14012020 - 50 years after: Let's revisit issues that caused Civil War

22— Vanguard, TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2020
Lack of PIB threatens FG's 40 bbls reserves by 2025 —
.
Investigation One billion barrels yearly additional oil not achievable
.Reserves stagnate at over 37bn barrels
By Udeme Akpan & Levinus
Nwabughiogu
THE Federal Government’s
moves to add one million
barrels yearly to Nigeria’s oil
reserves, targeted at increasing
the nation’s total reserves from
about 37 billion to 40 billion
barrels by 2025, have been
threatened mainly because of
lack of Petroleum Industry Bill,
PIB.
The plan was earlier set for
realisation by 2020, but shifted
forward because of the inability
to complete work on the PIB, a
comprehensive legislation
targeted at overhauling the
petroleum industry, entrenching
efficiency and transparency and
bringing operations in line with
international standards.
However, investigation by
Vanguard indicated that the new
target is also under threat, as
operators, including International
Oil Companies, IOCs, and their
indigenous counterparts have
not started to do much toward
bringing planned projects to
fruition.
In an interview with Vanguard,
managing director of a major
company, who preferred not to
be named, said: “The PIB should
have been completed before
now to attract investments. I
know of companies that have
gone to invest heavily in Angola,
Ghana and even in East African
nations. Nevertheless, we have
decided to wait because the
Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva,
had given us assurances.
“We do base our operations on
such assurances; but will wait for
the PIB before deciding on the
next steps for our proposed oil
and gas projects in Nigeria. It
should be noted that oil and gas
require long-term investments,
ranging from medium to long
term planning and collaboration
with many people and
organisations, including
consultants, technical partners
and financiers. We need to tap
into new opportunities in Nigeria
and the PIB, would be one of the
main determinants.
“We intend to wait, even if it takes
a much longer time to complete
work on the PIB. But it should be
stressed that this would also
prolong the time required for oil
companies to decide on new
projects to push forward, mobilise
funds, and take Final Investment
Decisions, FID, before moving
ahead to implement them in order
to add to the nation’s reserves.”
Executive
Investigation by Vanguard
showed that the National
Assembly, whose members are
currently on vacation, has not
started work on the PIB.
Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva,
could not be reached for
comments, over the weekend,
but in his new year message,
Sylva had said: “The Petroleum
Industry Bill (PIB) is now at an
advanced stage and the bill
would be passed by the middle
of this year.”
National Assembly
There are strong indications that
the Executive and Legislature
have not started to work
toward the PIB. In an interview
with Vanguard, Mr Ossai Nicholas
Ossai, Chairman, House of
Representatives Committee on
Treaties and member
representing Ndokwa/Ukwuani
Federal Constituency of Delta
State said it would be passed in
the first quarter, January – March,
2020.
He said: “I don’t know whether
the committee has been
constituted already because
you know it an adhoc committee
that does that, including some
members of the Petroleum
Upstream Committee. The
speaker has already said it is first
agenda on the line as soon as
the House resumes from
vacation.
“I think the Speaker and the
Senate President made it clear
that it is one of the priority bills
that will pass first or second
quarter of this year. I think we
are on the same page with the
Executive arm on the bill. It has
dragged because the president
believes that his powers had been
whittled down. The president is
righting to retain his powers.”
On the powers of each party, he
Oil facility
said: “Well, the most important
thing is that there would be a
synergy, give and take, which
what the politics is all about. The
legislature is making sure that
there will be complete
transparency where the
Executive cannot inhibit the
process of governance. I think
that is what the legislature wants
but the Executive wants to retain
their power. It is a fight of the
executive against the people.”
In another telephone interview
with Vanguard, over the weekend,
Sen. Godiya Akwashiki,
Chairman, Senate Committee on
Media and Public Affairs, said: “I
do not know why Nigerians are
speculating on when the PIB will
be passed or not, especially when
it has not yet been presented to
the current Senate.
“They should wait for the PIB to
be presented to the current Senate
and we take it from there. The fact
Nigeria to contribute 35% of Africa's oil, gas pipeline
By Ediri Ejoh
THERE are indications that
Nigeria is expected to
contribute around 35 per cent of
Africa's total planned oil and gas
new-build trunk/transmission
pipeline length additions
THE average price
of Organisation of
Petroleum Exporting
countries, OPEC’s basket
of fourteen crudes in the
past one week averaged
$68.88 compared with
$68.35 recorded the
previous week.
According to OPEC’s
calculation, the highest
price of crude was
recorded on January 06,
2020, which averaged
$70.89 per barrel, while
the lowest price for the
period under review
averaged $67.04
is that if any bill was presented
and discussed by the 8th National
Assembly, but not completed or
accented to by the President, it has
to be presented again.
“This means that PIB will have to
go through the normal process
of first reading, second reading,
committee review, public
hearing among others. This
explains why we should not
start to put time frame to it; the
most important thing is that the
current National Assembly is
committed to it.”
Past promises
From former Presidents Musa
Yar’Adua to Olusegun Obasanjo
and Goodluck Jonathan – led
administrations, many
government officials, including
ministers and former group
managing directors of NNPC, had
made similar promises and failed
to deliver the new legislation to
Nigerians.
between 2019 and 2023,
according to GlobalData, a data
and analytics company.
The company's latest report,
'Global Planned Oil and Gas
Pipelines Industry Outlook to
2023, Capacity and Capital
Expenditure Outlook with
Details of All Planned Pipelines',
stated that Nigeria is expected
to provide 6601.5 km of newbuild
pipeline by 2023.
It added that most of the
additions will constitute natural
gas, at 6460 km, while crude oil
pipelines will account for 142
km.
Varun Ette, Oil and Gas Analyst
at GlobalData, said "In Nigeria,
11 new-build pipelines are
expected to start by 2023. Of
these, eight are planned projects
and the remaining three are
from early-stage announced
projects. Trans Saharan Gas is
the longest upcoming pipeline
Implications
Experts said the implication is that
Nigeria’s petroleum industry may
remain unchanged in the next few
years.
In the past few months, OPEC’s
records showed that Nigeria’s rig
count have hovered at between
15 and 17, indicating that
exploration and production
remain low in the country, in
relation to other countries.
In the midstream and
downstream, things are not
better, as the poor state of the
refineries have compelled NNPC,
to embark on massive
importation to meet domestic
demand.
In his agenda-setting email to
Vanguard, chairman, Petroleum
Technology Association of Nigeria,
PETAN, Mazi Bank-Anthony
Okoroafor, stated: “The new
Minister of State should work with
the National Assembly, the chief
of staff and critical stakeholders to
complete work on the PIB.
in the country with a length of
4400 km. This announced natural
gas pipeline is expected to start
operations in 2021."
Niger has the second highest
new-build pipeline additions in
Africa with two new-build
pipelines, Niger-Benin and
Zinder-Torodi pipelines are
expected to start operations with
lengths of 1980 km and 1070 km,
respectively by 2023.
Niger-Benin is a crude oil
pipeline, while Zinder-Torodi is
a petroleum products pipeline.
Ette noted that "Followed by
Niger, Algeria is expected to add
2007.3 km of infrastructure from
five planned and two early-stage
announced pipelines by 2023.
Haoud El Hamra-Bejaia II is the
major upcoming pipeline in the
country with a length of 667.7
km. The crude oil pipeline is
expected to start operations in
2022."
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