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SPDC Jump-Starts N’Delta Post-Graduate Scholarship Awards

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16 years ago

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As a means of boosting its impact in the educational development of people in host communities, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria has kick-started a targeted postgraduate scholarship programme for exceptionally intelligent Niger Delta youths, who have excelled at the undergraduate level in mostly science-related fields.

In a statement, Shell’s Corporate Media Relations Manager, Tony Okonedo, said the Niger Delta postgraduate scholarship programme begins from the 2010/2011 academic year.

According to Okonedo, the scholarship will avail 10 places to candidates from SPDC’s operational areas in Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states to study for postgraduate qualifications at three top British institutions – Imperial College, London, University College, London and University of Leeds.

The corporate media relations manager quoted SPDC’s General Manager, Nigerian Content Development, Simbi Wabote as saying that, “the scholarship is part of efforts to develop a pool of talent within the Niger Delta which can effectively serve in the oil and gas industry.”

Simbi stressed that, “that is why beneficiaries are required to return home after their studies to take up opportunities in the industry”, adding that, “the scheme is in the pilot phase, and if successful, might be extended to other operational areas not covered this time.”

The one-year Masters’ programmes are in Petroleum Engineering, Geosciences, Geophysics, Engineering Geology, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Exploration Geophysics and Oilfield Corrosion Engineering.

Potential beneficiaries must possess a Bachelor’s degree in the relevant field of study at the Second Class Upper Level.

The scholarship will cover tuition fees, one return flight from Nigeria to the United Kingdom and a contribution towards living expenses.

 The SPDC Joint Venture commenced scholarship awards in the 1960s for programmes in Nigerian and foreign institutions.

In 2009, the company awarded about 2,730 secondary school and 850 university scholarships in the Niger Delta and other parts of the country.

At any one time, SPDC scholarships support more than 17,000 secondary school and university students.

Support for education is just one aspect of SPDC’s social investments in the Niger Delta. In 2009, operations run by SPDC contributed some $57.7 million directly to development projects – many delivered in partnership with others.

These focus on a range of activities including small business and agriculture, education, training, health care and capacity building.

 

Nelson Chukwudi

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Oil & Energy

NUPRC Unveils Three-pillar Transformative Vision, Pledges Efficiency, Partnership 

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2 days ago

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January 28, 2026

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The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has unveiled Its vision for the country’s upstream sector.
This transformative vision rests on three pillars of Production Optimization and Revenue Expansion; Regulatory Predictability and Speed; and Safe, Governed and Sustainable Operations.
The Chief Executive, NUPRC, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, who disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting with members of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), emerging players and other major stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, in Lagos, recently, said this aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda and his plan to hit a production target of 2mbpd by 2027 and 3mbpd by 2030.
Eyesan plans on increasing production and revenue expansion through the recovery of shut-in volumes with economic value, arresting decline, reducing losses, and accelerating time-to-first oil—without increasing burdens or transaction cost.
This, she said, had already begun by recently “turning on the light” in a long shut-in asset.
Eyesan explained that regulatory predictability and speed can be achieved by running regulation like a service, enforcing rules transparently and making quick time-bound decisions.
The new NUPRC boss plans to strengthen governance, process safety, host community outcomes, and encourage decarbonisation through safe, governed and sustainable operations.
“Going forward, the Commission will be measured on the following key success metrics -Faster, predictable regulatory approvals, higher, more secure and sustainable production, credible licensing and disciplined acreage performance, world-class Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) and process safety outcomes, trusted measurement, transparency, governance and data integrity,” she said.
Eyesan promised that under her leadership, the NUPRC would enhance regulatory efficiency and predictability by publishing Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for all major approvals adding that the timeline to production would be reduced through proactive discussions regarding all necessary approvals, implementation of stage-gate processes, and mutual agreement on timelines with the commission.
She said “Stakeholders are encouraged to submit their projects for consideration. For matured opportunities, please submit your request latest end of Q1, 2026. This would provide a simplified and holistic framework that creates obligations for both operators and the Commission.
“The Commission will launch a digital workflow for permitting, reporting and data submissions. NUPRC will work with the industry to identify capacity gaps and develop tiered intervention in the most critical areas with immediate impact on regulatory efficiency while we harmonize our own internal processes to eliminate conflicting regulatory actions and reduce friction”.
She revealed that the NUPRC’s internal transformation programme through a project Management office is in flight saying “I will provide more details on this in the coming days”.
The NUPRC boss also convened a CCE–Operators Leadership Forum for monthly engagement with participants including all operators of NNPC, OPTS, IPPG, and emerging players adding that it would be focused on approval timelines, production restoration, infrastructure integrity, and gas monetisation and development.
“This is expected to enable the NUPRC to identify systemic bottlenecks and provide greater predictability”, she said .
Eyesan also stressed the need to improve hydrocarbon accounting and measurement by tracking every barrel produced and promptly addressing discrepancies or losses.
On host community, the NUPRC boss encouraged all operators to liaise with the commission “as we plan first engagement with host community leaders to reaffirm commitment to HCDT (Host Community Development Trust) implementation”.
She also said one of her key goals is to ensure 100% to the Petroleum Industry Act within 12 months. This, she said, will be monitored with a dedicated team situated in her office.
“The commission going forward will issue quarterly progress reports. Let therefore bring all high impact shut in fields for approval. “On the Commission’s part, a 90-day program to fast track approvals for near-ready FDPs, well interventions, rig mobilisation and other quick-win opportunities have commenced,” the CCE stated.
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Oil & Energy

Electricity Consumers Laud Aba Power for Exceeding 2025 Meter Rollout Target

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2 days ago

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January 28, 2026

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Nigeria’s newest Electricity Distribution Company (DisCo), Aba Power, has gained consumers’ commendation for the provision of more smart meters than the other 11 Discos in the country combined in 2025.
The Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria (ECAN), Southeastern Zone, gave the commendation in a statement signed by it’s Chairman, Engr.Joe Ubani, and Secretary, Comrade Chris Okpara, and  issued at the end of its first 2026 Executive Committee meeting, held in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, at the weekend.
The statement revealed that all 12 DisCos in Nigeria provided 175,302 meters under the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) scheme and 44,104 prepaid meters under the vendor-financed framework as of the third quarter of 2025.
It said “Aba Power alone gave end-users over 100,000 smart meters by the end of last September.This means that Aba Power exceeded its 2025 target of giving its customers 100,000 smart meters by 2025, which many analysts thought was a stretch goal, meaning something that was initially thought to be impossible.
“More importantly, the data shows that Aba Power, despite being Nigeria’s youngest DisCo and the smallest in terms of population and geographical spread as it covers only nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State, provided more prepaid meters than the other 11 DisCos combined”.
Citing figures sent monthly to NERC by the Head of the metering team at Aba Power, Engr. Alfred Atega, ECAN noted that the other 11 DisCos were carved out of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and got privatized in November 2013, stating though that the Nigerian government retains 40% shares in each.
The association disclosed that Aba Power was able to provide 122, 464 prepaid meters by the end of last year through vendor-finance arrangements with four Chinese and Nigerian metering firms adding that it supplied 116,883 single-phase meters and 5,581 three-phase meters.
Quoting the Aba Power senior brand and communication manager, Edise Ekong, ECAN explained that this utility metered all 122,464 customers from 27 feeders in and around Aba, Abia State’s economic nerve-centre.
According to the statement, Ekong said “We have actually since this year increased the number of metered customers to 133,000”, stated Ekong, also an engineer, according to ECAN.
“Work is progressing on three feeders, namely, the Omoba Feeder, the Geometric Feeder, and the Polymer Feeder as they have system issues.
“The customers on these feeders will be metered once repair and rehabilitation work on them is concluded”.
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Petrol Consumption Hits 63.7m Litres/day, Diesel Dips …….NMDPRA Report

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2 days ago

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January 28, 2026

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The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has released its December 2025 factsheet report, revealing an upsurge in domestic Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) supply and consumption.
According to the report, PMS supply rose to 74.2 million litres/day in December 2025, up from 71.5 million litres/day in November 2025.
Consumption also increased to 63.7 million litres/day, compared to 52.9 million litres/day in November 2025.
According to the report, the Dangote Refinery demonstrated robust performance, achieving a maximum capacity utilization of 71% in December.
Its PMS domestic supply jumped from 19.47 million litres/day in November 2025 to 32.012 million litres/day in December 2025, against an initial plan of 50 million litres/day.
In contrast, Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel) domestic supply decreased to 17.9 million litres/day in December 2025 from 20.4 million litres/day in November 2025, despite a rise in daily consumption to 16.4 million litres/day from 15.4 million litres/day in November 2025.
It reported that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) domestic supply edged up to 5.2 metric tonnes/day in December 2025 from 5.0 metric tonnes/day in November 2025.
The state-owned refineries recorded zero production, with the Port Harcourt Refinery remaining shut down.
However, evacuation of prior AGO produced averaged 0.247 million litres/day. The Warri and Kaduna Refineries also remained shut down.
Modular refineries showed promising performance: Waltersmith (Train 2) completed pre-commissioning, with hydrocarbons introduction slated for January 2026, averaging 63.24% capacity utilization and 0.051 million litres/day AGO supply.
Edo Refinery achieved 85.43% capacity utilization, with 0.052 million litres/day AGO supply. ARADEL averaged 53.89% capacity utilization, with 0.289 million litres/day AGO supply.
Total AGO supply from modular refineries averaged 0.392 million litres/day, with other products including Naphtha, HHK, fuel oil, and MDO.
“Daily consumption benchmarks for 2025:Petrol (PMS): 50 million litres/day,Diesel (AGO): 14 million litres/day.
Aviation Fuel (ATK): 3 million litres/day, Cooking Gas (LPG): 3,900 MT/day
“Actual daily consumption (truck out):Petrol (PMS): 63.7 million litres/day,
Diesel (AGO): 16.4 million litres/day, Aviation Fuel (ATK): 2.7 million litres/day and Cooking Gas (LPG): 4,380 MT/day”, the report stated.
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