Stories by Adewale Sanyaolu
When in April 2016 the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced plans to make forex available to fuel importers through a support scheme from some International Oil Companies (IOCs), many heaved a sigh of relief, believing that the initiative would help address the twin challenge of scarce forex and the high cost of sourcing it.
But four months after the initiative, the situation is not any better as some stakeholders who spoke to Daily Sun disclosed that the impact of the intervention by the IOCs through the NNPC has not really impacted their operations as a lot of monies denominated in naira were still in their bank accounts waiting to be converted to dollars, without much success recorded in this regard.
Executive Secretary of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Obafemi Olawore, hinted that from April till date, only $400 million had been made available to MOMAN and others in forex through the intervention of the IOCs.
This was as the Executive Secretary of Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA), Mr. Olufemi Adewole, equally told Daily Sun, that some foreign suppliers of petrol had suspended sale of refined fuel to Nigeria over its inability to settle about $985 million debt.
The Chief Operations Officer in charge of Downstream at the NNPC, Mr. Henry Ikem-Obih, had, during a tour of petrol stations in Abuja in April, disclosed that a number of IOCs in the upstream oil and gas sector have agreed to provide foreign exchange for oil marketing companies for the importation of premium motor spirit also known as petrol.
Obih had identified paucity of foreign exchange (forex) as one of the major reasons for the scarcity witnessed across the country, stating that with the decision of upstream oil and gas companies to provide foreign exchange to oil marketers, there would be a significant improvement in the second quarter and beyond.
“As you know, forex was one of the prime reasons we did not do well in the first quarter. Most marketers, who had allocation could not import because they do not have forex. The Minister has worked very closely through his initiative with the upstream oil companies. So, we have a number of them on board to support local entities, that is, downstream companies. They will help provide foreign exchange for them to import and meet their Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) allocations, though the CBN, NNPC would support importation of fuel in the second quarter.
“These oil companies also would work with us, including the CBN. These combined efforts, we hope, would enable us meet a 100 per cent of import requirement for the second quarter and beyond,” Obih had said.
Constraints in realising the objective
Currently, Forcados, Qua Iboe and Brass River crude oil grades are under force majeure, while Escravos and Bonny Light are facing significant loading delays.
“Earnings could be further impacted if the security conditions continue to deteriorate,” Shell said in its second quarter 2016 report.
Last month, Shell shut the Trans Niger pipeline, which is one of the pipelines that carry crude to the Bonny Light Export Terminal, following a leak in Ogoniland.
Global oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell, had said its liquids production available for sale in Nigeria plunged by 41 per cent in the second quarter of this year. Shell equally announced a 72 per cent drop in second quarter earnings amid the continued weakness in global oil and gas prices.
The oil major’s liquids production available for sale in Nigeria was put at 37,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of this year, down from 63,000 bpd in the same period of 2015.
Already, total production by Shell Production Development Company of Nigeria Limited, its local subsidiary, stood at 128,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 163,000 bpd in the same quarter of last year.
The force majeure on Forcados is causing the country a loss of over $1.6 billion (N356.6 billion) in revenue while Nigeria is losing about N2.79 billion daily following the closure of ExxonMobil operated Qua Iboe terminal.
Experts react
Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, said as long as onslaught to oil and gas assets by agitators continue unabated, revenue projections of the IOCs will continue to dip, thereby making it difficult for them to fulfil their promises to fuel marketers in order to ease the forex challenges.
‘‘It is only when you are in good business that you can think of supporting others in need. But when your own business is at risk, that would be the least thing on your mind. You have to first device a strategy to get out of the logjam before thinking on how to provide a leap for others.
According to him, the insecurity situation in the Niger Delta region is seriously impacting on their operations because a lot of them are producing far below their projections.
On his part, the Director, Centre for Petroleum Economics, University of Ibadan, Prof. Adeola Adenikinju, said the forex demand for petroleum products import is huge while the distortion in the country’s foreign exchange market is not helping matters.
‘‘Why would the IOCs who equally need the forex for their own operations offer it to marketers at a lower rate when they can equally get higher value for it. The economic sense is just not there,’’ he queried.
“Once there is a huge margin between the interbank rate and the parallel market, what you have simply done is the creation of a distorted market because an incentive has already been created for speculators to take advantage of.
“Also, it should be noted that the IOCs cannot dispense off all the forex at their disposal because they would also need same for the day to day running of their businesses and as such, won’t want to run into crisis by resorting to the parallel market,’’ he said.
Head of Energy, Ecobank Transnational Corporation, Mr. Dolapo Oni, said only 18 per cent of the forex demand of fuel marketers was made available to them by the CBN, hence the challenge of liquidity squeeze.
Shell trains youths on power plant operations
The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) operated Joint Venture (JV) has trained 15 engineering graduates from host communities of the Afam VI Power Plant at Oyigbo in Rivers State on the operation and maintenance of combined cycle power plants.
A statement from SPDC disclosed that the youths were the second set of 30 graduates from the host communities to benefit from the initiative, which incorporates training sessions in Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
“We can confidently say that the trainees are the best set of engineers in the Nigeria electricity industry today,” said Afam Power Project Manager, Mr. Ben Agbajogu, during a ceremony in Port Harcourt to mark the end of the one-year training.
According to him, the trainees have been adequately equipped theoretically and practically on operating and maintaining modern power plants, and can compete favourably with their counterparts anywhere in the world.”
The training included exposure of the graduates for 11 months at the Afam VI Power Plant, to operating and maintaining a combined cycle power plant and one-month specialised certificate training at the Osborne Training Services Newcastle, United Kingdom.
The member representing Oyigbo constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Chisom Dike, said the initiative had become a personal dream come true, as he recalled how SPDC accepted his proposal as a youth leader about 12 years ago to train over 100 youths in various skills.
Ikeja Electric launches live chat to address customer complaints
To improve customer experience and promote excellent service delivery, Ikeja Electric Plc. has launched an online “Live-Chat” service, which enables customers engage with trained customer service representatives on real-time basis.
Head of Corporate Communications, Mr. Felix Ofulue, explained that the online chat service, which is compatible with all Android, IOS and Blackberry devices, is user friendly, interactive and robust with customers receiving instant responses to enquiries, complaints and questions they post on the go.
Ofulue noted that the deployment of diverse customer-facing technology solutions is a deliberate attempt to bring the brand closer to IE customers.
“As a customer-oriented company, we are constantly developing initiatives and services that deliberately bring us closer to the customers, right where they are. This is just one of the ways we can also delight them and earn their confidence as well. So, if they have something to tell us, it is also right that they do so at their convenience.”
According to him, the live chat can be accessed through the Ikeja Electric website using the Live Chat icon, conspicuously displayed on the site homepage, with a bold banner, “Let’s Chat” that calls the attention of interested users.
In a related development, Ikeja Electric has unveiled plans to roll out “Do-It-Yourself” PoS terminals in all of its six business units to allow paying customers process their payments on secure terminals by themselves. The pilot terminal deployed at the company’s corporate headquarters is already well received with several customers seen processing their bill payments on their own.
Ofulue urged customers to take advantage of these solutions, which has been put in place by IE to promote excellent service delivery.
Economic crunch: Offshore W’Africa holds June 2017
Citing current economic hardship facing the oil and gas industry, organisers of the annual Offshore West Africa Conference and Exhibition has announced June 2017, as the new date for the event. It will hold June 6-8, 2017. The exhibitions, which will be the 21st edition, was moved from the earlier planned January date.
Managing Director of PennWell International, initiators of the exhibitions, Mr. Glen Ensor, said, “due to a number of factors, most pressingly the current economic climate facing the oil and gas industry, PennWell Corporation has decided to re-schedule the 21st edition of Offshore West Africa Conference and Exhibition from January 2016 to June 2017. It is our belief that this change of date will enable our numerous loyal exhibitors, speakers, sponsors and attendees to benefit further from the event as the economic factors become more manageable,’’ he said.
Ensor said Offshore West Africa has over the past years become the premier event for the oil and gas industry within the West African region, aiming to further establish and improve upon previous editions for the benefit of all who attend.
Earlier in January 2016, the Offshore West Africa took place in Lagos with prominent local and international organisations, a dual-track conference and a successful Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP) in collaboration with Lonadek and the Energy Institute Nigeria.
The three-day event also played host to a record-breaking attendance for the second year in succession with over 2,700 visitors and delegates from more than 40 countries around the world.
As part of efforts to make the 2017 edition more glamorous, Ensor revealed that the conference has been granted Trade Fair Certification, enabling PennWell to organise an official United States Pavilion at the industry event.
“Through certification, the US Commercial Service of the Department of Commerce recognises PennWell’s professional capability to organise a United States Pavilion and certifies the event as an excellent opportunity to showcase US products and services.
“We are extremely pleased that Offshore West Africa 2017 has been granted Trade Fair Certification from the US Department of Commerce, and as such been enabled to organise a US Pavilion for a variety of US exhibitors to showcase their industry innovations, technologies, products and services to the West African oil and gas marketplace,” Ensor assured.
The PennWell boss noted that the new addition to the Offshore West Africa event is one of many new initiatives from PennWell for the 2017 event, including further Corporate Social Responsibility plans, additional exhibition pavilions and other innovative ventures, which will enhance the experience of attending the event as an exhibitor, speaker, delegate or visitor.