Oil & Energy

Total And Sustainable Dev Practice

Published

15 years ago

June 13, 2011

Corporate relations responsibility is a core value to any successful business venture and to Total Exploration and Production Nigeria (TEPN) Limited, it is not just a responsibility but a commitment. This commitment has propelled the company’s core value in corporate social responsibility which basically include respect for the environment and the enhancement of social and economic well being of communities hosting its facilities. The company has made concerted efforts in putting in place structures and programmes for the improvement of the well being of its host communities.

Little wonder Total has been adjudged the best in the oil and gas industry in terms of its corporate social responsibility delivery to host communities which is hinged on the concept of sustainable development.

The concept stresses that when indigenous communities run majority of their programmes through institutions and enterprise set up by themselves and for themselves with Total as partners, high sustainability is maintained.

This, no doubt, has greatly paid off for the company as amidst the restiveness that other oil companies face, for Total upsstreams companies in the country, the relationships with all the communities that host its facilities have been robust and cardinal. They have operated in relative peace with all their neighbours and stakeholders. The acceptance by host communities and the perception of the Company as a role model in Corporate Social responsibility delivery by the larger society have placed the company in a good stead in the oil and gas industry. Only recently, the company’s sustainable development practice was stretched to those at the other end of society as in mates of charity homes in Port Harcourt were showered with gifts worth millions of Naira.

Among the homes visited were Home for the Elderly, Harbour Road, Motherless Babies Home Borokiri, Global Foundation for Orphaned Chilren, Ikwerre Road by Rumuokwuta and David Bassey Ikpama Home Eagle Island.

Items donated to these homes include food stuff, baby cots/Matrrases, branded wooden beds, baby changing station, provisions among others.

Presenting the items, the company’s Public Relation Manager, Port Harcourt district, Mr. Ikwazom Norbert said, “it is the tradition of Total to share the concerns of its host communities and especially during festive periods, we let every facet of society have a feel of Total’s presence”.

Responding to the gesture, Cliff Jarrell, the father of the family of almost 40 orphaned children (Global foundation for Orphaned Children) said “it is a huge help, you have taken a huge burden from me. I thank Total for being agent of mercy. An agent of change; an angel to the home. You will surely be rewarded”.

In the same vein, Mrs Barile Austine Nwakoh, Matron of the Port Harcourt Children’s Home said Nigeria would have being a much better place if we have more of the likes of Total, urging others to emulate the company.

Indeed, Nigeria, specifically the Niger Delta would have been a better place if we had many more companies like Total in existence companies that would put the people at the centre of policy formulation and implementation in the delivery of social programmes in their domains.

The practice, rather, industry-wide has been the usual appeasement of community leaders through payments and assistance which ended up not meeting the real needs of the people.

And sometimes, the appeasement ends up in the pockets of some priviledged few.

At other times when these companies go beyond payments and assiatnace to the provision of basic infrastructure which did not, emanate from community consultation, it could not be sustained as the stakeholders or communities were disconnected from such programmes.

No wonder most projects carried out by companies that took this approach end up either being abandoned or decadent due to lack of maintenance. The people become discontented and naturally results to resentment and aggression.

Total had a paradigm shift in its corporate social responsibility delivery to host communities since 2007 which has set it apart in the oil and gas industry. Total’s approach has not only been adjudged the industry bench mark but has made the company to have commensurate value for projects and programmes initiated; and the host communities derive full satisfaction.

Hear what Mr. Edem Etim Ebong, Chairman, Ibeno Youth Development Council said in an interview:

“Total has been one of the best oil and gas company Ibeno has associated with. It is the first oil company so far that will sit down with the community and discuss their developmental needs so as to have a framework of agreement on what is expected from each party … the relationship has taken off well and it is cordial”.

In demonstration of the company’s commitment to the educational development of its host communities, the company in collaboration with the consultancy division of Benviatto Schools Limited organised the 2011 Career Guidance and Counselling Programme for secondary Schools in its, OML 58 areas. The 2011 edition was the third in the series which had about 163 students drawn from eleven secondary schools in OML 58, NYSC members, teachers and community representatives’.

The company’s General Manager, Sustainable Development and Public Affairs, Mr. Vincent Nnadi represented by Anthony, Umesi, head, Educational Development said the programme is one of the compnay’s valued programme aimed at exposing students to various career.

By the programme students from the communities are exposed early in their lives to the variety of courses and professions available. They are placed in a vantage position to choose courses that they have aptitude in as it will be easier to excel and add more value to society in such chosen fields.

Also a limelight was thrown on the importance the company’s attaches to the health of indigenes of its host communities during the maiden edition of the training workshop for Traditional Birth Attendants in Akabuka. It was organised in collaboration with Partners on Health Resources and over 62 participants from OML 58 communities. The aim is to build the capacity of participants on effective maternity services and health care delivery.

Total is one company that is in the forefront in the implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry local Content Development (NOGIC) Act. An Act that is geared towards the establishment of facilities in the country and ensuring they are patronised in a bid to bring Nigerians jobs back home for instance the Akpo Oil and Gas Deeproater Development Project (OML130) which delivered its first oil in 2009 had 7.85 million man-hours in local employment, 25,900 tonnes of steel in local fabrication and an overall Nigeria content value of 80 per cent.

The first Nigeria’s privately owned vessel, MV OSAYAME came into being through the support of Total.

One can therefore make bold to say that Total is one company that is committed to extending socio-economic benefits to all the areas where it operates.

Borrowing the words of Sir Winston Leonard Spencer – Churchill, “Courage is what it takes to stand up to speak and courage is what it takes to sit down and listen” Relationship can be marred or sustained through the courage to give and receive. And in every relationship there is time to give and a time to receive; a time to understand and to be understood. Therefore at every point, both ends have something to do which is usually a onerous task that takes courage to accomplish.

Total has performed its part of the pact creditably by paying the price to keep the relationship with host communities thereby getting a great value for both parties involved.

Price going to prove Warren Edward Buffet’s words that, “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get”.

Vivian-Peace Nwinaene

Oil & Energy

Resource Wars Are Here and Oil Is the First Casualty

Published

1 day ago

March 30, 2026

The Tide

In just over a year, the world saw several instances of a choked supply of commodities indispensable for today’s economies and military capabilities.

From China’s restrictions on rare earths and critical minerals supply to the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz, policymakers and analysts began to realize that the control of oil, critical minerals, rare earths, and magnets is as important as building and maintaining stockpiles of advanced weapons. It also became clear that without these resources, defense and military capabilities could be weakened. The actual arms race goes hand in hand with the new battle for the resources that underpin economic, manufacturing, and advanced military development.

“Great-power competition has returned to basics: who controls the physical resources that modern economies and militaries run on,” Alice Gower, a partner at London-based political-risk advisory firm Azure Strategy, told the Wall Street Journal.

“Energy, critical minerals and industrial capacity are leverage, not just economic assets,” Gower added.

The war in the Middle East and the blockage at the Strait of Hormuz laid bare the reality of choked energy supply. The world’s most vital oil and LNG chokepoint, through which 20% of daily global trade flowed before the Iran war, has been essentially closed for most tanker traffic for more than three weeks.

The massive supply shock, the worst disruption in the oil market in history, showed that the world is dependent on energy resources, and that geography and actual physical supply matter. With so much oil and gas stranded in the Middle East, oil prices spiked to above $100 per barrel, natural gas prices in Europe doubled, and Asian spot LNG prices hit multi-year highs.

The precarious situation in the Middle East is reverberating across Asia, the region most dependent on oil and LNG supply from the Persian Gulf. Asian refiners pay sky-high premiums for non-Middle Eastern crude, many are considering cutting or have already cut processing rates, and countries have started to enact fuel-preserving measures, from four-day work weeks to bans on fuel exports.

In Europe, the gas refilling season will be the toughest yet, as Asia is outbidding Europe for spot LNG supply after Qatar’s LNG is effectively sidelined and full capacity may not return for up to five years following Iranian missile attacks last week.

Even the ‘energy independent’ United States, the world’s top oil producer, is not independent when it comes to global supply shocks of such magnitude.

The national average price of gasoline is approaching $4 per gallon nationwide, more than $1 a gallon compared to a month ago, before the start of the war.

Oil is a global resource, traded on a global market, and prices reflect fundamentals, although they have been driven by hectic trading activity on geopolitics in recent weeks. But the fundamentals show that there is no resource available to plug the gap that has opened in Middle Eastern supply. Producers are slashing output due to a lack of storage capacity, which further delays a rapid recovery in supply when this mess ends.

All this goes to show that whoever controls the Strait of Hormuz has enormous leverage on inflicting global economic pain.

While the world is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, the race for rare earths and critical minerals continues, with the U.S. and Western countries scrambling to dent China’s dominance.

Since China restricted exports of rare earth elements early in 2025, Western countries have raced to create mine-to-magnet supply chains to reduce dependence on Chinese supply in the key military and automotive industries.

China holds a 59% share of the mining of rare earths, 91% in refining, and a whopping 94% in magnet manufacturing, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates.

The U.S. has responded by taking stakes in minerals mining companies, the launch of a U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve, known as Project Vault, and is leading efforts to break the Chinese stronghold on the pricing of these minerals critical for the defense and auto industries and national security.

Chinese dominance could be eroded, but it would take years.

Still, rising neodymium-praseodymium (NdPr) supply from countries like the U.S. and Australia is set to reduce China’s market share to 69% by 2030 from 90% in 2024, Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) said in new research this month.

“We’re seeing a surge in rare-earth investment as modern technologies demand more critical materials,” said Jack Baxter, Global Metals & Mining Analyst at BI and co-author of the report.

“That said, we anticipate a significant shortfall in supply due to trade uncertainties, with lead times as long as 10 years to get new material out of the ground,” Baxter added.

“This will give pricing power to the few producers that currently are able to supply critical materials outside of China, fracturing the globalized market.”

Amid fractured markets and high geopolitical uncertainty, one thing is certain – the next arms race, alongside the actual arms race, will be for control of key resources such as oil and critical minerals.

By Tsvetana Paraskova

Oil & Energy

Transcorp Energy, Renewvia Partner On Renewable Energy Gap

Published

1 day ago

March 30, 2026

The Tide

Transcorp Energy Limited and Renewvia Solar Nigeria Limited have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly develop renewable energy projects across Nigeria.

The move is aimed at addressing the persistent power deficit that has crumble businesses in the nation.

The agreement also outlines a longer-term plan to expand operations across Africa, positioning both firms to tap into growing demand for clean and reliable electricity.

The partnership would target commercial, industrial and residential consumers, as well as underserved communities, through a mix of off-grid and grid-connected energy solutions.

Beyond electricity provision, the collaboration would explore the aggregation and monetisation of Renewable Energy Credits generated from the projects, adding a commercial layer to the clean energy rollout.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Transcorp Energy, Chris Ezeafulukwe, said the initiative aligns with the company’s broader strategy to expand access to sustainable power.

He noted that combining grid and decentralised energy systems would enable the company to deliver reliable electricity directly to end-users across different segments of the economy.

Chief Executive Officer of Renewvia, Trey Jarrard, described Nigeria as a critical market for the company’s African ambitions.

According to him, the partnership provides a platform to scale operations rapidly by leveraging established infrastructure and local expertise, while delivering cost-effective and resilient energy solutions.

Both companies said the agreement lays the foundation for a scalable pan-African renewable energy business, capable of supporting diverse markets and accelerating the continent’s transition to cleaner power sources.

The collaboration comes amid increasing pressure on governments and private sector players to deploy sustainable energy solutions to bridge electricity gaps, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and support economic growth across Africa.

Oil & Energy

IYC Tasks Niger Delta Governors On Oil Field Bidding ….Decries Exclusion of Host Communities

Published

1 day ago

March 30, 2026

The Tide

The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has raised concerns over the continued exclusion of host communities from the governance of oil resources, urging Niger Delta governors to take decisive steps by bidding for oil blocs and marginal fields.

The council warned that failure to act would allow external interests to continue dominating the region’s oil assets, despite their location within host communities.

Secretary-General of the council, Maobuye Nangi-Obu, started this at the stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited , with participants drawn from Rivers, Abia and Imo States, in Port Harcourt, recently.

“It is time for state governments in the Niger Delta, especially Rivers State, to form oil companies that can bid for marginal fields within their territories”, he said.

Nangi-Obu expressed concern over the reported listing of about 25 marginal oil fields for allocation, noting that many were located in host communities but allegedly being assigned to non-indigenes.

In his words “They sit in Abuja and decide what happens in our region, yet we are not part of the oil governance of our own resources”.

He explained that marginal fields, though considered uneconomical by major oil firms, remain viable for indigenous operators, adding that their allocation had continued to fuel grievances in the Niger Delta.

The IYC scribe also warned of the implications of directional drilling, describing it as a growing threat to host communities.

“There could be oil wells in your community, and somebody elsewhere could be drilling that oil without your knowledge,” he cautioned.

On environmental concerns, Nangi-Obu condemned the persistent gas flaring in the region, blaming both international and local operators for failing to invest in gas processing infrastructure.

He, however, commended Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited for its engagement with host communities.

“Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited is doing the right thing by engaging stakeholders. Not all companies are doing what they are doing,” he stated.

Traditional rulers at the meeting, further acknowledged improvements linked to the company’s activities in their areas.

The Eze Ekpeye-Logbo, King Kevin Anugwo, represented by Dr Patricia Ogbonnaya, noted that “aquatic life that disappeared due to pollution is gradually returning,” attributing the development to improved environmental conditions.

Similarly, Chairman of the K-Dere Council of Chiefs, Chief Batom Mitee, said, “There is now peace in our community,” stressing, increased oil production must translate into tangible benefits for host communities.

By: King Onunwor