The petroleum sector workers in the Republic of Nigeria have suspended a planned industrial action, energynewsafrica.com can report.
The suspension of the planned industrial action follows a commitment by the Buhari administration to address their grievances.
The petroleum workers announced the suspension in a statement issued by Williams Akporeha, President of Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Afolabi Olawale, General Secretary of the union, last Thursday, December 2, 2021.
NUPENG issued a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government over issues including non-payment of workers’ salaries and title benefits.
On November 25, NUPENG extended the two-week ultimatum by seven days.
The union commended the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for taking steps to resolve the impasse.
“NNPC’s management has once again proven to the union and the nation that it can be trusted in matters of ensuring decency of employment and peaceful industrial relations in the Nigerian oil and gas industry,” NUPENG said.
The union said an agreement was reached on some of the issues that instigated the planned strike.
“Some of the resolutions from these engagements include the commencement of the processes to clear all backlogs of arrears of salaries and allowances owned contract workers of Oil Mining Licence 42 before the end of December,” it said.
“The agreement and firm commitment to pay N2.13 million to each of the former employees of the six big contractors whose terminal benefits were short-paid in 2012 following the closure of the contract.”
NUPENG said it would ensure that petroleum products are available nationwide during the yuletide.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, has met with H.E. Denis Sassou Nguesso, President of the Republic of the Congo, to discuss accelerating regional energy cooperation among CEMAC member states and within the Global South.
The meeting addressed growing South-South cooperation and encouraged the establishment of a more robust regional energy sectorable to meet the needs of the citizens of Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) member states.
H.E. President Nguesso was also accompanied by Congolese Minister of Hydrocarbons H.E. Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, who held his own bilateral meeting with H.E. Minister Lima. Both oil ministers participated in the CEMAC Energy Business Forum in Brazzaville, which took place in November 29-30 and seeking to foster discussions among regional stakeholders and accelerate sustainable, regional energy growth.
The Republic of the Congo is not the only country at the forefront of Equatorial Guinea’s campaign to expand cross-border cooperation. In September, H.E. Minister Lima met with Cameroonian President H.E. Paul Biya to boost cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector and enhance commercial exchanges between CEMAC member countries, with a view to driving economic development within the region.
Intra-African cooperation is being positioned as the key to unlocking Africa’s energy prosperity, able to increase investors’ confidence, trigger large-scale projects that individual countries could not support alone, and generate a more active African influence within the global energy community.
The CEMAC region, comprising six states including Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea, is home to prolific oil and natural gas resources and some of Africa’s largest energy developments.
Both the Republic of the Congo and Equatorial Guinea are members of OPEC and represent the third- and sixth-largest oil producers on the continent, respectively. Both countries have embarked on ambitious reforms to make their national energy sectors more competitive on a global scale.
For Equatorial Guinea, this includes a revised Hydrocarbon Law announced in September and focused on attracting oil investment into the country’s sector, as well as the establishment of a regional Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) trade through its flagship Gas Mega Hub and LNG2Africa initiatives.
The Republic of the Congo’s Gas Master Plan also aims to maximize resources through LNG developments, in addition to driving oil developments.
The Management of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company in the Republic of Ghana has hinted at dismissing ten of its staff at the Kumasi Depot in the Ashanti Region should they be found to have played a role in the recent fuel adulteration involving ten trucks.
Other staff who may not necessarily be dismissed will face other forms of punishment, Managing Director of the company, Edwin Alfred Provencal explained.
The ongoing investigations into the fuel adulteration incident is covering all staff who were on duty at Pump Station One and other vantage points or sections on the day of the incident at the depot.
Edwin Provencal, who was addressing petroleum transporters in Accra, said management was patiently waiting for the outcome of the investigations by the security agencies to act on their report.
He told the transport owners that fuel tampering in transit by tanker drivers in the industry is causing the nation several millions of US Dollars.
He urgently appealed to the fuel truck owners to immediately take measures to put a stop to the practice or lose their business contracts with BOST.
The Managing Director further disclosed that the National Security is to start monitoring the movement of petroleum products from the company’s depots to stop fuel tampering.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
French energy giant TotalEnergies has started production at the CLOV Phase 2, a project connected to the existing CLOV FPSO located in Block 17 offshore Angola.
Located about 140 kilometres from the Angolan coast, in water depths from 1,100 to 1,400 meters, the CLOV Phase 2 resources are estimated at around 55 million barrels of oil equivalent.
TotalEnergies, the operator, informed on last Friday that the tie-back project will reach a production of 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in mid-2022.
Block 17 is operated by TotalEnergies with a 38 per cent stake, alongside Equinor (22.16 per cent), ExxonMobil (19 per cent), BP Exploration Angola (15.84 per cent) and Sonangol P&P (5 per cent). The contractor group operates four FPSOs in the main production areas of the block, namely Girassol, Dalia, Pazflor, and CLOV, which started production off Angola in 2014.
The French company pointed out that this project, launched in 2018, was carried out within budget and planned execution duration, despite the challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Henri-Max Ndong-Nzue, Senior Vice-President Africa, Exploration and Production at TotalEnergies, said: “The start of the production of CLOV Phase 2, a few months after Zinia Phase 2, demonstrates our continuous efforts to ensure a sustainable output on Block 17. This project fits within the company’s strategy to focus its upstream investments on low-cost projects which contribute to lower the average GHG emissions intensity of its production.”
The production from the Zinia Phase 2 short-cycle project, also in Block 17, started in early May 2021 through the existing Pazflor FPSO.
Belarmino Chitangueleca, acting President of the Angolan National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG), commented: “CLOV Phase 2 start-up comes at the right time to sustain the national oil production. We value the performance of the operator and the contractor group to keep executing projects despite this crisis period.”
The update from TotalEnergies comes a week after BP started production at the Platina field in Block 18, which is located in the Angolan offshore, approximately 140 kilometres northeast of Luanda. The Platina field is expected to produce 30,000 barrels of oil per day at its peak and access an estimated 44 million barrels of oil reserves.
BP operates the field and holds a 46 per cent stake in Block 18, while China’s Sinopec has a 37.72 per cent stake and Angola’s national oil company Sonangol the remaining 16.28 per cent.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will continue with its supply adjustments for the oil market, the OPEC Secretary General said on Saturday.
“We will continue to do what we know best to ensure we attain stability in the oil market on a sustainable basis,” Mohammad Barkindo said in a webinar organised by Italian think-tank ISPI.
Oil prices fell on Thursday after OPEC and its allies stuck to their existing policy of monthly oil output increases despite fears a release from U.S. crude reserves and the new Omicron coronavirus variant would put renewed pressure on prices.
Barkindo said in terms of oil demand the estimate at the moment was for a growth of 5.7 million barrels per day.
“In 2022 we expect another 4.2 million,” he said.
He said the uncertainty and volatility on the markets was also due to extraneous factors such as the ongoing Covid pandemic and not necessarily the fundamentals of oil and gas.
“Now we are on course of returning the level of consumption in 2022 to pre-COVID levels,” he said.
Barkindo said that the forecast was for oil and gas to account for more than 50% of the global energy mix in 2045 or even to mid century.
“In all the pronouncements we had from Glasgow we have not yet seen any concrete road map or plans of how to replace this 50% … without creating unprecedented turmoil in the energy markets,” he said, referring to the Glasgow climate conference.
“Oil and gas will be needed for the foreseeable future.”
Liberia says it has made its upstream fiscal regulatory regime very flexible to encourage and woo investors into the country to explore its hydrocarbon.
The Ivorian neighbour has 33 offshore oil blocks readily available for prospective oil and gas investors and hopes to exploit these hydrocarbon resources for the development of the country.
The Director-General of Liberian Petroleum Regulatory Authority (LPRA), Archie Donmo told energynewsafrica.com on the sidelines of the Africa Oil Week in Dubai UAE, that the country is seeking direct negotiation for these offshore oil blocks.
He said they are currently negotiating with two international oil companies who have shown interest in some of the blocks and hope to complete the negotiation by May 31, 2022.
Explaining how to acquire an oil block, Mr Donmo said the interested party or entities would first have to send a letter of intent (LoI) and “we will pre-qualify the bidder.”
Asked why Liberia has made its fiscal regime flexible, Archie Donmo noted that exploratory activities have become limited at the moment because of the energy transition.
With this in mind and because Liberia is a frontier country, Archie Donmo said investors are looking to invest in countries that are already producing “so when you are a frontier country, you don’t make things tough…you make things easier to encourage investors to come.
“We have reduced our fiscal terms to something appreciable to encourage investors,” he said.
He said investors are welcomed to Liberia, assuring them that the environment is conducive for business.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Two Nigerians have been convicted to three months and two years imprisonment for vandalising transformers and electrical cables belonging to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC).
The two convicts namely; Yusuff Olatunji and Ademola Toheeb were charged at Grade A, Customary Court of Appeal, Ibadan, and Magistrate Court, Moniya, also in Ibadan on 15th October 2021 and 22nd November 2021 respectively.
A statement by the Management of IBEDC, which disclosed the conviction of the two vandals, said: “The convictions underscore our current stance of zero tolerance to all illegal activities within our network.”
IBEDC reiterated its commitment to sanitize its network from nefarious activities such as vandalism, energy theft and staff assault.
“We appeal to individuals and communities to collaborate with us to stall this menace, by reporting any of these illegal activities, via our Whistleblowing channels communicated on our website, social media pages, TV and radio programmes etc.
“In addition, customers can support us by monitoring electricity installations within their communities,” the statement concluded.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Manya Krobo Traditional Authority in the eastern part of the Republic of Ghana has condemned protests by some youth of the area against Ghana’s southern power Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The youth group has been demanding the ECG to cancel the debt the residents owe for over four years.
The youth claim their ancestors were promised free electricity when the country was building the Akosombo Dam, the country’s source of hydropower.
However, this claim has been denied by the Volta River Authority (VRA), operator of the 1040 MW Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam.
Last week, over 7000 residents of Manya Krobo, led by the United Krobo Foundation, hit the streets to demand the ECG to vacate the town. They wanted the VRA to supply electricity to the area.
However, Nene Sakite I, Konor of Manya Krobo and President of the Eastern Regional House of Chiefs, has issued a statement that nobody has the right to proclaim any ban on a legally constituted public establishment in Ghana from operating in the Krobo land.
It said the activities of the group was a threat to national security, adding that during the past four years, the Manya Krobo Traditional Council engaged them and advised the leaders to stop their nefarious activities against the state but they clandestinely continued to operate, inciting the public.
“It was through one of such demonstrations that a few innocent people lost their lives through their encounter with the police in 2019, in Somanya and Odumase, yet they could not relent,” it stated.
The Council, therefore, appealed to the National Security apparatus to investigate the circumstances leading to the activities of the group and its leadership as well as their motives.
The Council described as false the assertion from the leadership of the youth group that the chiefs of Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo purportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with the Government of Ghana for Krobos to start enjoying free electricity, 50 years after the construction of the Akosombo Dam.
They also called on the ECG to expedite the resolution of all outstanding issues with the Krobo customers to bring sanity into the area.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s largest independent power producer, Sunon Asogli Power Ltd, has commissioned an ultra-modern fire station on the company’s premises in Kpone in the Greater Accra Region.
The station has been equipped with the needed fire and office equipment that will help the fire brigade in their daily activities.
Commissioning the facility, the General Manager of Sunon Asogli Power, Mr Zhengyi said the station was constructed to aid the Sunon Asogli Fire brigade in their daily work and is going to be the official office and fire station of Sunon Asogli Power fire department.
According to him, safety is at the core of the company’s operations and, therefore, takes steps to ensure that all staff are safe.
“The company is committed to promoting a responsible Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) culture and the operation principle of safety first by adhering to the strictest safety and environmental standards.
“This culture has been embedded in the staff of Sunon Asogli Power and they, therefore, take safety seriously,” he said.
Mr Zhengyi stated that since the inception of the power plant, there has been no record of personal injury or casualty.
He said Sunon Asogli chose this day to inaugurate the fire station to mark the end of the fire safety month of November.
ACFO I Doris Lamptey, Tema Regional Fire Officer, stated that power generation comes with an inherent risk of fires due to the type of fuel used, so it is important to take measures to mitigate this risk.
She applauded the management of Sunon Asogli for taking steps to train fire wardens who would be the first line of emergency response at the plant, and also to construct a befitting fire station for their use.
ACFO I Doris Lamptey hinted that the new fire station would not only serve the needs of the company but also the entire Kpone community.
She mentioned that her office would be open for consultations for refresher training for the fire wardens and collaboration in the procurement of a fire tender that meets Ghana’s standard to aid in the ease of the work of the fire wardens.
She concluded by appealing to other corporate organizations to support the Ghana National Fire service in achieving its mandate since fire safety and prevention is a shared responsibility.
The commissioning ceremony ended with a tour of the new fire station.
Also present at the event were DO1 Raymond Nyamasekpor, District Fire Officer, DO3 Ebenezer Sam, Staff Officer, Tema Region, DO3 Samuel Fiifi Oppong, Acting Operation Officer- Tema Region, Nana Offei Asamani I, Nkosuohene for Akwamu State and the Management and Staff of Sunon Asogli Power.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG) has held a three-day capacity building workshop for selected Ghanaian journalists who report on the country’s energy sector.
The workshop, which began on Tuesday, November 30, 2021, will end on Thursday, November 2, 2021.
The journalists were drawn from both the state and private media houses and are members of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA).
Ghana is looking to introduce nuclear power into its energy mix and it is currently at the second phase of the criteria by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The West African nation expects its first nuclear power plant by 2030 as part of efforts towards clean energy, energy security and industrialization.
To this end, Nuclear Power Ghana has been engaging various stakeholders including the media, to build their capacity for them with relevant knowledge about nuclear power.
Delivering a welcome address at the workshop, Ms Bellona-Gerard Vittor-Quao, Manager, Public Affairs at the Nuclear Power Ghana, noted that nuclear power is promising and its benefits to Ghana are enormous.
Ms Bellona-Gerard Vittor-Quao, Manager in-charge of Public Affairs at the Nuclear Power Ghana
She said NPG needed the support of the media to realise the country’s dream of constructing the first nuclear power.
“NPG cannot do it alone: we need a concerted effort between government, industry, and civil society and you our media to put in place what is needed to build Ghana’s first Nuclear Power Plant, accelerate industrial development with a sustainable, reliable, and affordable source of electricity.
“Together with you, the media, we can reach this new society with clean, fair and abundant energy for everybody,” she said.
According to her, NPG is keen on establishing a steady and well-bonded relationship with its stakeholders through the media as a special purpose vehicle to reach all corners of the country for effective involvement and engagement.
Ms Bellona-Gerard Vittor-Quao said the workshop will provide “all of you with the opportunity to refresh your knowledge improve your capacity and equip you to support Ghana’s Nuclear Power efforts.”
The very interactive workshop saw presentations from the Executive Director of Nuclear Power Ghana, Dr Stephen Yamoah, and Ing. Jonathan Amoako Baah, immediate past Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo).
Dr Stephen Yamoah, Executive Director of Nuclear Power GhanaSource: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Managing Director of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited ( BOST) in the Republic of Ghana, Mr Edwin Provencal has asked transporters whose trucks were involved in the recent fuel adulteration incident at its Kumasi depot in the Ashanti Region to produce the drivers who are on the run or be prosecuted.
He hinted that transport owners and their companies, as well as their subsidiary companies, would also be banned from doing business with BOST.
Mr Provencal was speaking at a stakeholder meeting with transport owners in Accra, Tuesday, November 30, 2021.
He told the transport owners that BOST does not have business contracts with the tanker drivers and that it is the responsibility of the owners who have entered into contracts with BOST to produce and surrender the said drivers to the police for prosecution.
He said if this is not done by January 2022, the company would be compelled to commence prosecution against the transport owners.
It would be recalled that a few weeks ago, ten tanker trucks were allegedly found to have adulterated the petroleum products they had loaded from the BOST depot in Tema to the Kumasi depot.
Unfortunately, the drivers of the trucks bolted and their whereabouts are not yet known.
The incident was reported to the police and investigation is still ongoing.
The world is set to add record-breaking renewable capacity additions this year, but it will still need double new annual capacity over the next five years to achieve the net-zero by 2050 scenario, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Wednesday.
Nearly 290 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable power will be commissioned in 2021, up by 3 percent compared to the record set in 2020, with solar PV leading the increase, the IEA said in its annual Renewables 2021 Market Report with a forecast to 2026.
But despite the record additions in 2021, and an expected 50-percent increase in renewable capacity additions in 2021-2026 compared to 2015-2020, the industry needs even faster deployment of solar, wind, and all other renewable energy sources if the world still hopes to get on track to meet net-zero by 2050, the IEA said.
“Overall, the forecast for renewable generating capacity remains significantly below the level required for the Net Zero Scenario. For solar PV, average annual additions need to almost double in the next five years compared to what we see in our main case forecast,” the IEA said in the report.
“To achieve the Net Zero Scenario, wind additions also need to more than double those in our main case. Although onshore wind generation costs are cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives in most countries, non-economic barriers including permitting and social acceptance hamper faster expansion,” the agency noted.
Despite the high commodity and transport prices, renewables are on track for record growth in 2021, the IEA’s Executive Director Fatih Birol said, noting however that “if commodity prices stay high until the end of 2022, it would wipe out 5 years of cost reductions for wind power – and 3 years of reductions for solar PV.”
Since the beginning of 2020, prices for PV-grade polysilicon have more than quadrupled, steel has increased by 50 percent, aluminum by 80 percent, copper by 60 percent, and freight fees have risen six-fold, the IEA has estimated.
“Compared with commodity prices in 2019, we estimate that investment costs for utility-scale solar PV and onshore wind are 25% higher,” the agency added.
Some 100 GW of contracted renewable capacity risks being delayed by commodity price shocks, the IEA notes.
Source:Oilprice.com
Nigeria’s power sector stakeholders in both private and public will on December 6, 2021, converge in Abuja to develop a plan of action for resolving the many challenges facing the country’s power sector.
The event, which is being organised by …, is under the theme: ‘Consolidating the Privatisation of the Power Sector: Issues and challenges’.
It will be chaired by the Minister for Power, Engr Abubakar Aliyu, while the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Nigeria Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed and the Minister for Water Resources, Engr Suleiman Hussein Adamu, will also address the gathering.
Tagged 1st Abuja Electric Power Conference, those billed to address the seminar include the Bureau of Public Enterprises, the Association of Electricity Generators of Nigeria, the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, the Meters Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, the Electricity Consumers Group as well as each of the parastatals of the Federal Ministry of Power.
Also expected are power sector professionals, past and present operators of the sector alongside related Ministries such as the Federal Ministry of Water Resources on dams and power generation, Federal Ministry of Justice on power contracts controversy and Federal Ministry of Finance on government position on the 40 per cent shareholding in the privatised generation and distribution companies.
Speaking on the forthcoming event organised by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chairman of the Planning Committee, Mr Olawale Rasheed said the conference was designed to review and refocus on the consolidation of the ongoing privatisation and commercialisation of the Nigerian Power Sector.
He said Nigeria had taken and was still pursuing giant steps in the reform of the power sector, adding that many issues had cropped up since the commencement of the privatisation exercise even as it has recorded successes and setbacks.
According to him, some of the objectives of the conference included: reviewing the privatisation outcomes; analysing the gains of the exercise, focussing on the continuation of the exercise; assessing the private sector’s role in the privatization process and proffering consolidated solutions to challenges of the privatization process.
“The gathering is a solution providing platform. We hope to generate a plan of action with timelines for deliverables which will be submitted to the Minister of Power. The Chamber is organising this event because the power sector affects to a large extent the ease of operations of our members within and outside Abuja,” he said
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The United States is taking a crack at improving its relations with OPEC—notably with Saudi Arabia—after the federal government repeatedly blamed the group for high U.S. retail fuel prices and then announced the release of 50 million barrels of crude from the strategic petroleum reserve to push international oil prices down.
Bloomberg’s Javier Blas reported this week that White House senior energy security advisor Amos Hochstein has traveled to the Middle East, where he met with government officials, including Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman.
“We discussed areas where the U.S. and Saudi Arabia can partner to invest in the energy transition and collaborate to build a 21st century clean energy architecture,” the senior Washington official said, as quoted by Bloomberg.
According to unnamed sources familiar with the discussion, the U.S. representative told the Saudi side that Washington supported OPEC decision-making, although President Biden and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm more than once criticized that very decision making that, according to them, resulted in higher prices for American drivers.
This support for OPEC decision-making on the part of the White House may mend fences with Saudi Arabia but is unlikely to sit well with American oil and gas companies.
President Biden’s calls on OPEC to increase production earlier this year were received poorly by the U.S. shale patch, which believes it can take care of the supply problem.
Biden has chosen not to approach the local energy industry for help.
“If I were gonna make a call, it wouldn’t be long-distance, it would be a local call,” said Occidental’s CEO Vicki Hollub last month. “I think first you, you stay home, you ask your friends, and you ask your neighbors to do it. And then if we can’t do it, you call some other countries.”
Source: Oilprice.com
ACFO I Doris Lamptey, Tema Regional Fire Officer, stated that power generation comes with an inherent risk of fires due to the type of fuel used, so it is important to take measures to mitigate this risk.
She applauded the management of Sunon Asogli for taking steps to train fire wardens who would be the first line of emergency response at the plant, and also to construct a befitting fire station for their use.
ACFO I Doris Lamptey hinted that the new fire station would not only serve the needs of the company but also the entire Kpone community.
She mentioned that her office would be open for consultations for refresher training for the fire wardens and collaboration in the procurement of a fire tender that meets Ghana’s standard to aid in the ease of the work of the fire wardens.
She concluded by appealing to other corporate organizations to support the Ghana National Fire service in achieving its mandate since fire safety and prevention is a shared responsibility.
The commissioning ceremony ended with a tour of the new fire station.
Also present at the event were DO1 Raymond Nyamasekpor, District Fire Officer, DO3 Ebenezer Sam, Staff Officer, Tema Region, DO3 Samuel Fiifi Oppong, Acting Operation Officer- Tema Region, Nana Offei Asamani I, Nkosuohene for Akwamu State and the Management and Staff of Sunon Asogli Power.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
“Together with you, the media, we can reach this new society with clean, fair and abundant energy for everybody,” she said.
According to her, NPG is keen on establishing a steady and well-bonded relationship with its stakeholders through the media as a special purpose vehicle to reach all corners of the country for effective involvement and engagement.
Ms Bellona-Gerard Vittor-Quao said the workshop will provide “all of you with the opportunity to refresh your knowledge improve your capacity and equip you to support Ghana’s Nuclear Power efforts.”
The very interactive workshop saw presentations from the Executive Director of Nuclear Power Ghana, Dr Stephen Yamoah, and Ing. Jonathan Amoako Baah, immediate past Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo).
