Fuel Crisis: Group blasts Tinubu over attacks on Petroleum Minister, Kachikwu...says he is out to blackmail minister over oil blocks

Petroleum Minister for State, Ibe Kachikwu

AN oil monitoring group, the Niger Delta Indigenous Movement For Radical Change (NDIMRC) has lambasted the former Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu over his attacks on the Petroleum Resources Minister, Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as a result of the fuel crisis in the country, alleging that he was out to blackmail the Minister over oil blocks.

The former Lagos State Governor, had condemned the recent statement credited to the Minister to the effect that he cannot perform magic for the fuel scarcity to go away soon.

But the oil monitoring group in a statement signed by its President, Nelly Emma, Secretary, John Sailor and Public Relations Officer (PRO), Stanley Mukoro, rained heavy knocks on Senator Tinubu, accusing him as one of those working against the reorganisation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

The group also accused the former Lagos Governor of being part of the Cabal working against the stoppage of fuel Importation into the country.

The group, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to be wary of Senator Tinubu held that; "The President, an agent of Change must be wary of the former Lagos State Governor who is angry with the President because according to him, he has not recovered the money he invested in the election of the President. Senator Tinubu approached the Petroleum Resources Minister for oil blocks, but the refusal of the Minister is what is making the former Lagos State Governor to be behaving like wounded lion. This was how Senator Tinubu put previous government under pressure to acquire shares of former Agip partners, ConocoPhilips, using Oando with which he got his oil blocks and this is same method he is trying to adopt and because the Petroleum Resources Minister is not playing ball with him, he decided to go dirty."

 Describing Senator Tinubu as a militant yet to accept amnesty, the group said; "President should investigate the wealth of the former Governor and Senator Tinubu should know that Lagos State is not his father's property. He should visit the United States of America if he is so sure of himself. The earlier the President put Senator Tinubu where he rightly belongs, the better because he is out to destroy this Government as he has alot of faceless groups he is sponsoring to fight the Government of the day."

According to the group; "We want to say that we are highly disappointed in Senator Tinubu over his verbal attacks on the hard working Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Kachikwu. We would not have joined issues with him, but we are compelled to do so and to tell the whole world that the former Governor contributed greatly to the mess our country is passing through at the moment."

"We want Senator Tinubu to close his mouth if he has nothing good to say about the Petroleum Resources Minister who is working very hard to repair the damages done to the oil and gas industry by Senator Tinubu and his likes. The former Governor has no moral right to speak against the Minister the way he just did. Senator Tinubu should hide his head in shame because of the damages he has done to the country. The former Governor should apologise to Nigerians for the role he played in the destruction of the oil and gas industry in the country. Senator Tinubu is a drowning man and he is out to protect his interest in the oil and gas industry. He is not happy with the reform being carried out in the industry by the tested trusted Minister of Petroleum Resources", the group wrote.

It added that," Senator Tinubu is afraid that the restructuring of NNPC and efforts of the Minister to make fuel available to Nigerians are going to affect his business empire. He is out to protect his vested interests. He is not patriotic, otherwise he would have appreciated the Petroleum Resources Minister for what he is doing to get the oil and gas industry out of the woods."

According to the group also; "The game plan of the former Governor is to send a wrong signal to President Buhari about the Petroleum Resources Minister in order for the President to have a rethink about the appointment of the Minister, but he should be rest assured that his unholy plan against the Minister will not see the light of day."

"The Minister is out to clean the mess in the oil and gas industry and Senator Tinubu knows that it is not going to be business as usual, hence he is out to fight the dynamic Petroleum Resources Minister, but good must prevail evil and darkness must give way to light. The appointment of Dr Kachikwu by our visionary President is divine and his mission in the administration of President Buhari must be achieved and even Senator Tinubu cannot stop this. He is only wasting his time and energy. He should know that he cannot hold the nation to ransom as he has done before as his empire has crumbled and the oil and gas industry must move forward no matter the plans of Senator Tinubu against the Petroleum Resources Minister," the group stated.

It said also; "And the former Lagos Governor must be told that enough is enough and he should keep his opinion to himself. Senator Tinubu should remember that he does not own the country and he should stop speaking out of frustration".

Fuel Scarcity: Group urges Nigerians to be patient with Kachikwu

…says Buhari was never wrong appointing him, kicks against call for his resignation

NNPC GMD, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu

The Niger Delta Indigenous Movement For Radical Change (NDIMRC) has called on Nigerians to be patient with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Emmanuel Kachikwu over the lingering fuel crisis in most parts of the country, saying President Buhari never made a mistake in his appointment and kicked over calls for his resignation.

The Minister has come under heavy fire as fuel crisis lingers with many calling on him to resign just as they kicked over his alleged statement last Wednesday that despite the efforts being put in place by the Federal Government, fuel queues might not completely be eliminated until about two months.

But NDIMRC, an oil monitoring group in a statement signed by its President, Nelly Emma, Secretary, John Sailor and Public Relations Officer (PRO), Stanley Mukoro,urged Nigerians to bear with the Minister as he was capable of dealing with the fuel scarcity across the country.

The group made it clear that the Minister never put a time frame of May ending to arrest the situation, describing it as misinterpretation.

"The Minister only said that the solution to the fuel crisis is a gradual process and as an oil monitoring group, we want to appeal to Nigerians to bear with Dr Kachikwu over the lingering fuel scarcity. The Minister has apologised to Nigerians over the worrisome situation and we want to implore Nigerians to be patient with the Minister who is capable of handling the fuel scarcity once and for all," the group said.

"President Buhari did not make a mistake in appointing Dr Kachikwu as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and retaining him as the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and this is why we are imploring Nigerians who are suffering as a result of the fuel scarcity to be patient with the President and the Minister over the situation," the group added.

It also stated that; "The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources that we know is not happy with the situation and working round the clock with his team to end the noticeable fuel queues in most parts of the country in the weeks ahead. We know that efforts are in full gear to eliminate all factors which have so far impeded the free flow of petrol across the country and those calling on him to throw in the towels should be patient with him."

"There is no point calling on the Minister who has apologised to Nigerians over the fuel crisis to resign, he is doing a great job in the oil and gas industry and so we need him around to assist the President. You do not change your winning team. It is our appeal to Nigerians to ignore the misinterpretation given to the assessment of the fuel supply situation in the country by the Minister who never put a time frame of  May ending to halt the fuel crisis. Nigerians should be rest assured that the fuel queues will disappear in weeks as we have confidence in the Minister who is having sleepless nights with his team and are working on it and are committed to making the fuel scarcity go away and so Nigerians should please bear with the Minister and his capable team," the group posited.

According to the group also; "The only frustration the Minister is facing at the moment is the reorganisation of  NNPC and the Cabal who do not want this to take place are out to do everything to thwart his efforts. But God will see the Minister who is like David that killed Goliath through in his endeavors to make NNPC work. He cannot be frustrated by the  Cartel in NNPC and dubious major fuel importers  as  the Almighty God is with him."

We owe Federation Account N326bn, not N3.23tn —NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Wednesday said it did not fail to remit N3.325tn to the Federation Account but admitted that it owed the government N326.14bn, which was still being reconciled.

In a response to the revelation of the Auditor-General of the Federation to the National Assembly on Monday that the NNPC failed to remit the sum of N3.235tn to the Federation Account for the period ended December 31, 2014, the firm stated that the AGF was incorrect.

The corporation, in a document signed by its Group Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer, Finance and Accounts, Mr. Isiaka Abdulrazaq, said, “The NNPC wishes to state in strong terms that the AGF’s declaration is inaccurate.

 

“The Auditor-General of the Federation’s declaration is erroneous. It should also be noted that although this period is before the new NNPC management was appointed in August 2015, the management still deems it fit and important to correct any misinformation about the activities of the corporation as this will adversely affect its current and future financial and operational plans if not corrected.

“The declaration by the AGF may have been born out of misunderstanding of how revenues from crude oil and gas sales are remitted into the Federation Account.”

Explaining how the fund was utilised, the corporation stated that as part of its responsibilities, the NNPC got an allocation of 445,000 barrels of crude oil per day for processing into petroleum products for distribution across the country.

It said any unprocessed crude was sold and the proceeds used to pay for the importation of petroleum products.

According to the corporation, the proceeds from the sale of the products are remitted to the Federation Account after deducting the cost associated with the supply and distribution.

The costs, it said, included subsidy on petroleum products.

The NNPC argued that it was entitled to claims on subsidy from petroleum products sold at government-regulated prices, whether imported or locally refined.

It said the total amount of subsidy that had been approved and certified for the corporation by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency for the period of January 2012 to December 2014 was N2.34tn, adding that an additional N7.96bn subsidy claim was still under reconciliation.

Another cost, it stated, was crude oil and petroleum product losses, which were as a result of vandalism on its network of pipelines for the period of January 2012 to December 2014, amounting to N202.68bn.

The last cost, according to the NNPC, is the petroleum product holding cost and pipelines and maintenance cost for the period of January 2012 to December 2014, which amounted to N358.88bn.

Oil Depression: Nigeria loses 11.5bn daily

By Oluwagbenga Bankole

As a result of the drop in global oil prices which is biting harder on the global oil and gas industry, it has been said that Nigeria loses about 11.5 billion naira on daily basis.

This was made known by the Chief Executive Officer, Mentor Energy Consulting Limited, Mr Victor Eromosele at the Centre for Petroleum Information (CPI) Energy Finance Forum held in Lagos.

Eromosele explained that crude oil at $35 per barrel, Nigeria loses 11.5bn each day, compared with 20 months ago when oil prices were at $115/bbl.

He said that in 36years there have been five global oil downturn, adding that downturn don't last forever and there is always be an upturn.

“At current oil prices many players are in loss territory. Nigeria is already paying a big price for its oil addiction. It totters at the brink of further official devaluation,” he said.

He said that some doomsday analyst are predicting that oil prices could fall as low as $15-20/bbl, adding that at such level it will be very unprofitable to do business in most fields.

According to him, oil prices are not expert to cross $80 per barrel before 2020.

Natural gas to contribute 33% to electricity generation in 2016- EIA

By Oluwagbenga Bankole

Natural gas is expected to fuel the largest share of electricity generation in 2016 at 33 per cent, compared with 32% for coal according to the Short-Term Energy Outlook of Energy Information Administration (EIA).

According to the report, this would be the first time that natural gas provides more electricity generation than coal on an annual average basis.

It stated that in 2017 natural gas and coal are both forecast to fuel 32 per cent of electricity generation, adding that for renewables, the forecast share of total electricity generation supplied by hydropower rises from 6 per cent in 2016 to 7 per cent in 2017, and the forecast share for other renewables increases from 8 per cent in 2016 to 9 per cent in 2017.

Brent crude oil prices are forecast to average $34/b in 2016 and $40/b in 2017, $3/b and $10/b lower than forecast in last month's STEO, respectively. The lower forecast prices reflect oil production that has been more resilient than expected in a low-price environment and lower expectations for forecast oil demand growth.

Forecast West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices are expected to average the same as Brent in 2016 and 2017. However, the current values of futures and options contracts suggest high uncertainty in the price outlook. For example, EIA's forecast for the average WTI price in June 2016 of $35/b should be considered in the context of recent Nymex contract values for June 2016 delivery (Market Prices and Uncertainty Report) suggesting that the market expects WTI prices to range from $24/b to $58/b (at the 95% confidence interval).

U.S. crude oil production averaged an estimated 9.4 million barrels per day (b/d) in 2015, and it is forecast to average 8.7 million b/d in 2016 and 8.2 million b/d in 2017. EIA estimates that crude oil production in February averaged 9.1 million b/d, which was 80,000 b/d below the January level.

INTERVIEW ! Power sector needs cost reflective tariff to survive- Barth Nnaji

In this exclusive interview with OLUWAGBENGA BANKOLE, the former Minister of Power and the Managing Director of Geometric Power speaks on the need for Nigerians to accept the new tariff, how Nigeria can increase it generation capacity to 10, 000 by 2019, what Federal Government should do to TCN and some other typical issues in the power industry. Excerpt!

On the 1^st of February, 2015 the new electricity tariff which is believed to be cost reflective took effect. What is your opinion about the implementation of the tariff despite the fact that it was rejected by Nigerians?

There must be cost reflective tariff for the industry to work. Nigerians may think that any kind of tariff increase is not worthwhile because they don’t have adequate electricity. We can’t continue to waddle in darkness because we cannot pay producers of electricity. The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Federal Ministry of Power and the electricity companies are all in line with the implementation of this cost reflective tariff.

Did you believe is one of the solutions to the problem of epileptic power supply in Nigeria?

It is definitely a component of it.

Recently, the Acting Chairman of NERC said that the court of law and the Senate does not have the power to stop the implementation of the new tariff. As someone who has seen it all in the industry, how true is this?

Going to court of law to stop the implementation of the tariff will delay the progress of the power sector in Nigeria. There are various ways of ensuring that the correct thing is done. When people fail to channel their complains through the right path it becomes a problem. Of course the court will entertain any case brought to him, but we should not continue to waste time and resources on such things.

Since the privatisation of the power sector in Nigeria, there have been calls by some notable Nigerians and stakeholders for the review of the privatisation. As an expert in the industry, what is your assessment of the privatisation? Do you think it should be reviewed?

I think that we can say there was perfect arrangement and it is worthwhile for it to be looked into not in terms of overturning it because it would ruin Nigeria’s image. Foreign investors would not understand us because it would be one step forward and two steps backward.  But there are sections of the privatisation that might not have been implemented correctly. The original plan was correct but it may not have been implemented completely well. So it could be looked into.

What do you think could be done by this present administration concerning the privatisation?

The present administration led by President Muhammadu Buhari should support the privatisation and the power reform, but that does not mean they should not look at how the entire transactions of the privatisation was done.

Some people have been calling for the privatisation of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). What is your opinion about that?

Privatisation can take many forms. Privatisation may not be outright sell. It could be concession because the government needs to have a certain level of control because of open access issues. We should not have a private company resisting access to the network just by its own will. So government provides that, but at the same time government does not have enough money to build up the network to the capacity that we need. It needs private money. Government should play its own role and private sector should play it own role.  If it is concession it can work to the benefits of Nigerian government and Nigerians and provide the resources to do it.

As a former minister of power and one of the key stakeholders in the country, what are those things President Muhammadu Buhari can do to ensure that our generation capacity hit 10,000 megawatt by 2019?

To generate 10,000 megawatt by 2019 is totally doable. He needs to address the issue of transmission, the issue of adequate gas supply to our power plants, we need to have a very good control of vandalism for both the gas and power transmission network and also compel distribution companies to do what they are suppose to do from when they bought the companies. The generation companies are already moving along. What the government needs to do for them (generation companies) is to continue to provide support in terms of giving them incentives. The cost reflective is also needed to achieve this goal.

What is the latest concerning the plan of Geometric Power to build 1,800 megawatt power plants?

 The project has moved on quite far. We are in partnership with General Electric for the success of this project. We are building the power plants in phases. The first phase is 500mw. We will add 250mw in the second phase and from there it will go to 1,800mw. The development of a power project is the most difficult part because you have to develop all the components to be bankable. And we have pretty much visually reached that point where we will begin to go to international institutions for financing of the project. We expect that this year we should reach the financial close of the project.

As a former minister of power, what is your advice to the current minister of power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola?

The minister does not need too much advice because he is a very clear minded individual and very strong. I believe that he will do very well. I will just encourage him to continue to maintain the pace of the reform.