Mohammed Shosanya

The Federal Government, Tuesday, presented a licence for the establishment of Belema Sweet Export Terminal, the first of its kind in the world.

Presenting the licence in Abuja on behalf of the Federal Government to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Belema Oil Producing Limited, Mr Tein Jack-Rich, the CEO of Nigerian Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

He explained that with the grant of the licence, Nigeria has successfully acquired its first Hybrid Crude Export Terminal, with an eight million barrels storage capacity.

According to him,following the presentation of the licence to Belema Sweet Export Terminal, the indigenous oil company becomes the second to acquire such a license, the first being the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Exploration and Production Limited.

He said that except in accordance with the appropriate licence by the Authority, no company or entity had the right to engage in any exploration activity in the country, except the two companies.

He emphasized that no entity had the right to operate or establish terminals or other facilities for the export or importation of crude oil or petroleum products.

”In line with this, the authority has processed and hereby approved terminal establishment licenses to these two organisations.

”One is the NNPC Exploration and Production Limited, with 2,179,704 barrels of crude oil terminal at Offshore Akwa Ibom State within the waters of the exclusive zone.

”The second is the Belema Sweet Export Terminal in Kula, Rivers State, with 2 million barrels of crude oil terminal,” Farouk said.

According to him, the terminals are expected to operate within the provisions of the conditions of the licences as contained in the document.

He implored investors to invest in the sector as the government was determined to ensure a business-friendly environment for them.

Jack-Rich said the event marked a great milestone for the country, and attestation to the great success story of President Bola Tinubu, in less than two weeks of assuming office.

”With the establishment of Belema Sweet Crude Export Terminal, Nigeria now ranks number one in the world to establish a crude oil Export Terminal that is climate-conscious, where traditional energy and renewable energy integration is operated through a virtual power plant model.

”This is in line with energy efficiency/sustainability to protect our ecosystem,” Jack-Rich said.

He said this will also create over 100,000 jobs for families in the Niger Delta and Nigeria at large.

Speaking, Mr Modibbo Ahmed, who received the licence on behalf of the NNPC, said that Nigeria should expect the crude oil terminal in the next one to three months.

Belema Sweet Export Terminal Project is designed to be the first hybrid crude oil export terminal in the world.It is a land-based terminal with good proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, via the San Bartholomeo River, for ease of offtake.

The terminal is divided into two sections; the crude oil processing terminal section and the oil export loading terminal section.

The first phase of the project will comprise a 2,000,000 million barrels storage capacity.

The export loading terminal would be able to receive any crude oil carrier size such as Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC), Suezmax, and Aframax, among others.

Mohammed Shosanya

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) paid a total of $907 million as taxes and royalties to the Nigerian government last year as its operations continued to contribute to the national purse to finance development.

Besides, the company and its partners remitted more than $20.73 million to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in compliance with statutory requirements.

Reviewing the company’s operations,its Managing Director,Elohor Aiboni,said:“SNEPCo has helped to boost national revenue since 2005, when we pioneered production from deep-water in Nigeria after successfully drilling the first exploration well in more than 1,000 metres of waters five years earlier

“But we pay more than taxes and royalties. The success story at Bonga has helped to create a generation of Nigerian deep-water professionals, encouraged indigenous contractors and service providers to acquire skills and competence to support operations offshore and resulted in the construction of medical and educational institutions in addition to other aspects of social investments in different states of the federation”.

The company was incorporated in 1993 to explore and deliver hydrocarbons in Nigeria’s deep-water frontier where no concerted exploration effort had previously taken place.

The company has continued to deliver on this mandate through Bonga and other deep-water blocs. In February this year, Bonga produced the one billionth barrel of oil, marking a key milestone in the operations of a field located 120km off the shore of Nigeria.

Speaking further,Mrs. Aiboni,expressed appreciation to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and our Co-venture partners consisting of Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited, Total Energies Nigeria and Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited for the support.

She added that the company will continue to operate safely and deliver real benefits to all stakeholders, including the people and government of Nigeria..

Mohammed Shosanya

Seplat Energy,says the Ministry of Interior and the Nigeria Immigration Service have restored the Working Permit, Combined Expatriate Residence Permit and Aliens Card and other immigration documents of its Chief Executive Officer,CEO, Mr. Roger Brown.

The company had earlier announced that the withdrawal of the immigration documents by the Ministry, following false allegations of racism, unfair prejudice, discrimination and improper immigration status made by certain individuals parading as “concerned workers and stakeholders of Seplat Energy Plc.

The company added that it cooperated fully with the verification checks conducted by the Immigration Authorities, which resulted in the restored immigration status of Roger Brown,a statement said on Tuesday.

It added:” In view of the restored Immigration documents, Mr. Brown can now validly enter, work, and stay in Nigeria and today has resumed his position as CEO of Seplat Energy.

“The Board and Management of Seplat Energy Plc are pleased that Mr. Brown has resumed in his role as CEO, as the Company continues to make strong strides in delivering its 2023 operational targets.This announcement is made pursuant to Rule 17.10 of the Rulebook of the Nigerian Exchange, 2015 (Issuer’s Rule)”.

TotalEnergies ,Tuesday announced the Ntokon oil and gas discovery on OML 102 in offshore Nigeria.

Located in shallow waters, 60 km off the southeast coast of Nigeria, the Ntokon-1AX discovery well encountered 38 meters of net oil pay and 15 meters of net gas pay, while its side-track Ntokon-1G1 encountered 73 meters of net oil pay, in well-developed and excellent quality
reservoirs.

Ntokon-1G1 tested successfully up to a maximum rate of about 5,000 barrels per
day of 40° API oil.

Located 20 km from the Ofon field facilities on OML102, Ntokon is planned to be developed
through a tie-back to these existing facilities,according to a statement.

“The Ntokon discovery opens a promising outlook for a new tie-back development’’,
said Nicolas Terraz, President, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies. “After the
start-up of production of the Ikike tie-back on OML99 in 2022, this new success in the
area further demonstrates the potential of nearby exploration to create value within our low cost, low emission strategy”.

OML 102 is operated by TotalEnergies EP Nigeria with a 40% interest, alongside partner
NNPC Ltd with the remaining 60%.

Mohammed Shosanya

Hyde Energy, a global energy trading company,has advocated the need for the adoption of clean energy sources among Nigerians.

The company’s Chief Executive, Mr. Oladimeji Edwards,who said this at a press conference recently,assured his company’s commitment to making cooking gas accessible to many homes in Nigeria.

He added:”The Nigerian population is underserved with LPG. Morocco today has the biggest LPG business on the continent, and Morocco has a population of 60 million people, consuming about 5.5 million tons of LPG annually. In contrast, we are about 210 million people in Nigeria, and we consume about 1.4 million tons per annum today.

“In the LPG business, there is a convergence of events: there is deforestation, which means firewood is expensive and scarce and there is also no subsidy for kerosene. With these things converging, there’s no better time for the LPG business than now”

Speaking,Mr. Olumuyiwa Akande, the Head of LPG, emphasized that LPG is the future of the energy business in Nigeria.

He said that Nigeria is a gas-rich country, with more than 200 trillion cubic ft of gas reserves in six of the country’s seven sedimentary basins, which are commercially rich in gas.

He added: “I believe that it is the way to go as a country. For us at Hyde Energy, we have experienced exponential growth with our LPG business. By 2021, with the government declaring Nigeria’s ‘Decade of Gas,’ we had expanded our footprint in Lagos and Abuja. This increase in supply and demand has convinced us that the future is LPG.

“Two years ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stated, while announcing its plans for the N250bn Gas Expansion Fund, that “failure to harness its gas resources has had negative consequences for the country—economic, environmental, fiscal, and social—particularly as the industry has the potential to engender rapid growth in Nigeria’s non-oil economy.”

In 2021, the Nigerian government launched Nigeria’s ‘Decade of Gas,’ an initiative aimed at leveraging the country’s vast gas reserves to drive economic growth and development. The $20 billion initiative focuses on four key pillars: expanding gas infrastructure, increasing domestic gas utilization, growing gas exports, and attracting foreign direct investment into the gas sector.

The answer to how Nigeria will harness the potential of LPG lies in the four key pillars of Nigeria’s Decade of Gas initiative. If the plans outlined within these pillars are executed, the projected growth of the LPG industry will become a reality.Speaking on the investment, Mr. Edwards explained that “one of the ways will be to find gas within the ground, attract investments to extract that gas, develop the distribution network, and become like NLNG to the degree that supports the business.”

According to Nigeria LNG Limited’s report on Barriers to Market Development: Demand Pull vs. Supply Push, three things can be done to overcome the barriers to LPG adoption for market development: Accessibility, Affordability, and Acceptability.

To make LPG accessible, suppliers should ensure its widespread distribution to customers, eliminate long supply chains and infrastructure deficiencies, establish several local agents, make significant investments, and consider risk and Mega Tonnes of Coal Equivalent (Mtce) cost.

On the demand side, efforts should focus on increasing local LPG supply to households, creating smaller cylinders, ensuring full local sales and service, and facilitating fast and convenient refills with an abundant supply of cylinders.

Affordability is also crucial for customers. Suppliers should strive to lower LPG prices, reduce overhead costs, and develop small profit margins. Economic viability, subsidies for entry appliances, and third-party financial support should be considered as well.Ensuring public acceptance of LPG usage is equally important.

While there has been a significant increase in recent years, Nigeria can do more to promote the acceptability of LPG.Educating the masses on affordability, safety, and proper usage, as well as implementing a friendly household energy policy, are effective strategies.