Oil & Energy

N4tn Debt: GenCos Decry Exclusion From FG’s Verification Exercise

Published

4 hours ago

October 6, 2025

The Association of Power Generation Companies(APGC) has raised concerns over their exclusion from the Federal Government’s ongoing debt verification and reconciliation process which seeks to address the N4tn owed to generation companies in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry(NESI).

In a letter dated September 24, 2025, and signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Joy Ogaji, the APGC said the inter-ministerial committee constituted to reconcile the debts owed to power producers does not adequately capture the role of the GenCos, who are the direct counterparties and creditors.

The letter, addressed to the Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, Mr. Johnson Akinnawo, was in response to an earlier correspondence (Ref: NB/002574, dated September 17, 2025) in which NBET assured stakeholders that the Federal Government was fast-tracking a proposed bond issuance to tackle liquidity shortfalls in the power sector.

While acknowledging the government’s intervention, the GenCos insisted that their inclusion in the exercise was crucial to ensuring transparency, accuracy, and fairness in reconciling the huge debts.

They specifically sought clarification on four issues: their formal role in the reconciliation process, the mechanism for presenting supporting documentation and confirming figures, the timeline and milestones for completion, and the cut-off month for debt verification.

“While we appreciate the Federal Government’s commitment and NBET’s assurance that efforts are being fast-tracked to address the liquidity challenges within the power sector, we respectfully seek clarification on Paragraph 4 of your letter, which referenced the constitution of an Inter-Ministerial Committee mandated to carry out further verification and reconciliation of the debts owed to the GenCos.

“Our concern is that this process, as currently constituted, appears to exclude the direct participation of the GenCos, who are the actual counterparties and creditors to the debt under consideration,” the letter read in part.

Given that the objective was to ensure a comprehensive and accurate reconciliation that leads to a mutually acceptable resolution, the GenCos requested clarity on their role in the ongoing reconciliation process.

They also sought to know the mechanism by which GenCos will be engaged to provide supporting documentation, confirm figures, and participate in discussions that will ultimately determine the verified debt amounts. This also included the timeline for the conclusion of the exercise and key milestones, to enable GenCos to plan their operations effectively and align with the anticipated release of funds.

The power plant operators wanted to know the cut-off month that will be applied for the debt reconciliation so that GenCos can prepare and present accurate and up-to-date records for verification.

“As key stakeholders, we strongly believe that our inclusion in these engagements is crucial to ensuring transparency, accuracy, and speedy resolution of outstanding claims.

“We look forward to your prompt clarification and guidance on how GenCos can actively participate in this exercise in order to support the government’s commendable efforts towards restoring liquidity to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry,” the letter concluded.

Oil & Energy

Dangote/NUPENG Feud: Tanker Drivers Disown ‘PTD Elders Forum ‘, Seek Impostors’ Prosecution

Published

3 hours ago

October 6, 2025

The Tide

Petroleum Tanker Drivers(PTD), an affiliate union of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers(NUPENG), has disowned a group parading itself as the ‘PTD Elders Forum’ amid a feud with Dangote Refinery.

The drivers from across the Kaduna, Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Warri zones, during a Press Briefing, at the Weekend, described members of the said forum as fake impostors with no recognition under PTD or NUPENG constitutions and hired to wreck havoc on the union.

They appealed to security agencies to investigate and prosecute those behind the forum.

Speaking on behalf of Kaduna Zone, Bashir Izalan, said the group was unknown to PTD, stressing that Egbon’s leadership had been transparent and responsive to members’ welfare.

He noted that drivers benefited from union-backed insurance, medical support and intervention in workplace disputes.

Representative of the Lagos Zone, Itanola Abiodun, maintained that the so-called elders were not members of the union, pointing out that every legitimate PTD member belonged to a unit and zone.

He urged the group to identify their units if they were genuine members, insisting that they were “hired hands” out to destabilise the union.

In his words, “Everybody who belongs to a union has a unit and zone where that unit is located. Then, they have the PTD branch. Those units where they claimed they come from do not exist. We in those zones do not know them.

“Their names are not known to us at all. They should mention the units they belong to for discerning minds to vouch for their authenticity.

“They cannot even say the units or zone they belong to. They are not speaking for us. They are impostors, hired to wreak havoc in our union”.

From Port Harcourt Zone, Chukwudi Okafor, dismissed allegations that PTD leadership mismanaged check-off dues and loading fees, clarifying that the funds, contributed by truck owners, are used for drivers’ health insurance and welfare.

He said members were satisfied with how resources are managed, urging the government to support PTD.

Dennis Akore of Warri Zone alleged that the controversy was linked to former PTD members who lost out in the July, last year’s delegates’ conference, claiming that the group was attempting to regain control of the union after being voted out by drivers.

Earlier, NUPENG President, Comrade Williams Akporeha, and General Secretary, Comrade Afolabi Olawale, had also warned against the activities of the “PTD Elders Forum,” describing them as infiltrators working to sow disaffection within the union.

Oil & Energy

GEIL To Unveil $400m Indigenous Crude Oil Terminal in Rivers

Published

3 hours ago

October 6, 2025

The Tide

All is now set for the unveiling of the indigenous $400m Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Terminal in Rivers State, billed for Wednesday, October 8, and to be performed by the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The facility, developed by Green Energy International Limited (GEIL), operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11, located in Ikuru-Town, in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, is the first wholly indigenous onshore terminal built in Nigeria as the last of such facility, the Forcados Terminal, was commissioned back in 1971.

The unveiling would attract top government officials, including the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and other major stakeholders across the nation’s oil and gas sector.

With the much struggling with declining production, pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and rising operational costs in recent years, the Otakikpo Onshore Terminal further underscores the Federal Government’s renewed efforts to restore investor confidence in the nation’s oil sector.

The Executive Director, Legal and Corporate Services, GEIL, Olusegun Ilori, in a Statement, last Thursday, said the terminal aligns with President Tinubu’s drive to boost crude oil production and address Nigeria’s long-standing evacuation challenges.

“This project is a strategic infrastructure that supports the administration’s commitment to raising output while reducing costs,” Ilori said.

On his part, the Chairman and Chief Executive, GEIL, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, described the terminal as a “game-changing national infrastructure.”

Adegbulugbe said “What we have achieved here is not just a storage solution, but a pathway for about 40 stranded oil fields to finally contribute to the economy”.

It would be noted that industry operators, over the years, have consistently highlighted evacuation bottlenecks as a major impediment to meeting the Federal Government’s production target of 3m bpd.

The Otakikpo terminal is expected to serve as a lifeline to more than 40 stranded oil fields by providing a reliable evacuation outlet, potentially unlocking millions of barrels of crude previously trapped underground.

With an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, expandable to three million barrels, and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, the facility is also projected to reduce production costs for indigenous producers significantly.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu

Oil & Energy

Nigeria’s Oil Boom Meets Its Refining Headache

Published

3 hours ago

October 6, 2025

The Tide

Nigeria is pumping more crude and drilling harder than it has in years, thanks to reforms under President Bola Tinubu that are finally coaxing cash back into the upstream. Daily output has climbed to between 1.7 and 1.83 million barrels, while active rigs surged from 31 in January to 50 by mid-year, Minister of State for Petroleum Heineken Lokpobiri told delegates at Africa Energy Week.

The turnaround is pinned on the “Project One Million Barrels” initiative and the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Act, which the government insists has created a predictable playing field for investors. Lokpobiri pointed to over $5.5 billion in fresh investment decisions tied to asset divestments by IOCs—moves he said are adding some 200,000 bpd to national production. Nigeria, he declared, is “open for business.”

But problems persist downstream. The country’s crown jewel refinery—Aliko Dangote’s $20 billion, 650,000-bpd plant in Lagos—is mired in strikes, sabotage claims, and financial headaches. Earlier this week, Nigeria’s top oil union launched a nationwide walkout after 800 refinery workers were sacked for alleged “acts of sabotage.”

Dangote insists he’s rooting out bad actors; unions say he’s firing organizers. The strike has already shuttered offices at NNPC and key regulators, raising fears it could spill over into production if not resolved.

Even before the labor brawl, the refinery was under pressure. Dangote has admitted to reselling crude cargoes and halting local fuel sales as currency distortions made operations unprofitable.

Buying crude in dollars and selling fuel in a weakening naira is a recipe for red ink, and calls for government-backed import bans have underscored just how fragile the model is.

Nigeria’s oil reforms may be luring rigs back to the delta, but if its refining dream continues to falter, the paradox remains: a top global crude exporter still at risk of shortages at home.

By Julianne Geiger