Dangote suspends sales of petroleum products in Naira - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has temporarily halted the sale of petroleum products in Naira, reports ITREALMS.

This decision, ITREALMS gathered, has become necessary to avoid a mismatch between "our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in U.S. dollars."

Dangote Petroleum Refinery awards 473 scholarships, donates 804 furniture to Lekki suburb - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

It was excitement galore at the Idotun Community Junior High School, a suburb of Lekki, on Thursday when Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, in partnership with Dangote Fertilisers Limited, awarded scholarships to 473 students from 10 secondary schools and 7 tertiary institutions, reports ITREALMS. 

The company, additionally, donated eight hundred and four (804) tables and chairs to secondary schools in their host communities of Ibeju-Lekki.

Shell, Okunbor receive indigenous PETAN award for excellence - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The Managing Director, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCiN), Osagie Okunbor, has received an “Award of Excellence to an Astute and Visionary Technocrat” from the newly instituted executive leadership of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN).

Okunbor received the award in a short ceremony in Lagos, recently, where the PETAN executive, led by its chairman, Engineer Wole Ogunsanya, said “The award is to acknowledge Country Chair’s leadership of Shell and the long running relationship between PETAN, PETAN member companies and Shell.”

Customs lead renewed efforts @securing Nigeria's borders, combat petroleum smuggling - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

A country blessed with abundant natural resources, Nigeria has long grappled with the challenges of securing her borders and preventing the smuggling of petroleum products. 

The nation's strategic location, extensive borders spanning over 4,000 kilometers, and the presence of porous entry points have made it vulnerable to the activities of economic saboteurs and criminal gangs with their devastating networks.

Woke @NOSDRA, affirms commitment to environmental regulation in Petroleum Sector - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) is steadfast in its commitment to enforcing all environmental laws, regulations, and guidelines in Nigeria's vital petroleum sector.

This commitment was articulated by Engr. Chukwuemeka Woke, Director-General/Chief Executive of NOSDRA, during a courtesy visit from the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) at the Agency’s Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

INEC to NNPC on Election Day: Ensure availability of petroleum products to ease movement - ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news! 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has appealed to the leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) to ensure supply of petroleum products to facilitate the movement of of men and materials during the election days for the 2023 general elections, reports ITREALMS.

Making this appeal on Tuesday at joint management meeting with the leadership of Nigerian National Petroleum Company, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said that it has become necessary to mobilise every national institution to give Nigerians a pleasant experience on the 2023 election days.

NAPIMS: Shell’s Bonga best in class – ITREALMS

ITREALMS ... making leadership SENSE with digital news!

The National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) has described the deep-water operations of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) as best in class.

The Group General Manager of NAPIMS, the investment arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), Mr. Bala Wunti, gave this commendation when he led his leadership team on an inspection of the SNEPCo-operated Bonga Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel last Thursday.

Petroleum Resources Ministry inducted into ‘FOI Hall of Shame’ - ITREALMS Online

ITREALMS:

Media Rights Agenda (MRA) today announced the induction of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources into its Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame, saying the institution has consistently failed to comply with its duties and obligations under the FOI Act, 2011, reports ITREALMS.

A statement in Lagos, MRA’s Legal Officer, Ms Chioma Nwaodike, said: “The Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources has violated virtually all its obligations under the FOI Act since the Law was enacted seven years ago. We are at a loss as to how the Ministry hopes to perform its function of ensuring “compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in the Oil and Gas sector” when it is itself not complying with a major law of the land. It cannot possibly have the moral authority to insist on compliance by other entities with laws when it is not complying with other laws that apply to it.”

According to her, the Ministry clearly recognizes that its principal mandate is “to transform the oil and gas industry for the increased benefit of Nigeria and its people through effective implementation of policies on hydrocarbon exploration, exploitation, production, distribution and utilization in accordance with international standards.”

She said: “It is ironic that although the Ministry appreciates that its main function is to ensure that Nigeria’s major revenue earner is managed for the benefit of the country and its people, it does not appear to recognize the need for it to be transparent and accountable to the people of Nigeria and is clearly unwilling to make the effort. How it hopes to fulfill its mandate without being transparent or accountable to the citizens of Nigeria whose interests it is established to protect remains a mystery to us.”

Justifying the induction of the Ministry into the FOI Hall of Shame, Ms Nwaodike noted that it has failed to comply with section 2 of the FOI Act, which requires it to proactively publish certain types of information even without anyone making any request for such information and to update such information regularly.

She stressed that the Ministry has been bedeviled by secrecy, which has left the country and its people in the dark about the activities of the Ministry, adding: “This cult-like secrecy has prevented the Ministry from proactively disclosing information that can contribute to informed public debates about the management of the country’s natural resources and better policies on the issue which will in turn promote good governance.”

Ms Nwaodike accused the Ministry of non-compliance with Section 29 of the Act, which makes it mandatory for the Ministry, like all other public institutions, to submit annual reports to the Attorney-General of the Federation on its implementation of the Act and make such reports publicly available.

According to her, the Ministry had not submitted any report to the Attorney-General of the Federation since the Act was passed into Law in 2011 and has not published any such report to the public, when it should have submitted and publicly published seven such reports as at February 1, 2018.

She described such “serial disobedience of a valid Law” unacceptable and an egregious act of impunity, which should disentitle any public officer heading such a public institution in Nigeria from continuing to hold public office.

Ms Nwaodike said the Ministry has also not designated an appropriate officer to whom requests for information from members of the public should be sent nor has it proactively published the title and address of such an officer either on its website or anywhere else, as required by Section 2(3)(f) of the Act and the FOI Implementation Guidelines issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation.

She noted that in addition to the failure of the Ministry to designate an FOI Desk Officer to receive and process requests for information as provided under Section 2(3) (f) of the Act, the Ministry has also failed to provide the required training for its officials on the public’s right of access to information which will enable relevant officials to effectively implement the law at any time as provided by Section 13 of the FOI Act.

Ms Nwaodike contended that an administration, such as that of President Muhammadu Buhari, which has as one of its cardinal programmes the fight against corruption, ought not to stand by and allow the level of impunity in institutions such as the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to go unchallenged or unsanctioned.

She called on President Buhari, who is also incidentally the Minister of Petroleum Resources, to take urgent measures to address the rot in the oil and gas sector and to return the nation to the path of probity, integrity and good governance by tackling the persistent corruption, crude oil theft and shady deals within the sector as well as the lack of transparency and accountability which has enabled these vices to persist and flourish.

Ms Nwaodike stressed that the effective enforcement of the FOI Act in the public institutions which oversee or interface with the oil and gas industry would be a good starting point in instituting a culture of openness in the sector.

Launched in July 2017, the “FOI Hall of Shame” highlights public officials and institutions that are undermining the effectiveness of the FOI Act through their actions, inactions, utterances, and decisions.

Ayo Midele/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

National Assembly: Pass other Petroleum Industry Bills - Stakeholders

ITREALMS:

Members of the National Assembly (NASS) have been tasked by stakeholders in the oil industry to pass other components of the Petroleum Industry Bill, just as it has done with the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), reports ITRealms.

The call was made at a roundtable dialogue organized by Centre for Financial Journalism (CFJ) and Facility for Oil Sector Transformation (FOSTER) in Lagos, Wednesday which attracted stakeholders from the oil and gas industry, the media and non-governmental organizations.

Other components of the Petroleum Industry Bill, ITRealms gathered, are Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill; Petroleum Host Community Bill; and Petroleum Industry Administration Bill.

The Petroleum Fiscal Bill will ensure progressive framework that encourage sustained investments, growth and revenue to government; serve the socioeconomic needs of all stakeholders; and clarify legislative aspects of the fiscal regime from the negotiable aspects of contractual obligations.

On the other hand, Petroleum Host Community Bill will ensure shared prosperity and sustainable development of petroleum host communities; provide direct economic benefits to host communities; and assure inclusiveness, enhance peaceful co-existence and harmonious relationship, while Petroleum Industry Administration Bill will enhance efficient, effective and sustainable development of the sector; encourage and facilitate local and foreign investment; promote transparency and accountability; promote liberalization of the downstream sector; and ensure best practices in petroleum operations.

The stakeholders noted with dissatisfaction the long delay that has characterized the passage of these crucial bills, noting further that their non-passage so far has deprived the country enormous potential for the growth of the sector.

Since the Petroleum Industry Bill was initiated and introduced in 2000, it has been gridlocked in the politics between the contending forces within the Nigerian oil and gas industry such that so far, three successive governments have not been able to pass any component of the PIB into law.

Stakeholders also noted that the passage of these bills is urgently needed in view of current dynamics in the global oil market.

The Federal Government, including the National Assembly, should expedite action on concluding the necessary reviews of these bills so that they can be passed into law as soon as possible, the stakeholders insisted.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

For cult-like operations, Petroleum Equalization Fund enters FOI Hall of Shame

ITREALMS:

The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has inducted the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (Management) Board into its Freedom of Information (FOI) Hall of Shame, accusing the Board of refusal to be transparent and preference for cult-like secrecy in its operations, reports ITRealms.

The induction, MRA said, only serves to heighten questions about its continued relevance in light of its failure to achieve the objectives for which it was established.

The Board was established in 1975 by Decree No. 9 of 1975, which was later amended in 1989 by Decree No. 32 of 1989, to offset the inequality in the transportation cost of distributing petroleum products in different parts of Nigeria in order for the Government to be able maintain a uniform pricing system for such products all over the country.

The primary responsibility of the Board is to reimburse petroleum marketing companies for any losses suffered by them, solely and exclusively, as a result of their selling petroleum products at uniform prices throughout the country.

The mandate of the Board is therefore to ensure that the Uniform Pricing Mechanism that the Federal Government introduced during the period worked effectively throughout Nigeria and that each marketing company complied with the laws regarding the management of the transportation equalisation process.

In a statement in Lagos, MRA’s Legal Officer, Ms Chioma Nwaodike, noted that “More than 40 years after the Board was established, it is clear that it has failed to deliver on the objectives that motivated its establishment, given that the pricing of petroleum products has never been uniform across the country all through these years. Perhaps, some transparency about the activities of the Board may have enabled us to understand what exactly it does and whether there is any reason for its continued existence in light of its apparent spectacular failure.”

According to Ms Nwaodike, “having been charged with the responsibility for reimbursing petroleum marketing companies for losses suffered by them as a result of their sale of petroleum products at uniform prices throughout the country, for which it is expending public funds in this regard, the Board owes Nigerians a duty to keep them informed about every aspect of its operations including what it gets annually from the national budget, how much it is expending for various purposes, who the beneficiaries of its reimbursement scheme are, how the reimbursements are calculated, among other things. Unfortunately, it is not doing this.”

She accused the Board of flouting and rendering meaningless its mission statements to its various stakeholders, including its statement to marketers “to be a prime and transparent organization, for the timely reimbursement of marketers’ transportation claims” as well as its statement to Nigerians to be “a responsible, accountable and efficient parastatal facilitating the distribution of petroleum products nationwide at approved prices”.

Ms Nwaodike said by brazenly neglecting to comply with its statutory obligations under the FOI Act, the Board makes nonsense of its mission statement where it says it aims to be a “transparent organization” and an “accountable and efficient parastatal” as well as listing ‘integrity’ as one of its core values.

She observed that by consistently failing over the past seven years to comply with its proactive publication obligations in Section 2 (3), (4) and (5) of the FOI Act to publish and disseminate 16 classes of information as well as review and update them whenever changes occur, the Board is demonstrating its clear disdain for the laws of the land, the ideals of democracy, and the core values it claims guide its operations.

According to her, “although the Board has published information that can best be described as innocuous, it however failed to publish some vital information that the Act requires it to proactively publish and disseminate including, but not limited to, documents containing information relating to the receipt or expenditure of public or other funds of the institution; documents containing the names, salaries, titles and dates of employment of all employees and officers of the institution; and a list of files containing applications for any contract, permit, grants, licenses or agreements, etc.”

Ms Nwaodike noted that the Board has also refused to submit to the Attorney-General of the Federation any report on its implementation of the Act for seven consecutive years, in clear defiance of Section 29 (1) and (2) of the FOI Act and the Guidelines on the Implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 issued by the Attorney General of the Federation, the oversight agency for the FOI Act, as the Board has neither submitted any report nor made any such report available to the public in any form whatsoever.

She also accused the Board of not providing appropriate training for its officials on the public’s right of access to information and for the effective implementation of the Act at any time in all the seven years that the law has been in operation, as it is required to do under Section 13 of the FOI Act.

Noting that there is no single reference to the FOI Act on the Board’s website, Ms Nwaodike observed that the Board has acted over the last seven years as if the Law does not exist and continued to conduct its functions and operations in cult-like secrecy.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!

Technology awards excites Shell @Petroleum Summit

ITREALMS:

The Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, has expressed excitement over the recent technology and innovation awards to the firm at the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit, reports ITRealms.

Okunbor who spoke at the award ceremony, described it as a recognition of the pioneering role of Shell Companies in Nigeria in local capacity development and Nigeria content.

“We are pleased that this feat has continued to receive recognition within and outside Nigeria. Beyond cost consideration, we were also looking to indigenise the know-how so that Nigerian engineers can acquire the necessary skills,” he said.

ITRealms reports that the Subsea Tree Refurbishment feat by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) in-country was what earned Shell Companies in Nigeria the Best Performing International Company in Technology and Innovation.

Also, ITRealms reports that the state-organised event was attended by Nigerian and international industry leaders.

SNEPCo, ITRealms  recalls, pioneered the in-country feat and achieved significant savings in the cost of the subsea equipment led by Nigerian engineers. A Subsea Tree is an arrangement of valves and other components installed at the wellhead to control and monitor production flow and manage fluids injection. SNEPCo embarked on a Tree Refurbishment initiative in 2013 to ensure timely delivery of the equipment at lower cost for the Bonga Phase 2 project, an in-field wells delivery and hook–up programme within the Bonga Field which has been in execution since 2007.

Further, ITRealms reports that on hand to receive the award presented by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, were the Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria and Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, and the Managing Director of SNEPCo, Mr. Bayo Ojulari.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

ITREALMS ... everything news digitally!