Author: tdpel

By Edith Ike-Eboh and Emmanuel Afonne

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) gave Nigerians especially those in the Niger Delta cheering news that it had achieved a 30 per cent reduction in gas flares across its operational areas over the last five years.

The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd., Malam Mele Kyari said this within the week while speaking as a panelist at the 2022 International Energy week.

Kyari who spoke in a virtual session on Energy transition, acknowledged the level of energy poverty in the country particularly around cooking fuels.

He added that NNPC had begun plans to replace bio- mass fuels with cleaner sources of energy.

According to him, NNPC is working on increasing the level of gas consumption in the domestic markets by replacing diesel, fuel oils and other heavy distillates with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

On renewable energy, he said NNPC was exploring alternative sources such as wind and solar power which required huge financial investment, to close the energy gap, but opined that natural resources could be used to bridge the gap.

“The only framework we can get is to see if we can convert our resources on ground to value. This value can then be used to close some of the infrastructure gap while also investing in renewable sources of energy,” he said.

On reaching net zero emissions, he maintained that though NNPC’s strategy and timing might differ from its partners, the company was in alignment with them on achieving this and understood the steps required to achieve this.

Meanwhile, Duke Oil, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) cleared the air regarding its role in the importation of methanol-laden petrol into the country.

The Managing Director of Duke Oil, Mr Lawal Sade, gave the clarification at an investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream).

Sade said the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) it imported met all specifications and standards required by the NNPC.

He said that the PMS imported by the company was tested both at load port and discharge port, and it was found to have met all the requisite specifications and standards.

Sade further said that discharge of the product could not have been possible if it was not certified to be of standard quality by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the joint inspection team.

The company assured the lawmakers and indeed all Nigerians of its commitment to the nation’s energy security, stressing that it was not possible for it to deliberately import sub-standard fuel.

Duke Oil also assured the lawmakers that all hands were on deck by key players in the industry to rectify the situation, adding that remedial actions have been taken to ensure consistent, smooth and safe supply of petroleum products going forward.

The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Abdullahi Gaya, on his part said members of the committee would study the written response submitted by Duke Oil on the matter and contact the company if there was need to do so.

Also in the week, the ongoing rehabilitation works on the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) was applauded by three former Managing Directors (MDs) of the Company.

The MDs who visited the refinery on an inspection of the ongoing rehabilitation advised PHRC Management to ensure that members of staff use the opportunity of the rehabilitation to acquire specific expertise on key operational areas.

The three former MDs are Dr Bafred Enjugu, who was in-charge from 2014 to 2017; Mr Shehu Malami, who was the MD from 2017 to 2018 and Engr. Abba Bukar, the immediate past MD who retired in March 2020.

They expressed delight at being able to inspect the ongoing works and advised the management to manage cost and ensure a successful completion of the rehabilitation.

In his remarks Mr Abba Bukar thanked PHRC management for the opportunity to see firsthand, the ongoing works and staff who worked with him when he was at the helm of affairs at the refinery.

To manage the overall cost of the project, Bukar advised PHRC management to evaluate all the warehoused spare parts to determine those that can be used in the ongoing rehabilitation as a way of saving cost.

On his part, Mr Shehu Malami called on the management and staff of PHRC to ensure the successful completion of the rehabilitation project within budget, as it was in the interest of all PHRC staff, whether serving or retired.

He commended PHRC for achieving ISO recertification and enjoined the management team to ensure that proper processes and procedures were adhered to especially in the course of the rehabilitation.

In his remarks, Dr Bafred Enjugu advised PHRC management to use the opportunity offered by the ongoing rehabilitation to build skills and expertise in specific areas like rotating equipment, electrical and mechanical engineering.

He noted that subject matter experts that would be developed through exposure to the rehabilitation would serve as reservoirs of knowledge that can be used for the provision of solution in other locations and as resource persons across the company.

Furthermore, he said PHRC Management should pay attention to the rehabilitation project by ensuring that products that would later be refined in the plants would be of standard in quality and to specification.

Earlier, the serving MD of PHRC, Dikko described the visiting former MDs as professionals who gave their best to NNPC and the refining sector in the country as they all worked both in Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) and PHRC.

He said that by coming to see the ongoing rehabilitation, the former MDs had demonstrated the spirit of camaraderie, as their visit and support for the project would boost the spirit and morale of staff.

Dikko said the visit showed that staff who retired from the system still had pivotal roles to play in the activities of the company.

He briefed the former MDs on the progress made on the refinery rehabilitation and the Corporate Social Responsibility efforts being made for host communities.

Dikko said these efforts had led to relative peace and assured that PHRC would continue to work with hosts communities through honest engagements and social investments that would create mutual benefits.

In the meantime, the Managing Director (MD) of the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited, Mr Ahmed Dikko won the Swift reporters 2021 Man of the year Award.

Speaking at the award presentation in Abuja, the publisher of Swift Reporters Mr Adewole Kehinde said Dikko was recognised for his contributions, humility and dedication to the on-going rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.

He noted that the aim of the awards was to recognise the extra efforts of individuals and to encourage good behavior and inculcate a competitive spirit.

Responding, Dikko thanked Swift Reporters for considering him for the award of Man of the Year.

He said all thanks should go to his boss, NNPC CEO, Mele Kyari who found him worthy of the responsibility to champion the rehabilitation of PHRC.

Dikko also thanked the CEO for the support especially with the funding of the project and the GED R&P whom he said had given him all the needed backing in the course of the rehabilitation.

He dedicated the award to management and staff of PHRC whom he praised for their dedication and commitment.

The refinery boss said the award would spur him to remain focused on the rehabilitation of PHRC, adding that the refinery would run profitably after the exercise.

He assured that the rehabilitation was moving as scheduled and that Nigerians would reap the benefit of the exercise.

In the week under review, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva assured that Nigeria was doing a lot currently to meet its OPEC production quota by the end of this year.

Sylva who gave the assurance in Abuja during a press briefing on the ongoing Nigerian International Energy Summit (NIES), expressed dissatisfaction that Nigeria was not able to benefit from the current high prices of crude oil.

The minister said that the high prices of crude also encouraged other producers and that it was not beneficial to crude oil producers.

Briefing on the NIES, Sylva said the Federal Government was hosting the summit with its partners.

They include the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and all its parastatals including the NNPC, and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

Others are the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NURPC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and Petroleum Training Institute (PTI).

According to him, the objective of the summit from inception was to deliver the biggest and best African Petroleum Technology and Business Conference that would be the definitive platform, not just for Nigeria, but also for Africa to engage the global energy community.

“I believe that we have delivered on that with every edition.”

The event was formerly known as the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS).

The first edition was held in 2018. Thus, this year’s edition will be the 5th edition.

Visit us on www.nannews.ng for more details. (NAN)

By Peter Okolie

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr Blyden Okanni of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the Ngor Okpala State Constituency by-election in Imo.

Prof. Dennis Akoh, the INEC Returning Officer for the election,  announced this in Owerri on Sunday.

Akoh said that Okanni polled 9,248 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Emeka Nwachukwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 7,161 votes.

Akoh, a professor at the Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwor (FUNAI) in Ebonyi, said the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr Christopher Nwaiwu placed third with 501 votes.

He said out of the 11 candidates that contested the by-election, the only female and candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Mrs Joy Nze, got 15 votes.

The returning officer said a total of 18,083 voters were accredited for the poll, out of a total of the 94,118 registered voters in the area.

He said the total valid votes cast were 17,280, while 582 votes were rejected. (NAN)

TOKYO, February 27 – RIA Novosti. Speaking on NHK TV channel, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, commenting on information about a possible North Korean missile test, stressed that Tokyo had repeatedly noted that what was happening in Ukraine could affect not only Europe, but the whole world, but added that the Japanese authorities still did not analyze Pyongyang’s intentions.

“We have repeatedly said that the situation in Ukraine can have an impact not only on Europe, but also on the whole world as a whole, in particular, on the East Asian and Indo-Pacific regions. We have repeatedly stated this at the meetings of the countries We have not yet analyzed whether this missile launch (DPRK is connected with the events in Ukraine – ed.) and what their intentions are, but I am again reminded that we must be prepared for such situations,” the Japanese minister said.

Earlier Sunday, the Japanese Coast Guard issued a warning about a possible North Korean missile launch . The warning was issued at 07.59 local time (01.59 Moscow time). Half an hour later, a warning appeared on the Coast Guard website that the shell had already landed. Vessels at sea are urged to be careful not to approach the object if it falls into the water.

By Ifeanyi Olannye

The Delta Chapter of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has lauded Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa for training no fewer than 90 rice farmers in the state, ahead of the 2022 farming season.

The RIFAN State Chairman, Chief Sylvanus Ejezie gave the commendation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday, in Asaba.

He said that the training was apt to get farmers ready and to adopt best practices in the cultivation of rice, to ensure high quality yield.

According to Ejezie, adequate knowledge of the soil texture and of the  environment was necessary for farmers to understand their terrain and navigate through it to escape the impacts of flood and drought.

“I want to appreciate His Excellency,  Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa and the state Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, for training no fewer than 90 rice farmers on best practices of production recently, ahead of this year’s planting season.

“The trained farmers are expected to cultivate about 180 hectares of land for rice production across the state.

“Besides, the state government has provided a loan support to the farmers and had  pledged to off-set 30 per cent of the total costs per hectare to encourage the farmers ,” Ejezie said.

He, however, blamed the low harvest of paddy rice in the state on farmers’ lack of adequate knowledge of their environment and inadequate farmer support.

Government needed to also support the farmers by opening up farm lands and land preparations, among others, to enhance production so as to address the rising demand for rice in the state, he added.

“Our farmers are yet to understand the terrain of the land where they farm.

More so, the farmers face either flood or drought each farming season, which informs why we have not been able to produce enough paddy rice to meet the demands of the off-takers and the millers in the state.

“Before now, we talk about flood challenges, but last year it was the issue of drought, and our farmers were terribly affected otherwise, we would have had enough supplies last year, to meet the demands of our off-takers.

“In addition to that, we need government assistance in the area of machinery, as at today, the state does not have combine harvester, not enough tractors for land preparation and no seed planter, among others.

“All these and more are setbacks to rice cultivation and harvests in the state.

“So, if government can help us to prepare at least 2,000 hectares of land with irrigation facilities at various locations across the state, we can farm rice twice a year and by so doing produce more paddy for the millers in the state,” he said.

On the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, Ejezie said that the association was yet to receive inputs supply for the 2022 farming season.

According to him, members were supposed to have started planting this year but they were yet to receive their inputs from the national RIFAN for this farming season.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

On the eve it became known that in the coming days Russia will be disconnected from the SWIFT system, Russia has already created its own financial messaging system. According to the latest data, 23 foreign participants from Armenia, Belarus , Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , Germany and Switzerland are already connected to it.

Western countries decided to limit the Russian Central Bank’s ability to support the ruble exchange rate with international financial transactions.

The head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said Russian transactions will be frozen.

In response to such a risk, Russia has already created its own financial messaging system.

According to the Russia’s Central Bank, by February 18, Russia’s international reserves reached a new all-time high, having increased to $643.2 billion.

At the same time, by the middle of last year, dollar-denominated assets decreased to 16.4 percent, while the share in euro, yuan, pound sterling and other currencies increased.

Western countries announced a new round of the sanctions spiral, which has been unwinding since 2014, after President Vladimir Putin signed decrees on February 21 recognizing the sovereignty of the LPR and DPR , and on February 24 announced the start of a special operation in the Donbass.

Several major Russian banks fell under the new restrictions, including Sberbank and VTB.

Moscow said it had prepared a plan of action in advance in case of a new wave of sanctions and would provide any necessary support to businesses that fell under the restrictions, ensuring the smooth operation of the economy.

The Bank of Russia has all the necessary resources to maintain the stability of the financial sector, the regulator said in a statement.

“The Russian banking system is stable, has sufficient capital and liquidity to function smoothly in any situation,” the report says.

The regulator noted that customer funds on accounts are available to them at any time. Bank cards also continue to work as usual.

This comes from the Russian authorities due to the increasing international sanctions by the western countries of Europe.

The Central Bank of Russia intends to provide banks with continuous cash and non-cash liquidity in rubles. The transmission of financial messages within the country in any scenario is provided by the Financial Message Transmission System. Ria reports.

Reports and videos coming in shows that Ukrainian authorities are stopping Africans from leaving the war-struck regions while allowing their own citizens to flee the war zone.

Videos below shows the current situation of Blacl people in Ukraine currently.

 

 

As Russia oppresses Ukraine, Ukraine is in turn oppressing those in its borders, proving the fact that human evil is general.

MOSCOW, February 27 – RIA Novosti. The Russian delegation has already arrived in Belarus for talks with the Ukrainians, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

According to him, the delegation included representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and other departments, including the presidential administration.

“The Russian side is already ready for negotiations in Gomel , now we are waiting for the Ukrainians,” Peskov told RIA Novosti.

The Belarusian Foreign Ministry, for its part, noted that they had prepared everything necessary for the meeting and were now engaged in resolving protocol issues.

At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Minsk cannot become a negotiating platform.

“Now we are saying – not Minsk. <…>. Warsaw, Bratislava, Budapest, Istanbul, Baku – we all offered this to the Russian side. And any other city suits us,” he said in a video message published on Telegram.

Peskov replied to this that Gomel was chosen by the Ukrainian side. He also promised that the head of the Russian delegation, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, would make a statement soon.

“For our part, we warned the Ukrainian side that this time the activities envisaged by the course of the military operation would not be suspended – as it was done yesterday, which we informed you about the day before,” the spokesman said.

In recent weeks, the situation in the Donbass has seriously escalated : Kiev has concentrated most of the army on the line of contact and intensified shelling of the DPR and LPR , using equipment prohibited by the Minsk agreements.

Due to the threat of Ukraine ‘s invasion, the authorities of the republics began the evacuation of women, children and the elderly to the Russian regions, announced a general mobilization, and on February 19 asked Russia to recognize their independence.

Two days later, on February 21, Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the sovereignty of the LPR and DPR, and on February 24 announced the start of a special operation. He assured that Moscow ‘s plans do not include the occupation of Ukraine , only its demilitarization and denazification.

The head of state called the goal of the operation the protection of the residents of the DPR and LPR, who have been subjected to genocide for eight years.

He also called on the Ukrainian military not to follow criminal orders, lay down their arms and go home. According to Putin, all responsibility for the bloodshed will be on the conscience of the Kiev regime.

The Ministry of Defense emphasized that they do not strike civilian targets on the territory of Ukraine – only military infrastructure; the civilian population is not in danger.

The Russian Ministry of Digital Transformation is facing an unprecedented scale of cyberattacks, the agency said.

“As of February 26, more than 50 DDoS attacks with a capacity of more than 1 TB were recorded, as well as a number of professional targeted attacks on the Gosuslug portal. All attacks are successfully repelled by security center specialists,” the report says.

“At the same time, all published information and all personal data of users are reliably protected, hackers cannot access them,” the department stressed.

On Friday, it was reported that the Anonymous hacker group had declared cyber war on Russia and claimed responsibility for the attack on the Russian RT channel. On Saturday, the RIA Novosti website was also subjected to a DDoS attack.

“It would have been so easy for me to stop this travesty from happening. He understood me, and he understood that I don’t play games.”

“The problem is not that he’s smart — which of course he’s smart — but the real problem is that our leaders are dumb. Putin is playing Biden like a drum… It’s not a pretty thing to watch,” Trump said.

Trump appeared on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, where he revved up his base ahead of November’s midterm elections, hinted again at another presidential run and blamed Joe Biden for the Ukraine crisis.