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BY MICHAEL EBOH & SEBASTINE OBASI The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Tuesday, said Marginal Fields only account for 2.1 per cent of the country’s total crude production, with a daily production of about 60,000 barrels of oil per day. Speaking at the Society for Petroleum Engineers, SPE, 2013 Nigerian Annual International Conference and Exhibition, NAICE, in Lagos, Mr. George Osahon,  Director, Petroleum Resources, said, however, that the Marginal Fields’ grew their reserves to 302.6 million barrels as at 2013 from 141 million barrels in 2004. Osahon who was represented by Mr. Sam Obiora, Head, Upstream, DPR, said of the 24 marginal fields awarded in 2003 and the five fields awarded on a discretionary basis, only nine are producing. He listed the active and productive marginal fields’ owners as Platform Petroleum, owner of Asuokpu/Umutu field; Walter Smith and Morris Petroleum owners of the Ibigwe field and Frontier Oil, owner of the Uquo field. Others are Britania-U, owner...

BY MICHAEL EBOH About 81 per cent or 130 million Nigerians, out of the about 160 million Nigerians, generated their own electricity through alternative sources to compensate for irregular power supply, according to the result of a series of Power Sector Polls conducted by NOI Polls Limited for the second quarter of 2013. According to the results made available to Vanguard, a combined average of 69 per cent of Nigerians or 110 million Nigerians, have experienced increase in their spending on alternative power supply compared to a year ago. The result of the poll further showed that an average of 47 per cent of Nigerian adults said that electricity supply was poor or went from bad to worse in the second quarter of 2013. According to the poll results, the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA), passed in 2005, initiated the unbundling of government’s power plants under the Nigerian Electricity Power Authority (NEPA). “They were formed into business units and regulated by the Nigerian E...

By Clara Nwachukwu and Sebastine Obasi Despite the huge subsidy and petroleum equalisation paid by the Federal Government to enable Nigerians buy petrol at regulated price of N97/litre, the reality is that more than half of Nigerians still buy the product above the prescribed amount. [caption id="attachment_233142" align="alignnone" width="412"] Hawkers of PMS along Kashia road, Kaduna[/caption] A survey released Tuesday in Abuja, by the Finance Minister’s private agency, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, NOI Polls Limited, has shown that at least five in every 10 Nigerians bought premium motor spirit or petrol above the regulated pump price of N97/L. Already, the Ministry of Finance disclosed on Monday that about N240.5billion have been paid for subsidy claims in 2013 alone, thus negating the policy of the subsidy regime since Nigerians still buy the product above the pump price. Findings of Poll The NOI in its report said: “The second quarter results for the Petrol ...

BY MICHAEL EBOH Nigeria’s power situation worsened Tuesday, as Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, shut down its 624 mega watts Afam VI Power Plant. Shell, in a statement signed by Mr. Tony Okonedo, Corporate Media Relations Manager, said the shut down is due to shortage of gas arising from the closure of the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) as a result of crude oil theft related leaks. Prior to the shut down, he disclosed that the power plant was only supplying 105 mega watts of electricity to the national grid, due to insufficient gas supply. According to him, the shutdown of the TNP system, comprising the 28-inch and 24-inch streams resulted in the deferment of 150,000 barrels of oil per day, and also led to tank tops and non-evacuation of condensate from Okoloma Gas Plant which supplies Afam VI Power Plant with feed gas. He expressed concern about the negative impact of incessant crude theft activities on lives and environment in the Niger Delta, and also the loss of electricity t...

LAGOS (AFP) - Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, that has blockaded liquefied natural gas exports for three weeks, costing $475 million in revenue, agreed Friday to end its action after resolving a fees dispute, the company said. Nigeria LNG Limited said it had decided under protest to pay $140 million in the dispute over levies claimed by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, known by its acronym NIMASA. That amount is in addition to an earlier $20 million paid under protest. NLNG's shareholders include Shell at 25.6 percent, state firm NNPC with 49 percent, Total LNG Nigeria at 15 percent and Eni at 10.4 percent. "In addition, NLNG has agreed to pay, again under protest, the levies as they become due until a judicial ruling on whether these payments are justified can be obtained," NLNG said in a statement. The company maintains it is exempt from such levies under a law setting out conditions for Nigeria's LNG industry. Nigerian Mar...

… Senate worries over non-compliance to penalties By Sebastine Obasi Nigeria, the highest producer of gas in Africa, loses about $1.789 billion or N286.24 billion to gas flaring annually. Mr. George Osahon, Director, Department of Petroleum Resource, DPR, has said. Osahon who was represented by his Deputy Director, Gas, Mr. Oliver Okparaojiako, disclosed this Wednesday,  at the Nigerian Gas Association, NGA Business Forum, held in Lagos. According to him, at the rate of $3.5/1,000 standard cubic feet, scf, the country incurs about $4.9 million or N784 million daily losses from flaring and gas under-utilisation. “As it is today, oil production stands at 2.5 million barrels per day. Utilised gas is 6.6 billion bcfd, the rest is flared, which is 1.4 bcfd. If you take this loss at $3.50/1000scf, the average daily loss is $4.8 million, which is close to N789 miilion,” he said. Already, Nigeria is second to Russia in global gas flaring, according to the World Bank-led Global Gas Flaring Redu...

BY MICHAEL EBOH With Agency Report Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Monday, said it will acquire the divested assets of International Oil Companies, IOCs, in Nigeria. The NNPC has also borrowed about N224 billion ($1.4 billion) from the international financial market to settle the N496 billion ($3.1 billion) indebtedness of its subsidiary — the Pipeline and Products Marketing Company, PPMC — to importers of petroleum products into the country over the last three years. Speaking on plans to acquire the divested interests of oil majors, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, Group Managing Director, NNPC, said in a statement that it is prepared to take over and operate the assets sold off in Nigeria by foreign oil companies. He said, “With the divestment of the oil majors, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, comes across as the major option for indigenous participation that will replace companies like Shell and other companies that wanted to divest their equities.” He disclosed t...

BY MICHAEL EBOH Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, SPDC, operated Joint Venture, Tuesday, raised an alarm over the rising cases of sabotage on its facilities, saying that it recorded eight incidences of vandalisation on its pipelines at the Adibawa field in Eastern Niger Delta which led to the spilling of about 500 barrels of oil into the environment. According to a statement by Tony Okonedo, Corporate Media Relations Manager, SPDC, the incident happened between January and June this year, adding that majority of the spills were caused when unknown persons inflicted extensive hacksaw cuts on pipelines. He said the the Adibawa field straddles Biseni, Edagberi and Ikarama communities, stating that a joint team comprising regulators, government ministries, SPDC and communities investigated each of the spills and confirmed their findings in signed-off reports. He disclosed that the latest spills occurred on the Adibawa - Okordia pipeline at Ikarama, May 24 and June 4, ...