Oil & Energy
Energy Transition: NCDMB Boss Recommends Intensive Petroleum Education
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Simbi Wabote, has urged the Federal Government and other stakeholders to adopt a strategy to overcome the challenges of energy transition.
Wabote gave this advice in a statement by the NCMDB Corporate Communications Unit, on Sunday, as recommendation after his convocation lecture at the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE) Effurun, Delta.
The lecture was titled “Defining the Value of Local Content in Petroleum Education.”
Wabote said that the western nations had shifted attention from oil and gas and focused on provision of funding, manufacturing of equipment, and development of supply chain to support renewable energy sources.
According to him, it is imperative that Nigeria and other hydrocarbon-rich countries develop the requisite capacity and capability to produce and utilise fossil fuel resources.
Wabote said that the ongoing debate and deadlines being set for energy transition underscored the need to develop home-grown skills to develop and manage the nation’s natural resources.
“The narrative around energy transition has further revealed the need to ensure that there is a direct link between our petroleum education and the development and utilisation of our hydrocarbon resources, so we are able to deal with any outcome of the transition,” he said.
On the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and the Decade of Gas initiative, Wabote said they would engender investments and utilisation of the nation’s estimated 600 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
He said it would also lead to a boom in the gas sector and benefit discerning institutions, investors, operators, and service providers.
“These scenarios require a robust petroleum education sector to ensure that our in-country skill sets are available and sufficient to support the exploration, development, production, and processing of hydrocarbon resources,” he said.
Wabote said that education institutions should prepare for the opportunities and challenges of energy transition and gas revolution by preparing a robust curriculum in petroleum education.
He said in doing it, the mindset should be to enable Nigerians develop and utilise hydrocarbon resources using home-grown technology.
Wabote said the institutions should focus on development of top-notch graduates to enable the development of Nigerian hydrocarbon resources, especially gas.
“This will ensure that we are not forced out from the development of hydrocarbon resources due to lack of technical capability as was the case with coal development in Enugu,” he said.
Wabote said that FUPRE as an institution devoted to petroleum education should be at the forefront of preparing manpower needs for any outcome or impact of Energy Transition.
He said there was also the need to add renewables to the global energy mix to ensure energy security.
Wabote, however, criticised attempts by the western world to demonise or de-market other energy sources as well as extracting commitments and setting unrealistic deadlines for countries to abandon fossil fuels.
He advised all nations to jealously guard their locally-available sources of energy and ensure they remained in their energy mix for the benefit of their people.
Wabote said two implications had emerged from the rush to move the world away from fossil fuels, adding that it included divestment, whereby western countries shift funding away from the development of hydrocarbons towards renewable energy.
He said the other was Energy Shortage, which was the decline in the supply of hydrocarbons due to lack of investments and the fast pace of the shift to renewable energies.
Wabote said that divestment had resulted in the emergence of indigenous companies playing major roles in exploration and production activities.
“Such companies like AITEO, FIRST E&P, EROTON, and others have acquired assets and are now responsible for producing about 15 per cent of Nigeria’s oil and more than 60 per cent of domestic gas,” he said.
Wabote, however, regretted that the divestment of the international oil companies and their reluctance to make further investments in oil and gas had resulted in the repatriation of capital out of Nigeria.
According to him, this stifles the nation’s economy of the much-needed foreign exchange with funds used as loans to acquire oil and gas assets instead of being used to develop new production assets.
The Federal Government has offered explanation with regard to recent changes to fuel sulphur content standards for diesel.
The Government said the change was part of a regional harmonisation effort, not a relaxation of regulations for local refineries.
The Chief Executive, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, told newsmen that the move was only adhering to a 2020 decision by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which mandated a gradual shift to cleaner fuels across the region.
Ahmed said the new limits comply with the decision by ECOWAS that mandated stricter fuel specifications, with enforcement starting in January 2021 for non-ECOWAS imports and January 2025 for ECOWAS refineries.
“We are merely implementing the ECOWAS decision adopted in 2020. So, a local refinery with a 650 ppm sulphur in its product is permissible and safe under the ECOWAS rule until January next year where a uniform standard would apply to both the locally refined and imported products outside West Africa”, Ahmed said.
He said importers were notified of the progressive reduction in allowable sulphur content, reaching 200 ppm this month from 300 ppm in February, well before the giant Dangote refinery began supplying diesel.
Recall that an S&P Global report, last week, noted a significant shift in the West African fuel market after Nigeria altered its maximum diesel sulphur content from 200 parts per million (ppm) to around 650 ppm, sparking concerns it might be lowering its standards to accommodate domestically produced diesel which exceeds the 200 ppm cap.
High sulphur content in fuels can damage engines and contribute to air pollution. Nevertheless, the ECOWAS rule currently allows locally produced fuel to have a higher sulphur content until January 2025.
At that point, a uniform standard of below 5 ppm will apply to both domestic refining and imports from outside West Africa.
Importers were previously permitted to bring in diesel with a sulphur content between 1,500 ppm and 3,000 ppm.
It would be noted that the shift to cleaner fuels aligns with global environmental efforts and ensures a level playing field for regional refiners.
The Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution (PHED) plc says it has commenced implementation of the April 2024 Supplementary Order to the MYTO in its franchise area while assuring customers of improved service delivery.
The Supplementary order, which took effect on April 3, 2024, emphasizes provisions of the MYTO applicable to customers on the Band A segment taking into consideration other favorable obligations by the service provider to Band A customers.
The Head, Corporate Communications of the company, Olubukola Ilvebare, revealed that under the new tariff regime, customers on Band A Feeders who typically receive a minimum supply of power for 20hours per day, would now be obliged to pay N225/kwh.
“According to the Order, this new tariff is modeled to cushion the effects of recent shifts in key economic indices such as inflation rates, foreign exchange rates, gas prices, as well as enable improved delivery of other responsibilities across the value chain which impact operational efficiencies and ability to reliably supply power to esteemed customers.
“PHED assures Band A customers of full compliance with the objectives of the new tariff order”, he stated.
Ilvebare also said the management team was committed to delivering of optimal and quality services in this cost reflective dispensation.
The PHED further informed its esteemed customers on the other service Bands of B, C D & E, that their tariff remains unchanged, adding that the recently implemented supplementary order was only APPLICABLE to customers on Band A Feeders.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) has announced the signing of an agreement with African Refinery for a share subscription agreement with Port-Harcourt Refinery.
The agreement would see the co-location of a 100,000bpd refinery within the Port-Harcourt Refinery complex.
This was disclosed in a press statement on the company’s official X handle detailing the nitty-gritty of the deal.
According to the NNPCL, the new refinery, when operational, would produce PMS, AGO, ATK, LPG for both the local and international markets.
It stated, “NNPC Limited’s moves to boost local refining capacity witnessed a boost today with the signing of share subscription agreement between NNPC Limited and African Refinery Port Harcourt Limited for the co-location of a 100,000bpd capacity refinery within the PHRC complex.
“The signing of the agreement is a significant step towards setting in motion the process of building a new refinery which, when fully operational, will supply PMS, AGO, ATK, LPG, and other petroleum products to the local and international markets and provide employment opportunities for Nigerians.
By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu
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