Business
GES: Institute Partners FG To Enhance Fish Production
To enhance fish production, the National Institute for Freshwater Fisheries Research (NIFFR) says it is collaborating with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Dr Augustine Okaeme, the Executive Director of the institute said in Abuja last Wednesday that the collaboration would ensure adequate support to aquaculture practitioners under the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme.
Okaeme said that the support would not only enhance fish production but also create fish market and enable fish farmers to access funds from the Federal Government.
He said that the government planned to distribute 34,000 fingerlings to 10,000 fish farmers in the Niger basin, through the institute, adding that the institute had received 6,000 fingerlings for the farmers already.
Okaeme said that under the scheme, the institute also had the responsibility to identify fish farmers in Kebbi, Kwara and Niger.
‘’Most of the distribution will involve fingerlings and some elements of fish feeds.
‘’It is good for them to get into the national database quick so that they can benefit, as this will enable them to have access to market and access to fund that will enable them to improve their business.’’
He expressed the hope that the GES would create market for the farmers, pointing out that the lack of access to market was a major constraint facing fish farmers.
‘’One of the major limitations is creating market but once they are in this scheme, they will be able to interact with other farmers to know where the markets are.’’
Okaeme urged farmers to see farming as a business venture so that they would improve their well-being, adding that they needed to make farming a major source of income, especially, in this era of unemployment.
He gave an assurance that the institute was committed to creating more jobs in the fish farming system for both the youths and the unemployed.
‘’We’ll empower them to see farming as a business venture so that they can improve on their lives and make farming a major source of income, particularly nowadays that there are no opportunities for employment.
‘’Our mandate revolves around developing technologies that will assist farmers in aquaculture to improve their productivity and promoting the attainment of self-sufficiency in fish production through rational exploitation of the inland aquatic resources of Nigeria.
‘’We have come up with strategies to make every farmer an employer of labour; we teach them the skills on how to produce their own fingerlings and local feeds.
‘’Farmers cannot produce fingerlings and feeds alone, so, there is a need to employ people.’’
The executive director said that in order to boost fish production, the institute had created a platform for farmers to access funding.
‘’We are running a microfinance facility for the farmers; we have grouped them into cooperatives and each of the groups will be able to access up to N200,000 from which we encourage them to buy mobile phones.’’
He explained that the phones would ensure communication between the farmers and the institute.
He said that institute’s researches were being funded by the Federal Government and the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme to undertake new researches.
‘’Currently, we are researching into producing fish seeds that can mature in four months instead of seven months. ‘’We are also researching into high quality easily convertible fish feeds that can give fish flesh.
‘’We have partnered the Nigerian Stored Produce Research Institute, Ilorin, for value addition in packaging and preservation of fish.
‘’We have also collaborated with the National Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research and the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation for fabrication of our developed tools.’’
The director identified public enlightenment of the institute’s products, farmers’ lack of access to market and capacity building of scientists and farmers as the challenges facing the institute.
The Federal Government on Monday complied with the demands of domestic crude oil refiners and other operators in the sector with a declaration that indigenous refineries can now buy crude oil in naira or dollars.
At a briefing in Abuja, where it unveiled the new template for domestic crude oil supply obligation, the Government, through the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), also disclosed that the total crude oil and condensate reserves in Nigeria increased to 37.5 billion barrels as of January 1, 2024, with a life index of 68.01 years.
It stated that in compliance with the provisions of Section 109(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, the NUPRC in a landmark move, had developed a template guiding the activities for Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligation.
The Chief Executive, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, told journalists in Abuja that “The commission in conjunction with relevant stakeholders from NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services, representatives of Crude Oil/Condensate Producers, Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria, and Dangote Petroleum Refinery came up with the template for the buy-in of all.
“This is in a bid to foster a seamless implementation of the DCSO and ensure consistent supply of crude oil to domestic refineries”.
On the currency of transaction for crude oil purchase, as approved in the new template, Komolafe stated that it would be either in naira or dollar, adding that naira transactions would free the pressure on the country’s foreign exchange rate.
The NUPRC boss also noted that the template had become effective because all necessary parties had signed up for it.
“The PIA intends to make the implementation (of crude oil obligation) very easy for the parties, both for the producers and refineries. So the answer simply is that the currency for the transaction would either be in naira or dollar. That is the simple answer.
“But we all know that if the transaction is carried out in naira, that itself will free the pressure on the exchange rate. That will help the exchange rate. So that is the intent and besides, the overall intent of the Petroleum Industry Act is to develop our midstream, which is a very laudable provision of the PIA”, he said.
In the currency of payment section of the new template, it was stated that “the payment shall be in either United States dollar or naira or both. Where the payment is in both currencies, the payment split shall be as agreed in the SPA between the producer and the refiner”.
On February 26, 2024, The Tide’s source exclusively reported that modular refineries in Nigeria were facing the threat of shutting down operations following their inability to access foreign exchange for the purchase of crude oil, a commodity priced in United States dollars.
Nigeria has 25 licenced modular refineries with a combined capacity of producing 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
Although not all of the plants are currently operational, the report stated that the functional ones were increasingly finding it difficult to purchase crude due to the foreign exchange crisis in the country.
The facilities, which produce Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, Dual Purpose Kerosene or kerosene, naphtha and black oil, were finding it hard to make the refined products available to oil marketers for distribution to consumers.
Operators of the plants explained that the scarcity of dollars had made it almost impossible for dealers to purchase crude oil, as the modular refinery players and oil marketers demanded the sale of crude oil in naira from the Federal Government.
The modular refinery operators, who spoke under the aegis of the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria, lamented at the time that the Federal Government had not been able to keep its part of the bargain concerning the provision of feedstock to local crude oil refiners.
The Publicity Secretary, Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), Eche Idoko, had stated that modular refineries might close shop if nothing was done to ameliorate the situation.
CORAN is a registered association of modular and conventional refinery companies in Nigeria, while modular refineries are simplified refineries that require significantly less capital investment than traditional full-scale refineries.
In compliance with the Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act, Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), the operator of Otakikpo Marginal Field OML 11, Lekoil Oil and Gas Investment Limited (JV) in partnership with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has commenced the training of several Nigerians on oil and gas engineering.
The training is aimed at closing the skill gap in the oil and gas industry, with focus on the engineering sector, and is expected to deliver the required skill set necessary to meet the growing demand within the sector.
Speaking at the maiden edition held in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the Government Relations Manager at GEIL, Fatimah Mohammed Amate, noted that “The training will be delivered by Dexterous Applied Training Institute and will target several Nigerians from across various geo-political zones, and participants will be trained in the areas of Piping Engineering, Safety Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Health and Safety at the work place, Nigerian content awareness, among others”.
Also commenting, HRH Spriff Serena-Dokubo and Dr. Lyb Udochu, both Directors at GEIL, noted that the company’s commitment to the development of the oil and gas industry cannot be over emphasised.
According to HRH Serena-Dokubo, “The top five performing trainees will be offered employment immediately after the training”.
He further commended the leadership of the NCDMB for their coordination and synergy with GEIL towards the success of the training.
In his remarks, Dr. Lyb Udochu encouraged all participants in the programme to take the opportunity offered by the company seriously, adding that “over the years, GEIL hasensured that its core thematic areas are geared towards providing direct social investment programmes to address development deficits through employment, training and retraining, empowerment of women and youths, capacity building and skill acquisition, health outreaches, scholarships and direct community contracts”.
One of the beneficiaries of the training, Chimaobi Nwachukwu, highlighted the importance of the training, confirming that it would equip them with the competitive advantage necessary to excel in the oil and gas sector.
He said, “From my point of view, the programme would provide us with the required skill to be employable in the oil and gas industry and be more valuable to the society”.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves grew marginally in 2023 by 1.4 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.
NUPRC, in its annual national petroleum reserves position report, disclosed that as at January 1, 2024, revealed that oil reserves stood at 37.50 billion barrels compared to 36.966 recorded on January 1, 2023.
The reserve is made up of crude oil at 31.56 billion barrels and condensate oil at 5.94 billion barrels.
For natural gas, the Commission said reserves stood at 209 trillion cubic feet as at January 1, 2024, compared to 208.83TCF recorded over the corresponding period last year.
The gas reserve is made up of 102.59TCF of associated gas and 106.67TCF of non-associated gas.
At a press briefing in Abuja, the Chief Executive, NUPRC, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, explained the growth of oil and gas reserves came from the contributions from the development of brown fields which were given out through the marginal field awards.
On the move to ensure that domestic refineries have enough crude oil for refining, Komolafe said a new template for domestic crude oil supply obligations has been released and has also become effective.
He stressed that with domestic crude oil supply obligations in place, he expects Nigeria to become self-sufficient in the supply of petroleum products when the Dangote and NNPC refineries come on stream fully in the second of the year.
“The strategic initiative aligns with the policy of the current administration and the declaration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that Nigeria is ready for business. Mr. President, as part of his fiscal policy, vacated barriers to investment in the oil and gas sector.
“Furthermore, this aligns with Nigeria’s commitment to bolstering domestic refining capacity and ensuring the sustainability of its oil industry.
“The template provides a transparent framework aimed at fostering collaboration among stakeholders for a thriving energy sector”, he said.
He disclosed that the template resolved about ten issues affecting crude supply to local refineries including load allocation and currency of payments.
Komolafe explained that the currency of payment will be mixed, adding “(a) the payment shall be in either United States Dollar or Naira or both, (b) where the payment is in both currencies, the payment split shall be as agreed in the SPA (Sales and Purchase Agreement) between the Producer and the Refiner”.
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