Oil & Energy

Hotel Association Urges PHED To Disconnect Members

Published

10 years ago

June 20, 2016

A hotel association in
Rivers State has urged the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company to disconnect all its members because they can no longer pay the high bill.
This is coming shortly after the Electricity Distribution Company embarked on disconnection of non paying customers within its network in Rivers State.
The Association made the plea on Friday after its meeting, adding that after 17th of June, the Hotels in the state will no longer pay electricity bills because of the increase .
The Chairman of the Association, Egine Nwozu noted that the Assocition can no longer pay the bills given to members by the Electricity Distribution Company,adding that business is down and the bills are high.
Nwozu said “since the PHED has refused to listen to their pleas and went ahead with their new tarrif, we have decided that they should come and disconnect them from their services”.
Notable amongst those affected by the disconnection is the Rivers State School of Nursing located at the Mile 4, Port Harcourt.
The Tide was informed that students of the school have refused PHED officials access to the control room, leading to a total blackout of neighborhoods being serviced by the sub-station which is located within the school premises.
Speaking to The Tide, The Corporate Affairs Manager, Mr Jonah Iboma said, “the actions of these students thus deprives our paying customers who reside in Wimpey, Agip, Rumuolumeni, and its environs of power supply.”
He appealed to all those affected by this development to bear with PHED, as effort are in consonance with government officials and security operatives to resolve the obstruction of public services.
‘’We regret all inconveniences experienced by our esteemed paying customers who reside within these affected areas, we are working round the clock to resolve the issue.

Ike Wigodo/Chris Oluoh

Oil & Energy

NNPCL Unveils Gas Master Plan 2026 …….Targets 10bcf/day production

Published

25 minutes ago

February 2, 2026

The Tide

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has unveiled its Gas Master Plan 2026, targeting 10 billion cubic feet of daily gas production to drive industrialisation and strengthen Nigeria’s energy security.

The company’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen, at the Weekend.

The plan, launched at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, signalled a renewed push by the Federal Government and industry stakeholders to translate Nigeria’s vast gas resources into economic value through disciplined execution, infrastructure development and market expansion.

The NNPCL noted that the Gas Master Plan 2026 marks a strategic shift from policy formulation to execution across Nigeria’s gas value chain prioritising cost optimisation, operational excellence and systematic resource development.

The statement quoted the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo as saying “Today’s launch is not merely the unveiling of a document; it represents a deliberate shift towards a more integrated, commercially driven and execution-focused gas sector aligned with Nigeria’s development aspirations.

“Nigeria is fundamentally a gas nation. With one of the largest proven gas reserves in Africa, our challenge has never been potential, but translational”.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Bashir Ojulari, described the NGMP 2026 as a bold, execution-anchored roadmap designed to unlock Nigeria’s immense gas potential and elevate the country into a globally competitive gas hub.

Ojulari said, “The Plan is structured not just to deliver – but to exceed- the Presidential mandate of increasing national gas production to 10 billion cubic feet per day by 2027 and 12 billion cubic feet per day by 2030, while catalysing over 60 billion dollars in new investments across the oil and gas value chain by 2030.”

According to the statement, NNPCL estimates that the roadmap could catalyse more than $60 billion in new investments across the oil and gas value chain by the end of the decade.

It said “plan was developed using a collaborative and investor-centric approach, with alignment across operators, partners and financiers.

Key focus areas include gas supply to power generation, compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, Mini-LNG and industrial off takers”.

Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers’ Group, Adegbite Falade, said the plan would help bridge the gap between policy intent and execution.

On his part, the Chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section, Matthieu Bouyer, the statement said, commended NNPC Ltd for the ambition behind the roadmap.

The Gas Master Plan 2026 outlines ambitious production and investment targets aimed at strengthening domestic supply and boosting exports.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu

Oil & Energy

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

Published

5 days ago

January 28, 2026

The Tide

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.

Oil & Energy

Electricity Consumers Laud Aba Power for Exceeding 2025 Meter Rollout Target

Published

5 days ago

January 28, 2026

The Tide

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”.