Mohammed Shosanya

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore and develop suitable opportunities within the remits of both parties’ interests across the hydrocarbon value chain in Nigeria.

The new agreement was conveyed in a statement by Garba Deen Muhammad, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Limited,who also noted that the move is a development that NNPC Ltd.’s GCEO, Mele Kyari, summarized thus: “NNPC Limited is on the threshold of making value out of gas beyond any imagination.”

The statement said,one of NNPC Ltd.’s roles as enshrined in article 64(i) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) is to promote the use of natural gas through the development and operation of large-scale gas utilisation industries.

It explained that this role is in alignment with Nigeria’s Nigasification strategy which is a consolidation of critical programs embarked upon by the company to utilise natural gas and its associated liquids to be the energy source of choice, spur economic growth, free up crude oil for exports, and ultimately enable job creation.

According to NNPC Ltd.’s GCEO, with this project, “we are seeing an annual contribution of $3bn to the nation’s GDP and a lifetime contribution of $18bn to government revenue.”

As part of the company’s vision of operating the largest Petrochemical Hub in Africa, Indorama which owns the world’s largest single-train Urea Plant located in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, is currently working on expansion plans within the next 6 years, in the gas-based heavy manufacturing industries including fertilizer, methanol, and petrochemicals.

Speaking,the MD/CEO, Africa Indorama Energy, Manish Mundra, stated that “This is a strategic collaboration to unlock Nigeria’s upstream sector, but more importantly, to partner downstream, in order to share the value chain.” He said that “Nigeria’s gas reserves should position the country as one of the largest producers of urea in the western hemisphere.”

The statement quoted that key benefits of the opportunities include the monetization of over 1.7 TCF of gas and 100 million barrels of oil reserves, generation of upstream lifecycle revenue of over $18bn, downstream production of about 4.8 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) of products including methanol, urea, and fertilizer to boost national food security.

Other benefits include the creation of about 55,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities, the development of a condensate refinery to boost petroleum product supply and reduce product importation, annual GDP contribution of over $3.8bn, and attraction of over $7bn of foreign direct investment into the country.

According to the statement,the NNPC Limited’s agreement with Indorama follows Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment in India a few weeks ago, to strengthen business relations between both countries.

Mohammed Shosanya

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has renewed call for economic, environmental and social justice for oil, gas and mining host communities in Nigeria.

Mrs. Obiageli Onuorah, the Deputy Director/Head, Communications and Stakeholders’ Management, in a statement, noted that the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Dr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji ,disclosed this in Owerri, Imo State at the opening ceremony of the National Extractives Dialogue organised by a civil society organisation- Spaces for Change in collaboration with NEITI and the Ford Foundation.

Dr. Orji stated that a special multi-stakeholder’s approach was required to draw national and international attention to the specific responsibilities of extractive companies, the government, the civil society organisations, development partners and the host communities to address development issues of access to education, health care, job opportunities, environmental challenges and social infrastructure deficit in oil, gas and mining host communities.

He advised leaders of host Communities drawn from the South-South and South East geo-political zones to change their advocacy approach and work with NEITI to push their complaints through peaceful consultations driven by knowledge, information and data sharing, constructive engagements and dialogue.

He explained that the rationale behind the focus of this year’s annual dialogue series focusing on Host Community Development Trusts to serve as the Catalyst for Equitable Benefit-Sharing and Sustainable Prosperity for all in host communities was to serve as a new platform for discussions and constructive debates on how citizens-centered- policy engagements will drive the implementation of Host Community Development Trusts established by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

He added:“There is the need to examine how the Host Community Development Trust as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act is being implemented. What is the governance structure? How inclusive, participatory and transparent is the process of nominating members of the Board of Trustees, Management Committees and Advisory Committees”.

He that NEITI’s legitimate interest in working with Spaces for Change a leading civil society organisation is in furtherance of the agency’s partnership and collaboration with civil society organisations to deepen the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) at the sub national levels.

He appealed to host communities in Nigeria to build trust and confidence in managing the relationship between host communities, government and the companies operating in the sector.

The Deputy Chairman, Committee on Host Communities in the House of Representatives, Abdulkarim Hussaini Ahmed called for inclusion of public education, conflict prevention, management and resolution mechanism in the implementation of Host Communities Development Trust Fund and pledged the support of the National Assembly.

The Governor of Imo state represented by the Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, Prof. Eugene Opara, expressed satisfaction at the tone and direction of the dialogue and pledged the support of the state government.

The Commissioner welcomed the clarification given on what constitutes the 3% operating cost of the oil and gas companies has been laid to rest some of the doubts and unanswered questions.

He implored relevant government agencies in the sector involved in implementation to invest on public education and enlightenment of host communities.

The host and Executive Director of Spaces for Change, Mrs Vicotria Ohaeri, called on the host communities to organise themselves and take full ownership of the process adding that the provisions of the new legislation have moved host communities away from the era of charitable developmental assistance to a new era of entitlements and human rights”.

Mrs Ohaeri remarked:” Host communities under the PIA provisions now have the right to benefit from natural resources and these benefits are no longer acts of corporate benevolence, but an entitlement to partake in the design, content and structure of their own development, and most importantly, participate in the governance and administration of the extractive resources.”

The Dialogue was attended by government agencies in oil and gas industry, civil society organisations, representatives of state governments, the media and development partners.

The Dialogue examined the structure of the fund, the need for inclusiveness in designing the governance structure, definition of roles of state governments, companies, traditional rulers,host communities and the civil society.