subsidy extremely difficult but FG has no other option - MOMAN

Olumide Adeosun, Chairman, MOMAN

The Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) says ending subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) is extremely difficult but the Federal Government has no other option in light of current economic realities.

MOMAN also called for massive investment by the government in various sectors such as mass transportation, healthcare and education to successfully wean off Nigerians from petrol subsidy.

Mr Olumide Adeosun, Chairman, MOMAN, made this known during a panel session at the just concluded

Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) Strategic International Conference which held on Thursday in Lagos.

He spoke on the topic: " Energy Transition, PIA, Petroleum Pricing and the Way Forward for the Downstream Sector."

 Represented by Mr Clement Isong, Chief Executive Officer, MOMAN, Adeosun said it would remain extremely difficult to wean Nigerians off cheap PMS, also known as petrol.

He said: " It is something that must be done as there are no more viable options. 

"We are told that this year the subsidy bill to the Federal Government may be between N5 trillion and N6 trillion. Clearly, Nigeria cannot afford this. 

"To wean Nigeria off this subsidy, a lot of investment must be done to sensitise Nigerians in convincing them and finding alternatives. 

"We need to begin to remove the subsidy and mitigate the pains Nigerians will feel when petroleum prices begin to manifest their true value."

Adeosun said marketers were optimistic that the industry was headed in the right direction with the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act ( PIA) 2021 which was an excellent piece of legislation.

"We are now at the point of implementation, which is taking a bit longer than hoped but this is not necessarily a bad thing. 

"The President postponed the implementation of free market pricing, which has caused a slowdown with respect to benefits expected from free competitive open market pricing, such as new investments and subsidy removal, " he said.

The MOMAN chairman said the marketers were also very convinced that gas (the decade of gas was declared by the Federal Government in January 2021) was clearly the way forward.

He said however, the increase in gas prices worldwide and the unavailability of the product had made it a little more difficult in the roll out. 

Adeosun said: "The ordinary Nigerian who was meant to transit to gas not just for cooking but also for powering automobiles and power generation is struggling and because PMS pricing is yet to be fully deregulated.

" It creates an aberration and additional challenge for the adoption of gas, as most people are still dependent on cheap PMS for their cars and generators."

According to him, while the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has an important role to play in guiding our future, the best regulator ultimately is the market. 

"The market regulates prices if you are too expensive people would not buy from you. The market regulates quality as well as customer service. The market also rewards the best in class.

"We need to move to an era of transparency and information dissemination. 

"Energy correspondents need to share as much information as possible with the market and public with respect to cost prices, quality, product specifications, customer service and pump prices. 

"That is the best regulation you can ask for," Adeosun said.

Following these remarks, a few panelists present alluded to the point that Nigerians mostly agree with price deregulation. 

They, however noted that the government must cut its costs to reflect present economic realities and adjust just like ordinary Nigerians who are feeling the pinch. 

They said the government could not be seen as spending ostentatiously whilst asking ordinary Nigerians to tighten their belts which drew large agreement from panelists and participants alike.

  

Modular data centres, storage management key to data explosion – Schneider Electric

By Solomon Asowata 

Global energy giant, Schneider Electric, has identified modular data centres, micro data centres and better storage management as key elements to handle future data explosion and achieve sustainability.

Natalya Makarochkina, Senior Vice-President, Secure Power Division, International Operations, Schneider Electric, made this known in a statement posted on the company’s website on Friday.

Makarochkina said the demand for data would continue to increase, adding that Schneider Electric had been committed to a sustainable business for decades.

She said: “Global data production went from estimates of two zettabytes in 2010 to 41 zettabytes in 2019.

“International Data Center (IDC) estimates global data load will rise to a staggering 175 zettabytes by 2025.

“The development of data centre infrastructure management (DCIM) systems has continued apace, allowing the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to take advantage of hardware and infrastructure developments.”

She noted that data explosion was expected to continue to increase with developments such as industrial Internet of Things (IoT), 5G and with increasing general automation and autonomous vehicles as driving factors.

According to her, the data that will be generated, far from the centralised data infrastructure, must be handled, processed and turned into intelligence quickly, where it is needed.

Makarochkina said new data architectures were expected to improve efficiency in how all of that is handled, adding that edge computing is seen as an important approach to manage more data being generated at the edge.

She said for Schneider Electric, this had meant a renewed focus on efficiency in all aspects of design and operation.

“Gains have been made in efficiency in power and cooling, with UPS systems and modular power supplies showing significant gains with each generation, culminating in the likes of the current Galaxy VL line.

“This line’s use of lithium-ion batteries has not only increased efficiency, it has extended operational life and reduced environmental impact in reducing raw materials.

It has facilitated “energised swapping where the addition and/or replacement of power modules can be performed with zero downtime while increasing protection to operators and service personnel,” she said.

Makarochkina, however, explained that efficiency must extend through not just the supply chain, but also throughout lifecycles.

She said vendors, suppliers, and partners must all be engaged to ensure that no part of the ecosystem lags in applying the tools to ensure efficiency.

“This applies as much in the design time of new equipment and applications as it does through working life and decommissioning,” she added. (NAN) 

Ikeja Electric reiterates commitment to metering as 140 graduate from Metering Academy

L-R: Managing Director, Energy Training Centre (ETC), Mrs Ibiene Okeleke; IE Energy Sales Representatives /one of the graduands of IE Metering Academy, Mr Akingbade Adeniyi; Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Ikeja Electric, Mrs Sequinat Akinwunmi and Director-General, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), Mr Bolaji Nagode during the presentation of certificates to IE Metering Academy graduands on Thursday  in Lagos.

Ikeja Electric reiterates commitment to metering as 140 graduate from Metering Academy

Ikeja, Aug.4,2022 (NAN) Ikeja Electric Plc (IE), Nigeria’s leading electricity distribution company, has trained 140 employees to boost metering density and meter management across its network.

Speaking during the presentation of certificates to the graduands, the Chief Executive Officer, Ikeja Electric, Folake Soetan, said Ikeja Electric Metering Academy was launched in 2020 as a result of shortage in human capacity for the installation of meters, resulting in slow pace of metering across its network. 

The CEO who was represented by Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Ikeja Electric, Mrs Sequinat Akinwunmi, said the training was done in collaboration with the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) and the Energy Training Centre (ETC).

According to her, the young graduands were selected across Ikeja Electric’s six Business Units - Akowonjo, Shomolu, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Oshodi and Ikorodu.

 Akinwunmi said the essence of the training was to bridge the metering gap in the industry which aligns with the vision of Ikeja Electric, as well as the Federal Government's National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP). 

“The programme will also equip staff to carry out the functions including meter installation, identifying faults and also rectifying the faults. This will in turn improve service delivery, ensure customer satisfaction, and also grow revenue,” she added.

“This programme is very important to us. That is why we have put in a lot of resources and time, and also partnered with NAPTIN and ETC to close up this skill gap in the industry," Akinwunmi further explained. 

While congratulating the graduating students, she tasked them to be worthy ambassadors of Ikeja Electric and adhere to safety standards which is one of the DisCo's core values.

The Managing Director, Energy Training Centre, Mrs Ibiene Okeleke said: “Ikeja Electric had invested heavily in the Metering Academy. 

They partnered with Energy Training Centre (ETC) to ensure the 140 candidates were trained by the Metering Academy, across three batches.

According to her, “The Energy Training Centre had signed a partnership with NAPTIN, which is the sector’s regulated training centre that works with Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

 So, NAPTIN was acting as the certifying body, and as such, they ensured that the programme followed the curriculum and the right content, and there is quality assurance as well. 

And so NAPTIN did not just play this role in certifying, they ensured that the faculty maintained high standard.”

She commended Ikeja Electric for investing massively in such a laudable programme, while noting that the initiative shows the commitment of the company to get people who have the desire to do things the right way.

 She added, “It was also important for us to reflect on the opportunities to increase the revenue of IE through meter data management, optimization of operations and other initiatives.”

The Director-General, NAPTIN, Mr Bolaji Nagode, explained that the institute was saddled with the responsibility to build human capacity and to coordinate training in the power sector. 

He said the training would also help to shore up the DisCo's revenue collection and improve customer satisfaction, apart from increasing the level of efficiency of the graduands.

Speaking on behalf of the graduating students, Mr Akingbade Adeniyi, Mr Tomilayo Oluborode and Ms Gloria Gomina, thanked Ikeja Electric for facilitating the training. 

According to them, they have been equipped on how to install meters, identify meter bypass and meter management among other things which would improve their job performances going forward.(NAN)

Firm to unveil Nigeria’s first instant messaging app, Lets Talk

Ms Folashade Ayeni, Chief Operating Officer, Lets Talk I.T& Communications Company

A Telecommunications firm, Lets Talk I.T and Telecommunications Company, says it is working on launching Nigeria’s first instant messaging application, ‘Lets Talk’ before the end of the third quarter of 2022.

The Chief Operating Officer of the company, Ms Folashade Ayeni made this known while speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.

Ayeni said the application was designed by a team of Nigerian software engineers in line with the vision of the National Information Technology Development Agency ( NITDA) for indigenous companies to come into the social media space.

She said: “Lets Talk was created out of a need that Nigerians and Africans have.

” If you look at it, sometime last year in October, October 4 To be precise, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram crashed. No one was able to use those applications because of one thing or the other.

“Many people lost money, several people were not able to reach families, friends, relatives and do business normally, because a whole lot of people have taken business and relationship to the social media.

“It crashed for about six hours or so and the reality dawned on us that really, whether it was intentional or not on purpose that we could lose everything.

” " So, we thought about owning our social media platform; where Nigerians can have guaranteed communications, with outmost security, which is  Nigerian owned and indigenous to us and for us in Africa."

Ayeni said the company was aiming to collaborate with NITDA, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and other relevant agencies to ensure the success of the application and acceptability by Nigerians.

On the unique features of the app, she said it is end-to-encrypted, allows users to listen and share music, video and audio call, 5,000 member group chat, seven person conference calls and file exchange up to 2GB.

According to her, it also allows for device and cloud caching as well as sharing moments and trends which will give users very pleasant experiences.

She said the application could be downloaded on Google Play and App Store for both android and Apple phones.

Ayeni also explained that the application would be in two parts, Lets Talk Basic which would be a free social media platform while there would be a secondary phase that would be on subscription basis.

“Now, there will be Lets Talk social which is the basic one that everybody knows.
You chat, you speak to people, you do video calls do video conference for free, but there’s a secondary part of it.

“And the secondary part of it is to provide enterprise resource management. So there are people who want to subscribe to that package.

“We are talking about ministries, parastatal agencies, businesses, banks and other sectors that can utilise the platform to improve their businesses and services and that is where value comes in,” she said.

High diesel cost: NARTO seeks review of petrol freight rate

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has called for an upward review of the freight rate for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) due to the high cost of diesel in the country.

NARTO is also asking for access to foreign exchange at official rates for its members for procurement of spare parts for their vehicles to ensure safety and stability in the distribution of petroleum products across Nigeria.

NARTO’s President, Alhaji Yusuf Othman, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos.

Othman said NARTO members were barely surviving as the price of diesel had continued to increase following the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

He said: “Government has to do something urgently about the situation. It is affecting our operations adversely.

“For instance, you fuel a truck with 1,000 litres of diesel, the cost as of today in the market is about N750,000.

“At the end of the day, when you come to Abuja, you are paid N16 per litre for the 45,000 litres you are bringing in which is N720,000.

“That is even less than the cost of the diesel. You have to pay the loading fees, the driver allowance and other costs.

“What we are paid is by far lesser than our expenditure so, how can you cope?

“You cannot survive and some of our members have already parked their trucks and many others will soon join them.”

Othman said the current transport template payable under the N165 per litre petrol pump price was no longer sustainable despite government’s decision to continue subsidy on PMS.

He said apart from depriving the nation of huge funds that could be deployed to other critical areas, it was also encouraging smuggling of petrol across the border to neighbouring countries.

“We believe it is best to fix the price by ourselves but we cannot do that because the pump price remains N165 officially.

“We know the government is doing its best because this problem is not related only to Nigeria.

“The Pipelines and Products Marketing Company is giving us some diesel as palliative at a discounted rate. The marketers too are giving us but for how long can this continue?

“Businesses cannot be sustained on subsidy or palliatives. Businesses should be allowed to run according to market forces.

“The way forward is for government to allow the Petroleum Industry Act to perform maximally to its full potential which include the removal of subsidy on PMS.

“That is the only option because they cannot continue to sustain it,”Othman said

CBN assures EKEDC of support to improve power sector

By Solomon Asowata

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) visited Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) on Wednesday as part of its monitoring and evaluation tour of the CBN-funded Capex intervention facilities for electricity distribution companies in Nigeria. 

The apex bank team was led by the Director of Development Finance, Yusuf Philip Yila; Director of Strategy Management, Clement Buari; and the Director of Trade and Exchange, Ozoemena Nnaji.

In a statement by the EKEDC spokesperson, Godwin Idemudia, the CBN has embarked on several performance improvement projects to reduce the various challenges plaguing the electricity industry in Nigeria.

 The apex bank intervened by funding the procurement, installation, rehabilitation, and replacement of some electricity distribution infrastructure such as 11kv and 33kv feeders, switchgear, and many more to assist the Discos' capacity in the delivery of adequate and reliable power supply to Nigerians. 

In addition to this, the CBN commenced phase zero of the National Mass Metering Programme (NMMP) in 2020 to address the problem of metering. 

As a result, the CBN monitoring and evaluation team visited the Disco for progress reports on these projects.

In her address, the MD/CEO of Eko Disco, Dr Tinuade Sanda expressed her appreciation to CBN for its effort in improving the power sector. 

She pointed out that CBN-funded Capex projects have aided the Disco in improving its supply to meet the high demand for electricity in its network.

 According to her, the projects have brought about the rehabilitation and replacement of obsolete equipment.

 Concerning metering, Dr. Sanda said, 'the NMMP came at the appropriate time to reduce our losses and cushion the effect of the Service Reflective Tariff.’

Reacting to the progress reports delivered by EKEDC, Mr Phillp Yila commended the Disco for its sheer effort towards the achievement of the Federal Government/CBN intervention schemes.

 He said, 'we are here to ensure that the funds disbursed are adequately utilised, and to listen to the challenges that have emanated in the course of implementing these projects.' 

Yila also emphasised that the National Mass Metering Scheme is very important to the CBN as the tour was also meant to carry out due diligence on the execution of phase zero of the scheme and how the apex bank and the Disco can collaborate better in proceeding to the next phase.

The EKEDC MD/CEO assured CBN that EKEDC is fully committed to the achievement of the projects in which some of which are still ongoing.

 According to her, the rationales for these projects are aligned with Disco's corporate goals and objectives.

 Sanda further explained how EKEDC is diligently working to ensure that these projects are contributing to the company's growth via the establishment of a market review committee that evaluates the performance of the company monthly as well as a prepaid meter monitoring team that ensures meters installed are not bypassed.

NLNG leads stride to gas-powered economy

An analysis by Solomon Asowata, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

 

A cardinal goal of the federal government is to transform the Nigerian economy into a gas-powered economy by 2030.

Ancillary to that is the hope to align the country with the global push for transition to cleaner sources of energy.

To achieve that lofty goal, the federal government adopted gas as the vehicle for its energy transition journey, declaring January 2021 to December 2030 as the Decade of Gas Initiative.

No doubt, the country is blessed with abundant gas resources; 208.62 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of proven gas reserves valued at over 803.9 trillion dollars, and potential upside of 600TCF of gas.

This has fueled the overarching objective of the federal government to utilise the nation’s abundant gas resources for socio-economic growth and development.

In order to actualise this objective, it is imperative for the government to leverage the achievements of the Nigerian LNG Company Ltd. in the global Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) space.

Indeed, experts believe that NLNG, which marked its 33rd anniversary on May 17, has shown by its developmental strides, that the objective is achievable.

Apart from deepening domestic gas utilisation, the NLNG is said to have contributed significantly to the country financially.

According to information on the company’s website, it has so far contributed 100 billion dollars to the federal government’s coffers, and 6.5 billion dollars in taxes since it started operations.

It also paid 13 billion dollars to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. for feed-gas purchase, and 16 billion dollars in dividends to the federal government.

Acknowledging these achievements, the Federal Inland Revenue Service in a statement signed by its Executive Chairman, Mr Muhammad Nami, on May 16, recognised the NLNG as the Most Supportive Tax Payer in the country.

Prompted by this accolade, Dr Muda Yusuf, Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the NLNG model should be adopted by the government in other public-private-partnership arrangements.

“The NLNG model has worked very well. It might not be perfect but of all the public private partnership arrangements that we have had, the NLNG model seems to be the best so far.

“The beauty of it is that there is practically no interference or very minimum interference in the management of the place. 

“So, there is professionalism in the management, in the allocation of resources, in the recruitment and that has resulted in high level of performance,” he said.

Similarly, Mr Nuhu Yakubu, President, Nigeria Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) and Managing Director, Banner Energy, said the NLNG was a pride to all Nigerians.

“Not only has the NLNG project endured for 33 years but it is a trail blazer for other similar projects that the Federal Government of Nigeria should mirror in the way NLNG is being administered and managed.

“Aside the huge revenue being generated from the NLNG for the Nigerian government, the company has brought human capital development to bear,” Yakubu said.

He said Nigerians working in NLNG were thorough professionals who were capable of competing with their peers globally.

Yakubu said the impact being made by the NLNG to deepen domestic gas utilisation in Nigeria could not be overemphasised.

“NLNG has gradually progressed from a 150,000MT intervention to the domestic LPG market to 250,000MT to N350,000MT and now to 450,000MT, which is maxing out their entire domestic LPG production to the Nigerian market.

“It is unprecedented and it means NLNG is meeting the yearnings of Nigerians. It is gauging the pulse of Nigerians and responding to it and we wish other corporations of that magnitude can do the same thing.

“We will be able to close the energy gap that we have in Nigeria because we have pervasive domestic energy poverty and need lot of interventions to address the issue so that at least every home in Nigeria will have access to gas.

“The NLNG intervention in the domestic market has catalysed growth and development in infrastructure on the supply side.

“From 2007 when the NLNG intervention started, we had only one terminal in Apapa, Lagos owned by the Pipelines Products Marketing Company.

“Today we have many privately owned coastal terminals across the country and there is also a lot of capital flow for infrastructure development because of the confidence brought in by NLNG,” he said.

However, Mr Michael Umudu, National Chairman, the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers (LPGAR), branch of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), said NLNG needed to do more to ensure supply of LPG in the domestic market.

Umudu said the total amount allocated to the domestic market was insufficient as about 60 per cent of LPG being consumed in Nigeria was imported.

Mr Philip Mshelbila, Chief Executive Officer, NLNG, said the NLNG had for the past 33 years vigorously pursued its vision of being “a globally competitive LNG company, helping to build a better Nigeria.

“Our company has touched lives in significant areas such as economic empowerment, health, education, infrastructure development and sustainable community development.

“Over the years, it harnessed natural gas that would have otherwise been flared, thereby contributing immensely to a cleaner environment. 

“And by delivering 100 per cent of its LPG production into the domestic market, it helps Nigerians transition to cleaner cooking fuels.”

Also, the NLNG said the ongoingTrain 7 project would help the company increase its allocation to the domestic market.

It said the project was expected to ramp up NLNG’s production capacity by 35 per cent from 22mtpa to around 30mtpa.

The company noted that the project would form part of the investment of over 10 billion dollars, including the upstream scope of the LNG value chain, thereby increasing dividends and taxes accruing to the government.

Incorporated as a Limited Liability company on May 17, 1989, the NLNG was set up to harness Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources and produce Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) for export. 

The establishment of NLNG is backed by the Nigeria LNG (Fiscal Incentives, Guarantees and Assurances) Act. Cap N87, Laws of Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The law, amongst other things, provides for the guarantees and assurances by the federal government to the company and its shareholders.

The NLNG is an incorporated Joint-Venture owned by four shareholders: the federal government, represented by NNPC Ltd. (49 per cent), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6 per cent), Total Gaz Electricite Holdings France (15 per cent) and Eni International N.A. N. V. S.àr.l (10.4 per cent). 

Today, NLNG has a total production capacity of 22 Million Tons Per Annum (mtpa) of LNG and 5mtpa of Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) from its six-train plant complex. 

The company has 16 long-term Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPAs) with 10 buyers and controls about six per cent of global LNG trade. 

By the strides of NLNG in its 33 years of existence, and the groundswell of goodwill, many Nigerians, and experts, believe that the company has the wherewithal to lead Nigeria’s march towards a gas-powered economy