Akon, Hardwork Launch Shell’s Human Energy Pitch With Music Video

Akon, Hardwork Launch Shell’s Human Energy Pitch With Music Video

Global music starAkon joined Shell to shine a light on the power of innovative options for access to smarter energy by unveiling Africa’s first human and solar powered football pitch at the Federal College of Education, Akoka, Lagos.

The new pitch is the latest initiative from Shell’s #makethefuture programme, which puts bright energy ideas into action to bring benefits to local communities around the world.

The football pitch was refurbished by Shell using more than 90 underground tiles that capture kinetic energy created by the movement of the players. The tiles are the invention of a young British entrepreneur and founder of Pavegen, Laurence Kemball-Cook, who has been supported through Shell LiveWIRE.

Thekinetic energy is then stored and combined with power generated by solar panels to operate the new floodlights. This bright energy idea allows the students to play at night andprovides a safer and more secure space at the heart of the community.

Music superstar and solar entrepreneur Akon joined Shell to officially open the pitch and continue his commitment to teaching young Africans the importance of harnessing the power of Africa’s renewable energy.

The singer is spearheading,through Akon Lighting Africa,a large scale effort to develop solar-powered solutions that will provide African communities with access to clean and affordable sources of electricity. As part of the celebration at the Federal College of Education, Akon and DJ artist Philip “Hardwork” Constabledebuted their new song “Tell Me We’re OK” in an exclusive performance on the pitch before its release in 2016. The innovative football pitch will feature in the upcoming music video.

OsagieOkunbor, Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria & Managing Director of The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC)said, “Shell makes a significant contribution to energy solutions for Nigeria, and we are committed to supporting the Nigerian economy and its people. We need bright energy ideas. Some of these will come from Shell but naturally, others will come from outside our business. So it’s crucial that Shell supports energy entrepreneurs, and we hope that this pitch will inspire more entrepreneurs and young people to help us make a smarter energy future.”

 

Akon commented, “New, reliable and smarter energy solutions play a major role in driving human progress in Africa. Projects like thisinnovative football pitch draw attention to the major opportunity that Nigeria as well as the whole of Africa have if we look to better harness new technologies and the continent’s abundant renewable energy resources. That is why Hardwork and I will feature this pitch in our upcoming video for “Tell Me We’re OK” because I want young people, whether they are in Lagos, Los Angeles or London to think about how they too can help us make the future.”

 

Shell LiveWIRE is an international programme that has been a catalyst for young entrepreneurs to develop enterprising ideas into viable and sustainable businesses for more than 30 years. The LiveWIRE programme was launched in Nigeria in 2003, and since then it hastrained more than 6,000 youths in enterprise development andmanagement, of whom more than 3,000 have been provided with businessstart-up assistance.

Laurence Kemball-Cook, Pavegen founder and CEO and Shell LiveWIRE UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist in 2011, said, “Our work with Shell has been pivotal to Pavegen’s growth. We got involved with Shell LiveWIRE and Shell Springboard, and both programmes have really helped us transition from a start-up to a small company with a 25-strong staff and global IP. I’m grateful for all the support Shell has given us, and hope we can continue to grow in the smart city future.”

Siji O. Olusanya,Provost of the Federal College of Education, Akoka, added, “We have more than 10,000 student teachers, who will benefit from this innovative solution to light our football pitch. They will be the next generation of teachers across Nigeria and can they use their first-hand experience of this pitch to inspire their pupils that they too can work towards developing bright energy ideas that could make a real difference to their community, Nigeria or even the world. Not only our students but the community that surrounds us will all get to benefit from this pitch for years to come.”

NIPCO Deepens LPG Market With Free Cylinders

NIPCO Deepens LPG Market With Free Cylinders

Nipco plc .an indigenous integrated oil and Gas Company has restated its commitment to promoting use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas [LPG] as domestic cooking gas through the donation of free cylinders to scores of residents of its host community –Apapa.

The offer of the accessories which is one of the corporate social responsibility initiatives of the company attracted hundreds of people including community leaders the Baale of Marine Beach, Apapa, Chief Joseph     Ogunmola [JP] was also part of the conscious programme of the company to deepen use of gas   and discourage use of kerosene as domestic cooking fuel.

In a message to the beneficiaries, the Managing Director of Nipco, Mr Venkataraman Venkatapathy said the donation of the 6kg cylinders attached with burners was part of the company panacea to addressing the challenge of needed accessories to jump-start use of gas as cooking fuel. 

According to him ,the company had to fill  up all the cylinders donated to enable beneficiaries begin its use almost immediately with the hope that after such use they would have seen the inherent benefits of switching to gas as the most efficient cooking fuel .

The MD whose message was delivered at the event held at Apapa Nursery & Primary School in the centre of excellence by the company’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Lawal Taofeek recalled that such initiative was undertaken by the firm last year at Auchi, Edo State in furtherance of Nipco resolve to be part of the change mantra in the use of gas as healthier source of domestic fuel across the country.

He explained that as key player in the industry contributing about 30% of the entire LPG needs of the country through its plant at Apapa would continue to support initiatives that would make the populace harness the abundant gas resources in the country through popularization of LPG as a better alternative to orthodox cooking fuel like firewood and kerosene. 

Venkatapathy noted that the company in ensuring access to gas to prospective and current adherents of LPG as cooking fuel, Nipco had provided skids to serve as refill centres across the country with emphasis on accurate filling by  gas users  aside from numerous campaigns on safety y concerns in its utilization .

A community leader who chaired the event, Chief Ogunmola commended the efforts of the company in this realm adding that he had followed the level of corporate responsibility of the company for some time with lots of amazement.

According to him, Nipco had made a mark in assisting schools with requisite infrastructure, a feat that had improved quality of learning in the two schools the company had intervened in Apapa and Ijora area of the state.

He enjoined the company not to rest on its oars stressing that firms like this ought to be supported to attain higher heights to enable them contribute more to the overall development of the state in particular and the nation in general.

One of the recipients, Mrs Ramoni Adeola    expressed deep appreciation to the company and asserted that the donation will further spur beneficiaries to adopt LPG as domestic cooking fuel even as she commended her for widening the scope of beneficiaries this year

She recalled that last year donation was only to teachers in the Apapa Local Government Education Authority but the 2015 edition included other residents including other women within the Apapa community .           

Development Partners Commssion Moho Bilindo Phase 1b

Development Partners Commssion Moho Bilindo Phase 1b

Chevron Corp. and partners in the Republic of Congo (ROC) saw first production flows from the deepwater development Moho Bilondo Phase 1b. Moho Bilondo Phase 1b is part of the Moho Nord joint development project, the largest-ever oil and gas project undertaken in the ROC.

Phase 1b project includes 11 wells tied back to an existing floating production unit and is expected to produce a total of 40,000 bpd of oil. The Phase 1b development targeted reserves in the southern portion of the Moho Bilondo permit area. The Moho Nord subsea development, which will be the second phase of the Moho Nord joint development project, is in the northern part of the area.

The Moho Nord development project involves a tension-leg platform, a floating production unit with a processing capacity of 100,000 bpd of oil, and a 50-mile pipeline to the onshore Djeno Terminal.

“First oil from the Moho Bilondo Phase 1b development is the latest successful start-up in our diverse portfolio of deepwater projects, which we expect to generate value for years to come,” said Jay Johnson, executive VP Upstream, Chevron.

“The successful development of Phase 1b demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the Republic of Congo and is a testament to industry and government cooperation,” said Ali Moshiri, president of Chevron Africa and Latin America Exploration and Production Company.

“The project integrates the unique skills and expertise of multiple partners to deliver challenging projects and new energy production.”

Chevron Overseas (Congo) has a 31.5% working interest in the Moho Bilondo permit area, along with Total E&P Congo (53.5% working interest and operator) and the national oil company, Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (15% working interest).

New Method for Cleaner Diesel

 

New Method for Cleaner Diesel

Researchers from KU Leuven and Utrecht University have discovered a new approach to the production of fuels. Their new method can be used to produce much cleaner diesel. It can quickly be scaled up for industrial use. In 5 to 10 years, we may see the first cars driven by this new clean diesel.

The production of fuel involves the use of catalysts. These substances trigger the chemical reactions that convert raw material into fuel. In the case of diesel, small catalyst granules are added to the raw material to sufficiently change the molecules of the raw material to produce useable fuel.

Catalysts can have one or more chemical functions. The catalyst that was used for this particular study has two functions, represented by two different materials: a metal (platinum) and a solid-state acid. During the production process for diesel, the molecules bounce to and fro between the metal and the acid. Each time a molecule comes into contact with one of the materials, it changes a little bit. At the end of the process, the molecules are ready to be used for diesel fuel.

The assumption has always been that the metal and the solid-state acid in the catalyst should be as close together as possible. That would speed up the production process by helping the molecules bounce to and fro more quickly. Professor Johan Martens (KU Leuven) and Professor Krijn de Jong (Utrecht University) have now discovered that this assumption is incorrect. If the functions within a catalyst are nanometres apart, the process yields better molecules for cleaner fuel.

“Our results are the exact opposite of what we had expected. At first, we thought that the samples had been switched or that something was wrong with our analysis”, says Professor Martens. “We repeated the experiments three times, only to arrive at the same conclusion: the current theory is wrong. There has to be a minimum distance between the functions within a catalyst. This goes against what the industry has been doing for the past 50 years.”

The new technique can optimise quite a few molecules in diesel. Cars that are driven by this clean diesel would emit far fewer particulates and CO². The researchers believe that their method can be scaled up for industrial use with relative ease, so the new diesel could be used in cars in 5 to 10 years.

The new technique can be applied to petroleum-based fuels, but also to renewable carbon from biomass.

Kachikwu Calls for Greater Cooperation among African Oil Producers

Kachikwu Calls for Greater Cooperation among African Oil Producers

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has called on member countries of the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA), to close ranks and bring their influence to bear on the global oil and gas production matrix. 

Speaking at a media briefing to herald the forthcoming 6th Africa Petroleum Congress and Exhibition (CAPE Vl) billed for Abuja from 15th - 17th March, 2016, Dr. Kachikwu stated that it was high time APPA members rallied round to forge common positions on critical areas of mutual interest to galvanize their stakes especially in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.    

“APPA needs to meet more often, strategize more often and speak with one voice,” he said.

The NNPC GMD also called on APPA member countries to resist the temptation of being over competitive among themselves so as not to deplete their strength in OPEC and other global oil and gas organizations. 

On the forth coming CAPE VI, the Minister informed that the event which will feature the 33rd Ordinary Session of the APPA Council of Ministers meeting under the Presidency of Dr. Kachikwu is tailored to benefit Nigeria in a number of ways. 

“`In the first place, it is a home-coming event as Nigeria was a key founding member of APPA and a promoter of the African Petroleum Congress. We hope that the event will highlight the nation’s oil and gas potential to a global audience and help showcase Nigeria’s small and medium scale oil and gas companies to other African countries and world at large,” he said. 

The African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) was founded at the instance of Nigeria at a meeting held in Lagos in January 1987 with eight (8) African countries (Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroun, Congo, Gabon, Libya and Nigeria) in attendance. It was formed to serve as a cooperative framework for the promotion of common initiatives and projects related to management policies and strategies in all areas of the petroleum industry of the oil producing countries in Africa. 

Its key objectives include: Promotion of cooperation among member countries in hydrocarbon exploration, production, refining, petro-chemicals, manpower development, acquisition and adaptation of technology and legal matters; promotion of technical assistance among member countries in the areas in which individual members have acquired valuable experience among others. 

APPA membership has since grown from the initial eight (8) to eighteen (18) countries. The other members are: Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Mauritania, Niger, South Africa, and Sudan.

The ascendency of Nigeria’s Petroleum Resources Minister as President of APPA, brings to three his headship of top global oil and gas organizations. Kachikwu holds sway as President of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC Conference and is also President of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Ministerial Conference which held in November in  Tehran, Iran.   

 

Marketers, TUC Blame Fuel Price Hike On Buhari's Policies

Blame Buhari For High Fuel Prices  ___Marketers, TUC

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Trade Union Congress (TUC) has declared war with government over the plans to increase the pump price of petrol next year even as marketers in the country distance themselves from the proposed price hike.

According to the market players and labour leaders that spoke to our correspondents on the hike in the price of petrol proposed by government in the 2016 fiscal estimates is at variance with prevailing market forces which currently compels price reduction across global petroleum products market.

Whereas marketers criticise the planned price hike as inconsonant with price trends across the globe, the Trade Union Congress vows it would resist any plan to impose arbitrary fuel price increase on impoverished Nigerians.

President of TUC, Comrade Bobboi Kiagama, stated yesterday that senior pan industry workers’ union would stand in the way of implementing the price increase until government provides convincing criteria and associated economic palliatives that would cushion the effect of the inevitable transportation crisis.

Expressing anger at the arbitrary decision to hike fuel prices at a time of economic hardship in the country, Comrade Kiagama also faulted the decision for not using market forces as parameters for taking market price decisions. He accused the government of throwing up price hike as basis for deregulation of the market without consultation with stakeholders.

He alleged that President Buhari’s government has unfortunately taken price adjustments in the domestic fuel market as a fund raising strategy to generate funds to finance his programmes and policies.

He said that the government has come to power without any credible plan to fund its agenda and thus has resorted to imposing indirect fuel tax on Nigerians through pump price manipulation.

He referred to the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, which, he said, consulted widely on the use of fuel price savings for infrastructural development under the controversial SURE-P where, according to him, all stakeholders are represented in the management if the fund.

Both the labour leaders and marketers blamed distortions and misalignments in the new economic agenda of the federal government for the rising cost of petroleum products in the domestic market at a time the world is enjoying massive reduction in fuel prices.

Some of the marketers that spoke on the conditions of anonymity for fears of being tagged by the government faulted the planned price hike as excessive over-recovery, pointing out that the domestic price for petrol was already too high at N87 following the steep fall in oil prices.

One of them stated that the retention of fuel prices at the height where it was at the time of global crude oil price averaged $120 per barrel is no longer justifiable now that crude oil has fallen below $50 per barrel.

He stated that the prices of crude oil grades in the global market space have remained the traditional benchmark for prices of refinery products, pointing out that crude oil is primarily the feedstock for refineries that produce fuel.

Another marketers also pointed out that price movement for both crude oil and refinery products flow proportionately, saying that petrol price should fall by over 50 percent of the expected landing cost in the templates of the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

However, PPRA puts the expected open market price (OMP) comprising the landing cost of imported petrol plus marketers margins at N91.98 per litre, N5.02 per litre lower than the proposed N97 per liter proposed by the government for 2016.

Although he did not speak to our correspondents yesterday, the Executive Secretary of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), Mr. Thomas Olawore, had earlier admitted there was over-recovery when the prices of crude oil crashed.

He however pointed out that protracted subsidy debts, associated cost of funding, import associated costs, port charges and falling value of the Naira have all summed up huge cost on imported petroleum products and eroded the savings that would have been available to Nigerian consumers.

All the import associated costs built on the pump price of fuel in the country, according to Comrade Kiagama could be eliminated by fixing the nation’s downstream and midstream sections of the petroleum industry.

He said the only logical step to address the fuel price crisis in the country is to recover and expand the domestic refining capacity in order to weed out middle men from the system and eliminate import associated costs that build up retail prices in the domestic market.

ERHC Divests Stakes In EEZ Block to Kosmos

ERHC Divests Stakes In EEZ Block to Kosmos

Sopuruchi Onwuka

American multinational independent oil explorer with focus on Africa, ERHC Energy< has declared sale of its stake in one of its oil blocks in Sao Tome and Principe (STP) to peer explorer, Kosmos, in a strategy seen as spreading its risks at a time of price downturn.

Managing Director of the company which has strong Nigerian ownership content, Mr. Peter Ntephe, had stated in an interview that the terms of the production sharing agreements it holds in proximate joint development zone between Nigeria and STP has also come under the prevailing market realities to be reviewed.

He also said that the company was refocusing its exploration opportunities to onshore terrains where, according to him, it has the capabilities and competencies to drive operations without seeking technical and funding partnership.

Divestment from one of its offshore blocks in STP might be part of the strategies to slash its deepwater exposure and liquefy part of the assets in order to buoy up operations funds for newly acquired onshore blocks in East Africa.

ERHC Energy declared that it reached an agreement with Kosmos Energy to transfer all ERHC’s rights to Block 11 of the São Tomé and Principe (STP) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to Kosmos.

It added that the agreement has been approved by the National Petroleum Agency of Sao Tome & Principe (ANP-STP) as required in the requisite PSC for EEZ Block 11.

ERHC will however retain its 100% stake in EEZ Block 4. It also retains its option to take a 15% interest in two over EEZ blocks of its choice. The company also revealed that it and the ANP-STP have agreed in principle to the terms of a PSC for Block 4.

President and CEO, Mr. Peter Ntephe, stated, “Given the difficult global environment for doing deals, particularly for deep-offshore assets in frontier areas, we are very pleased to have concluded the agreement with Kosmos.

 “The agreement enables us to immediately monetize one of our offshore holdings while preserving a financial upside in the event that exploration in Block 11 is successful.”

In Kenya, ERHC holds a 35% interest in Block 11A, where the first exploration well is expected to be spudded toward the end of the first quarter of 2016.

The Kenyan block is part of the strategic shifts by the company from exclusively risky, cost intensive and technology driven offshore terrains where it has dominated acreages in the JDZ of Nigeria-STP and EEZ of STP.

Mr. Ntephe had stated that Kenya offered initial attraction to ERHC after fall in oil prices impacted operating terms and dampened the company’s operations outlook in deepwater Gulf of Guinea. 

“We decided that it would be too risky to continue the company to remain exclusively in the offshore. Instead of that we are going to switch the business model entirely to onshore. So, theoretically it is easier for a small company to run the show, to become operator onshore so that it controls its own destiny which was what we wanted.

“That shouldn’t rule out the fact that we might need partners at one stage. We thought that if the crunch came, theoretically we could run the whole show: do the drilling, raise the money and do it. It is not like that deep offshore.

“Therefore, we have moved from being a company with offshore focus to one with onshore focus. The next thing now was to actually start operating the blocks, and Kenya was attractive to everybody. When we sounded the industry, Kenya was very attractive. So we started working very quickly on Kenya. We carried out our full tension gravity study in 2013, and immediately we finished that CEPSA farmed in.

“That is as far as the business model is concerned. It was very successful. We have operated it well and demonstrated for the first time in history that ERHC could operate by itself. So, it was very well done for us in Kenya.”

In Chad where it has onshore assets, ERHC stated that it is accepting tender proposals for a 2D seismic acquisition program for Block BDS 2008.

Mr. Ntephe explained that the company had acquired petroleum rights in Chad in line with its new strategy of relocating to onshore operations, especially seeking fresh opportunities in regions that have proven petroleum plays.

According to him, “Chad has been a producing country since at least 2003. It has an export pipeline. It has a refinery. It has a well defined basin and a well defined oil industry.  Well defined exploration hasn’t been done. It has majors operating there. It has CNPC. It has ExxonMobil, and up to a point, even Chevron. So we focused on Chad and it became the first country we went to and we got our blocks in 2011.”

ERHC also has interests across several oil blocks in the Nigeria as well. The company has interests in Oando Energy Resources through its reverse acquisition of Exile Resources which had interest in the Akepo field in Nigeria.

Mr. Ntephe had explained, “So, what we wanted to with Exile Resources was to a large extent what Oando did. It would give us access to the Akepo Field which has proven reserves and could quickly gone on to production. However when we started making our moves, as a public company we had to disclose everything we did, and whether it was down to us or down to their own exclusive strategy, Oando now moved very quickly and completed a take-over of the company.

“Our stake in that company remains. And, of course, with Oando’s reverse take-over our proportionate control was reduced just like all the existing shareholders’ shares were diluted. In the new entity we have roughly 420, 000 shares in Oando Energy Resources. We had several million shares in Exile but when they did the reverse take over everything was compressed because they did a reverse stock split as well. So, our interest was diminished to a level where it is no longer considered significant.”