NEWS MIRROR

  The Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria, NAEC mourns the death of its prominent member and the publisher of Nigerian NewsDirect, Dr. Samuel Ibiyemi In a statement signed by the Association Chairman, Mr Olu Phillips, described his paasage as a great loss to the Energy sector, media, and Nigeria. According to Mr Phillips, the Nigerian energy industry and the media would miss his in-depth and balanced reporting of the energy sector. “The measures he brought to in-depth and balancing reporting of energy sector and newspaper publishing is quite remarkable,” he added. The NAEC Chairman also commiserated with the entire family of Ibiyemi, and urged them to see his passage as the will of God, adding that they should take solace in God for a quality life spent by the deceased. He said: “On behalf of the entire leadership and members of NAEC, I mourn the passage of a proud NAEC, Dr Sam Ibiyemi. His death was a great loss to us all “Dr Sam Ibiyemi was a man who gave life

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Shell  has announced the appointment of Mr. Ralph Gbobo as the Managing Director of its gas distribution company, Shell Nigeria Gas Limited, with effect from 1st July 2023. He succeeds Ed Ubong who has taken up a new position within the Shell group. Prior to this period,  Ralph was the Manager, Commercial and Non-Operated Venture of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Shell Shareholders Representative for the seven SPDC onshore non-operated venture assets. He comes to SNG with a wealth of oil and gas industry experiences. SNG is part of the Shell Energy business line in Nigeria,a statement said. “Ralph’s appointment is a product of diligence, competence and commitment to Shell’s core values and our drive to powering progress by delivering more and cleaner energy to businesses in Nigeria,” General Manager, Shell Energy Nigeria, Markus Hector,quoted in the statement. Ralph will be responsible for leading SNG an

President Tinubu  By Favour & Akinola Ajibade President Bola Tinubu, yesterday, Monday commended Shell Petroleum Development Company SPDC for investing massively on the Nigerian economy.  He spoke in Abuja during the visit of a delegation of the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to the State House, Abuja.  While speaking to a delegation led by the Global Upstream Director, Ms Zoe Yujnovic, the President said that such investments are needed to enable government meet its obligations. He recalled that he made a personal promise to Nigerians to help improve investments in the industry, adding that Nigeria is ready to promote businesses for growth. He assured management of Shell and other investors of his government's willingness to  maintain an open-door policy and address their concerns.  “We are open for business. We are serious. I give you the assurance of consistency in policy,” he added He also assured that his government was removing all forms of bottlen

 By Favour & Akinola Ajibade The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), yesterday(Monday) said accused one Ejikeme Joy Mmesoma(Ms) of presenting faked 2023 UTME result. The institution, in a statement, signed by its Acting Director, PAP, Dr Fabian Benjamin and made  available to the media, noted that Mmesoma falsified a copy of the result slip of a candidate named" Asimiyu Mariam Omobolanle" who scored 138 in the UTME conducted in 2021. According to the statement, Mmesoma later revealed the rightful owner of the result she paraded before the Board, when she said that the QR code on the result slip belongs to the actual owner of the said result and not her own. " The Board would like to reassure Nigerians that its system was neither tampered with nor compromised as the candidate simply falsified a copy of a result slip of a candidate named “Asimiyu Mariam Omobolanle”, who sat the UTME in 2021 and scored 138. It advised the general public to scan

MAN: Cost of Production will increase By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Plans by the power distribution companies  (DisCos) to announce increase in the cost of electricity from N40 Per Kilowatts to between N150 to N300 Per Kilowatts on July 1,this year may not be feasible, as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) is yet to speak on the matter days to take-off of the initiative.  Precisely, consumers under Band C, who are  presently paying N40 Per kilowatts may pay as much as N100, while those under Band A may have their tarrifs jerk up from N56 to N150 Per kilowatts Hour.   While speaking on the issue, the President,  Nigeria’s Consumers Protection Network, Mr Kola Olubiyo said that the new electricity tarrif will be market driven and that Naira/Dollars Exchange rates will now be subjected to a Free Market Free falls. According to him, the idea will not translate into any significant significant improvement in reliable  electricity Supply nor translates into u

Egbin Electricity Plants By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Egbin Power Plc has disclosed a record-breaking 1000MW power generation, a feat representing a new peak in a 2-year record, Its Chief Executive Officer, Mokhtar Bounour, has disclosed.  Egbin owns the largest power plant in Nigeria, with a capacity of 1900 megawatts ( Mw) of electricity.  He said that the company  achieved the feat  through support and cooperation of industry operators and stakeholders. He lauded the employees for their commitment towards delivering outstanding performance which has consistently enabled the company to make significant contribution to the power sector. “This remarkable achievement recorded on Sunday June 25, 2023, could not have been possible without the support of industry operators. It is a testament to the fact that collaboration is key to the progress in the power sector. “At Egbin Power, we have a culture of excellence deeply entrenched in our operations, and we give priority to h

Using LPG for Petrol- Fired Equipment By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Nigerians have been warned not to employ unskilled unskilled technicians, in the event that they want to convert their petrol appliances or generators to LPG fired equipment,   The Nigeria  Liquefied Petroleum Gas Association  NLPGA's Deputy President, Mr Ladi of Falola, gave this advice in Lagos recently. He spoke while briefing speaking to journalists on the Conference slated for November this year, by the  Association.  This is coming on the heels of the recent plans by the Federal Government to remove subsidy being paid on the imported petroleum products. Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his innugral address on May 29th, announced the intention of his government to cancel subsidy, which has for years been draining the state' s revenues and by extension negatively affected projects' implementation in Nigeria. According to him, the removal of fuel subsidy, by the government is  in

Its DG, Kadir-Ajayi By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Nigeria's manufacturing sector is losing about N10 trillion or two percent share of its Gross Domestic Product( GDP) to poor supply of electricity, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria MAN 's Director-General of, Mr Segun-  Ajayi Nadir, has said. He said the electricity reforms introduced by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would help in salvage the sector, if well implemented.  The DG said this, while accessing the impact of of the country's electricity situations on the economy, stating that the sector would help in guaranteeing the growth and development of the economy, once the its reforms are adequately implemented.  According to him, the unfavourable situation in the power sector has placed the country among the worst countries to do business with a rank of 171 out of 190. On the recently signed electricity Act, the MAN's DG said that the 2023 Act will be a major game

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade The Federal Government has set up a technical committee to resolve issues relating to the payment of tax liabilities to the Federal Inland Revenue Service  (FIRS) within a period of six months. The committee, which comprises of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission ( NUPRC) , Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority ( NMDPRA), Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS), the Presidency and the Presidency in the Office of Chief of Staff , Special Adviser Energy and her counterpart in Revenue  Section, have been mandated by the Federal Government, to ensure that all tax liabilities are paid in the next six months. Prior to this period, the government has ordered ship owners operating in the country to pay up their outstanding tax liabilities to the Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS) within three months, with a view to ensure that all debts owed by owner

Ms Olubukola Arowolo- Verhejien, Special Adviser on Energy to  President Bola Tinubu.. By Favour & Akinola Ajibade The Federal Government, yesterday ( Monday) said that it has received approval from  six new companies to import petroleum products into Nigeria this July.  The Executive Secretary of Nigeria Mainstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDRA), Farouk Ahmed disclosed this to state correspondents at the Presidential Villa. According to him, several companies have applied to import petroleum soon, aside the approved six.  He however, debunked the rumours making round that Dangote Group was one of the companies, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had given approval to import fuel into the country, adding that the National Oil Company has no approval to give that approval. He further said that that there are several companies that applied for fuel importation permit and anyone can apply for importation to get access to th

Wabote  By Favour & Akinola Ajibade The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board(NCDMB), will lead discussion at the 2023 edition of the   National Conference on Building Local Content Synergy organised  by STANMEG in Lagos. Billed to hold on  Thursday, July 20th at the Sheraton Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos, the event will witness the convergence of key stakeholders and regulatory agencies in the Nigerian Oil and Gas/ Insurance  Sector, who would  brainstorm on the benefits and challenges in the industry, as well as providing measures on how to implement the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development ( NOGICD) Act, particularly sections 49 and 50, which deal with insurance and oil and gas activities. Coming with the theme and sub-theme standing as Building Local Content Synergy Between the Oil and Gas and the Insurance Sectors respectively, the conference comes with various discussions and panels.   One of the key discussants expected to do

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Shell  Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) paid taxes and royalties of $907 million to the federal government in 2022.  This happens, as the company continued to contribute to the country's purse to finance its development.  Also, SNEPCO and its partners remitted more than $20.73 million to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in compliance with statutory requirements. “SNEPCo has been boosting  national revenue since 2005, when we pioneered production from deep-water in Nigeria after successfully drilling the first exploration well in more than 1,000 metres of waters five years earlier,” said Managing Director Elohor Aiboni, while reviewing the company’s operations. “But we pay more than taxes and royalties. The success story at Bonga has helped to create a generation of Nigerian deep-water professionals, encouraged indigenous contractors and service providers to acquire skills and competence to support operation

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Nigeria's fuel crisis is biting harder, as marketers are increasingly finding it difficult to buy the product for onward supply to consumers, the National President, Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria, NOGASA, Mr Bennett Korie, gave this indication yesterday( Wednesday) during a media parley in Abuja.  He said that the development is impacting  negatively on its members, as they unable to pay the differentials, caused by the recent increase in the official price of Premium Motoring Spirit( PMS) from over N180 to N500 per litre. According to him, the issue has  increased the price of a tanker of fuel to N25million from N7 million before the removal of fuel subsidy. He said the group is in support of subsidy removal 100 per cent, but however advised  Federal Government to consider the problems associated with it.  He added that the  interest on loans charged by banks has increased to 30 per cent, wondering how and where ma

Akpabio  Favour & Akinola Ajibade The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, yesterday (Tuesday) said that issues such as  revilitisation of the nation's economy and youth empowerment are going to top his priorities, when the 10th National Assembly begins operation. He spoke in Abuja, after he was sworn-in as the new Senate President. In what looks like an agenda setting for the National Assembly and the country in particular, Akpabio said that he would be a Senate President for all the elected Senators, in order to engeder the growth of the economy. According to him, it is high time Nigeria starts producing her own fuel, urging  the country to start producing  diesel and other petroleum products.  The  country, Akpabio said, is at a crossed road, nothing that  the country  is grambling with a lot of difficulties,by drawing the attention of senators to the fact that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherited an economy in need of revival and re

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Godwin Emefiele, the Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank was suspended because he could not present the audited accounts of the bank from 2019 up to  date,  InsideBusinessNG investigation has revealed. An audited account is a financial record that have been checked by a chartered accountant as being a true and correct record of the financial operations and position of an organisation . Emefiele’s suspension which sources within the Aso Villa, Nigeria’s seat of government, the intelligence community, and the apex bank said is a raging fire, is currently making many in both the private and the public sectors uncomfortable, and may also affect the new CBN Acting-Governor, Folasodun Shonubi whom they alleged, does not merit the position. They  alleged  Shonubi is at the center of the recent Stamp Duty scandal that rocked the apex bank. The  new  Acting-Governor is also alleged to be involved in  the jumbo insurances of the CBN which  premiums were allegedly i

Nigerians may witness acute shortage of fuel soon, if the N6billion to N7billion, which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL) requested from marketers before they can lift fuel is anything to by, the News Mirror has learnt. This amount, industry sources is in addition to the payment already made before the increase in the price of Petrol.  Sources further said that if this amount is paid,  the idea would  balance up the financial requirement from the marketers to complete the transactions and then supply fuel to the public. Presently, many marketers have exhausted the fuel they have in their depots and want to replenish them, but, with this development, some of them are having an uphill task in doing so as they are not able to raise the necessary money yet to pay NNPCL. It was gathered that some of the oil companies have already lost money to ship owners that have been paid but could not do trans-shipment on account of the marketer’s inability to make the

The Group Mallam Mele Kyari By Favour & Akinola Ajibade  The Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL), Mallam Mele Kyari, yesterday, said that the country's crude oil production will reach between 1.8 million barrels per day to 2million barrels per day by December 2023. He said this during an interview on Channels Television, a Lagos based broadcasting outfit. According to him, Nigerians must understand that when it comes to crude oil production, condensates are just as important as crude oil and should also be classified as liquids, adding that they up to the country’s overall production output. “The budget of this country is based on the cumulative production of our crude oil and condensates Mind you, sometimes, these condensates are more expensive than the crude oil, so it’s the total liquids we are dealing with. “The total number of liquids as of today is up to 1.6 million barrels per day. We have a line of sight, by the end of July, we

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade The Federal Government should cancel all the Direct Sales Direct Purchase DSDP's  Contracts in order not  to sub-changed the country in the areas of production, lifting and sales of crude, the House of Representatives has said. The government got this advice following plans by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration to remove petroleum subsidy, a scheme, which has cost the country huge amount of foreign exchange in the last few years.  According to the lower chamber of the Senate, the advice to cancel fuel subsidy is necessary, if  the government will  cushion the negative effects of fuel subsidy removal on Nigerians.  Speaking on this issue, the Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee in the green chamber,  Hon. Ibrahim Aliyu, advised the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Committee to organise a reconcillatory meeting between the managements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPCL) Federal Inland Revenue Ser

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade  S avannah Energy Plc, has entered into a Natural Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (NGSPA)   with  Amalgamated Oil Company of Nigeria Limited (AMOCON) in order to improve sales of gas produced in the Oil Mining Lease( OML) 156 to its customers  in the value chain. This achievement represents the first time Accugas will be supplying gas, that is not produced from its Uquo gas field to customers.  Of note is that the gas purchased from AMOCON does not require processing by Accugas and as a result of this, the product cannot be utilise available capacity at the Uquo CPF.   Through the signing, Savannah now has the opportunity to sell gas to customers in thermal and  allied segment of the energy sector and further deepening its operations in Nigeria and beyond, where it has signed numerous Memorandum of Understandings/ Memorandum of Agreements ( MOUs/MOAs) respectively.  Known as the  British Independent Energy Company, which focuses on the deliv

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade Nigeria, yesterday, beat Argentina 2-0 in front of almost 30,000 fans in Suan Juan, ending an unlikely campaign for the home team.  The two goals came from Ibrahim Muhammed and Rilwanu Haliru Sarki respectively.  While Muhammed scored in the 61st minute, a Sarki nodded home the second before the final whistle, thus bringing the goals scored by the Flying Eagles to two.  Similarly, Italy eliminated England with a 2-1 victory, thanks to a late goal from the spot. Already, Italy, Colombia and a 10-man Brazil have qualified for the quarterfinals of the Under-20 World Cup on Wednesday. Also, Brazil thrashed Tunisia 4-1 despite being a player down for the entire second half, and Colombia topped Slovakia 5-1 with three of its goals scored in a four-minute span. In the quarter final, Ngeria will take on either Ecuador or South Korea in the next round. Brazil in the same vein, will meet  Israel in the round of 16, while Colombia will play Italy.  Sadly, Argentina