OGR July - August Edition 2020

Oil & Gas
REPUBLIC
SPECIAL EDITION I JUNE - JULY 2020
COVID-19 LATEST NEWS
INDUSTRY NEWS
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS
I S S N 2 7 0 5 - 2 0 5 2
CORONAVIRUS
Africa’s Journey, Inspiration, and Development

C.Divine - A Nigerian company specialized in manufacturing high-quality cables,
electrical and electronic products.
C
DIVINE
SAFETY = QUALITY = VALUE
Answer International
Company Limited
ü
www.cdivine.com.ng
info@cdivine.com.ng
c.divinestd@yahoo.com

Oil & Gas
REPUBLIC
SPECIAL EDITION I MAY - JUNE 2020
COVID-19 LATEST NEWS
INDUSTRY NEWS
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS
CONTENTS
I S S N 2 7 0 5 - 2 0 5 2
CORONAVIRUS
Africa’s Journey, Inspiration, and Development
Publisher
Engr. Idowu Babalola
(MBA, MNSE, MEI)
Managing Editor
Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
Editor
Tobi Owoyimika
Legal Council
Barr. Jackson Olagbaju
Senior Correspondent
Genevieve Aningo
Contributing Authors
Ayobami Adedinni
Binutiri Samson
Oil and Gas Republic (OGR)
Reg. Number: 2347423
Email: info@oilandgasrepublic.com
oilandgasrepublic@gmail.com
Phone: +2348065187468
CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC
This article provides latest
developments and key
recommendation from industry
experts on how Africa can
navigate through the Pandemic
and oil price plunge for a post
COVID-19 recovery in the oil
and gas industry.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
OGR talks to the Chairman and
CEO of C.Divine Answer Int’l
Company Limited. C.Divine is a
Nigerian indeginous company
specialized in manufacturing
high-quality cables, electrical
and electronic products. The
have a trademark on all our
products.
PAGE 4
COVID-19 Latest News PAGE 7
Oil Market Report PAGE 17
Industry News PAGE 18
Majorwaves Webinar PAGE 20
LNG World News PAGE 24
Local Content PAGE 28
Renewable Energy PAGE 31
Women in Energy PAGE 32
Featured Contents PAGE 40
APPO Interview PAGE 45
Country Report PAGE 47

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
'We Manufacture Cables, Electrical & Energy Products.
We prove that a Nigerian Company can offer Quality
Products'
OGR talks to Mr. Cyril Uzoma
Oghaego, CEO of C.Divine
Answer International Company
Limited, about his products &
services and future plans to
domesticate production locally
when it comes to manufacturing
cables, electrical & energy products
in the Nigerian market.
Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
brings the excepts:
OGR: Please tell us more about yourself
and work at C.Divinve?
Cyril: My name is Mr. Cyril Uzoma
Oghaego. I am the Chairman and CEO of
the C.Divine Group of Companies.
OGR: What inspired you to establish
C.Divine?
Cyril: One is to engage myself, meet
p e o p l e ' s n e e d s , a n d c r e a t e j o b
opportunities for the Nigerian people.
OGR: How long have you been in this
business and what are the challenges you
are facing?
Cyril: I have been in business for 22 years
now, since 1998. And, I learned business
skills from my Father, in my childhood for
about 16 years.
The challenges are normal. Anyone that
isn't ready to face challenges doesn't worth
living. Another challenge is the lack of
infrastructure in our country.
For example, the road to Tincan and Apapa
aren't accessible and this is a major place
where the nation generates its revenue.
Sometimes, our products that are supposed
to arrive within 2 - 3 weeks would usually
take more than 3 months to arrive, due to
the roads and seaports aren't accessible. Is it
that we cannot get a construction company
to fix our roads? Is it that we cannot expand
our seaports? These are some of the
challenges that we are facing as
businessmen when it comes to the
importation of goods.
OGR: What are you expecting from the
Government?
Cyril: They should duplicate or learn from
what other developed countries are doing.
The Nigerian Government and China has a
cordial business relationship. So I think they
should work closely with them on that
aspect.
OGR: What are the products and services
you offer in the Nigerian market?
Cyril: We manufacture electrical and energy
products for the Nigerian energy sector.
Our products range from Armored cable,
Aluminum Conductors, A.C.S.R, X.L.P.E,
T.R.S, Flexible cable, Flat and Single wire, TV
cable, Single Flex, Distribution Boards,
E.L.C.B, Knife Switches, Cooker Unit,
Knockout Box, Switches and Sockets,
Energy Bulbs, Panel Lights, Flood Lights,
Down Lights, Corn Bulbs, Gas Station Lights,
LED Bulbs, Street Lights, Industrial Solar
Street Lights, Industrial Street Lights Poles,
Galvanized Poles, Solar Panels, Solar
Battery, Electronic fans, Electric Kettle And
many more!
We are also planning to start manufacturing
Transformers both high and low tension.
OGR: How do you ensure the quality of
your products?
Cyril: All our products come with our
trademarks. If we aren't sure about the
quality of our products, we cannot bring in
fake products into the Nigerian market. Our
products come with our company name,
C.Divine.
OGR: Please could you briefly tell us about
some of your products that are booming in
the Nigerian market?
Cyril: We currently have up to 200
products on our portfolio.
4
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Many of our products are booming
including our flexible cables, single cables,
flat cables, aluminum conductor, armould
cable, energy-saving bulbs, solar battery,
and solar panel among others. And, we are
known for quality products.
OGR: How have you been able to establish
a business partnership with Nigerian
companies?
Cyril: We have been dealing with Nigerian
companies and we have been able to know
those that are sincere and ready to work
with us. We offer our partners some
incentives that will encourage them to do
business with us.
OGR: How would you evaluate your
business capacity in the Alaba market?
Cyril: We have proved to people that a
Nigerian company can offer quality
products.
We have encouraged a lot of entrepreneurs
to venture into providing quality products
in the Nigerian market. No matter the
challenges we are facing, we are doing our
best to thrive in this industry. And, we have
set a standard when it comes to providing
quality products. I am so happy to see the
level of our business so far.
OGR: Do you have plans to domesticate
your production in Nigeria?
Cyril: Yes, we have plans to produce our
products locally in Nigeria. We do
understand that producing our products in
Nigeria will create a lot of job opportunities.
But, we need the enabling environment to
achieve it. We are working towards it and in
the nearest future, we will start our
production locally. We are a good citizen,
delivering exceptional value to the Nigerian
people.
OGR: What would you need from the
Government and Investors to achieve it?
Cyril: We need good roads, power supply,
tax incentives, and loan facilities with a low
percent interest. We need the Government
to create an enabling environment for
companies like us to operate and produce
locally. Nigerians are very talented and
hard-working but the Government should
assist us in this area which I believe will go a
long way to add value to our businesses.
OGR: Are there any particular project that
you are involved in that excites you?
Cyril: Most of the things we do are Divine.
We are involved in various empowerment
programs and we impact business skills to
Nigerian youths. By God's grace, we have
been empowering the Nigerian youths,
irrespective of background. Also, we
provide financial support to business people
based on our capacity.
Annually, we empower over 100
entrepreneurs in Nigeria. That is what the
company is all about and that's why it is
called C.Divine. We are achieving God's
purpose. We aren't just living for ourselves.
Most of the profit we generate goes back to
the people.
OGR: How do you recruit people to acquire
business skills?
Cyril: C.Divine is more of a business school,
training Nigerian youths to get the required
skills for business to whoever is interested.
We empower our workers and apprentice.
Usually, some graduates come here for IT.
So far, we have trained up to 50 people to
acquire the required business skills to
establish their own business.
OGR: For those that come to C.Divine for
training, how many years would they stay
to learn business skills?
Cyril: Our training program for an
apprentice is 6 years. As far as I am
concerned, apprenticeship is one of the
greatest opportunities to get full knowledge
for a particular business area.
Even in the developed world, they establish
technical schools to empower people
interested to get particular skills. And, that is
exactly what we are doing at C.Divine.
OGR: Are you involved in any Corporate
Social Responsibility?
Cyril: As we speak now, we are building
schools for Nursery and Primary students in
my community. Some days ago, we
inaugurated some primary schools where
we spent over Six Million Naira in the
eastern part of Nigeria.
We are also involved in various community
development projects. We are also
contributing to the Nigerian economy by
paying our tax duties.
We offer jobs to the youths. We provide
financial support to entrepreneurs. So far,
we are trying our best and we believe we will
improve as we progress.
OGR: What are your vision for C.Divine in
the next 5 years?
Cyril: Our vision is building a multinational
company, proving to people that you can
serve God and do the right things in
business.
We are also working to make an impact in
the nation building through creating jobs
and empowerment, and to be the leading
producer & supplier in electrical/electronic
market with the best quality, providing unequaled
customer’s service.
At C.Divine, safety and precaution is a
serious matter. We are established not just
to make financial profit, but also to serve
God and humanity and knowing fully well
that life is very precious and has no duplicate
on earth if eventually lost, that is why we
have gone extra miles in establishing safety
workshop and procuring heavy duty
equipment like fork lift, heavy duty trucks
with Hiab Crane to ensure safety and
precaution in loading and off – loading our
heavy duty cables, high tension equipment
and other materials.
Finally, a trial will convince you that
diligence, integrity, love for God and
humanity are the qualities that made us
what we are.
5
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

COVID-19 NEWS
Nigeria Targets $10 Per Barrel Cost of
Production by 2021
Maersk Drilling releases Trading
Statement for Q1 2020
11 13 17
OPEC Sees Oil Rising To $40 In Second
Half Of 2020
Industry Collaboration Needed to Navigate Through
The Global Pandemic, Experts says
DMG Events hosted its first Energy
Webinar Series on May 6, 2020,
titled: "Strategies to Navigate the Oil
& Gas Business through the Global
Pandemic" with a focus on the future
economic forecast in Nigeria, and the
impact of the COVID-19 in the oil and gas
industry.
By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
The speakers include; Ainojie Alex Irune,
Chief Operating Officer, Oando Energy
Resources, Oluwatoyin Aina, Group Head -
Energy, Downstream & International Oil
Trading, First Bank of Nigeria, Ade Adeola,
Managing Director - Energy & Natural
Resources, Standard Chartered Bank PLC
and Seyi Bella, Partner, Banwo and
Ighodalo, as they opened discussion on
Strategies to Navigate the Oil & Gas
Business Through the Global Pandemic.
The panel discussion was moderated by
Bismarck Jemide Rewane, MD & CEO of
Financial Derivatives Co Ltd.
In his presentation, Bismarck Jemide
Rewane explained that in 2019 global
growth was projected at 2.9% but due to
the COVID-19 Pandemic, it now stands at -
3%. While in Sub-Saharan Africa, the
economic growth in 2019 stands at 2.1%
but today it is projected at -1.6%.
According to his report, the sectors that will
be affected most likely in Nigeria during this
pandemic are; Aviation, Hospitality,
Trading, Catering, Brewing, Real Estate,
Entertainment, Transportation, Crude
Petroleum, Health Insurance, etc. While
other sectors that will benefit include;
Telecoms, ICT, E-commerce, Electronic
p a y m e n t , M i n i n g & Q u a r r y i n g ,
Distributions & Storage, Healthcare,
Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas Upstream,
among others."
Speaking about the impact of the current
market condition in Nigeria's oil and gas
industry, Ainojie Alex Irune, Chief Operating
Officer of Oando Energy Resources, said
that oil producers have to look for an
efficient way to minimize their budget and
cost of production. And, the government
will play a vital role more especially to assist
local producers in terms of incentives and
providing an enabling environment.
Irune said: "The recent OPEC, OPEC+
production cuts of about 10 million barrel is
a historic one in the oil and gas industry. For
us in Nigeria, it is about 22% of over 2 million
barrels per day production.
"The Nigerian Government has been very
aggressive to bring down the cost. And, it is
the first time we are seeing it.
"But, the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill will
be very useful this period as it speaks very
much in a situation like this. I would urge the
Federal Government to take a closer look at
this for the passage of the Bill," he added.
7
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

COVID-19 NEWS
Ade Adeola, Managing Director, Energy &
Natural Resources of Standard Chartered
Bank, noted that the oil and gas industry is a
huge catalyst due to the number of players
operating in the industry. And, the COVID-
19 has induced CAPEX Cut which resulted
in key projects been delayed.
Countries like Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana,
and Senegal have put on hold some of their
deepwater projects. While some are been
reviewed, optimized and some of the
projects will be canceled.
"We do not expect to see additional project
been sanctioned. Capital will flow to where
it gets is best value and investors require
variables that they can manage and control.
"We have seen the efforts of the Federal
Government of Nigeria regarding the PIGB
as they are working on passing the Bill to
address specific challenges and to move the
industry forward. But, we need to rapidly
implement the PIGB as it will help in
situations like this."
Speaking further, he advised producers to
consider new cost consolidation strategies,
adding that IOCs in Nigeria should see this
global pandemic as an opportunity to
collaborate on cost reduction.
He stressed that industry players need to
work together on collaborative measures to
provide advocacy to policymakers putting
forward a clear part of how to reduce the
overall cost budgets and how to optimize
value in the industry more efficiently.
In his forecast for 2020 - 2021, he
highlighted that there will be challenges in
the industry due to the oil price plunge and
the coronavirus pandemic.
According to him, there is going to be a lot of
pain further down the line as all those
projects that are been delayed create an inbalance
in the market. The industry will
witness a demand shock due to global
pandemic.
"But, when that demand goes off, all the
projects that have been delayed will be
reviewed again for FIDs and the market will
start rebalancing by 2021 to 2022. Oil prices
may rise to $44 - $50 per barrel," he said.
Oluwatoyin Aina, Group Head Energy,
Downstream & International Oil Trading,
First Bank of Nigeria, in her words, she
explained: "Aside from reducing cost,
indigenous producers should begin to do the
valuation of the asset they want to buy and
they have to be very conservative so that
they don't run into stunning waters.
She said the Financiers have a very
important role to play by curtailing the
pricing and bidding of assets to ensure they
maintain their budget.
She advised the Government to set up a
monetary board and anti-trust consumer
protection agency that will monitor and
ensure that bids aren't overrated and value
aren't been removed from the economy.
She also said that diversification of
a l t e r n a t i v e f u n d i n g s o u r c e s i s
recommended as some producers have
moved into that process.
During her speech on Force Majeure, Seyi
Bella, Partner of Banwo and Ighodalo, said
companies shouldn't use the current market
condition as an excuse to terminate
contracts but rather the way forward is
restructuring their business agreement.
That is to say, all parties involved should
reevaluate their business plans instead of
canceling contracts.
She continued: "There should be a
stakeholder collaborative approach in trying
to help oil and gas companies thrive in this
global pandemic.
"Bank and borrowers need to work together
to offer incentives. While CBN should be at
the frontline in dealing with it," she
concluded.
BP Supercomputer to Aid Global Healthcare Researchers to
Halt Coronavirus
BP is joining forces with the U.S.
government, leading universities
and the world’s largest technology
companies by providing access to its
supercomputer to help researchers halt the
spread of COVID-19.
B P w i l l d o n a t e i t s s i g n i f i c a n t
supercomputing capability to the publicprivate
consortium formed in March 2020
by the White House’s Office of Science and
Technology Policy, the U.S. Department of
Energy and IBM.
The group, known as the COVID-19 High
Performance Computing Consortium, will
pool resources and expertise from Amazon
Web Services, Google Cloud, Microsoft,
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, BP and others.
They aim to provide COVID-19 researchers
worldwide with access to the most
powerful high-performance computing
resources that can significantly advance the
pace of scientific discovery in the fight to
stop the virus.
“The world is rallying together in response
to this pandemic and our biosciences
experts, computer scientists and
mathematicians are proud to play their part
by supporting groundbreaking and
potentially life-saving research,” said David
Eyton, BP’s executive vice president of
Innovation & Engineering. “We’re all in this
together and BP is working with
governments and communities to do
everything we can to help fight this
pandemic.”
BP will provide access to its Center for High-
Performance Computing (CHPC) in
Houston, which houses one of the world’s
largest supercomputers for commercial
research and processes enormous amounts
of data for BP. It has 16.3 petaflops of
computing capability, allowing it to process
more than 16 million billion calculations per
second and complete a problem in an hour
that would take a laptop nine years. The
Center’s staff includes experts in data
science, applied mathematics, and systems
architecture.
BP will also make available the expertise of
its Biosciences Center, located in San Diego,
California. The center consists of dozens of
scientists who have capabilities in biological
sciences, chemical engineering and
chemistry, and works across BP to support
many aspects of its operations. These
scientists will work closely with BP’s highp
e r f o r m a n c e c o m p u t i n g t e a m t o
understand research proposals as they
come in and help prioritize work.
8
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, and 5G Reshaping the
Oil and Gas Industry
Huawei organised an Oil & Gas Virtual
Summit 2020, exploring 'Data to Barrel'.
The summit gathered together global
customers, industry partners, and thought
leaders — including representatives from the
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC),
Schlumberger SIS, and the former Chief
Information Officer (CIO) of French giant
TOTAL — to share their experiences of helping
oil and gas companies increase profits while
cutting costs, creating added value through
digital transformation. Key suggestions on how
the industry can overcome challenges at this
particular point in time, adapting to the new
normal of the pandemic and post-pandemic
periods, were also fully explored.
As the oil and gas industry faces upheaval,
Huawei is well positioned to help. In the first
half of 2020, due to the global economic
downturn amid the spread of COVID-19,
international oil prices fell to a low of 30 dollars
per barrel. In May, West Texas Intermediate
(WTI) crude oil futures prices even turned
negative, a historically unprecedented event.
Undoubtedly, the oil and gas industry has
entered an extremely difficult period and is
witnessing changes, the likes of which have not
been seen for over a century.
Huawei has been working hard to help oil and
gas customers cope with these current
challenges. David Sun, Vice President of
Huawei's Enterprise Business Group and
Director of the Global Energy Business
Department, noted that, over the past decade,
Huawei has partnered with customers in the oil
and gas industry and together witnessed oil
prices peak at 120 dollars per barrel, as well as
fall to that low of 30 dollars. Along the way,
Huawei's role has changed — and upgraded —
with the support and help of oil and gas
companies. Evolving from a vendor that simply
provided switches, routers, and network
devices, to becoming a full partner dedicated to
providing digital transformation solutions,
Huawei works with partners and customers
alike to jointly promote the application of 5G,
Artificial Intelligence (AI), and big data in the oil
and gas industry. It continues to explore new
technologies and applications, where solutions
to the current challenges lie.
Indeed, using elastic computing, big data
analytics, AI, and cloud data centers, Huawei
has already helped oil and gas customers
achieve digital transformation, promoting the
construction of intelligent oilfields and
increasing oil and gas reserves.
Working with partners, Huawei planned and
built a computing AI platform for an industry
customer, to implement AI training and big data
analytics. This has, in turn, led to an increase in
both oil and gas reserves and in production.
Indeed, solutions have been implemented in
various scenarios, including artificial-lift fault
diagnosis, well-logging and reservoir
identification, and seismic first arrival wave
identification, extracting significant value from
underutilized — formerly 'useless' — data.
In the words of Dr. Mohamed Akoum from
ADNOC: In an era of change for industries
around the world, ADNOC continues to drive
innovation and embed advanced technologies
across its value chain to optimize performance,
boost profitability and build resilience.
New ICT Technologies Reshape the Oil and Gas
Industry: Huawei Offers a Wealth of Experience
Today, 150 years after the first successful
extraction of oil from a drilled well, accessible
underground oil resources have been all but
exhausted. Oil companies, by necessity, are
therefore now exploring deep-water, pre-salt,
and unconventional reservoirs.
At 60 years old, Daqing Oilfield — the largest
oilfield in China, situated in Heilongjiang, the
country's northernmost province — has faced
enormous challenges in terms of reserve
replacement, stable production pressure, cost
reductions, and efficiency improvements.
At the Huawei Oil & Gas Virtual Summit 2020,
Zhang Tiegang, former Deputy Chief Engineer
of the Exploration and Development Research
Institute at Daqing Oilfield, explained that
seismic exploration technologies to detect oil
and gas reserves have been the method of
choice for most oil companies.
Increasing seismic exploration while decreasing
well drilling, he noted, has become a new
measure widely used in the industry. However,
high precision and massive data processing have
brought their own challenges to seismic
exploration and oilfield exploration and
development. With a single seismic exploration
work area now expanded to over 2000 square
kilometers, the volume of data collected
through the broadband, wide-azimuth, and
high-density seismic data collection technology
has exceeded 1 TB per square kilometer.
To help Daqing Oilfield address these issues,
Huawei built a dedicated oil and gas exploration
COVID-19 NEWS
cloud. The cloud data center improves
computing power by eight times and has
similarly improved prestack seismic data
processing capability by five times, from 400
square kilometers to 2000 square kilometers,
matching work area requirements. Elsewhere,
AI and big data capabilities have been used to reanalyze
10 PB of the customer's historical
exploration data, to mine new value from it and
support extraction decision-making, bringing
huge additional value to the oilfield.
Huawei is empowering a wide range of
industries through 5G networking. In the oil and
gas industry, 5G technologies are changing the
operation modes of seismic data collection.
Huawei has put 5G network features to work —
including high bandwidth, wide connectivity,
and low latency — to help achieve high-speed
backhaul of seismic data, reducing the manual
cabling workload and significantly improving the
efficiency of seismic data collection.
Elsewhere, Huawei 5G networks are already
being used in oilfields and stations to support
robot inspection, drone inspection, and
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
applications.
Additionally, the Huawei Horizon Digital
Platform helps oil and gas customers break
down legacy siloed service systems and quickly
release service applications as micro-services, to
meet the complex and changing needs of the
industry. For example, Huawei has deployed an
enterprise cloud for SONATRACH, the national
state-owned oil company of Algeria. The cloudbased
solution manages and coordinates
multiple data centers, eliminates resource silos,
and greatly improves overall operation
efficiency.
As a global ICT solutions provider, Huawei is
committed to bringing digital to every oil and gas
company. At the Huawei Oil & Gas Virtual
Summit 2020, Wang Hao, Chief Technology
Officer (CTO) of the Oil & Gas Development
Department for Huawei's Enterprise Business
Group, said that Huawei will use ICT as a new
engine to work even more closely with industry
customers in challenging times. Indeed, Huawei
is already working with 19 of the top 30 oil and
gas companies, in 45 countries and regions
around the world, helping them achieve digital
transformation. Ultimately, this will bring more
benefits to the upstream, more security to the
midstream, and more value to the downstream.
Such innovative ICT technologies — AI, cloud,
edge computing, and 5G — will reshape the oil
and gas industry. As David Sun concluded at the
Huawei Oil & Gas Virtual Summit 2020:
"According to IDC's latest survey, Chinese
industrial users see Huawei as the digital
transformation leader, ranking number one. In
the future, we hope to share Huawei's digital
transformation capabilities and experiences in
China's oil and gas industry with global
customers, to help achieve ever greater
business success.
9
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers
www.capp.ca

COVID-19 NEWS
Nigeria Targets $10 Per Barrel Cost of Production by 2021
The Federal Government has made its
intention to fix the Unit Operating Cost
(UOC) of producing crude oil in Nigeria
to $10 per barrel.
The Group Managing Director of
N i g e r i a N a t i o n a l P e t r o l e u m
Corporation, Mele Kyari made the
disclosure on Wednesday during the
second webinar series by the Nigerian
Association of Explorationists (NAPE),
themed “The Impact of COVID-19 on
the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry – The
Way Forward”. He said the reduction
would come into effect December
2021.
Evy Maffini
Speaking on the impact and reaction of
Nigeria’s to the COVID-19 crsisi, the
NNPC boss said while Nigeria remained
resilient in the face of the Coronavirus
crisis, however, noted that the situation
left the country with revenue
instability.
He hinted that the move for reduction
in the cost of oil production is part of
the government’s response to new
realities.
Kyari said the cost of production have
been too high for too long, adding that
government had initiated the
conversation on cost reduction with
industry operators but was stalled by
the Coronavirus outbreak.
He noted that government’s industrywide
intervention pointed to the need
for a substantial reduction in the cost of
production.
He said “a number of cost elements we
deal with today shouldn’t be there in
the first instance. We can work on our
cost structure to bring down the cost of
production.
“We are engaging our Joint Venture
partners on the areas of inefficiency
that they can do away with. Also, there
is need for adoption of technology to
enhance productivity, reduce waste
and improve system efficiency,” he said.
Speaking further, NNPC boss provided
official data on upstream production
cost which revealed varying costs of
production by NNPC joint venture
partners. While some produced at $93
per barrel in 2019, an unnamed
operator produced at $57 per barrel in
the 2020.
Also, costs from production-sharing
contracts (PSCs) were lower. The highest
cost of production from PSCs, which tend to
be offshore, came in at $35.97 per barrel,
while the lowest was $6.18 per barrel, Kyari
stated.
He said, “Some companies are producing at
$90 per barrel, while others are at $9. This is
unacceptable and industry must work
together to bring this down. There are no
subsidies for the upstream, if it is not
economic it must shut down,”
“It is not acceptable and this cannot
continue. Our target is to bring it down to
$10 per barrel by December 2021 and this is
achievable.
“Any company that does not operate at $10
per barrel cost of production is free to go
because the upstream sector is not a
subsidised market, ” the NNPC boss said.
Continuing, Kyari said “some of the oil and
gas companies had over bloated
management structures which impacted on
the production cost
“We are going to do things very differently.
“We need to focus on projects that generate
more cash, produce more resources – and at
cheaper costs.”
In another development, a report has said
that Nigeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and
Cameron sustained their export of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) despite the economic
turmoil triggered by the coronavirus
pandemic. An analytical data from S&P
Global Platts described exports from the
listed countries as showing ‘resilience,’
during this period.
G
The report said that total LNG exports from the
four exporting countries in the region, so far this
year are broadly in line with volumes supplied in
the same time frame last year. That is despite
sharp falls in LNG utilization rates in other parts
of the world, particularly in the US, while spotexposed
Egypt has halted LNG exports
altogether.
The Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari
Nigeria is exposed to the spot market with
around 50% of its LNG exports last year sold on
a spot or short-term basis, according to industry
group, the International Group of Liquefied
Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL). The report
however noted that Nigeria’s LNG exports in
2020 have stayed strong despite weaker
demand and low prices, with some 11 Bcm
exported in the first five months of the year.
That is down just 4% on the same period last
year. S&P Platt said some cargoes have taken
longer to reach their destinations, while other
loaded cargoes have been idling at sea in recent
weeks, but nonetheless, exports continue out of
the country’s only LNG plant, the 22 million
mt/year Nigeria LNG facility.
“With supply to the Nigeria LNG facility being
associated gas, LNG exports are to a degree
driven by domestic oil production, which Platts
Analytics estimates fell by around 5% over the
first five months of the year,” Platts Analytics’
LNG analyst Luke Cottell said.
“This meant we saw little change in LNG exports
year on year, although a record volume of
Nigerian LNG on the water in late May was
indicative of the difficulties such cargoes faced
in finding a home amid record low prices in both
Asia and Europe,” Cottell said.
11
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

COVID-19 NEWS
CNL’s Executive says None of its Employees has
Tested Positive for Coronavirus
Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL),
has continued to operate safely,
and without any Coronavirus
(COVID-19) related incident in its
operations.
CNL affirms that as a responsible
organization, one of the precautionary
safeguards it has put in place to prevent
the spread of COVID-19 virus into its
operations is the introduction of a
compulsory two-week supervised
quarantine for all personnel returning
to work at its Escravos Operations
during this period of the pandemic.
CNL’s General Manager, Policy,
Government and Public Affairs, Esimaje
B r i k i n n e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e
precautionary safeguard enables CNL
to provide a controlled environment for
very close monitoring of the personnel
during the period of the supervised
quarantine. He added that in order to
make this safeguard effective, all
personnel will first be required to
provide a comprehensive travel history
before they are placed in the supervised
quarantine.
Reacting to speculations that CNL
quarantined some of its staff suspected
of having the Coronavirus in a hotel in
Warri, Delta State, Esimaje affirmed
that none of CNL’s employees has
contracted the COVID-19 virus. He
clarified that based on the Coronavirus
Esimaje Brikinn, CNL’s General Manager, Policy,
Government and Public Affairs,
directive issued by the Federal Government
of Nigeria regarding sustained operations in
the oil and gas industry, CNL entered into
arrangements with some hotels and other
facilities in Warri and Lagos where their staff
on rotational duties will be accommodated,
and their health status monitored to ensure
that they do not have the COVID-19 virus
before returning to work at its Escravos
Operations.
According to him, the first group of
personnel scheduled for quarantine were
moved to the designated facilities on Friday,
April 10, 2020 and other groups will follow
based on the crew change schedule and the
personnel will be required to strictly maintain
social distancing protocols, personal hygiene,
and use of appropriate personal protective
Evy Maffini
equipment during the supervised quarantine
period. “We are also working with the hotels
and other facilities where the personnel will be
Glacier makes
appointment in
Norway to grow
local business
placed, to ensure that the hotels and facilities
maintain high levels of sanitation and follow
strict adherence to all COVID 19 protocols,” he
stated.
Esimaje declared that at the end of the twoweek
period, only those who are certified free
of the COVID-19 virus shall be moved to
G
Escravos and that anyone with suspected
symptoms during the period will be subjected to
further testing and subsequently transferred to
government designated hospitals for further
handling in line with the government approved
protocols.
“Chevron continues to monitor the Coronavirus
(COVID-19) outbreak around the world and has
been utilizing the guidance of local and
international health authorities. We are
regularly updating our workforce and will
continue to adjust plans as appropriate as we
receive more information. Our top priority is to
ensure the wellbeing and safety of our
workforce and their family members, and we
are taking precautionary measures to reduce
the risk of exposure,” he remarked.
Total Issues 2020 Share Capital Reserved For Employees
in 97 Countries
I
rounded off to the highest tenth of a euro.
n accordance with its policy in favour of
employee shareholding, the Board of
Directors of TOTAL S.A.
decided, on September 18, 2019, to carry out a
capital increase reserved for eligible employees
and former employees of the Group worldwide
under the conditions set by the eighteenth
resolution at the Shareholders’ Meeting of June
1, 2018.
On April 29, 2020, the Chairman and CEO
decided to set the subscription period from
May 6 to May 18, 2020 and the subscription
price at 26.20 euros per share, corresponding
to the average of the closing prices of the
TOTAL share on Euronext Paris over the
twenty trading sessions preceding the date of
this decision, reduced by a 20% discount and
At the end of this period, 45,547 employees in
97 countries, representing 39.97% of the
eligible Group employees and former
employees, subscribed to this capital increase
for an amount of 339.4 million euros. These
results are on the rise compared to 2019, both in
terms of participation rate and number of shares
subscribed despite the uncertain economic
environment.
"This year again and in spite of the health and
economic crisis, Total’s employees have
confirmed their attachment to the Group, first
by supporting in a vast majority maintaining the
operation of Capital increase reserved for
employees, then by subscribing massively to it.
As Chairman and CEO, I am extremely proud and
that comforts my conviction that the Group will
know how to handle the crisis it faces", declared
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total.
As a consequence, 13,160,383 new shares,
representing 0.51% of TOTAL S.A.’s share
capital as of April 30, 2020, will be issued on
June 11, 2020, will carry immediate dividend
rights and will be fully assimilated with TOTAL
shares already listed on Euronext Paris.
Following this issuance, the employee
shareholders in TOTAL S.A.’s share capital,
within the meaning of Article L. 225-102 of the
French Commercial Code, will represent 5.85%
of TOTAL S.A.’s share capital as of April 30,
2020.
12
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

COVID-19 NEWS
Maersk Drilling releases Trading Statement for Q1 2020
average day rate was below the previous
quarter average.
Revenue within the International floater
segment increased to USD 116 million in Q1
2020 compared to USD 93 million in Q4 2019
primarily driven by an increase in utilisation to
89% (64% in Q4 2019) with 645 contracted
days in Q1 2020 (428 days in Q4 2019) out of
727 available days (664 days). The financial
uptime of 94.2% (95.7%) was negatively
impacted by unscheduled maintenance
down-time on Maersk Venturer.
Maersk Drilling has released its Q1
2020 Trading Statement, showing
that the company is well
p o s i t i o n e d t o r e s p o n d t o t h e
unprecedented business environment.
The announcement was made during a
conference call for investors and
analysts, where Maersk Drilling's CEO
Jorn Madsen and CFO Jesper Ridder
Olsen presented the Q1 2020 trading
statement.
Maersk Drilling CEO, Jorn Madsen said:
“With the combination of COVID-19 and
lower oil prices we are facing
unprecedented times in the offshore
drilling industry. Maersk Drilling
succeeded in maintaining a strong
operational performance during Q1, and
we are well positioned to respond to the
changed business environment due to a
combination of operational, commercial
and financial strengths. In addition, we
are taking immediate steps to adapt our
cost structure to the updated market
outlook.”
According to the statement, Maersk
Drilling's revenue generation for Q1
2020 stands at USD279 million. While
Q4 2019 revenue stands at USD305
million.
Maersk Drilling says the revenue for Q1
2020 was impacted by lower utilisation in
the North Sea jack-up segment, partly
offset by higher utilisation in the
International floater segment but at a
lower average day rate. The financial
uptime of 97.5% (98.6% for Q4 2019)
was negatively impacted by non COVID-
19 related down-time primarily in the
International floater segment.
Maersk Drilling managed to keep
operations largely unaffected by the COVID-
19 situation despite severe difficulties in
performing crew changes and keeping supply
chains running. The total number of
contracted days increased slightly to 1,555
days in Q1 2020 compared to 1,523 days in
Q4 2019 resulting in utilisation for Q1 2020
of 78% (76%).
As of 31 March 2020, the forward contract
coverage for the remainder of 2020 was 64%.
The average day rate was USD 179k in Q1
2020 compared to USD 200k in Q4 2019,
impacted by extended mobilisations for new
contracts in the International floater segment.
North Sea jack-ups
The company said the revenue within the
North Sea segment stands at USD 156 million
in Q1 2020 compared to USD 205 million in
Q4 2019. It was mainly impacted by lower
utilisation. With 819 contracted days in the
quarter (1,003 days) out of 1,183 available
days (1,151 days), utilisation decreased to
69% in Q1 2020 (87% in Q4 2019). The drop
in utilisation of 18 percentage points
compared to Q4 2019, was mainly driven by
Maersk Interceptor completing its five-year
contract with Aker BP in Norway towards the
end of 2019 as well as additional idle days on
two R-rigs located in the southern part of the
North Sea.
Financial uptime remained high at 99.9% in
Q1 2020 (100% in Q4 2019). The average day
rate of USD 190k in Q1 2020 (USD 204k in
Q4 2019) was impacted by Maersk
Interceptor finishing its legacy contract in
Norway.
International floaters
Maersk Drilling explained that the
performance within the International floater
segment displayed a positive trend both in
terms of revenue and utilisation, while the
Revenue backlog
Two new contracts and three contract
extensions were signed in Q1 2020 adding a
total of USD 60 million to the revenue
backlog. As of 31 March 2020, the revenue
backlog amounted to USD 1.7 billion (USD 2.1
billion in Q4 2019). In addition to revenue
recognised in the quarter, the backlog was
reduced by USD 175 million related to the
termination of the drilling contract for Maersk
Venturer and by USD 45 million related to
changed duration of certain activity-based
contracts as well as impact from depreciation
of the NOK on certain split rate contracts.
At 31 March 2020, the forward contract
coverage for the remainder of 2020 was 63%
for the North Sea jack-up segment and 62%
for the International floater segment. The
average backlog day rates for the remaining
part of 2020 were USD 174k for the North
Sea segment and USD 230k for the
International segment.
On 30 April 2020, Maersk Drilling announced
that it had been awarded a four-well
extension for the low-emission jack-up rig
Maersk Intrepid to continue working for
Equinor offshore Norway. The contract
extension is expected to commence in
September 2020, with an estimated duration
of 339 days, which will keep the rig deployed
into the second half of 2021.
In addition, Maersk Drilling and Equinor have
reached an agreement on the provision of
integrated services for the campaign,
including Managed Pressure Drilling, slop
treatment, cuttings handling, and tubular
running services. The contract value is
approximately USD 100 million, including rig
modifications and upgrades, but excluding the
integrated services provided and potential
performance bonuses. The contract includes
an additional one-well option, plus the option
of adding up to 120 additional days of well
intervention.
In addition, subsequent to quarter end, the
revenue backlog has been impacted as
follows:
13
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

COVID-19 NEWS
• Notices of early termination for
convenience of the drilling contracts for
Mærsk Developer, Maersk Reacher,
Mærsk Innovator and Maersk Guardian
have been received.
The terminations are expected to have
immaterial financial impact given early
termination fees.
• Maersk Drilling has agreed with Inpex
Australia to suspend the contract for
Mærsk Deliverer with effect from 30
April 2020. Re-commencement of the
contract is expected to be in October
2020 and Maersk Drilling will receive a
suspension rate until then.
The expected end-date of the firm
contract period is now in August 2023.
According to the company, the
restrictions imposed by the COVID-19
pandemic have also affected the
Egersund yard where the Mærsk
Inspirer is being retrofitted to work as a
combined drilling and production unit
at the Yme field offshore Norway. The
onshore modifications to the Mærsk
Inspirer are currently scheduled to be
completed in the fourth quarter of
2020, whereafter the rig will move
o f f s h o r e f o r h o o k - u p a n d
commissioning.
The first quarter of 2020 showed
simultaneous demand and supply
shocks in the oil markets. Measures to
Jorn Madsen, Maersk Drilling CEO
contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus
across the world have led to an
unprecedented decline in demand for oil
and gas resulting in a sharp fall in prices. At
the end of March 2020, the Brent Crude Oil
closed at USD 22.74 per barrel and
averaged USD 50.82 per barrel during the
Q1 2020.
The sharp decline in prices has caused
several oil and gas companies to announce
reductions in their spending budgets.
Generally, sanctioning of new projects and
ongoing tenders for drilling have been
postponed or cancelled, and some existing
drilling contracts have been renegotiated,
suspended or terminated.
Based on current tender activity and bilateral
customer dialogues, Maersk Drilling expects
that the number of new contracts for drilling
campaigns commencing in 2020 will be limited,
while the demand pipeline for campaigns with
commencement in 2021 is building up due to
postponement of projects originally scheduled
for 2020.
To what extent the current project pipeline for
2021 will materialise into new drilling contracts
depends on the development in the oil and gas
prices and the overall uncertainty in the oil
market.
Glacier makes
appointment in
Norway to grow
local business
In relative terms, the market for ultra-harsh
jack-up rigs, including the CJ-70 jack-up rig
segment, is expected to be more resilient
compared to the broader harsh environment
jack-up market and the international floater
market.
Many stacked rigs across the offshore drilling
industry Gcontinue to incur stacking costs
despite unfavourable commercial prospects,
and given excess supply in most market
segments, continued scrapping of rigs is needed
to obtain a healthier balance between demand
and supply.
The secondary market for offshore rigs remains
illiquid with bid-ask spreads continuing to be
too wide to facilitate any market transactions.
Green hydrogen can help drive job recovery
out of the Covid-19 recession - Expert
Second, they need to develop the right policies
and regulations that will enable them to boost
the domestic market. Finally, they need to build
necessary export infrastructure and secure
supply agreements with key export markets.”
The green hydrogen export market could
be worth US$300 billion yearly by
2050, creating 400,000 jobs globally in
renewable energy and hydrogen production,
according to a new report by Strategy& Middle
East, part of the PwC network.
The global demand for “green hydrogen,”
produced with minimal carbon dioxide (CO2)
emissions, could reach about 530 million tons
(Mt) by 2050, displacing roughly 10.4 billion
barrels of oil equivalent (around 37 percent of
pre-pandemic global oil production).
Rapidly declining renewable energy costs and
technological advances would enable hydrogen
to become the medium of choice for
transporting cheap clean energy across the
globe. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic
h a s a c c e l e r a t e d t h e t r e n d t o w a r d
decarbonization by reducing hydrocarbon
demand substantially.
According to the Strategy& report, Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) countries can ramp
up production to boost domestic industries and
utilize green hydrogen for export purposes.
While other countries are also seeking to invest
in green hydrogen, the export prospects of GCC
countries are limited by large domestic demand
that will probably consume most of their
production. However, GCC countries can export
much of their green hydrogen and still have
adequate, low-cost renewable energy.
Dr. Raed Kombargi, Partner with Strategy& and
the leader of the firm’s Energy, chemicals, and
utilities practice in the Middle East, said: “Given
the current situation and the decline in demand
for hydrocarbons, GCC countries need to act
decisively to capture this market with a threephase
plan. They should launch a commercialscale
pilot in partnership with leading
electrolysis operating companies to build
capabilities and start research and development.
Dr. Shihab Elborai, Partner with Strategy&
Middle East added: “With the challenges posed
by the global COVID-19 pandemic and
concurrent steep decline in oil prices, GCC
countries need to act boldly now to catch up and
overtake countries such as China and Australia,
who are exerting significant amounts of effort in
hydrogen. For instance, the province of British
Columbia in Canada is developing plans to
produce approximately 1.5 Mt of Blue and green
hydrogen by 2050 and generate export
revenues of $15 billion. There is clearly an
opportunity for GCC countries here.”
With modern technology, the cost of producing
green hydrogen will lead to benefits in a range of
industries and advance the goal of making
countries and companies more environmentally
sustainable. This will apply to current
applications of green hydrogen and new ones.
As a result, the demand for green hydrogen is
projected to grow significantly by 2050.
14
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

COVID-19 NEWS
WindEnergy Hamburg Postponed to December 2020
plays a crucial role in fighting the economic
crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“COVID-19 is a huge hit to the EU economy.
Last week the EU Recovery Plan singled out
wind and other renewables as ‘policy
fundamentals of the recovery’. And wind will
deliver. It is cheap, reliable and already 15
percent of Europe’s electricity. The EU wants it
to be 50 percent by 2050. That means huge
investments. It means investing now. It means
the jobs and growth that are needed now. The
EU is unleashing all its firepower to drive a green
recovery - €1.85 trillion. WindEnergy Hamburg
in December Evy will Maffini show how wind can make this
count,” said Giles Dickson.
WindEnergy Hamburg, the global
onshore & offshore event, has
been rescheduled to 1 - 4
December 2020 due to the Coronavirus
Pandemic. The decision to reschedule
WindEnergy Hamburg for December
was made in May. The team at Hamburg
Messe is working vigorously on the
development of safety concepts to
ensure a successful trade fair for
exhibitors, delegates and visitors.
In addition, the exhibition will feature
both digital and hybrid presentation
formats, with broad backing across the
industry. “We got a lot of positive
feedback from our exhibitors who
support our plans for the new
December dates. It gives them a more
solid basis for organising and planning.
So the vast majority of exhibitors and all
of the big manufacturers will stay on
board and the number of cancellations
has actually been quite low. We are of
course very happy about that and
confident that we have made the right
decision,” said Bernd Aufderheide,
President and CEO, Hamburg Messe
und Congress GmbH.
At a digital press conference, industry
experts from all around Europe
assessed the wind industry's current
situation, the effects of the pandemic
and the importance of the EU Green
Deal, giving an outlook on the sector's
future.
All speakers gave a positive view of the
sector’s prospects while calling upon
governments to take specific action.
The digital discussion panel included
top-level representatives from the
business world, politics and industry
organisations providing insights into all
areas of the sector.
Global upswing despite coronavirus
While the pandemic and the resulting
lockdown measures have disrupted supply
chains, hampered investments and brought
wind power projects to a temporary halt,
energy production from existing wind farms
has been stable over the past months.
“Covid-19 is undoubtedly proving a
challenge for the wind industry affecting the
global supply chain, manufacturing and
project execution. But the crisis is also
showing the resilience of the sector, which
has continued to provide affordable and
clean energy throughout,” said Dr. Markus
M. Tacke, Chairman of VDMA Power
Systems and CEO of Siemens Gamesa.
Giles Dickson, CEO of WindEurope and coorganiser
of WindEnergy Hamburg, pointed
out that wind energy has become the most
economical energy source in many parts of
the world: “New models for offshore wind
turbines have reached scales no one had
expected some years ago, with single
turbines of 12 MW and more. Floating wind
is on about to getting ready for commercial
market entry.”
Thorsten Herdan, Director General Energy,
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and
Energy, added: “In Germany, the electricity
due to COVID-19 has pushed the share of
renewables and wind energy in the
electricity sector to new heights. So far,
more than 55% of total electricity
production in 2020 is renewable – wind
alone makes up for a third of electricity
production in 2020. And we have observed
no problems with grid stability. This shows
that our system is capable to adopt very high
shares of renewables.”
Renewable energy is part of the EU
recovery plan
The speakers agreed that the wind industry
Dr. Markus M. Tacke voiced an explicit call to
action: “Now is the time to build on this platform
by investing in a true Green Recovery that can
stimulate economic growth and job creation.”
And Thorsten Herdan added: “In Germany, the
electricity due to COVID-19 has pushed the
share of renewables and wind energy in the
electricity sector to new hights. So far, more
than 55% of total electricity production in 2020
is renewable – wind alone makes up for a third
of electricity production in 2020. And we have
observed no problems with grid stability. This
shows that our system is capable to adopt very
high shares of renewables”
Positive outlook
Ben Backwell, CEO of the Global Wind Energy
Council (GWEC), said that wind energy has
demonstrated its dependability in the current
crisis and deserves to be trusted: “The wind
industry has proven itself to be resilient during
the COVID-19 crisis, providing reliable and
cost-competitive energy to power our society
as the world is in lockdown.” China holds great
promise, as well: “GWEC forecasted 2020 to be
a record year for wind installations, and while
the current crisis will impact these projections,
we still see countries like China, the biggest
wind market in the world, to surpass even our
pre-COVID forecasts.” Backwell called on
politics to provide support: “Governments
across the world must leverage the resilience
and huge potential of the wind power sector to
generate investment, create jobs and renew
critical infrastructure like grids and ports to
power a green recovery.”
WindEnergy Hamburg is the worldwide
platform for wind energy – both on- and
offshore. Every two years one of the most
fascinating and promising industries meets for
the leading global networking event for wind
energy. 1,400 exhibitors will present their
innovations and solutions and around 600
service providers offering everything from
planning and project design.
15
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

COVID-19 NEWS
Damen Shiprepair Launches 24/7 Covid-19 Disinfection
Service for Ships
Damen's vision is to become the most
sustainable and digital shipbuilder in the world.
To achieve this, the focus is on going 'back to
the core': on standardisation and series
construction; the traits that have made Damen
great and that are essential to make shipping
greener and more connected.
Damen Shiprepair Harbour &
Voyage (DSHV), the mobile ship
r e p a i r s q u a d o f D a m e n
Shiprepair & Conversion, has
announced the creation of a 24/7
Covid-19 Disinfection Service for ships.
DSHV has sought to maintain service to
its clients throughout the coronavirus
crisis. With this new service, DSHV is
extending its scope of work in a way
that specifically meets current needs.
The World Health Organisation (WHO)
advises that when there is a case of
Covid-19 on board a vessel, the cabin
and living quarters as well as the rest of
the ship, are disinfected.
DSHV’s MD, Jozeph W.D. Quak says,
“As with a lot of viruses, the coronavirus
can be spread more easily on board a
ship. People are in close proximity to
each other on a vessel and self-isolation
can be more difficult in such a limited
space. The disease can be spread not
only with coughing and sneezing, but
also touching areas that have been
infected. Therefore, hygiene and
disinfection are essential. With this
service we are looking to assist our
clients through this challenging time.”
The disinfection service is based on
WHO approved methods using
stabilized hydrogen peroxide. The
solution is colourless and odourless and
causes no damages on interior or
surfaces. All areas aboard the vessel will
be disinfected with approved methods
and with an approved risk assessments
prior operation starts. The service has
been successfully been performed for
the cruise sector, but can be provided to any
type of vessel.
In all that it does, DSHV makes the safety of
its personnel and the communities in which
it operates the number one priority. In order
to provide this service, and other project
work at this time, DSHV has implemented
robust safety measures, continually
updated in case as per the latest rules and
regulations. These include maintaining a
safe distance between personnel at all
times. This is based on the national
guidelines in the country in which DSHV is
operating, but not less than 1.5 metres. The
service can be provided alongside as well as
during voyage according to client
requirements.
Personnel are required to observe strict
hygiene requirements and wear high quality
PPE. DSHV sets up two separate and
isolated areas. These safety zones are used
prior to attendance and after disembarking
of the vessel on each occasion. Areas with
testing, washing, disinfecting, dressing,
undressing (of PPE as per latest standards)
facilities for our employees, avoiding
speeding of the corona virus.
Damen Shipyards Group operates 36
shipbuilding and repair yards, employing
13,000 people worldwide. Damen has
delivered more than 6,500 vessels in more
than 100 countries and delivers around 175
vessels annually to customers worldwide.
Based on its unique, standardised shipdesign
concept Damen is able to guarantee
consistent quality.
Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular
construction and keeping vessels in stock leads
to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of
ownership’, high resale values and reliable
Evy Maffini
performance. Furthermore, Damen vessels are
based on thorough R&D and proven
technology.
Glacier makes
appointment in
Norway to grow
local business
Damen offers a wide range of products,
including tugs, workboats, naval and patrol
vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels,
dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry,
ferries, pontoons and superyachts.
For nearly all vessel types Damen offers a broad
G
range of services, including maintenance, spare
parts delivery, training and the transfer of
(shipbuilding) know-how. Damen also offers a
variety of marine components, such as nozzles,
rudders, winches, anchors, anchor chains and
steel works.
Damen Shiprepair & Conversion (DSC) has a
worldwide network of eighteen repair and
conversion yards of which twelve are located in
North West Europe. Facilities at the yards
include more than 50 floating (and covered)
drydocks, including the longest, 420 x 80
metres, and the widest, 405 x 90 metres, as well
as slopes, ship lifts and indoor halls. Projects
range from the smallest simple repairs through
Class’ maintenance to complex refits and the
complete conversion of large offshore
structures.
DSC completes around 1,300 repair and
maintenance jobs annually, both at yards as well
as in ports and during voyage.
16
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

Oil prices are set to recover with the
OPEC+ production cuts and
gradual lifting of lockdowns
around the world in the second half of
2020, when oil prices “will be $40
starting from the third quarter,”
Mohamed Arkab, Energy Minister of
OPEC’s rotating president Algeria, said
during an interview on the country’s
national radio channel.
The global economy will not stay
paralyzed for too long, and together with
the 9.7 million bpd cuts that OPEC and its
allies pledged for May and June, these
factors are set to lift the price of oil in H2
2020, Arkab told Algeria’s national radio,
as quoted by Oil Price.
In China, which was hit first by the
coronavirus, and which exited the
l o c k d o w n f i r s t , t h e r e t u r n t o
normalization in the transportation
sector “is driving up global demand,”
according to Algeria’s energy minister.
Moving forward, OPEC and its allies led
by Russia has pushed to extending the oil
production cuts and to urge countries
such as Iraq and Nigeria to comply better
with existing curbs.
OPEC+ sources have said Saudi Arabia
OIL MARKET REPORT
OPEC Sees Oil Rising To $40 In Second Half Of 2020
and Russia had agreed to extend record cuts
throughout July although Riyadh would
prefer to see cut extended throughout
August.
OPEC sources said an extension of cuts was
contingent on compliance as countries that
produced above their quota in May and June
must compensate by cutting more in future
months.
As at 17 July 2020, the price of OPEC basket
of thirteen crudes stood at $43.80 a barrel on
Thursday, compared with $44.12 the
previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat
calculations.
The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB)
is made up of the following: Saharan Blend
(Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo),
Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon),
Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra
Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider
(Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light
(Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey
(Venezuela).
Speaking at the 133rd Economic Commission
Board (ECB) of OPEC via Webinar in Vienna,
HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC
Secretary General, outlined the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy
and oil market, as well as the decisions taken
by OPEC and its partners at the 9th and 10th
OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meetings on
9 and 12 April.
“As market conditions continued to
deteriorate at the end of 1Q20 and the start
of 2Q20, it became clear that urgent action
was needed. Key stakeholders from around
the world were lining up behind the DoC
countries to support proactive, pre-emptive
and decisive action to prevent a total market
meltdown,” the Secretary General said.
“The production adjustments totaling 9.7
mb/d for two months, followed by phased
reductions in the adjustment levels over a
further 22 months, were unparalleled in scope
and duration. The 2-yr period for output
adjustments demonstrated the full
commitment of all stakeholders to achieve
noble common goals,” HE Barkindo added.
He concluded his remarks by stating,
“Another pivotal outcome has been the
encouragement and outpouring of support
the DoC participants have received. This
support came from the very highest levels of
government ... The largest producers
acknowledged their mutual interdependence
and the benefits of working together to return
confidence to the global oil market.”
17
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

INDUSTRY NEWS
Nigeria’s Crudeoil Production Dropped by 294,000 bpd in
June – OPEC
revenues and lower global crude oil prices.
Moreover, despite Nigeria’s debt-to-GDP
ratio, which is moderate by international
standards at about 20 percent, the federal
government’s debt service-to-revenue ratio is
already high due to low tax revenue. As a
result, debt servicing might limit the
government’s ability to increase economic
productivity, and the fiscal account may
remain in deficit throughout the medium
term.”
In another report, Nigeria stands in the fifth
position in revenue from oil export among
OPEC member countries as she earned
$45.11billion from oil last year.
The report shows that Nigeria's revenue was
valued at $206.06billion came from
petroleum export from 2015 to 2019.
The Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) has
said in its July edition of Oil
Market Report that Nigeria’s crude oil
production dropped by 294,000 barrels
per day (bpd) in June.
According to the report, the country’s
crude oil production stood at 1,411,000
bpd in June as against 1,705,000 bpd in
April and 1,436,000 in May, which
resulted in a change of -25 in June and
May.
In the month under review, the largest
crude oil cartel in the world also said that
secondary sources revealed that
Nigeria’s crude oil production stood at
1,504,000 bpd in June as against 1,777,
000bpd in April and 1,592,000 in May,
which resulted in a change of -88 in June
and May.
This shows a shortfall of about 280,000
bpd of the country’s crude oil production
benchmark of 1,700,000 mbpd, which is
a downward review of the earlier 2.01
mbpd for its 2020 budget.
It would be recalled that in April, OPEC
and its allies led by Russia, agreed to cut
crude oil production by 9.7 mbpd. The
production cuts which took effect in
May, saw many countries not complying
with the production adjustment cuts,
including Nigeria. So on June 18 after a
Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee
(JMMC) meeting, countries that did not
comply in May and June were asked to
submit their plan of ensuring compliance,
which took effect in July.
On the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
and the debt profile of the country and
the impact
occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic in the
country’s economy, OPEC said, “Nigeria’s
GDP grew by 1.9 percent y-o-y in 1Q20
following 2.6 percent growth in 4Q19,
marking the slowest pace of economic growth
since 3Q18. The data most probably reflects
early COVID-19 disruptions, which led to
restrictions in Nigeria’s activities with its main
trading partners. The non-oil sector grew by
only 1.5 percent compared with 2.3 percent in
4Q19. Meanwhile, internal trade declined to -
2.8 percent following a contraction of only -
0.5 percent in 4Q19. Public administration
contracted by -8.7% in 1Q20, while
administrative and support services
contracted by -1.9 percent following
expansion of 1.3 percent in 4Q19. Nigeria’s
manufacturing sector expanded only by 0.4
percent compared with 1.3 percent in 4Q19,
and agriculture grew by 2.2% following
growth of 2.3 percent in 4Q19. Most
importantly, the oil sector advanced by only
5.1 percent following 6.4 percent growth in
2019.
It further stated,”The recent manufacturing
PMI reading indicated the steepest
contraction in Nigeria’s manufacturing
activity since July 2014, as it fell to 41.1 in
June from 42.4 the previous month. In the
meantime, responding to the recent crash in
oil prices and the economic fallout of COVID-
19, Nigeria’s central bank devalued the local
currency as it adjusted the official peg against
the dollar to 360 from 307 in March. The step
was taken to converge a multiple exchange
rate regime which it has used to manage
pressure on the naira. Meanwhile, according
to a Debt Management Office statement
published on 2 July, Nigeria’s public debt
increased by around 15 percent y-o-y by the
end of March to US$79.3bn, driven by growth
in both domestic and foreign borrowing due
to a shortage caused by a decline in internal
According to the breakdown from OPEC’s
2020 Annual Statistical Bulletin Nigeria’s oil
export revenue fell in 2016 to $27.29billion
from $41.17billion in 2015, tipping Nigeria
into recession.
Oil revenue later improved in 2017 to $37.98
billion and by the time Nigeria’s economy
came out of recession in 2018, the revenue
jumped to $54.51billion.
The four bigger earners ahead of Nigeria are
Saudi Arabia ($202.37billion), Iraq
($80.03billion), Kuwait ($52.43billin) and the
United Arab Emirates ($49.64billion).
The country also imported $265 billion worth
of petroleum products.
Nigeria exports its crude oil to Europe, North
America, Asia and Pacific, Latin America,
Africa and Middle-East.
Last year, its export to Europe plunged to
680,600 barrels per day from 1.06 million bpd
in 2018. Also export to North America fell to
27,500 bpd from 172,000 bpd
However, export to Asia and the Pacific rose
from 387.200bpd in 2018 to 664.900bpd in
2019. Also, Nigerian oil export to Latin
America increased from 52.300 bpd in 2018
to 252.200 bpd last year.
Exports to Africa fell from 309.500 in 2018 to
260.700 in 2019. No export was recorded for
Middle East in 2018 but 122.300bpd was
exported in 2019.
The total volume of oil exported to North
America slumped by 84 per cent to 27,500
bpd in 2019, while exports to Africa fell by
15.77 per cent to 260,70
18
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

INDUSTRY NEWS
L-R: Country Chair / Managing Director of Total Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mike Sangster; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of TOTAL, Patrick
Pouyanne; Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva; President, Exploration & Production, Arnaud Breuillac; Deputy Managing
Director, Deepwater District, Ahmadu-Kida Musa and Senior Vice President, E&P Africa, Nicolas Terraz
Total’s Investment Portfolio for Deepwater Projects in
Africa Hits $160 billion
Mi k e S a n g s t e r , M a n a g i n g
Director, Total E&P Nigeria
Limited, has said that the company
have made a huge invesment in
deepwater exploration activities in Africa
and is ready to increase its investment
drive in the region.
Sangster made this declaration during a
panel session at the 4th Sub-Saharan
Africa International Petroleum Exhibition
and Conference (SAIPEC) in Lagos.
According to him, Total wants to continue
to be the leader in the African oil and gas
space.
He said: "We had spent $160 billion in
deep water exploration activities in Africa
in the last 10 years. While, 20 per cent of
the amount was spent in Nigeria,
reiterating Total’s commitment to
increasing investment in the oil rich
nation.”
Sangster said Total has been having a
business discussions with the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
and is fully ready to assist Nigeria in
achieving its target of producing three
million barrels of crudeoil per day.
In the past, Total CEO, Patrick Pouyanne led a
high-powered delegation, comprised of the
President, Exploration &
Production, Arnaud Ibreuillac, Senior Vice
President, Total E&P Africa, Nicolas Terraz,
Country Chair / Managing Director of Total
Upstream Companies in Nigeria, Mike
Sangster, Deputy Managing Director,
Deepwater District, Ahmadu-Kida Musa and
Executive Director, Corporate Affairs &
Services, Abiodun Afolabi, in a strategic visit to
Nigeria where he met the Honorable Minister
of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief
Timipre Sylva.
Pouyanne said the Group is commitment to
deepening investments in the country, stated
that “Nigeria has a big potential that has not
been fully explored and TOTAL is ready to
open discussions for new licenses.
He said: “Nigeria is important to the TOTAL
Group as the country now represents about
10% of the Group’s global production. Nigeria
has a lot of prolific oil fields and Total would
gladly carry out exploration activities if the
government grants the licence”.
He further stated that TOTAL will continue to
invest more and it is imperative to have
conversations that will ensure a rewarding
investment structure. He also reiterated the need
for reinvestments stemming from the return on
earlier investments with a focus on the practicality
of the Egina Field while noting that “in a show of
commitment, TOTAL is committed to
reinvestments in the country from the proceeds of
the Egina venture.”
Nicolas Terraz, Senior Vice President, Total E&P
Africa said: "Africa is a key continent: It represents
one quarter of our Upstream production and one
third of our capital expenditure. Africa is also a
place where we have continued to invest, even in
the low part of the cycle.
"There is a bright future for oil and gas, and solar,
and in fact all forms of energy in Africa. Africa is
richly endowed with all these forms of energy.
There definitely is room for further oil
developments in Africa"
Ahmadu-Kida Musa, Deputy Managing Director,
Total E&P Nigeria commented: "Commitment
through the lower cycle has always been Total’s
strength. That belief in our long-term affiliation
with Africa, the long-term commitment, and
knowing fully well that we are there for Africans, is
what truly forms Total’s boldness in investing in
the very lower part of the cycle, knowing fully well
that it will never be permanent"
Total has been operating in Africa for 90 years and
have been able to evolve on the energy markets,
being active in renewables, oil and gas industry.
19
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

Expert calls on Nigerian oil firms to explore opportunities
in Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, others
Af r i c a n E n e r g y C h a m b e r
E x e c u t i v e C h a i r m a n , N J
Ayuk, has called on Nigerian oil
and gas services firms to take
advantage of opportunities in
Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique and
other Africa countries post COVID-19.
Ayuk made the call during Majorwaves
Energy Report webinar, which focused
on the topic,”Optimising Local Content
through Regional Integration in a post
COVID-19 Africa.”
The webinar focused on identifying
opportunities across Africa for built
capacity and capabilities; the flow of
capital, formation of JV towards big
ticket projects; practical solutions to
challenges with integrating businesses
across national boundaries; optimising
bi-lateral and multilateral trade
agreements across regions, leveraging
technology in a post Covid-19 era
across the continent; and comparing
National Content legislation of
individual countries and provisions for
African Energy Chamber Executive Chairman,
NJ Ayuk
MAJORWAVES WEBINAR
By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
collaboration and dispute resolutions.
While speaking about the importance of
regional integration in a post COVID-19 Africa,
he said that the African Continental Free Trade
Agreement (AfCFTA) would be pivotal in this
regard, but lament Evy Maffini on the difficulty it will face if
the local content laws of participating countries
were not harmonised.
He gave example using Nigeria, which has
competent services firms, who cannot operate
in fellow African countries because of local
content laws; and asked Nigeria to lead the
campaign for regional content law.
According to him,”In the last two years, there
has not been any major project in Africa.” He
then called on Africa oil producers to make their
fiscals competitive, so as to attract big projects.
The AEC Chairman, who noted that equity
investment will not be in the best interest of
African countries in the oil and gas industry post
COVID-19, also lauded the Nigerian Liquefied
Natural Gas (NLNG), describing it as one of the
most successful LNG in the world.
Uganda’s Albertine Graben Open for Investment - Peninah
Peninah Aheebwa, Director of Technical
Support Services Petroleum Authority,
Uganda, has said that the Albertine
Graben is open for investment and there are
currently three active exploration licenses
given to Armour Energy and Oranto Petroleum.
By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
projects. They are ready for Final Investment
Decision but what is holding it is a few
commercial issues which we are discussing with
the IOCs. As soon as we have finalised on that,
the FIDs will be taken anytime soon.
She disclosed this during an extensive
discussion at Majorwaves First Webinar Series
titled: "Optimising Local Content through
Regional Integration in a Post COVID-19 Africa,"
held on June 10, 2020.
Peninah noted that Albertine Graben is
Uganda's most prospective basin and only 10%
license has been issued while 90% is
unlicensed. She further explained that before
the COVID-19 Pandemic, Uganda has been
doing very well in terms of its economy growth
which stood at 6.5% and the country's GDP
stood at $34 billion in 2019.
According to her, there are about 21 oil and gas
discoveries in Uganda's oil and gas industry
with an unprecedented drilling tax rate of about
88% and a resource base of around 6 billion
barrels of oil in place.
She continued: "Uganda have issued over 14
licenses to CINOOC, Total, Tullow among
others. While the country is estimated to have
about 1.4 billion barrels of recoverable
resources.
Peninah Aheebwa, Director of Technical Support
Services Petroleum Authority, Uganda
“There is an ongoing licensing round in Uganda
for up to 5 blocks that was launched in 2019 till
September 30th, 2020.
"The blocks are attractive as we currently have
up to 6 investors that have shown interest. But,
we are encouraging investors out there to take
advantage of these blocks.
"Some of our projects that have moved into the
development phase are Tilenga, Kingfsher
"Again, we have another categories of projects
which is the monetisation project. We will be
using some of our crudeoil that will be refined incountry
to add value, meet the energy needs of
our country and region at large.
"The refining project was conceived in East
Africa Community (EAC). It was a collective
agreement within the region for the
establishment of a Mega Refinery and Uganda
was identified as an area where the refinery
should be built because of the proximity of
discoveries we have in the region.
"There is work in progress in the refinery such as
the FEED development. And, within the next 12
- 24 months we should be seeing the FIDS for
the refinery as well.
"For the East African Crudeoil Pipeline, it is
going to be the longest crudeoil pipeline in the
world. It is unprecedented and the technical
work is done and soon we will make FID.
"Generally, these are the projects we have Post
COVID-19. And, the estimated CAPEX is $7 to
$10 billion within 3 - 5 years."
20
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

LABACORP INTERVIEW
Labacorp Energy is set to unlocking Cameroon’s
potential in major industries - Bako Ambianda
Bako Ambianda, is a Cameroonian,
Founder, Chairman and CEO, Labacorp
Group of Companies. He is also the CEO of
Labacorp Energy Limited.
Today, the Labacorp Group has grown from
just housing an events organizing team to
owning businesses across manufacturing,
power, construction, agribusiness, and
exhibition sectors with operations in six
countries with 79 employees, and a
footprint in Africa, Middle East and North
America.
Bako Ambianda has been listed on Forbes
Africa 30 under 30, Class of 2020, and has
been named one of the Most Influential
People of African Descent (Under 40) by
MIPAD, 50 Most Admired Global Africans
by PASSION VISTA, and received the 2018
Global Business Disruptor Award by PAYA.
He is an international development expert,
author, speaker, philanthropist and
entrepreneur.
Through his activities in the personal
development industry, he created Bako
Ambianda International (BAI), also known
as The Bako University to inspire young
professionals through books, videos, and
personal growth trainings.
In this interview with NDUBUISI MICHEAL
OBINEME of Oil and Gas Republic, Bako
speaks about his company, Labacorp
Energy, and business plan to unlocking
Cameroon's potential in the Energy
industry. Excepts:
OGR: Please tell us more about Labacorp
Energy?
Bako: I am a Global African Entrepreneur,
seeking to build great companies that will
foster development, especially in Africa,
because Africa is yet to achieve its growth
potential in terms of economic
development. I serve as the President and
CEO of Labacorp Energy, a subsidiary of
Labacorp Group.
Labacorp Energy Limited is an indigenous
oil and gas service company with
operations primarily in West and Central
Africa, and interests in other international
markets. Our main services are
distribution of Olympus Non-Destructive
Testing (NDT) products, promotion of Oil
and Gas exploration and production
opportunities, provision of technical and
engineering services, marketing of
innovative Oil and Gas products, marine
logistics support services, procurement,
sale and distribution of petroleum
products.
OGR: What are your plans to getting involved
in Cameroon’s major industries, more
particularly the energy sector?
Bako: Most of the major industries in
Cameroon are yet to be developed or are not
working to their full potentials for one reason
or the other, ranging from lack of funds to lack
of equipment and operational expertise. This is
a major opportunity for investors to tap into.
They can take advantage of these challenges
and put their money into these industries and
be sure to make a lot more.
Thanks to our top-notch partners and
extensive network in and out of Cameroon,
Labacorp Energy Limited has the ability to
bring the business and the resources needed
to unlock the potentials in Cameroon’s major
industries, especially in the energy sector.
OGR: You will be organising an Oil & Gas
Business Mission to Cameroon, what are your
business strategies to attract foreign
investors?
Bako: Cameroon is the sixth-largest producer
of crude oil in the Sub-Saharan Africa region,
currently producing over 100000 barrels per
day. The National Hydrocarbons Corporation
(SNH) under the supervision of the
government of Cameroon has put out nine
blocks in the hydrocarbons rich Rio Del Rey
Basin and in the highly prospective
Douala/Kribi-Campo Basin on promotion.
These are opportunities that if tapped into and
exploited; by bringing in the right people and
businesses with expertise in the sector,
Evy Maffini
Glacier makes
appointment in
Norway to grow
local business
G
Cameroon can see itself moving higher in the
energy production ranks thereby leading to an
overall development of the energy sector and why
not other sectors related energy.
It is very common to hear Cameroon being
referred to as Africa in miniature probably because
it is possible to find almost everything on the
African continent in Cameroon. Apart from Oil,
Cameroon has a whole lot of opportunities,
ranging from agriculture and horticulture to
transport, education and training, health, and
mining. It is worth noting that Cameroon recently
discovered 300 new mineral deposit sites in five
regions of the country, and these sites cover only
40% of the country’s national territory, leaving a
huge 60% still to be explored. This is just one of the
many attractive opportunities that can be
exploited in Cameroon.
The Oil and Gas Business Mission to Cameroon is
scheduled to take place from June 7 - 10, 2021.
The main strategy we are putting in place to attract
foreign investors is finding what these investors
are looking for and using the Oil and Gas Business
Mission to Cameroon as a gateway for them to get
these things.
Investors are looking for concrete opportunities
and the Oil Gas Business Mission to Cameroon will
focus on oil and gas exploitation opportunities and
doing business in the oil and gas sector in
Cameroon.
We are also putting forward the advantages the oil
and gas industry has to offer, and the opportunity
to build networks with existing oil and gas
companies in the country
21
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

INDUSTRY NEWS
Labacorp Energy to Organise Oil and Gas Business
Mission in Cameroon by June 2021
Companies, Trading and Distribution
Companies among others.
OGBMC offers a wealth of content,
opportunities, networking opportunities
and provide industry players and investors
relevant information about the investment
and business opportunities in Cameroon.
Cameroon’s energy sector is growing in
popularity and import among oil and gas
companies including investors. The
country's energy sector offers substantial
opportunities for further development and
diversification.
Labacorp Energy Limited (LEL), an
indigenous company based in
Douala, Cameroon, will organise
an Oil and Gas Business Mission
(OGBMC) in Yaounde, Kiribi, Douala, on
June 7 - 10, 2021.
The Chairman and CEO of Labacorp
Energy Limited, Bako Ambianda, said:
"The Oil and Gas Business Mission to
Cameroon will focus on oil and gas
exploration opportunities in Cameroon,
business matchmaking opportunities,
explore the advantages of the oil and
gas industry, and networking with
existing oil and gas companies in
Cameroon"
According to report, oil and gas
production in Cameroon witnessed a
significant 70% increase in 2018 and
2019. Cameroon is also at the forefront
to become Africa's new mining hub,
following the discovery of 300 new
mineral deposit sites. These new sites
cover only 40% of the national territory,
with 60% still to be exploited.
Cameroon set a remarkable record in
2018 when it became the second
country in the world, and the first in
Africa, to commission a floating LNG
facility. Located offshore Kribi, Golar
LNG's 1.2mtpa HiIli Episeyo FLNG
vessel is now receiving gas from the
Perencooperated Sanaga gas field, and
its processed LNG has been sold to
Gazprom's trading arm for eight years.
Cameroon has a stable political
environment, a growing economy and an
opening for foreign investors. The European
Union (EU) remains the largest trading
partner of Cameroon accounting for more
than half of the country’s export.
OGBMC also provides an opportunity for a
one-on-one meetings with the main actors
in the oil and gas industry in Cameroon, and
a business meeting with National
Hydrocarbons Company (SNH); the body in
charge of monitoring, regulating and
developing oil and gas activities in the
country.
SNH financial report for 2018 shows that
Cameroon's exploration and production
activities were boosted, and the closing
forecast for investments amounted to
$441.09 million USD, corresponding to an
increase of 74% compared to 2017.
Following this developments, the National
Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) has
launched the promotion of nine blocks in the
hydrocarbons rich Rio del Rey Basin (RDR)
and in the highly prospective Douala/Kribi-
Campo (DKC) Basin. These blocks are Ndian
River, Bolongo Exploration and Bakassi (in
RDR), EtindeExploration, Ntem, Elombo,
Tilapia, Bomono and Kombe-N'sepe (in
DKC).
The 4 days business mission is open to
global companies with activities in the oil
and gas industry and related services such as
Oil & Gas Exploration and Production
Companies, Engineering, Procurement and
Construction (EPC) Companies, Drilling
Cameroon has an abundant reserve of
energy resources, such as crude oil, natural
gas, hydropower, biomass, solar, wind and
geothermal energy. The country aims to cut
its gas imports and further develop the LNG
sector. An important step towards achieving
this goal is that in 2018 constructed Hilli
Episeyo FLNG, the world’s second floating
LNG platform, located at Bipaga, near Kribi.
The floating platform has an annual
production capacity of 1.2 million tons per
year, of which 30,000 tons of gas is
intended for the domestic market.
It is therefore that Yaounde, Kiribi, Douala,
should be the main focal point of the
OGBMC by 2021. The objectives of the
mission are to attract investors, partners
into Cameroon’s oil and gas industry, as the
country is becoming the next frontier for
Mining, Energy, Exploration & Production.
Labacorp Energy business activities include:
oil and gas exploration, production, and
marketing, provision of technical and
logistical support services to the upstream
petroleum industry, provision of technical
engineering to include FFED type services
(Front End Engineering Design), Facilitation,
development, and operations of power
generation projects, License round
tendering commercial activities.
Labacorp Energy is at the frontline of
forging the all-encompassing indigenous
energy company. The formula for success
will be carried out by partnering with IOC’s
and major energy actors as an entry point to
the Cameroon’s hydrocarbon marketplace.
22
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

LNG WORLD NEWS
Templars Provides Innovative Financing Framework
for NLNG’s Train 7 Project
By Jackson Adefemi Olagbaju
Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has
secured $3 billion for the
development of its Train 7
project.
In Oil and Gas Republic’s investigation,
Templars is the legal adviser that
successfully developed the investment
framework for NLNG’s Train 7
expansion project.
According to the company, the $3
billion is a corporate financing from a
group of 31 lenders, building investor’s
confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas
industry. The investment will also be
supported by substantial cash flows
from NLNG’s existing Six Train LNG
plant.
Templars disclosed that the $3 billion is
a record-breaking investment strategy
for being the first time ever that a multisourced
corporate finance lending
would be utilised to fund an LNG
project anywhere in the world.
Templars Managing Partner Oghogho
Akpata commented: “We are pleased to
have played a role in creating this firstof-its-kind
financing technique, which
happens to be the largest financing on
the continent so far in 2020. It
continues a trend of Templars advising
on a majority of the largest and most
complex infrastructure projects in the
Nigerian market, be it in the area of gas,
pipelines, power, roads, ports, telecom
infrastructure or petrochemicals.”
Speaking further, Partner and Finance
Practice Group Head, Chike Obianwu added
that; “Quite apart from its size and the
uniqueness of the hybrid corporate finance
technique being used on a deal of this
nature, this was a standout deal for a
number of other reasons…. And it is quite
remarkable that the parties were able to pull
this off in the middle of the COVID-19
pandemic and a particularly trying period for
the Nigerian economy…. It has been a
pleasure to have contributed to the success
of the transaction and we wish NLNG all the
best with the development of the project.”
The lenders include three export credit
agencies, Export-Import Bank of Korea
( K E X I M ) , K o r e a T r a d e I n s u r a n c e
Corporation (K-SURE) and Servizi
Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE);
two regional development finance
institutions: African Export-Import Bank
and Africa Finance Corporation; 16
international commercial banks under an
international commercial facility tranche;
and 10 Nigerian commercial banks, under a
Nigerian commercial facility tranche.
The Templars team on the transaction was
led by Chike Obianwu and Finance partner
Zelda Akindele with support from Oghogho
Akpata, Senior Associate Modupe Dabiri
and Associates Benita Ogbodo, Ebuka
Ogbodo and Bernard Ehigiamusor.
Compliance law partner Emmanuel
Gbahabo advised on environmental law and
compliance issues; Senior Associate Sesan
S u l a i m a n a n d A s s o c i a t e P r o m i s e
Madubuobu advised on tax issues; whilst
Disputes partners Godwin Omoaka, S.A.N.
and Igonikon Adekunle together with Senior
Associates Victor Igwe and Stanley Nweke-
Eze provided support on complex
enforcement-related issues.
A large team of lawyers from the London,
Milan and Seoul offices of White & Case led
by the London-based partners, Jason Kerr,
David Baker and Richard Hill acted as
international counsel to the lenders.
The project is scheduled for commissioning
in 2025 and will include a new liquefaction
unit, an 84,200m3 storage tank, a 36,000m3
condensate tank and three gas turbine
generators. It is expected to increase
NLNG’s production capacity from 22 to 30
million tonnes per annum, thereby placing
the company among the top five producers
and exporters of LNG in the world.
24
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

LNG WORLD NEWS
NLNG’S Success Story: Train 7 Project On The Spotlight
Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has
s i g n e d t h e E n g i n e e r i n g ,
Procurement and Construction
(EPC) Contracts for its Train 7 Project
with the SCD JV Consortium,
comprising affiliates of Saipem,
Chiyoda and Daewoo.
The execution of the EPC Contracts
now triggers the commencement of the
Detail Design and Construction phase
of the Project expected to increase the
capacity of NLNG’s current six-train
plant by 35% from the extant 22 Million
Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) to 30
MTPA.
NLNG is an incorporated Joint-Venture
owned by four Shareholders, namely,
the Federal Government of Nigeria,
represented by Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (49%), Shell Gas
B.V. (25.6%), Total Gaz Electricite
Holdings France (15%), and Eni
International N.A. N.V. S.àr.l (10.4%).
Reacting to the Contracts’ signing, Engr.
Tony Attah, the Managing Director and
Chief Executive Officer of NLNG,
remarked that the EPC Contracts
represents yet another milestone in
NLNG’s journey towards achieving its
vision of being a global LNG company,
helping to build a better Nigeria.
He said: “With the award of the EPC
Contracts to our preferred bidders
(SCD JV), we are guaranteeing that our
country remains significantly on the
global list of LNG suppliers. This
singular act clearly demonstrates our
Shareholders’ determination and
resolve to sustain the economic
dividends that NLNG’s monetization of
our vast natural gas reserves offers our
great country Nigeria”
He expressed confidence in SCD JV
Consortium’s proven competence,
adding that the demonstration of an
understanding of NLNG’s business
philosophy by the Consortium will
positively influence the execution of
the Project and ensure zero harm to
people, environment and host
communities.
Also, the Group Managing Director
(NNPC) and a Director on the NLNG
Board, Mr. Mele Kyari, remarked on
NLNG’s successes and its operating
model.
He said: “Nigeria LNG’s successes since it
started operation in 1999 continue to prove
that the Company operates a unique
business model that is profitable to all its
stakeholders. NNPC and the other
Shareholders — Shell, Total and Eni — are
proud to be a part of this exceptional
Nigerian brand that stands out in the global
market.”
“It is for this reason that our President,
Muhammadu Buhari instructed through the
Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources that NNPC as a Shareholder must
do everything possible to support all the
o t h e r S h a r e h o l d e r s a n d N L N G ’ s
Management to secure the much-needed
public confidence from all critical
stakeholders, especially the critical agencies
of the Federal Government of Nigeria and
international investors, to pursue the
Company’s ambition of adding a 7th train to
its existing production capacity. I encourage
every stakeholder involved in execution of
the Train 7 Project, especially the SCD JV
Consortium, NLNG Train 7 Project Team
and the Company’s Management to leave
no stone unturned in making this project a
reality,” he added.
NLNG says the Project was in fulfilment of
its vision of “…being a Global Company,
helping to build a better Nigeria.” The
Project upon completion will support the
Federal Government’s drive to generate
more revenue from Nigeria’s proven gas
reserves of about 200 Trillion Cubic Feet
(Tcf) and further reduce gas flaring in the
country’s upstream oil and gas industry.
Evy Maffini
Glacier makes
appointment in
Norway to grow
local business
G
The construction period is expected to last
approximately five years with first LNG
rundown expected in 2025.
NLNG was incorporated as a limited liability
company on May 17, 1989, to harness Nigeria's
vast natural gas resources and produce
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Natural Gas
Liquids (NGLs) for export.
NLNG operate from four offices spread across
different locations. The company have the
liquefaction plant and the bulk of our technical
personnel in Bonny Island and Port Harcourt in
Rivers State Nigeria. Most of its corporate and
administrative staff are based in Port Harcourt
at Intels Aba Road Estate, km 16 Aba
Expressway Port Harcourt and other locations
in Port Harcourt, and its staff who engage with
the Federal government work at the Federal
Capital Territory, Abuja; both in Nigeria. While,
NLNG fourth company location is London, UK,
where its staff involved in shipping operations
and commercial gas trade negotiations operate
from.
NLNG has a wholly-owned subsidiary, Bonny
Gas Transport (BGT) Limited, that provides ship
chartering and operating services for NLNG.
Another wholly-owned subsidiary, Nigeria LNG
Ship Manning Limited (NSML) provides
personnel for all of NLNG’s Shipping Vessels.
Our LNG is delivered to an ever-expanding list
of ports in cities around the world.
25
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

LNG WORLD NEWS
Chief Sylva: Nigeria will remain in the World’s List of
Top LNG Suppliers
The Honourable Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre
Sylva, has said that Nigeria will
remain on the top list of LNG supplier
globally. This statement comes in-line as the
long awaited NLNG's Train 7 Project was
signed.
The minister said: "This is a historic moment.
Nigerians have long awaited the take-off of
the Nigeria LNG Limited's Train 7 Project
because of its significance for the nation.
"With the award of the EPC Contracts, the
construction phase of Train 7 can now
commence in earnest. With its realisation,
Nigeria will retain her pride of place in the
world’s list of top LNG suppliers, and the
government will receive added revenue
through dividends, taxes and levies.
"The Train 7 Project will help NLNG to
further deepen its domestic LPG market
stimulation efforts, an initiative it took on
some years ago that has been of immense
benefit to Nigerians.
"In addition, the award of an EPC contract in
the LNG industry is welcome news
anywhere in the world. Although it might
mean more competition for industry
operators, it ultimately promises greater
availability of cleaner energy necessary for
the sustainability of the environment.
"It is therefore proper to thank the
Shareholders of NLNG for making this
aspiration become reality. They have shown
commendable tenacity, foresight and
business acumen. It is their persistence over
the years that has culminated in a time like
this.
"The tenacity is even more commendable
when one considers that they have not
allowed the challenges and uncertainties
arising from COVID-19 to deter them. They
realised early on that in moments of
adversity the world needs every piece of
positive news to help it endure and to serve
as one more reminder of the resilience of the
human spirit.
"I assure the Management and staff of
NLNG of the continued support of the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the
Government of President Muhammadu
Buhari. We are all involved and indeed every
well-meaning Nigerian should be involved -
in doing whatever we can to help make
delivery of the Train 7 Project a reality within
budget and within the stipulated time
frame."
Nigeria: Gas is our main hope for the
future – Tony Attah
The Managing Director & CEO,
Nigerian LNG Limited (NLNG), has
said that gas is Nigeria’s main hope for
the future.
During a sportlight live interview
session on Train 7, at the DMG Africa
Energy Series Webinar, which was
anchored by Pat Roberts, Managing
Director of LNG Worldwide, Attah
said, ” Nigeria has ridden on the back
of oil for over 50 years but now the
time has come for Nigeria to fly on the
wings of gas. Gas is our main hope for
the future! It’s time for gas!”
He noted that Nigeria is a gas country
with some oil, adding that “We must
therefore find a way to bridge the gap
between where we are today, and
where we desire to be. This is the role
that gas is expected to play in the
medium and long term.”
He stated that Nigeria’s scope to
become a leader in the gas market is
huge, as the country holds the 9th
position globally on countries with
proven gas reserves; and has the
potential to become number four.
“Available records show that with
200TCF, Nigeria ranks at No 9 on the
list of nations with proven natural gas
reserves, with potential to be No 4 in
the world from the additional 600TCF
unproven reserves.”
Chief Timipre Sylva
“Scope for Nigeria to become a leader in
the market is massive. Nigeria has a huge
advantage because we have gas in
abundance,” he said.
Speaking on the impact Train 7 would
have on local content, he said that the
project is expected to create over 12,000
new direct jobs, especially in the
construction phase, noting that, “The FID
for Train 7 and award of its EPC contract is
therefore very reassuring as it renews our
hope that Nigeria LNG will maintain a
significant market share in the global gas
market and will continue to reap the
potential benefits in the market.”
The NLNG MD while speaking on energy
transition said: “There is an increasing
push for energy transition from fossil fuels
to new energy. The industry fully
recognizes the case for this switch and the
need to be involved in the protection of
our planet whilst still ensuring we support
the provision of adequate energy to fuel
the growing world population and
economies. “Whilst a quick switch to
renewables and other cleaner energy
sources is desirable, current data
indicates that the practical reality is that it
cannot be achieved on a global scale as
quickly as many parties are pushing for.”
Attah who also spoke on the country’s gas
industry and its competitiveness in the
future, said that the country has a big role
to play in the global LNG market.
26
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

LNG WORLD NEWS
Is 2020 really the Year of Gas for Nigeria?
The Honourable Minister for
Petroleum Resources, H.E.
Timipre Sylva, declared 2020 as
the Year of Gas for Nigeria. The year
started off with plans to harness
Nigeria’s gas by tackling some of the
barriers including the passing of
regulatory framework for the upstream
sector and the launch of the Nigerian
Gas Transportation Code to further
drive gas based industrialisation.
As March approached, the industry
experienced a sharp drop in oil price at
$24.63 Brent and then to $16.95 Brent
in April. Covid-19 had impacted lives
and business in unprecedented
measure. Many plans were put on hold
and a new global mantra of cost cutting
for survival emerged.
The news of Nigeria LNG awarding a $4
billion EPC contract for the Train 7
project to Saipem, in a joint venture
with Daewoo E&C Co. Ltd. and Chiyoda
Corp., was highly welcomed as is any
news of the progression of plans to
further develop the industry, and
therefore world economies.
The awarding of the contract signified a
key milestone in the advancement of
the project and sparks plenty of
optimism for Nigeria amidst a global
pandemic.
Once operational, Train 7 will add
around 4.2 metric tonnes per annum
(mtpa) of capacity to the Bonny Island
facility, along with expansion plans,
taking the total to around 30 mtpa. This
moves Nigeria’s global position to the
3rd largest exporter of LNG.
Tony Attah, MD & CEO of Nigeria LNG,
speaking on the EPC contract during
the dmge Africa Energy Series:
Spotlight Interview stated that:
“The FID for Train 7 & award of its EPC
contract is… very reassuring as it
renews our hope that Nigeria LNG will
maintain a significant market share in
the global gas market and will continue
to reap the potential benefits in the
market.”
When asked about the role of gas in the
energy transition, Mr Attah commented
that: “Whilst a quick switch to
renewables and other cleaner energy
sources is desirable, current data
indicates that the practical reality is that
it cannot be achieved on a global scale as
quickly as many parties are pushing for. We
must therefore find a way to bridge the gap
between where we are today, and where we
desire to be. This is the role that gas is
expected to play in the medium and longterm.”
In addition to increasing Nigeria’s presence
in the global LNG market, opportunities to
harness the gas for domestic consumption
have long been discussed by industry
stakeholders. Barriers to contend with
includes gas pricing for the domestic
market, limited infrastructure for
distribution and a commercially viable
market.
Mr Attah highlighted the vast opportunities
availed by Nigeria’s huge gas reserves in
comparison to crude and highlighted the
various opportunities the Train 7 project will
offer the country.
“We have proven 200 tcf of gas and we have
another 600 tcf that we know about but
need to prove under the SEC rules. Today as
number 9 in the world in terms of gas
reserves, if you prove the 600, you go
straight away to number 4 ahead of
Turkmenistan. For me, that is a major, major
opportunity to really jumpstart the sector….
A lot depends on the fiscals and how the
government is able to incentivise gas
development, which must happen.”
In addition to increasing Nigeria’s footprint
in the Global LNG market through the
execution of Train 7, Nigerian LNG also has
plans to take advantage of opportunities to
develop a domestic gas market and spur
gas-based industrialisation. Similar to what
has been achieved in developing a domestic
LPG market, Mr Attah confirmed the
organisations intentions to extend efforts to
develop a domestic LNG market.
“We are currently looking at bringing LNG
in-country… With the global market
dwindling, we see very high demand for gas
and other forms of energy in Nigeria and in
deed in Africa. As you know, more than 50%
of the population that does not have access
to energy in the world is in Africa. So, the
domestic LNG project that we are looking at
is to be piloted in Nigeria and then we will go
regional and then look at Africa as a whole.
It’s a project that’s already on. As we speak
there are a few people that have already
indicated interest and we are working with
them to see how much capacity they are
able to develop to make this real.
We have just established that the price is no
longer within anybody’s forecasts, view or
control, we perhaps have a future where we
have to be a market maker for this to be able
to have the essence of the full value chain
coming to fruition in country.”
In closing, Mr Attah’s sentiments were clear
and rang in unison with the proclamation
made by H.E. Timipre Sylva at the beginning
of the year.
“Nigeria has ridden on the back of oil for
over 50 years but now the time has come for
Nigeria to fly on the wings of gas. It’s time
for gas.”
27
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

LOCAL CONTENT
NCDMB Celebrates 10 Years of Nigerian Local
Content Achievements
While speaking about the achievements,
Onyesoh, pointed out the achievements and
key projects that was successfully done in
compliance with the NOGICD Act which
includes; Completion of 17-Storey Head
Office Complex of NCDMB, Establishment of
an FPSO Integration Facility, Establishment
of World-Class Pipe Mills, Pipe Coating
Capacity in-country, Manufacturing of
Electrical Cables, Establishment of Oil & Gas
Parks Scheme, Development of Local Supply
Chain, Increase in Oil and Gas Asset
Ownership, Launch of $50m Research and
Development (R&D Intervention Fund),
Human Capacity Development (HCD)
Initiative, Catalyzing Businesses among
others.
Engr. Simbi Wabote
On April 22nd, 2020, Nigerian
Content Development and
Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
Celebrated the 10th Anniversary of
Nigeria's Local Content Achievements
in the oil and gas industry. April 22nd is
usually a day to remember when the
Nigerian Oil & Gas
Industry Content Development
(NOGICD) Act was enacted On 22nd
April 2010. Since then, Nigerian
Content is growing rapidly and leading
the way across the oil and gas value
chain in Africa.
Over the past years, upstream oil and
gas industry in Nigeria had remained an
enclave that provided no stimulus to
the domestic economy as key industry
services and products were procured
a b r o a d o n t h e p r e t e x t t h a t
infrastructure, technology and capacity
were deficit in the domestic
environment.
The NOGICD Act established the
Nigerian Content Development and
Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to
NCDMB to implement and enforce the
requirements of the Act in Nigeria's oil
and gas industry. This Act inaugurated
an enforceable legal regime to underpin
the promotion of local content practice
in the industry, reverse over 50 years of
total foreign dependency, which had
resulted in huge capital flight of about
US$380 billion, two million job losses,
and less than five percent in-country
value addition from Nigeria's
hydrocarbon resources.
The law also mandated the NCDMB to
deepen the participation of Nigerians and
indigenous companies in the oil and gas
industry, by facilitating local capacity
development and ensuring that the
execution of large components of any
project is domiciled in-country.
Prior to the Act, there were only 44
registered PETAN companies, the
association of leading indigenous service
companies in Nigeria. Currently, the number
of PETAN companies alone has risen to 93,
which adds to over 8,000 other Nigerian oil
and gas service companies captured on the
NCDMB's JQS portal. Indigenous service
providers now dominate services in
Nigeria's oil and gas industry, creating jobs
and capital retention in-country.
In his statement, Naboth Onyesoh,
Manager, Corporate Communication &
Public Affairs of NCDMB said that the 10th
anniversary of Nigeria's local content
practice in the oil and gas sector ought to be
celebrated, but the outbreak of Coronavirus
(COVID-19) and lockdown of activities
literally eclipsed the date. Yet, the
symbolism of the anniversary must always
be remembered.
He explained: "April 22nd is reminiscent of
selfemancipation; a day that Nigeria
manifested the irrevocable decision to
rewrite the history of its hydrocarbon
development, signaling a paradigm shift
from rent seeking proclivity to in country
value addition via domiciliation and
domestication of oil and gas activities".
Onyesoh further explained that the Board
will actively pursue the completion and
commissioning of the modular refineries
beginning with Waltersmith, which will be
commissioned this year and Azikel refinery
in 2023. The Board is poised to accelerate
the incubation and maturation of Project
100 companies, and to ensure they begin to
take on and deliver bigger services.
"The Board will start full implementation of
the harmonized framework for marine
vessel categorization; commence the
upgrade of more Technical and Vocational
Education (TVE) centers across the country;
establish additional ICT Laboratories and
train another batch of 1,000 science
teachers to promote STEM education
nationwide.
"The Board has also gone into similar
investment with Rungas for the
e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f L P G C y l i n d e r
manufacturing in Polaku, near Yenagoa;
establishment of a 168,000 MT/per annum
LGP loading and offloading terminal with
Chimons Gas Limited in Koko, Delta State
and establishment of a 48,000 liters/day
plant in PortHarcourt for the production of
base oil by Bunorr Integrated Energy
Limited.
"The 10th year anniversary of NCDMB
should be seen as wake-up call for Nigerians
to embrace local content philosophy as an
economic imperative for our national
survival. Otherwise, if any other pandemic
takes the world by storm like COVID-19,
any nation that fails to strengthen its local
supply chain and activate its manufacturing
base may not fare well. This is the message
that NCDMB has continued to propagate
since its inception. It is a message that
Nigerians can no longer afford to ignore,” he
concluded.
28
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

LOCAL CONTENT
Nestoil Delivering Exceptional Value to Nigerian Content
of Nigeria. PIRATX is about 1,396 tonne
with offshore dredging capacity. The
Dredger is deployed to the second Niger
bridge for one of its client Julius Berger
Nigeria Plc.
Andy Njoku-Obi noted: "The second Niger
Bridge isn't just a bridge alone but it is an 11-
kilometer highway that also aborts the
bridge. And, what we are doing here isn't
just dredging sand in the land. We are also
dredging into the road alignment."
Hammakopp Consortium is another Nestoil
company. Hammakopp is a one-stop-shop
for Civil Construction, Heavy Structural
Works, and Maintenance Services.
Established in 1991, Nestoil emerged
from a trading business at a time
when the oil and gas industry was
exclusively preserved for the International
Oil Companies (IOCs).
Today, Nestoil has become one of Nigeria's
l a r g e s t i n d i g e n o u s E n g i n e e r i n g ,
Procurement, Construction Companies in
the oil and gas sector. With about 3,000
employees, Nestoil continues to redefine
i n d u s t r y s t a n d a r d s i n P i p e l i n e
Construction, Repairs & Maintenance, and
Associated Facilities for Fabrication,
Dredging, Engineering Design, Operation
and Maintenance Engineering, Civil
Engineering, River Crossing, and Shoreline
Protection. Over 95 percent of its
employees are Nigerians, effectively
making the face of Nestoil to local content
development in the Nigerian oil and gas
industry.
Dr. Ernest Azudialu-Obiejesi, Founder and
Group Managing Director of Nestoil
explained: "The journey started from
Idumagbo in Lagos where we had a trading
business and our first office. We had just
one room. But, by the time we started
understanding the oil and gas business, we
moved from Idumagbo to Festival road in
Victoria Island where we had our second
office.
"It took five years of presentations,
spending money, talking to the oil and gas
industry to convince them more especially
the IOCs that a Nigerian company can
afford to do this business.
"As an organization, you must have 5 Core
Values which is very important for an
organization namely; Innovation,
Leadership, Team Work Attitude, Integrity,
Excellence. These are some of the things
that we look at.
“One thing I know which I have also
experienced is that hard work pays by the
end of the day. We are the face of local
content in Nigeria's oil and gas industry. We
are here to deliver exceptional value," he
added.
As confidence grew in the industry, Nestoil
began to take on some complex pipeline
jobs in very difficult terrain.
Speaking about the projects, Dr.
Chukwueloka Umeh, Executive Director of
Nestoil commented: "Nestoil is the king of
the swamps. We have been involved in one
of the toughest projects in the Niger Delta
area. Now, we are involved in the OBI3 Gas
Pipeline Project for the Nigerian
Government. Part of the Nestoil Scope in
the construction of the OBI 3 pipeline is set
across up to 48 parameters under the sea
bed of River Niger of about 2 kilometers. It
has never been done anywhere in Africa”
Energy Works Technology (EWT), is a
Nestoil Company, focused primarily on
Fabrication. Dr. Tunji Olanipekun, Managing
Director of EWT, said: "We are unique in
terms of our capabilities. Our wheeling
capacity which is about 130 LM.
“We are unique to the extent that our
cutting capacity which we use in fabrication
can do up to 200 meters. We can take in 100
tonnes of vessels and other materials”
B&Q Dredging is another Nestoil company,
providing all types of Dredging & Marine
logistics services to respective clients across
the country.
Recently, it took delivery of PIRATX, one of
the biggest Dredges that birth on the shores
Hammakopp has installed its own Asphalt
Plant in Okija, Anambra State with the
capacity of tunning out 1000 Tons of Top-
Grade Asphalt Products per day.
One of the reasons why Nestoil continues to
deliver on projects that require precision on
Engineering Design as well as operation and
maintenance works is IMPAC Engineering &
Operations Management Company Limited,
another Nestoil company.
Chuka Chukwudebelu, Managing Director,
IMPAC Engineering explained: "IMPAC is all
about understanding the problem, finding
optimal solutions, and assisting the end-user
in achieving their goal.
Obinna Ufudo, Executive Director
Operations of Nestoil noted: "We operate
to the highest quality standards. Today,
Nestoil has ISO 90001 2015 certification
which speaks to the quality of service that
we provide to our customers."
Speaking further, Nnenna Obiejesi, Group
Executive Director of Nestoil said: "The next
thing now is how do we keep this beautiful
bride for the next generation. What we are
trying to do is put in the proper corporate
governance structure so that this company
that was founded by one person and
supported by all of us will be handed over to
the next generation.
Nestoil's operational base in Abuloma Port
Harcourt sits on 59 hectares of land and it is
the operational base virtually for all its
subsidiaries and sister companies.
29
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

LOCAL CONTENTS
ENG Rypac Provides Technical,
Engineering Solutions to Nigerian
Oil and Gas Sector
Major Clients
ENG Rypac Limited, a Nigerian
based company, is making
headway as an indigenous
service provider, providing engineering
and technical services to the upstream
and downstream oil and gas sectors in
Nigeria. With its head office in Lagos,
ENG Rypac has grown steadily and now
maintains offices and facilities in the
important oil city of Port Harcourt. The
company services include; Project
Management & Engineering Services,
Civil & Electrical Consultancy Services,
Fabrication & Assembly Services,
Inspection, Maintenance & Repairs
(IRM) Services, Fabric Maintenance
Services, Testing & Calibration
Services, Joint Integrity Management
Services, and Corrosion and Integrity
Management Services and use this
flexibility to develop unique industrial
relations that will give material benefits
to the customers as well as to the
C o m p a n y , s h a r e h o l d e r s , a n d
employees.
ENG Rypac also provides onshore and
offshore fabric maintenance services,
incorporating planning and assessment,
and on-site project management. The
company successfully delivers life-time
extension programs from entire
structural coating systems, through to
one-off specialist applications.
When it comes to Inspection,
Maintenance & Repairs (IRM) Services,
ENG Rypac provides turnkey IRM
services designed to maximize the life
expectancy and performance levels of
offshore and onshore facilities,
pipelines, and other systems. The
c o m p a n y h a s e s t a b l i s h e d a
manufacturing and fabrication facility
strategically located within 5 km of
Onne Port that covers up to 16,200 sq.
30
On the other hand, ENG Rypac also offers
rental services for industrial and
construction sites such as Scaffolds and
Scaffolding Accessories, Diesel and
Electrical Engine Air Compressors, Manlifts,
Air Tanks, Self-Loading Trucks, Airless Spray
Machine, Bolt Tensioning Equipment,
QAQC Test Kit, Hand tools for Fabrication.
ENG Rypac is growing rapidly and aims to be
universally competitive and be an industry
leader in the quality of goods and services
that they provide. Some of its clients
include; Shell Petroleum Development Co.
Ltd, Nigeria Agip Oil Company Ltd, Niger
Delta Power Holding Company, Total E & P
Limited, Addax Petroleum Nigeria Ltd,
Oando Energy Services, Nigeria LNG
Limited (NLNG), Nigerian Petroleum
Development Company (NPDC), Port
Harcourt Refining Company Limited
(PHRC), among others.
As part of its objectives, ENG Rypac looks to
achieve growth through strategic
developments in the oil & gas and energy
Industries through the usage of the latest
technologies and recruiting and training the
best people at all levels of its operations.
Whilst consolidating in the areas of its
present operations, the company has said
that it will continue to seek new
opportunities where it will leverage its skills
to create increased value for all its clients.
ENG Rypac has set a standard to become;
- A multi-industry company with a strong
brand.
- A provider of solutions that combine
products, services, engineering, and
customer-application expertise.
- An engineering, innovation, and
technology-driven firm.
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

RENEWABLE ENERGY
Equinor Advocates for Stronger Climate Policies, Backs
Out from IPAA
misaligned with Equinor’s climate policy and
advocacy position,” the company said in its
review of industry associations.
Specifically, Equinor cited the IPAA’s
support for the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s (EPA) roll-back of U.S.
federal methane regulations, which the
company opposes.
U . S . P r e s i d e n t D o n a l d T r u m p ’ s
administration last year proposed to rescind
Obama-era limits on oil and gas industry
emissions of methane, one of the main
pollutants scientists link to climate change.
Eldar Sætre, president and CEO of Equinor
The IPAA said that membership of its
association was “a company-by-company
business decision”.
Equinor is advocating for
stronger climate policies, and
leading the way to demonstrate
further industry leadership on climate
change and strong support for the goals
of the Paris Agreement. The company
has climate at the core of its business
strategy and has set short - medium -
and long-term climate-related targets
for the company’s emissions to drive
performance.
"Equinor is developing as a broad
energy company, with oil and gas,
renewable energy and low carbon
solutions as integrated parts of our
business. We see our low carbon
strategy as a competitive advantage
which creates long term value for our
shareholders. The actions we announce
today make us even more competitive
in the energy transition, and support
the goals of the Paris Agreement. We
welcome the constructive engagement
and appreciate the collaboration with
investors as part of Climate Action
100+," says Eldar Sætre, President and
CEO of Equinor.
Early this year, Equinor launched a new
climate roadmap aiming to ensure a
competitive and resilient business
model in the energy transition, fit for
long term value creation and in line with
the Paris Agreement. The company
aims to reduce the net carbon intensity,
from initial production to final
consumption, of energy produced by at
least 50% by 2050; grow renewable
energy capacity tenfold by 2026,
developing as a global offshore wind
major, and strengthen its industry
leading position on carbon efficient
production, aiming to reach carbon neutral
global operations by 2030.
“Equinor’s strategic direction is clear. We
are developing as a broad energy company,
leveraging the strong synergies between oil,
gas, renewables, CCUS and hydrogen. We
will continue addressing our own emissions
in line with the emitter pays principle. But,
we can and will do much more. As part of the
energy industry, we must be part of the
solution to combat climate change and
address decarbonisation more broadly in
line with changes in society,” says Sætre.
In 2026, Equinor expects a production
capacity from renewable projects of 4 to 6
GW, Equinor share, mainly based on the
current project portfolio. This is around 10
times higher than today’s capacity, implying
an annual average growth rate of more than
30%. Towards 2035, Equinor expects to
increase installed renewables capacity
further to 12 to 16 GW, dependent on
a v a i l a b i l i t y o f a t t r a c t i v e p r o j e c t
opportunities.
Recently, Equinor announced that it will quit
the Independent Petroleum Association of
America (IPAA) lobby group over a
disagreement on climate policy, Reuters
reported. Equinor is undertaking a review of
its memberships of industry associations
under an agreement with a group of
institutional investors, the Climate Action
100+, signed in 2019.
The Washington-headquartered IPAA
represents thousands of independent oil
and natural gas producers and service
companies across the United States. “We
believe that IPAA’s lack of position on
climate leaves the association materially
“Our membership, represented by our
national board of directors, determines the
association’s policy positions,” a
spokeswoman said.
Equinor also said it would remain a member
of the American Petroleum Institute (API)
and the Australian Petroleum Production &
Exploration Association (APPEA) despite
“some misalignments” with the company’s
climate policies.
The group said it expected API to make
further progress in strengthening its support
for the Paris climate agreement, tightening
methane emissions regulations and marking
out a clearer stance on carbon pricing.
“We will also encourage APPEA to take a
clear stand on supporting carbon pricing in
Australia and not supporting carry over of
credits from the Kyoto protocol to the Paris
Agreement,” it added.
Under its agreement with Climate Action
100+, Equinor has committed to make sure
that all memberships in more than 100
industry associations, including oil, gas and
renewable energy, align with its support for
the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Climate Action 100+ is an investor initiative
to ensure the world’s largest corporate
greenhouse gas emitters take necessary
action on climate change. More than 320
investors with more than $33 trillion in
assets collectively under management are
engaging companies on improving
governance, curbing emissions and
strengthening climate-related financial
disclosures. The companies include 100
‘systemically important emitters’,
accounting for two-thirds of annual global
industrial emissions, alongside more than 60
others with significant opportunity to drive
the clean energy transition.
31
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

WOMEN IN ENERGY
Dr. Oby Ezekwesili Charges Women to Engage in
Personal Development for Professional Excellence
A
former Minister of Education, Dr.
Oby Ezekwesili, has charged
women, especially those in the
Nigerian oil and gas industry, to engage in
personal development for professional
excellence.
“We are in a race against time and we are
set out to ensure that more women
optimize their potential,” she said while
discussing Gender Equality at the Society
for Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Nigeria
Annual International Conference and
Exhibition (NAICE) 2019, where she talked
about the challenges women face in taking
up important roles in society, and more
especially occupying senior roles for
companies.
Ezekwesili stated that even though the lot
of women has started improving in recent
years, their involvement in oil and gas
industry is not encouraging, noting that the
involvement level is about 20 percent while
involvement at the management level is
close to 17 percent, according to a recent
research.
“Women face similar challenges in almost
all industries, between engineering and
science. Globally, there is a theory that is
saying that the lot of women is becoming
better, giving women a rise in percentage
involvement of about 50% - however if you
look at women involvement in specialied
industry like Oil and Gas, it is remarkably
appalling. A recent research shows that the
involvement level is about 20% while the
management level is close to 17%.
“Now what strategy could be deployed to
close this big gap between men and women
which would be 80% of men and 20% of
women? Although due to society structure,
some men are very uncomfortable with this
horrible statistics, many others, however
feel that nothing is wrong with it after all,”
she said.
According to her, there are two factors that
account for the low representation of
women in science and engineering. She said
that they are External barriers and Internal
barriers.
Explaining External barriers, she said they
include: Sexual harassment; Disposition of
high quality jobs to men than women;
Relegation of women; Male orientated
ideas; Different standard for both women
and men; and Difficulty for women to
advance into management due to male
stereotyping.
Speaking on the Internal barriers, she said:
“The Internal barriers are the ones that are
self -imposed and are inherent in humans -
whether be male or female. So these internal
barriers would either be the easiest set of
barriers to remove or the toughest to deal
with, depending on the angle we consider
it.The third party power can try to override
some of the external barriers but what if the
individual who is the cause decides not to
stop it, what would you do?
What women should be doing in this age is
taking personal responsibility in the field of
engineering to use it as a medium to break
forth.This radical change does not start from
the outside - in fact, real change does not
first begin from the outside - change starts
from the inside.”
She called on women to be excellent in
what they do. “Excellence is the quality of
being outstanding and very superior;
displaying extreme brilliance; the ability to
set and achieve a set determined goal, one
to which we are committed,” she said while
defining it.
Ezekwesili urged Women to be consistent,
passionate about what they do, maintain
self-respect and be courageous.
She told women to admit and own
themselves, commit and submit to an
intensive professional psychosocial
Dr. Oby Ezekwesili
evaluation and diagnosis that can
analytically uncover all of their self -
constructed barriers.
In closing, she said: “We need diverse
thinking. We cannot afford to leave any
talent untapped. Why are you wasting
talents? You are just a bush man if you think
that because somebody is a woman then she
shouldn't be given the opportunity to sit in
the same office as you. In fact, know that
you are the problem. If you are a Manager
here, know this: Companies with increase
gender inclusion have greatly increased in
their rate of turn over. Companies that are
breaking all fronts in goal attainment are
deliberate in assembling gender diverse
teams.”
Dr. (Mrs) Obiageli Ezekwesili is a Public
Policy Analyst / Senior Economic Advisor,
A E D P I a n d C o - F o u n d e r o f
#BringBackOurGirls Movement, Nigeria as
well as the #RedCardMovement. A
Chartered Accountant/Consultant. She
holds an MA in International Law and
Diplomacy, an MA in Public Policy and
Administration from the Kennedy School of
Government, Harvard University. She is a
founding Director of Transparency
International. Dr Ezekwesili was Vice
President of World Bank (Africa Region) and
former Nigerian Minister of Education,
Minister of Solid Minerals, head of Budget
Monitoring and Price Intelligence Unit as
well as Chairperson of NEITI.
32
OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: Africa’s
Journey, Inspiration, and Development
It's over 4 months since the WHO declared the Coronavirus as a global
pandemic. Coronavirus has paralyzed the world extremely great and
there is barely anywhere in the world that the virus hasn't been
affected. While the global death toll now stands at nearly half a
million and up to 10 million people have been infected with the virus.
In response, Governments have taken actions that we have never witnessed
before, shutting down their economies and a huge portion of global trade and
travel is on hold putting hundreds and millions of people out of work.
Alongside the tragic loss of life and global economy downtime which hasn't
been witnessed like this before even in times of world war have brought all
industries to their knees. Businesses and multinational companies are all
affected. The virus doesn't discriminate against the poor and the rich. The
poorer you are, the virus will kill you.
This article is focused on Coronavirus Pandemic in the African region,
highlighting the latest developments and key recommendations from
industry experts on how Africa can navigate through the Global Pandemic in
a post-COVID-19 recovery in the oil and gas industry.
COVID-19 also known as Coronavirus started as an outbreak in Wuhan,
China in December 2019. In Africa, Coronavirus was confirmed on 14
February 2020. The report shows that there are more than 300,000
confirmed cases of Coronavirus, over 140,000 recoveries, and more than
8,000 deaths across the African continent.
As the world waits for a COVID-19 Vaccine, industry experts have raised
serious concerns following the Coronavirus outbreak in Africa, saying
that this pandemic is an opportunity for Africa to develop a strong
dynamic economy system that will be Independent and less vulnerable to
a pandemic shock in the sense that there will be an established
framework for an economic recovery growth plan that will strengthen its
domestic financial institution to fully support local content development
in their countries and it will require radical government intervention.
By Ndubuisi Micheal Obineme
Facts about African Continent
Ø Africa holds a huge resource base of about
128 billion BOE.
Ø Africa's hydrocarbon resources to increase up
to 74 percent in 2050.
Ø Nigeria launches 2020 Marginal Field Bid
Rounds.
Ø Uganda set to make FID on Tilenga and
Kingfisher Project.
Ø Cameroon to host Oil & Gas Business Mission
by June 2021.
Ø Liberia auctions oil blocks online.
Ø African Continental Free Trade Agreement
(AFCFTA) to be ratified by 2021.
Ø Equatorial Guinea has moved on to grant tax
reliefs for services companies in the country.
Ø Mozambique in need of experienced service
providers.
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They advised the African Government to
work with the private sector to develop
favorable policies that will support
indigenous companies, create more jobs,
and skills development in their respective
countries. And, there should also be digital
connectivity in Africa in terms of creating
an enabling environment for the tech
industry to thrive as there is a lot of
potential in the region which haven't been
fully utilized.
“Africa can also be a
Contributor to combating
Global Pandemic.”
A new report published by the Internet
Society explains the steps African countries
can take to bring faster and less expensive
Internet connectivity to the African region.
The report titled
"Anchoring the African Internet Ecosystem:
Lessons from Kenya and Nigeria's Internet
Exchange Points Growth" noted that better
connectivity represents a key opportunity
for countries to continue to develop more
resilient digital economies.
It reveals how a vibrant Internet ecosystem
is critical to bringing faster, and more
affordable Internet to Africa. It stated that
Internet exchange points (IXPs) are
locations where Internet service providers
(ISPs) and other network operators meet
and exchange Internet traffic. They are a
critical piece of technical infrastructure that
improves Internet access by keeping
Internet traffic local.
Without a local IXP, Internet service
providers have to use expensive
international Internet connectivity to
exchange and access content (which is
usually hosted abroad). Allowing traffic to
remain local results in faster and more
affordable Internet access.
The Society disclosed that the growth of
the IXPs in each country was exponential,
as were the cost savings from exchanging
traffic locally rather than using expensive
international transit.
It noted that Kenya's KIXP grew from
carrying peak traffic of 1 Gigabit per second
(Gbps) in 2012 to 19 Gbps in 2020, with
cost savings quadrupling to USD six million
per year. In Nigeria, IXPN grew from
carrying just 300 Megabits per second
(Mbps) to peak traffic of 125 Gbps in 2020,
and cost savings increased 40 times to USD
40 million per year.
"Kenya and Nigeria are in a better position
than ever before to cope with – and
contribute to – the digital revolution that
COVID-19 has accelerated as the Internet
becomes a lifeline for many people.
"It's clear Africa is ready to embrace the
digital revolution to spur economic
development. But reaching this goal will
depend on our community of passionate
people on the ground, policymakers,
regulators, and businesses embracing IXPs
and working in collaboration to create these
essential local traffic anchors," explains
Michuki Mwangi, Senior Director of
Internet Technology and Development for
the Internet Society.
The rapid pace of Internet development in
both Kenya and Nigeria underscores the
critical role that IXPs and the accompanying
infrastructure play in the establishment of
strong and sustainable Internet ecosystems.
The achievement is a significant step
towards the vision set by the peering
community in Africa 10 years ago: for 80
percent of African Internet traffic to be
local.
Among the reasons cited in the report for
Kenya and Nigeria's progress, is that the
governments in both countries adopted
policies that made it easier for an Internet
ecosystem to thrive. Both governments not
only made it easier for different service
providers to develop sub-marine cables, but
they also adopted data protection
regulations that spurred confidence and
attracted international service providers.
Both countries count on the Internet to
develop their service economies, that thrive
on financial, trade, and professional
services. Kenya, for example, is a 40 percent
service economy with many essential
government services that have moved
online.
Moreso, experts also revealed that the
African Continental Free Trade Agreement
(AFCFTA) is a key factor that should be
playing a vital role during this period, noting
that the AFCFTA will provide a platform for
local content to thrive as well as African
companies to position themselves to
compete globally and build resilience into
the Pan-African Supply Chain. They
explained that the implementation of
AFCFTA will also serve as an enabler to
strengthening regional collaboration within
the continent. And, the African Continental
Free Trade Agreement is a major resource to
combat Global Pandemic. The AFCFTA was
scheduled to launch in July 2020, but due to
the COVID-19 Pandemic, it has been
postponed till 2021.
Africa had over 600 million people without
access to energy. Despite the challenges,
Africa still holds a huge resource base and
there are more hydrocarbon discoveries
throughout the continent.
According to the report, there are about 128
billion barrels which stands at 7.5 percent of
world proven oil reserve, 503.3 TCF (86.8
billion BOE) which stands at 7.6 percent of
the world's proven gas reserves and 26
billion barrels of shale oil - Libya 5th globally.
Algeria ranks third globally of about 707
TCF which stands at 121.9 billion BOE. It
has been estimated that Africa's
hydrocarbon resources will increase by up
to 74 percent by 2050.
Following the agreement of the OPEC+
Production Cuts to stabilize the oil market,
along with other African producing
countries, Nigeria has joined other OPEC+
counterparts in a historic curtailment of
crude oil production to rebalance and
stabilize the global oil markets. Nigeria,
Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Congo-
Brazzaville, Gabon, Tanzania, Uganda,
Angola, Mozambique are key oil and gas
producers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Nigeria stands as Africa's largest oil
producer and is expected to become the
largest refiner and exporter of petroleum
products in Africa by 2022 as soon as the
refineries come on stream. The
Nigerian Government has reconfirmed its
commitment to comply with OPEC+
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Production Agreement, subscribing to the
concept of compensation by countries that
are unable to attain full conformity (100%)
in May and June to accommodate it in July,
August, and September.
According to Nigeria's Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources, Nigeria joined
OPEC+ to cut supply by up to Ten (10)
Million Barrels per day between May and
June 2020, Eight (8) Million Barrels per day
between July and December 2020 and Six
(6) Million barrels per day from January
2021 to April 2022, respectively.
Chief Timipre Sylva
"Based on reference production of Nigeria
of October 2018 of 1.829 Million Barrels
per day of dry crude oil, Nigeria will now be
producing 1.412 Million Barrels per day,
1.495 Million Barrels per day and 1.579
Million Barrels per day respectively for the
corresponding periods in the agreement.
"It is expected that this historic intervention
when concluded will see crude oil prices
rebound by at least $15 per barrel in the
short term, thereby enhancing the prospect
of exceeding Nigeria's adjusted budget
estimate that is currently rebased at $30
per barrel and crude oil production of 1.7
Million Barrels per day.
"It is therefore pleasing to note that
despite the production curtailments that
this historic agreement will entail, all
planned industry development projects
will progress as they will be delivered after
the termination of the 9th OPEC/Non-
OPEC Ministerial Meeting Agreement on
adjustments in April 2022," the minister
added.
Nigeria misses a 5-month oil revenue target
and could only collect about half of its
budgeted revenues in the first five months
of this year as low oil prices and output took
a toll on the Federal Government income.
According to Bloomberg, total earnings by
the federal government from January to
May were N1.48 trillion ($3.8 billion), which
was 56% of targeted revenue for the period,
quoting the Finance Minister Zainab
Ahmed, during a presentation to lawmakers.
Also, earnings from crude sales accounted
for about half of the total revenues with
non-oil income contributing to the balance.
"Although Nigeria's total production
capacity is 2.5 million barrels per day,
current crude production is about 1.4
million barrels per day – in compliance with
the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries' (OPEC) production
quota – and an additional 300,000 barrels
per day of condensates, totaling about 1.7
million barrels per day," Ahmed had said.
Oil production will average 1.86 million
barrels a day in 2021, rise to 2.09 million
barrels a day in 2022, and 2.38 million
barrels in 2023. The report said on the
expenditure side, N1.25 trillion was spent
on debt service and N1.32 trillion for
personnel cost, including pensions, Ahmed
said.
World Bank has also forecasted that Nigeria
will lose up to 70 percent of its earnings
from crude oil sales in 2020, cutting total
general government revenue to 5.3 percent
of GDP for the year following the impact
and outcomes of the ongoing Covid-19
pandemic.
In a recent World Bank report titled: 'Nigeria
Development Update 2020,' the Bank
stated that prices of crude oil which
accounts for the majority of Nigeria's
foreign exchange earnings were expected to
remain low, supported mostly by a
persistent supply glut and slowed recovery
of the economies of Nigeria's trading
partners.
According to the Washington-based
institution, the pandemic forced Nigeria to
revise its benchmark on oil production and
price from 2.3 million barrels a day (mbd)
and $57/b to 1.9mbd and $28/b.
"Oil prices are expected to stay below prepandemic
levels in 2020–21 because of
slowed economic activity and a persistent
supply glut. After averaging $65 per barrel
(bbl) in 2019, the baseline scenario for this
report assumes that prices of Nigerian crude
oil will average $30/bbl in 2020 and $40/bbl
in 2021.
"Oil prices are projected to begin recovering
gradually in the second half of 2020, but
accumulated inventories will continue to
push prices down through 2021 even as
global demand recovers, and the Covid-19
crisis subsides," it added, suggesting that
with the right pace of reforms, sustained
economic recovery was possible for Nigeria
despite downside risks.
It noted that in a baseline scenario in which
oil prices in 2020 average $30/b, the Covid-
19 outbreak in Nigeria was contained, and
the authorities carry out a package of
economic-relief policies in 2020, the
country's economy would still contract by at
least three percent.
It further stated that faced with large and
widening fiscal deficits, mounting pressure
on health spending, and less room to
borrow, "Nigeria can be expected to cut
capital spending, especially sub-national,
further diminishing its already low levels of
investment and limiting service delivery at
all levels."
"Falling domestic demand, which is sensitive
to oil-dollar liquidity, will cause the non-oil
economy to contract. With manufacturing
and services hit hard by COVID-19 in
April–May 2020," it added.
It explained that the pandemic has sharply
curtailed both oil and nonoil revenue
streams at a time when fiscal resources are
urgently needed to contain the virus and
support economic activity, adding that by
April Nigeria's crude oil prices had fallen to
$20 a barrel; down nearly 70 percent in
three months.
"After this extraordinary oil-price shock,
which led to a steep drop in oil production,
oil revenues are expected to fall from 3.2
percent of GDP in 2019 to about 1 percent
in 2020.
"Though oil production is expected to
stabilize, it would not immediately
contribute much to growth because
investment in the sector is likely to remain
subdued until the price outlook becomes
more favorable," the Bank noted.
In a bid to boost the country's oil output and
bring in much-needed revenues, the
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR),
on behalf of the Federal Government of
Nigeria, recently launched the 2020 bidding
round for 57 marginal fields after over 16
years of a successful marginal fields bid
round in 2003.
The Marginal Fields is open to indigenous
companies and investors interested in
participating in Exploration and Production
(E&P) business in Nigeria.
Interestingly, DPR has approved Subsurface
data providers Geoex and Bilview to use
their platform to showcase a portion of
Nigeria's national well data portfolio at
reproduction cost to pre-qualified bidders
of the 2020 marginal fields bid round.
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The bid round's custom data pack
comprises of core wells located in the
estimated marginal fields.
The core data pack includes more than 50
wells and will be available to successful
applicants at reproduction costs only
during the data prying stage of the bid
round. Also, further two packages will be on
offer under interesting pricing conditions.
These advanced sets will include in fill wells
and other complementary data in and
around the marginal fields.
Executive vice-president of Geoex Ltd,
Jean-Philippe Rossi, said: "Pre-qualified
companies will be able to access the data
without paying premiums associated with a
regular data license, making them an
excellent source for evaluation of these
marginal fields. This is a one-time
opportunity for the indigenous Nigerian
companies, which Geoex and Bilview are
offering in support of the ongoing bid
round."
He said his companies have carefully
designed these well packages to offer a
flexible price schedule to interested parties.
"We are being mindful of the current
industry situation and want to allow prequalified
companies to use our data to their
advantage," Rossi said.
The national well data are available to the
industry all year round via a dedicated
www.geoinfoweb.com portal, where
companies can browse, select, and request
data information. The full portfolio
comprises high-quality workstation-ready
well logs, correlative well information, and
on-demand log suites for more than 7,000
wellbores. The web portal showcases the
well repository since 2011.
The Nigerian government noted that its
major objective for the ongoing marginal
field program was a win-win value
proposition for government, Nigerians,
indigenous and foreign investors.
The Nigerian government is also working
on establishing a National Acreage
Management Strategy (NAMSTRA), a body
that would be responsible for putting in
place strategies to determine the nation's
periodic bid rounds.
According to them, NAMSTRA has become
necessary since the last bid round was
about 17 years ago.
He stated that with the nation's available
seven basins comprising the Benue
(central), Sokoto (north-west border), Chad
(north-east), Bida (central, along the Niger
valley), Dahomey (South-West) and
Anambra (South-East) Basins and the Niger
Delta (South coastal) including the deep
water, the establishment of NAMSTRA will
help to predict when the next bid round will
be after assessing the commercial viability
of these basins. "NAMSTRA will also help to
determine how prolific such basins will be in
a bid round process," they said.
In another development, there is an ongoing
licensing round in Uganda up to 5 blocks
that were launched in 2019 and will be
available until September 30th, 2020.
Peninah Aheebwa
Peninah Aheebwa, Director of Technical
Support Services Petroleum Authority,
Uganda, has confirmed that there are
currently three active exploration licenses
given to Armour Energy and Oranto
Petroleum. While Uganda's most
prospective basin is The Albertine Graben
which is open for investment and only a 10%
license has been issued while 90% is
unlicensed.
She said: "The blocks are attractive as we
currently have up to 6 investors that have
shown interest on these blocks. But, we are
encouraging investors out there to take
advantage of these blocks.
"There are about 21 oil and gas discoveries
in Uganda's oil and gas industry with an
unprecedented drilling tax rate of about
88% and a resource base of around 6 billion
barrels of oil in place.
"Uganda has issued over 14 licenses to
CINOOC, Total, Tullow among others.
While the country is estimated to have
about 1.4 billion barrels of recoverable
resources.”
Moving forward, Cameroon oil and gas is a
growing industry with enormous potential.
The country has been a producer and
exporter of oil over seven decades. Though
it is not ranked among the largest oilexporting
nations, it remains an important
oil and gas exporter in Central Africa due to
its favorable geology, dynamic relationship
with other foreign oil operators, host
government, and its legal framework.
The Government of Cameroon has set out
to further develop and expand the industry
and within its mandate to attract investment
in its oil and gas industry, the National
Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) has
launched the promotion of nine blocks in the
hydrocarbons rich Rio del Rey Basin (RDR)
and the highly prospective Douala/Kribi-
Campo (DKC) Basin.
The Douala/Kribi-Campo Basin covers a
total area of 19000 km. It is the
northernmost basin in the South Atlantic
and it lies between the prolific petroleumproducing
Niger Delta to the North and the
Rio Muni Basin to the South. Source rocks
have been identified from several
stratigraphic levels including the
Aptian/Albian, Upper Cretaceous,
Oligocene/Miocene (Soullaba), and
Paleocene/Eocene (N'kapa). All the oil
properties indicate that oil originates from
terrigenous dominated source rocks
deposited in a marine environment. There is
abundant oil at the basin margins.
Hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs have been
encountered at nearly every stratigraphic
level from the Miocene (Souellaba) down to
the Albian/Aptian (Upper and lower
Mundeck) and across a variety of
depositional systems from continental to
deepwater.
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While The Rio Del Rey (RDR) basin is a
divergent margin basin formed as a result of
the Aptian to Albian opening of the South
Atlantic Ocean. The basin sedimentary fill
corresponds to the easternmost edge of the
prolific Tertiary Niger Delta complex. It is
separated geographically from the
Douala/Kribi-Campo basin by the Tertiary
Cameroon Volcanic Line.
Concerning LNG business, over the years,
Cameroon set a remarkable record when it
became the second country in the world,
and the first in Africa, to commission a
floating LNG facility located offshore Kribi.
Golar LNG's 1.2mtpa Hilli Episeyo FLNG
vessel is now receiving gas from the
Perenco operated Sanaga gas field, and its
processed LNG has been sold to Gazprom's
trading arm for eight years.
Other key existing energy infrastructure in
Cameroon includes the 42,000bpd Limbe
refinery, owned at 66% by the government
via Sonara, the 1070km Chad-Cameroon
pipeline, one of Central Africa's landmark
projects and Globeleq's 216MW Kribi
power station.
Furthermore, Mozambique is at the
forefront of becoming a top ten LNG
supplier globally. The country has over 150
trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven natural gas
reserves. Mozambique has excellent
relations with its neighbors, signing
Governmental MoUs with African
countries and major consumer nations,
including China, and signing a technical
services agreement with Trinidad &
Tobago.
5 major IOCs are already investing in
exploration, and proceeding with the
construction of platforms for drilling and
storing natural gas.
The race in the Rovuma basin started in
2017 and the contracts signed are already
worth more than $20 billion within 2 years.
Several liquefied natural gas trains are
planned for the Rovuma Basin concessions,
with a combined annual capacity of over 15
million tonnes, with LNG production
starting in the next four years.
Currently, the demand for experienced
service providers is very high in the
exploration, production, storage, and
transportation of natural gas, with the
current transport network consisting of the
Mozambique-South Africa pipeline and the
new distribution network.
Industry experts have said that the natural
resources in Africa could be harnessed to
meet the continent's social and economic
needs. They made the call for a stronger
collaboration among African countries to
maximize the continent's oil and gas
potential for the benefits of its citizen.
They further explained that oil had served as
the key enabler to the economic
transformation of many nations like
Norway, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, and Qatar among others.
They stressed that African governments
more especially oil-producing countries
need to create an enabling environment to
make the industry private sector driven, just
like in Europe, Middle East, and America,
which has led to a massive economic boost.
They continued: "Africa should be
independent in a way of domesticating oil
and gas technology in the continent and
encourage local content development in
areas of human capital, infrastructure and
data sharing in its oil and gas industry."
Mr. Bank Anthony Okoroafor, former
PETAN Chairman and CEO/Managing
Director of CB Geophysical Solutions Ltd, a
seismic data acquisition, processing and
interpretation company, has also said that
Africa resources have the potential to
alleviate poverty on the continent. He
explained: "540 million people in resourcedriven
countries could be lifted out of
poverty by effective development and use
of reserves, more than what China achieved
in the past 20 years".
Bank Anthony Okoroafo
“
Government across Africa,
especially the oil and gas
producing countries, should
provide necessary incentives
to attract private sector
investment across the entire
value chain.”
"For Africa to move beyond exports and
make the most of its resources there is a
need for strategic investment in
infrastructure in areas such as refineries and
petrochemicals.
"There is a need for strong regulation by
governments on the continent to address
issues surrounding regulatory and fiscal
conditions. And, there is a need for regional
integration to broaden the market and
attract investments in the continent's
petroleum sector."
Executive Chairman of the African Energy
Chamber, NJ Ayuk, has said that, amid the
ongoing CoronaVirus ravaging the oil and
gas industry, the year 2020 and beyond
contain huge opportunities for African oilproducing
countries if properly addressed.
NJ Ayuk
He noted that some oil-dependent African
nations will suffer reduced revenue. He
used Angola as an example, whose national
budget was pegged at an oil price of
USD$55. He said that most African
producers have learned from past
experiences and have adjusted themselves
to respond to price crashes.
“
The progressive economic
diversification the African
continent has witnessed in
recent years will also
contribute to minimizing
the impact of this situation.”
He stressed that if 2020 is showing itself
challenging for African energy, 2021 will be
a year of opportunity, stressing however
that for that to happen, APPO has to start
adapting now; laying down the policies that
will allow members to take advantage of
future opportunities.
Ayuk said that this is the time for African
nations to position themselves correctly,
and that will require close attention to
international developments and close
cooperation, to be able to take advantage
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TOP STORY
of new opportunities.
The African Energy Chamber and the IAGC
have recommended several mitigating
measures on behalf of the oil and gas
industry to ensure sustainability in
response to the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic in
Africa. These measures are intended to
mitigate the expected loss of jobs and
abandonment of erstwhile viable projects
in the African oil and gas sector in the face
of a global recession.
In their words, they said that, While African
oil producers might not be able to change
the current market and global health
dynamics individually, they have the ability
as regulators to positively influence the
business environment in their respective
countries with innovative policies.
They called on African governments to take
swift action to ensure stability in the
African oil and gas industry, especially in the
geophysical & exploration (G&E) subsector,
to maintain a pipeline of projects
that will maintain or even increase output
levels. Such key demands and measures
include waiving taxes on service companies
for six months; waiving withholding taxes,
especially for not resident companies, for
six months; urging banks to provide no
interest loans and loan guarantees for local
service companies with ongoing projects
with IOCs; granting extensions on all
exploration projects for 24 months;
extending the non-exclusive geophysical
data confidentiality periods to a minimum
of 15 years where such is not already in
place; waiving part of the work project
commitments for exploration companies;
setting up and implement government and
private sector discussions on revising some
of the fiscal terms in the PSC that make it
difficult for explorers to meet commitments
in today's market environment and aid
capital fundraising; cutting in half (50%)
fees due to the state like training funds,
surface rental, social projects etc.; bring
champions of the industry by encouraging
various farm-in and farm-out discussions
on current licenses; ensuring state backing
on midstream projects so FID's are not
cancelled; making diversification of the
economy a priority; looking at local content
measures that are not working and try to
encourage or implement a more regional
African content approach; and considering
cutting departmental spending and
reduction of unnecessary travel
expenditure.
"As the voice of the African Energy industry
and it is at the core of our mandate to fight
for the comeback of the African Energy
industry post-COVID-19 and the price war
by making practices on how to navigate the
current crisis. We are bullish by the
response so far from many African oil
producers that include adopting some of our
proposals above. However, we call for
everyone to continue doing more. Our
American friends from the IAGC have been
a strong and steadfast ally in helping us
make a case for Africa and its energy sector"
said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the
African Energy Chamber.
On her part, Ms. Nikki Martin, President of
the IAGC highlighted the importance of the
geophysical and exploration (G&E)
industries in maintaining a stable energy
industry. "National Authorities should be
working to maintain expected timelines for
licensing rounds, including all review
periods and award announcements which
contribute to business certainty and a stable
pipeline for future oil production. Energy
security for the continent will only be
ensured with continued exploration," she
said. "The G&E industry provides the key to
unlocking energy resources that will allow
for rebuilding economies when the COVID-
19 virus has run its course, however, to
rebuild, there must be a viable energy
industry when that time comes."
More interesting, some African countries
are already offering tax reliefs and fiscal
packages to companies to mitigate any
adverse impacts on exploration and
production activities in their countries. For
instance, the Government of Equatorial
Guinea has moved on to grant tax reliefs for
services companies in the country. The
Government took this action to support oil
& gas services companies in the country as
part of its response to the oil price drop
caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons,
H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, said that
the unanimous decision to waive its fees for
services companies will last for a period of
three months.
In another development, Oneyka Ojogbo,
Associate Attorney at Centurion Law Group
pointed out that the current market
situation has extremely affected companies
as they are now faced with a myriad of
financial issues that have led to force
majeure on projects.
She stressed that for companies to mitigate
all associated risks on contracts and local
operations, they have to reconsider and
take all necessary actions to reevaluate their
positions under oil contracts. IOCs and
foreign service providers may also be unable
to meet their capital spending commitments
due to production cuts which could affect
their ability to meet up with repayment
obligations under financing instruments.
She advised companies to review all
contracts including the terms and condition
such as Capex Commitment in Joint Venture
or Production Sharing Contracts, other
financial instruments in a post-COVID-19
recovery, political and economic stability in
the host country, policies that affect the
stability of the current contract, local
content obligations, and the overall cost of
t h e p r o j e c t b e f o r e m a k i n g a n y
commitments.
Concerning Employment contracts, Oneyka
Ojogbo underscored the need for
companies to consider their current
employment regulations and ensure strict
compliance.
Oneyka Ojogbo
It may be illegal to terminate
the employment contract at
this point but the company
should consider the option of
“Furlough.
“It is important to discuss with labor experts
in the country and closely monitor the
proclamations of the authorities for any
changes in laws or regulation affecting
labor”
Across oil & gas basins, drilling projects are
being put back on the shelves or terminated
due to the ongoing Coronavirus Pandemic.
The oil and gas industry will only work for
Africans when there are fair policies and an
enabling environment that will treat oil and
gas companies as partners who drive
progress in the region. And, this is why
industry experts are advocating for
measures that will support the continuity of
business operations and future sector
growth. They strongly advocate for tax
relief on services companies, reforms of
upstream fiscal regimes, banking and
financial support, regional content
development, incentives to infrastructure
projects, and bold actions on removing fuel
subsidies.
“We have the tools in our
hands to quickly open new
markets for our oil and gas
businesses and create new
jobs for our continent."
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FEATURED CONTENT
OilServ: Building A Gas Pipeline Network in Nigeria
...the company has what it takes to develop and build a gas pipeline network for the oil and gas industry
After seven years of rigorous processes
that moved from policy conception
through implementation strategy
designs, master-plans and solid
implementation programmes, the
Federal Government of Nigeria has
approved and awarded the contract of
the construction of AKK Gas Pipeline
Project to OilServ, the biggest gas
pipeline infrastructure project in the
country’s recent history, writes Ndubuisi
Micheal Obineme.
Fully supported by the Nigerian Oil and
Gas Industry Content Development
(NOGICD) Act, Oilserv Limited is a
major indigenous oil pipeline
E n g i n e e r i n g , P r o c u r e m e n t ,
C o n s t r u c t i o n , I n s t a l l a t i o n &
Commissioning (EPCIC) company in
Nigeria based in Port Harcourt, River
State.
Oilserv has expanded its operations
beyond Nigeria, and offering services in
Sub-Saharan African Region especially
in Uganda and Ghana. This move has
continued to optimize the company's
growth using its resources as well as
through alliances and joint ventures
with international Companies in
specific areas of the industry.
OilServ Limited is built around an
Engr. Emeka Okwuosa, OilServ CEO
experienced team of highly qualified
Engineers, Technicians and other support
Personnel to provide Total Quality Services
(TQS) to the Multinational, Local Oil & Gas
and Power Companies and major industries
for Onshore & Offshore project.
Project
OilServ is exceptional when it comes to
delivery of oil and gas projects and has been
a local content champion in the Nigerian oil
and gas industry. The company is involved in
the biggest pipeline projects in Nigeria
namely; Obiafu/Obrikom to Oben (OB3)
Node Gas Transmission Pipeline System and
Ajeokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline
project.
The OB3 gas pipeline project is a critical
component of the Nigeria Gas Master Plan
meant to deliver gas from the rich reservoirs
in the eastern Niger Delta to the established
markets in the west of Nigeria. While the
AKK gas pipeline project will transport
natural gas from Ajaokuta, in Kogi State to
Kano, through several states and urban
centers, as part of the Trans Nigeria Gas
Pipeline.
The first phase of the Nigerian Gas
Masterplan, the Obiafu/Obrikom to Oben
(OB3) Node Gas Transmission Pipeline
System was built by Oilserv. Before then,
Oilserv had developed the entire gas
distribution network in Lagos, powering
industries in the state. Oilserv has also built
major gas pipelines across South-South gas
pipeline, 128 km, from the western end of
Akwa-Ibom to Mfamosing, very close to
Cameroon, that has made it possible for
UNICEM cement plant to be able to operate.
Conceptualized as an integral part of the
Nigerian Gas Master Plan (NGMC), a gas
infrastructure blueprint, which was
approved by the Federal Executive Council
in 2008, the AKK has received serious
attention from the President Buhari
Administration leading to the award of the
Engineering Procurement and Construction
Contract (EPC) of the project by the Federal
Executive Council in 2017.
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OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

FEATURED CONTENT
Within the last 12 months the project
received extra stimulus from the
current NNPC leadership led by Mallam
Mele Kyari, which deftly removed the
impediments that have stalled the
project over the years.
The AKK pipeline would be the biggest
g a s p i p e l i n e i n f r a s t r u c t u r e
development in the country’s recent
history. It is a 614km-long natural gas
pipeline set to be laid between Ajaokuta
and Kano in Nigeria and forms the first
Phase of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline
(TNGP) project. The TNGP project is an
integral part of the proposed 4,401kmlong
Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP)
to export natural gas to countries in
Europe. It will also mark a significant
shift in the nation’s energy policy; from
revenue, targeted export programmes
to development focused domestic
supply programmes.
The AKK pipeline is slated to originate
from Ajaokuta and pass through Abuja
and Kaduna, before ending at a terminal
gas station in Kano. The project among
other benefits will curb gas flaring and
further boost industrialization and
development in all regions in Nigeria.
On June 30th, 2020, President Buhari
performs the flags-off ceremony of the
construction of the 40-inch x 614km
$2.8 billion Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano
(AKK) Gas Pipeline project virtually
from the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja due to
the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The
project, expected to be completed
within a 24-month timeline, is a section
of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline
(TNGP) with capacity to transport
about 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per
day.
Sustainable Development
Harnessing and commercializing the
Nigeria’s vast gas reserves was an
e n a b l e r f o r r a p i d e c o n o m i c
development and diversification of the
economy, and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-
Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline project is part
of President Buhari Administration’s
efforts to ensure sustainable
development and growth of the
nation’s Economy. The project, when
completed, would provide gas for
generation of power and feedstock for
gas-based industries, and also facilitate
the revival of moribund industries and
the development of new ones along
transit towns in Kogi State, Abuja (FCT),
Niger State, Kaduna State and Kano
State.
Also, the Nigerian government is
committed to expanding the key critical
gas infrastructure in the country to
promote the use of gas in the domestic
market. These include the Escravos to Lagos
Pipeline System – 2 (ELPS-2), Obiafu –
Obrikom – Oben (OB3) pipeline and the
AKK. The government have made it a
priority to ensure that revenues from oil and
gas resources are utilized to support the
emergence and growth of other non-oil
sectors of the economy.
AKK Potentials
The AKK gas pipeline project would also
unlock 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas to the
domestic market, support the addition of
3,600 mega watts of power to the national
grid and revitalize textile industries which
alone boasts of over 3 million jobs in parts of
the country. It would run parallel to the
existing Nigerian Pipelines and Storage
Company’s 16 inch-crude oil and 12 inchproduct
pipelines wherever possible.
The pipeline would be fed from the existing
domestic Infrastructure with a capacity of
over 1.5 billion cubic feet per day and is
being expanded by Escravos-Lagos Pipeline
System II (ELPS II) and Obiafu-Obrikom-
Oben (OB3) gas pipeline (under
construction) that will double the capacity
to over 3 billion cubic gas per day.
The AKK is ultimately designed to
complement other major domestic gas
transmission systems namely: the Western
System, that is, the existing 36-inch
Escravos-Lagos Pipeline I and II with
2.2billion cubic feet per day capacity and the
On-going East-West connection via the
OB3 pipeline featuring 2.4 billion cubic feet
per day capacity. It will significantly curb gas
flaring in the Niger Delta and guarantee
better air quality in the oil producing region.
A K K p r o j e c t w o u l d s u p p o r t t h e
development of Petrochemicals, fertilizer,
methanol and other gas-based industries
t h e r e b y g e n e r a t i n g e m p l o y m e n t
opportunities and facilitating Balanced
Economic Growth.
According to report, the EPC contract for
the 614km AKK gas pipeline project was
awarded at a total contract sum of
US$2.592 billion to Messrs. Oilserv
Plc/China First Highway Engineering
Company (Oilserv/CFHEC Consortium) for
the first segment covering 303km and
Messrs. Brentex Petroleum Services/China
Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (Brentex/CPP
Consortium) for the second segment
covering 311km under a debt-equity
financing model with loan from Bank of
China and SINOSURE, to be repaid through
the pipeline transmission tariff and
supported by a sovereign guarantee.
The NNPC has confirmed that all the
required conditions precedent for closing
the debt financing have been provided and
the process of obtaining internal approvals
by the Lenders is in progress to enable
financing close by August 2020.
Local Content
President Buhari's administration has
shown dedication for the development of
Local Content and Capacity through the
Ajaokuta Kaduna Kano (AKK) gas pipeline
project. President Buhari is at the forefront
of driving progress in the oil and gas sector
particularly for given opportunities to
indegineous companies to carry on major
projects in the country. Oilserv involvement
in the AKK project is an indication that the
Federal government means well for the local
content development.
The AKK project is also a celebration the
successes of the Nigerian Content Policy
goals. The project would be a turning to
reality some of the Nigeria’s long term
economic aspirations of boosting domestic
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OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

FEATURED CONTENT
energy infrastructure, deepening the local
gas market, creating industrial corridors
with cleaner fuel, and commercializing the
country’s abundant gas resources.
According to Oilserv all the engineering
works on the project are done by certified
Nigerian Engineers as this is part of the
efforts to promote local content in the oil
and gas sector.
The company said it’s going to ensure revegetation
after the project to return the
environment to it’s original form before the
commencement of the project. So far
OilServ has maintained a good relationship
with it’s host communities that had allowed
the right of way for the laying of the gas
pipes.
Job Opportunities:
OilServ has said that during the
construction of the AKK Gas Pipeline
Project that the company will employ and
absorb about 3,000 workers to complete
the project. The company will lead the
workers including Engineers to complete a
303 kilometers part of the project in record
time of 12 months and commisioned within
18 months.
OilServ has also confirmed that it is going to
complete it’s own part of the project which
runs from Ajaokuta to some kilometers after
Abuja faster than the 24 month period
expected by the Federal government for the
completion of the project.
Moreso, the project will create numerous
d i r e c t a n d i n d i r e c t e m p l o y m e n t
opportunities while fostering the
development and utilization of local skills
and manpower, technology transfer and
promotion of local manufacturing.
The 303 km part of the project will also
involve running an inbuilt tracking sensor
gas pipe of 40 inched diameter to ensure
protection, safety and Maintenance on
completion of the project.
Part of the safety and quality measures
which Oilserv has deployed for the project
include the automated machines for the
welding component of the project to ensure
a good quality job and of international
standard at the site of construction.
The choice of Oilserv Limited seems to be
deserving as the company has performed
various key projects relating to platforms,
production facilities, and installation of
Bulklines, all of which involve engineering,
project management and construction
services.
The company’s antecedent includes being
the first and only Nigerian indigenous
company to fabricate, install and
commission the largest Oil manifold station
for Shell Petroleum Development Co. Ltd.
(S.P.D.C.), while also having successfully
designed and constructed the largest Gas
Transmission Pipeline System in Nigeria and
Africa – the Obiafu/Obrikom to Oben Node
Gas Transmission Pipeline System, which
forms a part of the Nigerian Gas Master
Plan.
OilServ has successfully delivered over 17
similar challenging projects in Nigeria.
Among other challenging projects, Oilserv is
also a major company executing pipeline
repairs and rehabilitation work for S.P.D.C
and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas
Limited (NLNG), in the Niger Delta region of
Nigeria.
Oilserv Limited is part of The Oilserv Group,
an Engineering, Oil & Gas, Power,
Agricultural & Mining Conglomorate.
Oilserv Group of Companies include :
Oilserv Limited, Frazimex Engineering
Limited, FrazPower Limited, FrazOil E & P
Limited, Ekcel Farms Limited and Crown
Energy Resources Limited.
REAN Commends FG Over Planned 5 Million Solar Home
Systems Deployment
The Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria,
REAN, has commended the Nigerian
government over its planned development of 5
Million Solar Home Systems as part of the Nigeria
Economic Sustainability Plan, NESP.
Describing the plan as a landmark in achieving Goal 7 of
the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs which is
Sustainable Energy for All, the group in a statement
signed by its president, Segun Adaju said it is positioned
to support the government towards realising the goals
of the initiative.
In his words, "We have establsihed our own SHS
Committe within the Association that will work directly
with the relevant agencies of the Federal Government
to support the government in ensuring that this
initiative succeeds and delivers the expected outcome,
with strong local content consideration.
With 5 million households and connections within 12
months, over 25 million Nigerians will be impacted,
thereby reducing the huge numbers of Nigerians who
rely on inefficient energy sources such as kerosene
lanterns, candles, etc as sources of power.
The NESP clearly indicated that the objective to be
achieved by this component of the plan is to create
250,000 jobs while providing affordable energy
through solar power to rural communities that have
little or no access to the national grid.
By creating these jobs, the multiplier
effect of it would result in many more
Nigerians being pulled out of poverty as
articulated by this administration.
The plan also indicated that private
sector installers of solar systems will be
supported with access to low-cost
funding from development finance
institutions and the CBN in order to
install solar systems at an affordable
price to the beneficiaries," he said.
Speaking further, he said the provision of
"further palliative measures such as temporary
waiver of import duty for imported components,
access to affordable financing and lessening of
administrative bottlenecks should be
mainstreamed into the delivery of this project in
order to achieve the objective of this initiative".
REAN is the umbrella body of stakeholders in
the nation's alternative energy industry
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President Muhammadu Buhari has
said that Nigeria will stand solidly
behind Dr. Akinwumi Adesina in
his bid to get re-elected as President of
the African Development Bank (AfDB).
In a statement made known to Oil and
Gas Republic, The President made this
declaration at the State House, Abuja, on
Tuesday 2nd June 2020, while hosting
Dr. Adesina on a courtesy visit.
“In 2015, when you were to be elected
for the first term, I wrote to all African
leaders, recommending you for the
position. I didn’t say because you were a
People’s Democratic Party (PDP)
Minister, and I belonged to the All
Progressives Congress (APC), so I would
withhold my support. I’ll remain
consistent with you, because no one has
faulted the step I took on behalf of
Nigeria,” said President Buhari.
The President pledged that Nigeria
would work with all other leaders and
stakeholders in AfDB to ensure that Dr.
Adesina was elected for a second term
built on the record of his achievements
during his first term.
FEATURED CONTENT
President Buhari: Nigeria will Support Adesina for his
Re-election as AFDB President
The African Union had already endorsed the
incumbent AfDB President as the sole
candidate for the continent, but some other
stakeholders are trying to ensure that Dr.
Adesina is re-investigated on some
allegations, and rendered ineligible to run.
Giving a background to what was happening
in the bank, Dr. Adesina, a former Nigerian
Minister for Agriculture, said the 16
allegations raised against him were trumped
up, “and without facts, evidence, and
documents, as required by the rules and
regulations of the bank.”
He added that the Ethics Committee of the
bank cleared him of all the allegations, and
calls for a fresh investigation by the United
States of America were against the rules.
“My defense ran into 250 pages, and not a
single line was faulted or questioned. The law
says that report of the Ethics Committee
should be transmitted to the Chairman of
Governors of the bank. It was done, and the
governors upheld the recommendations. That
was the end of the matter, according to the
rules. It was only if I was culpable that a fresh
investigation could be launched. I was
exonerated, and any other investigation
would amount to bending the rules of the
bank, to arrive at a predetermined
conclusion,” Dr. Adesina said.
Stressing that the motive was to soil his name,
and that of the bank, the AfDB President said
he was proud to be Nigerian, and thanked
President Buhari for his unflinching support.
“You helped me to get elected in the first
place, and you have supported me robustly all
along, and the African Union unanimously
endorsed my re-election” he declared.
While commiserating with President Buhari
on the death of the former Chief of Staff,
Mallam Abba Kyari, Dr. Adesina described
Professor Ibrahim Gambari, new Chief of Staff
as “a man of integrity, and of global standing.”
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OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

The High 5 agenda – five priority actions for the African Development Bank and for Africa – is the AfDB’s channel for focusing and scaling up its 2013-2022 Ten Year Strategy, to bring
about the social and economic transformation of Africa. The High 5s are designed to deliver the twin objectives of the Ten Year Strategy: inclusive growth that is shared by all; and the gradual
transition to green growth. The High 5s are: Light up and power Africa; Feed Africa; Industrialise Africa; Integrate Africa; Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa.
Le Top 5, c’est-à-dire les cinq actions prioritaires pour la Banque africaine de développement et pour l’Afrique, constituent le moyen utilisé par la BAD pour concentrer et étendre la mise
en oeuvre de sa Stratégie décennale pour la période 2013-2022 visant à transformer l’Afrique sur le plan social et économique. Le Top 5 a pour but de réaliser le double objectif de la stratégie
décennale : une croissance inclusive partagée par tous ; et la transition progressive vers une croissance verte. Le Top 5 est constitué des priorités suivantes : Éclairer l’Afrique et l’alimenter
en énergie ; Nourrir l’Afrique ; Industrialiser l’Afrique ; Intégrer l’Afrique ; Améliorer la qualité de vie des Africains.

APPO INTERVIEW
What Africa Must Do to Address the Challenges Facing
its Energy Industry - Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, APPO's
Secretary General
developed. I am sure you are aware that
Africa has some of the best scientists,
technologists and innovators in Europe and
the US. They excel when they go there. But
when they are here, they are unable to excel.
The challenge is to create the enabling
environment for these people to excel in
Africa. We will also create the enabling
environment for Europeans and Americans
to come and do their innovations here.
Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Nigeria’s
former Governor for OPEC, is the newly
appointed Secretary General of the
A f r i c a n P e t r o l e u m P r o d u c e r s
Organization (APPO). Farouk succeeded
Mahaman Laouan Gaya as APPO
Secretary General. APPO, with 15 active
Member Countries and three observers,
is a continental intergovernmental
energy organization. Its mission is to
promote cooperation in the field of
hydrocarbons of its Member Countries
and other global institutions to foster
fruitful collaboration and partnerships
while utilizing petroleum as a catalyst for
e n e r g y s e c u r i t y , s u s t a i n a b l e
d e v e l o p m e n t a n d e c o n o m i c
diversification in Africa.
In this interview, Farouk spoke with
OPEC's Bulletin about APPO and his
plans for the Organization on the sidelines
of the 178th Extraordinary
Meeting of the OPEC Conference, held
in Vienna, Austria.
Question: Many APPO Member
Countries are also OPEC Member
C o u n t r i e s . H o w d o t h e s e
Organizations differ?
Answer: Many people have asked me
this question. One difference is that
OPEC is an intergovernmental
organization that has membership and
presence in four continents, namely
Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe.
APPO, on the other hand, is a
continental organization. All our
members come from the African
Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim
continent and our headquarters is also
located in Africa.
Another difference is that OPEC focuses on
stabilizing the global oil market for the good
of all — producers, consumers and investors.
It is doing a wonderful job. What APPO does
is to focus on the peculiar challenges of the
oil and gas industry on the African
continent— challenges that are not
necessarily global. We think that we should
find solutions to our own problems. By
stabilizing the market, yes, OPEC is helping
us, but fighting continental energy poverty
or poverty of technology and finance in
Africa is outside the mandate of OPEC.
Question: What are the key challenges that
Africa faces in the oil and gas sector?
Answer: There are basically three
challenges we have to address. The first one
is infrastructure. We need to put in place
energy infrastructure that cuts across the
continent: pipelines, for crude as well as
products and gas, refineries and
petrochemicals to serve sub-regions or a
cluster of countries.
The second is technology. Our oil and gas
industry is unarguably the most dependent
on foreign technology. We have generally
bought into the misleading belief of
technology transfer, that the developed
world will transfer technology to us. While it
is possible to have technology transferred, it
is always the archaic technology that is
transferred while the latest is kept by those
who developed it, until a better one is
The third challenge is financing of energy
projects. God has endowed us with natural
resources and human resources. We need
to create an enabling environment that will
support the growth of knowledge,
technology and investment.
Question: How do you plan to improve
investment climate given the current
market challenges?
Answer: A few years after APPO was
founded in 1987, the APPO Fund for
Technical Cooperation was created to
support technical cooperation and mobilize
finance for energy projects on the
continent. This is similar to the OPEC Fund
for International Development. Along with
the reorganization of APPO, we have
reorganized and reformed the APPO Fund
and it is now called the African Energy
Investment Corporation (AEICORP).
For the first time, we are bringing private
investors into the system and the
contributing governments will hold a
minority share.
This is all part of the major reforms that we
are embarking on to change the whole
mandate of the organization to be able to
better focus on addressing the peculiar
energy challenges facing the African
continent.
Question: More and more African countries
are producing oil. And yet most countries in
Africa have to import petroleum products
from outside the continent. Why is that?
Answer: That is one of the biggest
challenges we have on the continent.
Nigeria for instance, produces something
like 2.2 million b/d, yet imports about 30 to
40 million litres of petrol on a daily basis. It
doesn’t make sense. Nigeria has four
refineries and none of them is working at 30
per cent of its nameplate capacity. You have
the same problems in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana
and a number of other African countries.
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APPO INTERVIEW
These facilities are very capital intensive.
We need to be able to come together and
have refineries and pipelines that can
transport products across borders. What
we are trying to do at APPO is to ensure we
have the cross-border infrastructure and to
do this, we need to pool our resources.
Question: Despite the need for energy in
Africa, much of its petroleum is exported to
non-African markets. Could that change?
Answer: This is a part of Africa’s colonial
legacy. When you go to many African
countries, you see railways running from
the hinterland to the coast. The railways
take agricultural and mineral resources
from where they are produced in the
hinterland to the ports to be exported
outside Africa.
No one thought about doing a network of
roads or rail lines across the countries so
that food produced in one region can be
sent to another region of the country or
continent where there is a shortage of food.
It is the same thing with minerals and our oil
and gas.
When African countries make discoveries,
nobody asks how much should be retained
domestically so we can energize our people,
and export the rest. We look at how much it
will bring to the national budget in foreign
exchange. These are some of the challenges
we are going to be looking at, and that is
why the African Energy Investment
Corporation, AEICORP, is going to be run as
a business, a business but with a human
face. Our objective is to expand access and
reduce energy poverty to the barest
minimum.
AEICORP is to provide a platform for raising
funds to execute major energy projects on
the continent. We will strive to change the
situation, and with the support and
commitment of African leaders and the
industry, we will get there.
Question: Tell us more about what APPO is
doing to alleviate energy poverty and
achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7?
Answer: As a continental energy
organization with huge challenges but very
limited resources, we have decided that we
need to optimize the benefits of the few
resources we have. We therefore avoid
duplication of activities. Where other
organizations embark on projects we have
on our work programme, or we find very
useful to our cause, we approach them to
partner with them. That way we are able to
get the same result by spending much less. I
was in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, last
month where ECOWAS Ministers received
the reports of three studies commissioned
by ECOWAS, APPO and the African
Refineries Association, ARA. The studies
were on popularization of LPG as domestic
energy. It aims to get rid of the use of
firewood and other unhealthy forms of
energy in the West African sub-region, and
replace them with more environmentally
friendly LPG.
T h e s e c o n d s t u d y w a s o n t h e
standardization of vehicle emission limits in
the sub-region. And the last was a feasibility
study on extending the West African Gas
Pipeline Project from its current terminal
point in Ghana to Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra
Leone, Sénégal, Mali and Burkina Faso.
APPO contributed finances to conduct
these studies.
Furthermore, with AEICORP in place, we
expect to be able to raise required financing
for key energy projects on the continent,
projects that would otherwise not get the
huge financing to take off.
Question: Don’t you need to improve the
energy infrastructure in order to make real
progress on expanding energy access?
Answer: Absolutely. We need energy
infrastructure to make any meaningful and
positive impact on the lives of our people.
The infrastructure should be intracontinental,
not limited by boundaries. We
should have infrastructure that will allow us
to move energy from areas of abundance to
areas of scarcity. I have already mentioned
the West Africa Gas Pipeline project, whose
contribution to alleviating energy scarcity in
Ghana and Benin and Togo is legendary. In
East Africa there is the Uganda-Kenya
Crude Oil Pipeline (UKCOP), and there are
others in North Africa.
The fight against energy poverty in Africa is
a serious one. Average energy access in
Africa is 43 per cent compared to the global
average of 87 per cent. In other words,
Africa is less than half the global average. In
the past, each African country attempted to
address its energy challenges in isolation.
But none of them has the required finances,
technology or even the human resources.
We have come to the realization that we can
effectively tackle that challenge only if we
pool resources.
Question: What is APPO’s view on the socalled
energy transition?
Answer: The world is gradually telling us
that the era of renewables has come and, by
implication, the era of hydrocarbons is
coming to an end. This is happening when a
number of African countries are just
beginning to find oil.
Twenty years ago, five or six African
countries had oil.
Today, over 20 countries have oil and more
are going to be producing in the next five
years or so. If the world has decided to move
on, it means that the technology for finding,
processing and using oil is likely to go
because those who have the resources,
technology and science are not going to be
investing in producing or finding crude oil
anymore.
Question: Africa is rich in petroleum
resources and renewable energy potential.
Are you also looking at using solar energy,
for example, in the petroleum production
process?
Answer: One reason we changed the name
of APPO Fund to AEICORP is that we want
to have all forms of energy. We can do a lot
with solar, hydro, wind, etc.
But our fear is that the world is moving on
with the Paris Agreement and we are not
really ready. We don’t have what it takes to
make the quick switch from the resources
that God has endowed us with to
renewables.
For now, climate change comes secondary
to the lives of the people of Africa. We need
to first provide them with the energy with
which to make a better life. We are finding
more and more oil in Africa, but at the same
time we are being told that we cannot use
that oil.
The world is against oil and gas, it is against
emissions. We believe that where there is a
will there will always be a way. If the world
has the will to eliminate emissions from oil
and gas, it can do so. Technology is being
developed to address emissions. We should
not throw away the baby with the
bathwater.
Question: How does the new APPO intend
to intensify cooperation and collaboration
with OPEC?
Answer: The first concrete action we are
working on is the signing of a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) in common
interest action areas such as information
and data management, global oil market
trends, project funding, etc.
At the technical level, we are planning with
the Data Services Department of OPEC a
series of working sessions to design a new
information system for APPO in line with
international best practices. Also, we will
take advantage of the experience of OPEC,
to periodically publish an APPO Bulletin of
information on the African energy market.
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COUNTRY REPORT
PIB Will Come Out With A Lot Of Sweetness
Later This Year - Chief Sylva
product side as well, to address demand and
limited domestic production.
“Because for so long Africa has been
importing the finished products, you really
need to be delivering on the doorstep,” he
said.
He noted that in Nigeria, the Dangote refinery
project will start operations soon and the
rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery was
expected soon as well.
“We are also discussing on reviving the Warri
and Kaduna refineries. And we are discussing
the possibility of developing some
petrochemical and fertilizer projects,” he said.
In terms of addressing energy poverty, Chief
Sylva noted that there has to be a collective
effort across Africa.
Chief Timipre Sylva
Chief Timipre Sylva, Nigeria’s
M i n i s t e r o f S t a t e f o r
Petroleum Resources, has
said that the country is expecting a rise
in investor interest in the energy market
once the government’s Petroleum
Investment Bill (PIB) is approved, as
expected, later this year.
The minister made the announcement
at the 178th Extraordinary Meeting of
the OPEC Conference held in Vienna,
Austria recently.
The minister said: “The PIB has been in
the making for about 20 years now,”
said Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources. “It’s been a long
time coming and we think that when it
comes out later this year, it will come
out with a lot of sweetness. We are very
mindful of the fact that it’s a very
competitive environment right now
and we are taking that on board in the new
law.”
“We are expecting that everybody will be
interested because Nigeria is not just a
brownfield, it has a lot of greenfield
opportunities,” he said. “We believe the
investment world will be quite pleased when
we do come out with the bid round.”
The PIB will provide a more stable
investment framework in the sector. “Things
have remained quite stagnant and that’s
why we believe that with this bill it will bring
a lot of certainty to the investment
framework and people will get interested
and come,” he said.
The Minister said the country needed to
ensure energy security for its growing
population and economy.
He also said Nigeria was focusing on the
He also pointed that the development of the
West African Gas Pipeline as a major step to
improve energy access across the region.
Other projects are also in the works, including
a pipeline to carry oil from Nigeria to Algeria.
“The Nigeria-Algeria pipeline has been in the
plan for a long time. We believe that it is only
by trying to collectively come together that we
can reduce energy poverty.”
More so, Nigeria has joined other OPEC+
counterparts in a historic curtailment of crude
oil production to rebalance and stabilize the
global oil markets.
According to the minister, Nigeria will
continue its commitment to the framework of
the Declaration of Cooperation entered on
10th December 2016 and further endorsed in
subsequent OPEC meetings as well as the
Charter of Cooperation signed in July 2019.
“Nigeria will now be producing 1.412 Million
Barrels per day, 1.495 Million Barrels per day
and 1.579 Million Barrels per day respectively
for the corresponding periods in the
agreement"
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COUNTRY REPORT
Cameroon Launches Exploration
Opportunities in two Producing Basins
Within its mandate to promote and
valorise hydrocarbon resources in
the mining property of the Republic
of Cameroon, the National Hydrocarbons
Corporation (SNH) has launched the
promotion of nine blocks in the
hydrocarbons rich Rio del Rey Basin (RDR)
and in the highly prospective Douala/Kribi-
Campo (DKC) Basin. These blocks are
Ndian River, Bolongo Exploration and
Bakassi (in RDR), Etinde Exploration, Ntem,
Elombo, Tilapia, Bomono and Kombe-
N'sepe (in DKC).
Douala/Kribi-Campo Basin
The Douala/Kribi-Campo Basin, covering a
total area of 19000 km², is the
northernmost basin of the South Atlantic
rift. It lies between the prolific petroleum
producing Niger Delta to the North and the
Rio Muni Basin to the South.
Source rocks have been identified from
several stratigraphic levels including the:
• Aptian/Albian
• Upper Cretaceous
• Oligocene/Miocene
(Souellaba)
• Potential Paleocene/Eocene (N’kapa)
All the oil properties indicate that oils
originate from terrigenous dominated
source rocks deposited in a marine
environment. Abundant oil seeps exist at
the basin margins. Hydrocarbon bearing
reservoirs have been encountered at nearly
every stratigraphic level from the Miocene
(Souellaba) down to the Albian/Aptian
(Upper and Lower Mundeck) and across a
variety of depositional systems from
continental to deepwater fans.
Rio del Rey Basin
The Rio Del Rey (RDR) Basin is a divergent
margin basin formed as a result of the Aptian
to Albian opening of the South Atlantic
Ocean.
The basin sedimentary fill corresponds to
the easternmost edge of the prolific Tertiary
Niger Delta complex. It is separated
geographically from the Douala/Kribi-
Campo Basin by the Tertiary Cameroon
Volcanic Line.
The basin has four structural provinces,
defined on the basis of deformation types:
• The Growth Fault Province in the North:
differential loading of deltaic and
continental sediments on underlying
prodelta marine shale generated E - W
trending synsedimentary faults.
• The Shale Ridge Province in the
Southwest: the overburden of deltaic and
continental sediments triggered squeeze
flow of underlying mobile shales of the
Akata Formation forming diapirs (shale
domes, mud volcanoes, shale ridges).
• The Delta Toe-Thrust Belt in the South
central area: zone of compressional/
transpressional thrust structures.
• The Eastern Province in the Southeast:
slightly deformed foreland area juxtaposing
the Cameroon Volcanic Line.
The general stratigraphy (see stratigraphic
summary chart) is equivalent to that of the
Niger Delta and is made up of three main
diachronous formations in the basin, as
described in the table below. Only one well
penetrates the Cretaceous section,
made up of sand and shales with source rock
potential.
SNH is a public industrial and commercial
company with financial autonomy, created
in 1980. It has the mission to promote and
valorize the national mining domain and
manage State interests in the hydrocarbons
sector.
To accomplish these missions, SNH is
notably empowered to:
• conduct studies related to hydrocarbons;
• collect and store related information;
• conduct negotiations of oil and gas
contracts, and much more...
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OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION

COUNTRY REPORT
Ghana Looks to Enter a New Era in Upstream Sector as
Government Urges Springfield, Eni to Sign Unitization Agreement
F
ollowing study of technical
evidence from Springfield E&P
(SEP)’s West Cape Three Points 2
(WCTP2) License and Eni’s Offshore
Cape Three Points (OCTP) License
offshore Ghana, the Government of
Ghana has declared earlier this year that
the Afina-1x Cenomanian reservoir and
the Sankofa Cenomanian reservoir are
“one and the same”. This conclusion calls
for a Unitization Agreement between
both operators in order to develop the
reservoir that straddles both of their
blocks.
This Unitization Agreement of the Afina
and Sankofa Fields was requested by
Minister of Energy, Hon. John-Peter
Amewu, in a letter sent to SEP and Eni in
early April 2020. The government’s
direction then requested unitization talks
to be completed within 120 days (four
months). Shall both parties fail to comply
with the government’s directive to agree
on a Unitization Agreement, the Minister
of Energy is empowered to stipulate the terms
and conditions of such an agreement per
Regulation 50(6) of L.I. 2359. Both operators
have until August 2020 to complete their
negotiations.
According to Africa Energy Chamber, The
Unitization Agreement will be the first
between an International Oil Company and a
Ghanaian operator in the country, ushering a
new era for Ghana’s upstream sector. The
conclusion of such an agreement would
ensure efficient reservoir exploitation, avoid
unnecessary competitive drilling and
maximize economic recovery of the
hydrocarbons reserves from both licenses.
SEP is a majority interest holder (84%) and
operator of the WCTP2 License, with the
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation and its
exploration company, EXPLORCO, holding
the remaining interest. SEP drilled the Afina-1
well in October 2019, making two gas and light
sweet oil discoveries at a water depth of 1,030
Evy Maffini
Glacier makes
appointment in
Norway to grow
local business
meters, and consequently more than doubling its
proven oil reserves to 1.5 billion barrels and
adding 0.7Tcf of gas.
On the other side, Sankofa is a part of the Enioperated
OCTP Block, where Eni holds a 44.44%
interest, Vitol 35.56 %, and GNPC 20%. The
OCTP Block is reported to have reserves of about
40 billion cubic metres of unassociated gas and
500 million barrels of oil, and has been producing
since 2017 from the John Agyekum Kufuor FPSO.
Equatorial Guinea Award Contracts for Development of Africa’s
First Offshore Gas Mega Hub
Equatorial Guinea continues to lead
the development of natural gas
production and monetization in the
Gulf of Guinea, with the award of a new
contract for a new Gas Master Plan to
support the ongoing development of its
offshore Gas Mega Hub.
In collaboration with Marathon Oil Corp
and EG LNG, the Ministry of Mines and
Hydrocarbons (MMH) awarded a contract
for the development of a Gas Master Plan
to British company Gas Strategies on
Tuesday. The work is part of the
development of Equatorial Guinea’s Gas
Mega Hub, for which Definitive
Agreements towards the monetization of
the Alen unit were signed in April 2019.
The offshore gas mega hub will be the first
such venture offshore Africa and aims at
pooling stranded gas across the Gulf of
G u i n e a b y m a x i m i z i n g e x i s t i n g
infrastructure at Punta Europa.
from the Alba Field, declining output
requires to gather gas from additional fields
and reserves in the region.
H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister
of Mines and Hydrocarbons, said:
“Equatorial Guinea has given natural gas a
priority in terms of development and
monetization, and we believe gas is the key
to industrialization and jobs creation. With
key initiatives such as LNG2Africa, the
ongoing offshore Gas Mega Hub and the
Year of Investment 2020, we are going to
complete key gas projects in upstream,
midstream and downstream that will further
d i v e r s i f y o u r e c o n o m y , p r o v i d e
opportunities for our local companies, and
create jobs for our citizens”
Under the development, Punta Europa is set
to become a gas processing center for all
stranded gas fields in the Gulf of Guinea, and
could open up economical avenues to
monetize offshore gas in Cameroon and
Nigeria as well.
The new Gas Master Plan represents an
important step towards the realization of
this vision, and will help in accelerating and
coordinating offshore gas developments,
which could eventually lead to the
construction of additional liquefaction
capacity on Punta Europa.
While key facilities there, such as EG LNG
and Marathon’s methanol plant, have
traditionally been relying on gas feedstock
H.E. Gabriel Mbaga
Obiang Lima
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COUNTRY REPORTS
Madagascar gets €4 million from African Dvt Fund
for Sahofika hydropower project
The African Development Fund has
approved a 4.02 million euro loan
with a grant component to finance
the Government of Madagascar’s 30 million
euro equity investment in the Sahofika
hydropower project, which will generate
affordable, clean energy benefitting some 8
million people.
The Sahofika project is located on the
Onive River, 100 km southeast of the
capital Antananarivo. It entails the
construction of a 205 MW hydroelectric
power plant on a Build-Own-Operate-
Transfer basis and includes the
construction and rehabilitation of 110 km
of access roads and construction of a 75
km, 220 kV transmission line. Once
commissioned, the Sahofika project is
expected to contribute to the avoidance of
900,000 tons of CO2 equivalent annually.
The Government of Madagascar is
committed to plough back the returns from
the project to reduce electricity tariffs for
the people of Madagascar. Additional
funding for the project is expected to come
from the European Union and the Arab
Bank for Economic Development in Africa.
Dr. Kevin Kariuki, the Bank’s Vice-
President for Power, Energy, Climate
Change & Green Growth, commented: “The
support to the Sahofika project exemplifies
the Bank’s commitment to delivering
quality, affordable energy access across the
continent for sustainable and inclusive
growth, while helping member countries to
responsibly harness their vast, yet
underdeveloped renewable energy
resources.
As the largest hydro power project under
development in the country, the Sahofika
project will unlock Madagascar’s
hydropower potential, and diversify its
energy mix in favour of renewable at 90%”
“The Sahofika project is a cornerstone of the
Bank’s strong support to the power sector in
Madagascar. The commissioning of
Sahofika would enable national utility
(JIRAMA) to save around 100 million euros
annually in fuel costs, while phasing out the
need for state subsidies,” said Mohamed
Cherif, the Bank’s Country Manager for
Madagascar.
The Sahofika project is aligned with the
Bank’s New Deal on Energy for Africa, and
the Bank’s Climate Change Action Plan,
whose collective goals include expanding
green energy infrastructure for sustainable
and inclusive growth. It is also in line with
the Government of Madagascar’s energy
policy. The African Development Fund
(ADF) is the concessional financing window
of the Bank Group that provides lowincome
Regional Member Countries (RMCs)
with concessional loans and grants in
support of projects that spur poverty
reduction.
Uganda welcomes $20 billion FID as Total and Tullow
finalizes Farm out Deal
T
he Government of Uganda has
applauded the agreement reached
between Total and Tullow, which
will see Total acquire Tullow’s entire
interests in the Uganda Lake Albert
Development Project.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral
Development Hon. Kitutu Mary Goretti
Kimono welcomed the news. “This is a
significant milestone in Uganda’s Oil and
Gas Sector and is a critical development
that takes the sector towards the Final
Investment Decision (FID) that the country
is waiting for. FID is expected to bring an
investment of over USD20 Billion” she
observed.
Mr. Robert Kasande the Permanent
Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Development acknowledged that
the government and the oil companies have
principles agreed on the tax treatment of the
transaction.
The government is also aware of the preemption
rights of CNOOC Uganda Ltd.
He further noted that the government has
received the Sale and Purchase Agreement
(SPA) from the oil companies which is being
reviewed to facilitate grant of the neæssary
approvals and conclusion of the transaction.
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COUNTRY REPORT
Namibia Diversifying its Energy Sector for Sustainable
Economic Growth
Namibia is largely a consuming
country, it is working to grow its
upstream industry, improve energy
security through diversifying its energy mix.
In achieving this, the country is looking
forward to collaborating with the private
sector to review its policies in order to
attract further investment.
With the recently introduced reforms in
Namibia’s renewable energy sector and the
growing presence and entry of international
oil companies entering the hydrocarbons
sector, the Ministry of Mines and Energy is
optimistic about the country’s energy
future.
During a webinar hosted by the African
Energy Chamber in partnership with Africa
Oil & Power, Namibia’s Minister of Mines
and Energy, Hon. Tom Alweendo said:
“There are very positive and encouraging
signs when we talk about the hydrocarbons
sector. We have had a couple of investors
that are keen on entering the market and
potentially finding something. On the
renewable energy sector, we have been able
to introduce some reforms that have made it
possible for independent power producers
to come into the sector and produce clean
energy, especially through solar and wind."
Hon. Tom Alweendo, Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy
Liberia Auctions Oil Blocks Online
Due to Coronavirus Outbreak
On other key projects, Minister Alweendo
said the 37,500 bpd barge-mounted refinery
in Walvis bay was due to finalize in March
this year but, was deterred by the pandemic.
Despite this, the ministry is exploring other
avenues in order to reach completion on the
$370 million project by the end of 2020.
The Angola-Namibia cross border Baynes
hydroelectric dam is currently undergoing
feasibility studies and is planned to
commence with construction in June this
year. The 600MW output will be split in
300MW for Angola and 300MW for
Namibia.
The Liberian Government is
s e e k i n g i n t e r e s t f r o m
companies on participating in
the offshore licence round, which was
open since April 10, 2020. But, due to
the COVID-19 pandemic, the
Government has decided to move the
bidding rounds online in order to
restrict coronavirus transmission.
Early this year, President Dr. George
M. Weah announced the opening of
the entire Harper Basin. The President
said that the Liberia Petroleum
Regulatory Authority (LPRA), will
open up the entire Harper Basin at the
next Licensing Round and Nine (9)
offshore blocks will be put up, allowing
competent and reputable local,
international oil and gas companies to bid
with the hope of recommencing
exploration programs, following years of
inactivity.
The country has 33 blocks in the offshore,
with 24 blocks in the Liberia Basin and
nine in the Harper Basin. The licence
round will be focused on the nine blocks
of the Harper Basin, Weah said in his state
of the nation address in January. Nine
blocks will be on offer in the Harper Basin,
one of the last unexplored and undrilled
regions offshore West Africa: LB-25, LB-
26, LB-27, LB-28, LB-29, LB-30, LB-31,
LB-32, LB-33.
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OIL AND GAS REPUBLIC I SPECIAL EDITION