Oil & Energy

117 Rivers Communities Get N5bn GMoU Fund

Published

14 years ago

August 22, 2011

No fewer than 125 communities in 12 cluster development areas in Rivers State have so far received a whopping N5billion for the development of their communities as part of the implementation of the innovative Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU).

This is part of the N7billion disbursed by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) for the sustainable development of host communities under the Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) implementation in the Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states.

These were disclosed last Friday in Port Harcourt at the first-ever GMoU Fair for Rivers State communities, organized to showcase the individual community achievements in the implementation of the innovative development concept.

Of the 12 cluster areas, only 10 are active with about 117 communities, and have got the lion share of the development fund, released directly into their bank accounts by SPDC for the execution of people-oriented projects and programmes, initiated and implemented by the communities.

The active cluster development areas that have benefited from the funding over the last four years are Akuku Toru with five communities; Andoni with 20; while three are in Degema 1; 30 in Degema 3; nine in Etche 1; 12 in Etche 2; nine in Greater Port Harcourt City; four in Shell Industrial Area; 12 in Ikwerre; and three in Shell Residential Area.

Available statistics indicate that the Akuku Toru Cluster has received N1,036,661,677.33 and spent N795,187,665.10 on 45 completed infrastructure projects, nine human capacity development programmes and 12 economic empowerment schemes as well as 19 ongoing infrastructure projects, two human capacity and another two economic empowerment schemes; while Andoni has got N139,750,000, and spent N63,383,570 on infrastructure projects and N33,356,963.05 on human capital development and economic empowerment schemes in four years.

Both cluster communities also have the sum of N158, 217,035.45 and N30, 917,506.97 unspent funds in their respective bank accounts.

Available statistics indicate that the three Degema 1communities have received N1, 215, 810, 893, and have expended N1, 006, 681, 319 on 36 completed and 17 ongoing infrastructure projects, human capital development and economic empowerment schemes, including 11 overseas scholarship programmes in the United States; while the 30 Degema 3 communities have so far got N2, 076, 666, 666.70 and pumped N1, 797, 652, 821.71 on 49 completed infrastructure projects and 52 human capital development programmes as well as 14 ongoing infrastructure projects and 39 economic empowerment schemes.

Both Degema 1 and 3 have N209, 129, 374, and N366, 242, 721.70 as balance in their separate bank accounts for the execution of more development projects in their communities.

In the Degema 3 soft programmes portfolio, 531 indigenes have received local tertiary and or secondary scholarships, paid bursary to 1,730 persons, equipped 368 unskilled indigenes with sustainable skills, empowered 663 with micro credit loans, sponsored one person on overseas scholarship and created transport scheme for 108 indigenes of the cluster.

The Tide investigations show that the nine communities in the Etche 1 cluster area received a total sum of N590, 306, 088, out which they spent N520, 888, 999.33 on 85 projects, out of which 69 have been completed while 16 are ongoing. In this project template are 24 human capital development programmes, 13 electricity and 18 water schemes, 14 infrastructure projects and 16 economic empowerment schemes.

Whereas the 12 communities in Etche 2 cluster area have so far received N435, 639, 610 and expended N343, 896, 077. 39 on 34 completed infrastructure projects and 12 ongoing ones, in addition to 21 human capital development programmes and two economic empowerment schemes; the nine communities in Greater Port Harcourt City have got N320, 032, 073, and spent N278, 712, 826 on no fewer than 35 projects. Both Etche 2 and GPHC clusters also have bank accounts balance amounting to N91, 743, 532.61 and N41, 319, 247, respectively, for more people-oriented development projects.

The Tide also found that the four IA Cluster communities have received N360, 584, 323.40, and spent N297, 324, 573.32 on 47 completed projects and one ongoing project, just as the 12 communities in Ikwerre Cluster area have confirmed receipt of N536, 506, 100, out of which N497, 192, 009 has been spent on 38 completed projects and 10 ongoing ones.

Similarly, the three RA Cluster communities have received N276, 950, 790, out of which they have spent N137, 206, 510.12 on 25 projects and programmes, split in 21 completed and 4 ongoing portfolios. Of these, they are eight human capital development programmes, five electricity projects, one water project, six infrastructure projects and five economic empowerment schemes.

Even as they have put these development landmarks on the ground, the IA, Ikwerre and RA cluster areas still have bank accounts balances running into N63, 259, 749; N39, 314, 091; and N139, 744, 279.88, respectively for further sustainable development purposes.

Besides, Akuku Toru Cluster communities still have outstanding accruing development funds amounting to N74, 047, 262. 00; while Degema 3 communities have N148, 333, 333, 30 yet to be paid by SPDC.

In their separate speeches, the chairmen of the 10 cluster development boards said that the GMoU initiative was the metamorphosis of the microcosm of resource control in the Niger Delta, and advised communities in the region to key into the concept to enable them benefit from the resources derivable from their areas.

Managing Director, SPDC, Mutiu Sunmonu, who said that these investments were a sure way to bring about sustainable development and positively impacting change to host communities, stressed that the transparency and accountability in the GMoU model provides a good platform for other local and international donor agencies to fund development projects directly through the community development boards.

Sunmonu, who spoke through SPDC’s Government and Community Relations Manager, Fufeyin Funkapo, noted that the range of projects and programmes executed under the GMoU template cover microcredit for men and women, scholarships, innovative healthcare, skills acquisition schemes, solar-powered electrification and water projects, among many others, and thanked Rivers State Government, Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), Economic Support Initiative (ESI), the local government councils, host communities, implementing non-governmental organisations and joint venture partners for ensuring the success of the initiative thus far.

Wife of Rivers State Governor and Founder of ESI, Dame Judith Amaechi, eulogized the SPDC and GMoU concept, and acknowledged the sterling contributions of the initiative to the overall development of the state.

Represented at the event by Mrs Nina Ejims, the governor’s wife emphasized that ESI supports 70 schools and 210 teachers in the state, and has partnered with Ikwerre and Degema cluster boards under the GMoU scheme to implement human capital and infrastructure development projects with significant dividends to the rural population in the state.

Nelson Chukwudi

Oil & Energy

Supermajors Bet Big on Long-Term Oil Demand

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2025

The Tide

The world’s largest international oil firms are ramping up production even as crude prices have weakened this year and global supply growth continues to outpace the demand increase, setting the stage for a glut in the coming months.

The European majors are back to investing in exploration and new oil and gas field developments after years of trying – and mostly failing – to generate profits and good returns from low-carbon energy projects, including renewable electricity, green hydrogen, and biofuels.

The U.S. supermajors, ExxonMobil and Chevron, are pumping record oil volumes in the top shale region, the Permian, while betting on international project expansions in Guyana and Kazakhstan, for example. The U.S. giants both reported in the second quarter record-high production in the Permian and worldwide, following Exxon’s acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron’s buying of Hess.

France’s TotalEnergies expects higher oil and gas production to have boosted earnings for the third quarter, despite a $10 per barrel decline in oil prices since last year.

Production at the other European supermajors, Shell and BP, is also rising as the European giants shifted focus back to their core oil and gas business. The pivot took place after the energy crisis made energy security and affordability more important than sustainability, while high interest rates and supply chain issues further reduced already meager returns from clean energy projects and made many new energy ventures uncompetitive.

The supermajors are confident they can withstand the current weaker prices and the surplus on the market, to which they have contributed, alongside the national oil companies of the OPEC+ producers, which have been reversing the production cuts this year.

Big Oil is looking beyond the short-term fundamentals and glut noise, having decided to invest more in oil and gas to meet solid demand until at least the mid-2030s.

Unlike the International Energy Agency (IEA), which earlier this year doubled down on its forecast of peak oil demand by the end of this decade, Big Oil companies don’t see any peak by 2030.

BP, which said last year that global oil demand would peak as early as this year, ditched this view in its new annual Energy Outlook last month, in which it now expects oil demand to rise through 2030 amid weaker-than-expected efficiency gains.

Most majors have put the peak at some point in the 2030s, but none expect a rapid decline afterwards, and all say that oil and gas will remain essential for global economic growth and development in 2050.

“Oil and natural gas are essential. There’s no other viable way to meet the world’s energy needs,” ExxonMobil said in its 2025 Global Outlook.

“Our Global Outlook projects that oil and natural gas will make up more than half of the world’s energy supply in 2050. We project that oil demand will stabilize after 2030, remaining above 100 million barrels per day through 2050,” the U.S. supermajor reckons.

“All major credible scenarios include oil and natural gas as a dominant energy source in 2050.”

All three scenarios analyzed in Shell’s 2025 Energy Security Scenarios found that upstream investment of around $600 billion a year “will be required for decades to come as the rate of depletion of oil and gas fields is two to three times the potential future annual declines in demand.”

Exxon and now the European majors are playing the long game—invest in new oil and gas supply, at the expense of renewables, to offset with new production the accelerating natural decline of producing oil and gas fields.

Even the IEA admitted last month that the world needs to develop new oil and gas resources just to keep output flat amid faster declining rates at existing fields, in a major shift in its narrative from 2021 that ‘no new investment’ is needed in a net-zero by 2050 scenario.

Exploration is also back at the top of the agenda for Big Oil, as the companies appear confident their product will be in demand for decades to come.

The expected massive overhang later this year and early next year is not putting off the supermajors’ plans to increase production. They are slashing costs via cutting thousands of workforce numbers to protect shareholder payouts at $60 per barrel oil. Companies have pledged billions of U.S. dollars in cost savings and slimmer corporate structures. That’s to eliminate inefficiencies and excessive costs while keeping payouts to shareholders at much lower prices compared to the 2022 highs.

This year, higher oil and gas production is partly offsetting the weaker prices.

Increased output also positions the world’s biggest companies for rising profits when the glut clears within a year or so, analysts say.

“All the supply coming to the market is shrinking OPEC’s spare capacity — so there’s a light at end of the tunnel,” Barclays analyst Betty Jiang told Bloomberg this week.

“Whether that’s second half of 2026 or 2027, the balance is going to tighten. It’s just a matter of when.”

By Tsvetana Paraskova

Oil & Energy

Stakeholders Lament Poor Crude Oil Supply To Indigenous Companies …..Urges President To Pressure NNPCL To Prioritise Local Refineries

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2025

The Tide

Stakeholders in the Downstream oil sector in collaboration with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to create an enabling environment for all oil refining companies to thrive without fear or pressure of any kind.

They also want the President to mandate the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to prioritize crude oil supply to local refineries over foreign partners.

The groups made the call during the Mega Rally against economic sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum sector with the theme ‘National Unity Against sabotage: Reclaiming of Petroleum Sector for the People’, held in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

Addressing journalists during the rally, the Convener of Partners for National Economic Progress, Olamide Odumosu, insisted that it was unacceptable that government agencies hide under the “willing supplier, willing buyer” clause to frustrate the supply of crude to local refineries.

Odumosu called on president Tinubu to ensure that crude oil supply to the dangote refinery is not debatable.

Odumosu described the recent expansion of the Dangote refinery from 650,000m bpd to 1.4m bpd as not just a national glory but a continental and global one expressing regrets however, that the Dangote refinery now rely on the international scene for crude .

In his words “As an oil producing country, the matter of supply of crude to local refineries (in this case, the Dangote Refinery) is not only a matter of Law as stated in the Petroleum Industry Act, but a manner of patriotic duty, national consciousness and economic prosperity drive. It is very sad, unfortunate and embarrassing that Dangote Refinery imports crude from other countries due to his inability to source it at home.

“It is for this reason that the PIA encourages regulatory agencies to formulate policies that will ensure the supply of crude to local refineries, including imposing sanctions where necessary”.

On his path, the convener of Niger Delta Youth council, comrade Danielson Prince, condemned the practice of importing crude oil from outside the shores of the country.

Prince noted that such was detrimental to Nigeria’s economy while calling on the President to pressure NNPC to sell crude oil to Nigerian companies within Nigeria.

“However, this is both a journey and a struggle. And we will not rest, will we get to the desired destination and victory achieved. There are still very important issues to address”, he stated.

Prince described the situation as sad stating that it was unfortunate and embarrassing that Dangote Refinery imports crude from other countries due to his inability to source it at home.

Odumosu also emphasized that it is unacceptable for government agencies in the country to hide under the willing supplier clause to frustrate the supply of crude oil to local refining companies in the country.

TheTide learnt that similar rallies were recently organized in Abuja, Kaduna and Asana respectively.

By: King Onunwor

Oil & Energy

Investors Raise $500m For Solar Manufacturing – Adelabu

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2025

The Tide

The Federal Government, in partnership with state governors and private investors, has secured nearly $500m to establish solar manufacturing plants across Nigeria.

Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this at the just concluded Nigeria Energy Conference, in Lagos.

Recall that the minister had announced that Nigeria had begun exporting locally manufactured solar panels to Ghana, marking a milestone in the country’s renewable energy drive.

According to him, following the recently concluded Nigerian Renewable Energy Innovation Forum organised by the Rural Electrification Agency, the government secured agreements worth nearly $500m with state governors and private investors.

The initiative, he said, would add close to 4 gigawatts of solar manufacturing capacity per annum, almost 80 per cent of Nigeria’s current total power generation capacity.

“At the recently concluded Nigerian Renewable Energy Innovation Forum, we successfully activated agreements totalling almost $500m with state governors and investors. What will this do? It will bring on stream nearly 4 gigawatts per annum of solar manufacturing capacity, equivalent to almost 80 per cent of our current national generation capacity,” he stated.

He explained that the deals would support local production of solar panels, batteries, and meters, reducing dependence on imports and positioning Nigeria as a key player in the regional energy market.

“Companies that will manufacture solar panels here and that will manufacture batteries and meters here, we can give them deposits. With this scale of renewable energy production coming online, Nigeria is not only positioned to achieve its domestic renewable energy transition targets but also to serve as the regional power market,” Adelabu said.

He said this would strengthen the export of renewables, a feat he said was achieved recently with Ghana.

“Nigeria will serve as the regional power market in terms of the hub, which we recently started doing with the export of Nigerian-based solar panels to Ghana just last month. Yes, we exported solar panels manufactured in Nigeria to Ghana, and we will not stop. We will be the hub for this, not just for West Africa, but for the entire African market,” he stated.

The minister noted that the move would have far-reaching benefits for the economy, including job creation, foreign exchange earnings, and faster deployment of solar energy infrastructure.

He added that training and empowering Nigerian youths in renewable energy technologies would be key to sustaining the progress.

Adelabu assured investors that the government was creating an enabling environment for private sector participation across the power value chain, particularly in transmission.

“Nigeria’s power sector remains open and ready for business more than ever before. The government is ready to provide the right and conducive atmosphere to make this environment investor-friendly.

“As rational investors, recovery of your principal and margin on principal are very important, and the way the power sector is configured, you will never lose your investment; you will be proud to be an investor in Nigeria,” he added.