Oil & Energy
SNEPCo Donates ICT Centre To Varsity
As part of efforts to translate its commitment to genuine corporate social responsibility into concrete reality, the Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has donated a fully equipped information and communication technology centre (ICT) to the Evan Enwerem University, Owerri, in the Imo State capital.
The ICT Centre gift to the former Imo State University is equipped with 50 flat screen desktop computers, a VSAT and branded server for internet connectivity, paid-up three-year subscription, and a dedicated 27KVA standby generator.
Speaking at the project commissioning ceremony in Owerri, last Friday, Managing Director of SNEPCo, Chike Onyejekwe, said the ICT Centre, which was completed in 2009, also has two printers, a dedicated water borehole, facility maintenance and lecturers’ training arrangements.
Onyejekwe noted that the centre, one of the four in different universities across the country, including Delta State University, University of Jos, and University of Ado Ekiti, costs the company about N60million, would boost ICT development and deployment in Nigerian education system, and enable students and lecturers to compete with their peers in the information age.
According to him, 11 secondary schools across the country have since 2007, benefited from the programme, including Ikeja Grammar School, Lagos State; Offa Grammar School, Kwara State; Imerienwen Girls Secondary School, Imo State; and Uwheru Grammar School, Delta State, stressing that the projects cost about N25million.
The first set of seven schools, he stated, were equipped with 10 units of desktop computers in 2007, while the second set of four schools, are now equipped with 20 units of desktop computers, each fitted with UPS, and others, including branded servers, two printers, a 27KVA generating set, teachers’ training and one-year maintenance arrangements, VSAT for internet connection, as well as three years paid-up subscription.
The SNEPCo managing director recalled the Geneva phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in 2003, and the pledge by stakeholders from over 175 countries, including Nigeria, to harness the potential of information and communication technology to promote the development goals of the Millennium Declaration, and emphasized that as a good corporate citizen of Nigeria, SNEPCo was leveraging on that commitment to build an inclusive and development-oriented information society through the construction and donation of the ICT centres.
He pointed out that by so doing, SNEPCo would be contributing to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, promote universal primary education, ensure environmental sustainability, and enhance the development of partnerships for the attainment of a more peaceful, just and prosperous world.
Also speaking, the Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Phillip Chukwu, said the project was part of the partners’ corporate social responsibility to host communities, and thanked the Imo State Government and the university community for providing the enabling environment for the facility to see the light of day.
The GED noted that the ICT centre was one of the major social investments of the NNPC/SNEPCo partnership in Imo, and charged the beneficiaries to put the facility to meaningful use as well as protect it from pilfering and vandalisation.
Responding, the Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim, lauded the NNPC and SNEPCo for constructing and donating a well-equipped ICT centre to the university, and pledged the determination of the government to assist the authorities of the institution in protecting the facility.
Represented at the event by the Commissioner for Education, Prof Jude Njoku, the governor assured that SNEPCo would not regret the huge investment in the university and its contribution to the development of education in Imo, and promised to create more windows of partnership with SNEPCo in future.
In his vote of thanks, the Vice Chancellor, Evan Enwerem University, Prof Ossy Nwebo, said students and lecturers at the university would now face the challenges of the new information age frontally through special competences acquired from the use of the facility.
The vice chancellor assured that apart from maintaining and protecting the centre, the university community would put every item installed in the facility to optimum use for the development of education in Imo in particular and Nigerian society in general.
Nelson Chukwudi
The Federal Government has expressed optimism in attracting more investments by International Oil Companies (IOCs) into Nigeria to foster growth and sustainability in the energy sector.
This is as some IOCs, particularly Shell and TotalEnergies, had announced plans to divest some of their assets from the country.
Recall that Shell in January, 2024 had said it would sell the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to Renaissance.
According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, increasing investments by IOCs as well as boosting crude production to enhancing Nigeria’s position as a leading player in the global energy market, are the key objectives of the Government.
Lokpobiri emphasized the Ministry’s willingness to collaborate with State Governments, particularly Bayelsa State, in advancing energy sector transformation efforts.
The Minister, who stressed the importance of cooperation in achieving shared goals said, “we are open to partnerships with Bayelsa State Government for mutual progress”.
In response to Governor Douye Diri’s appeal for Ministry intervention in restoring the Atala Oil Field belonging to Bayelsa State, the Minister assured prompt attention to the matter.
He said, “We will look into the issue promptly and ensure fairness and equity in addressing state concerns”.
Lokpobiri explained that the Bayelsa State Governor, Douyi Diri’s visit reaffirmed the commitment of both the Federal and State Government’s readiness to work together towards a sustainable, inclusive, and prosperous energy future for Nigeria.
While speaking, Governor Diri commended the Minister for his remarkable performance in revitalisng the nation’s energy sector.
The Federal Government has assured investors in the nation’s gas sector of the security and safety of their investments.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, gave the assurance while hosting top officials of Shanghai Huayi Energy Chemical Company Group of China (HUAYI) and China Road and Bridge Corporation, who are strategic investors in Brass Methanol and Gas Hub Project in Bayelsa State.
The Minister in a statement stressed that Nigeria was open for investments and investors, insisting that present and prospective foreign investors have no need to entertain fear on the safety of their investment.
Describing the Brass project as one critical project of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, Ekpo said.
“The Federal Government is committed to developing Nigeria’s gas reserves through projects such as the Brass Methanol project, which presents an opportunity for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy.
“It is for this and other reasons that the project has been accorded the significant concessions (or support) that it enjoys from the government.
“Let me, therefore, assure you of the strong commitment of our government to the security and safety of yours and other investments as we have continually done for similar Chinese investments in Nigeria through the years”, he added.
Ekpo further tasked investors and contractors working on the project to double their efforts, saying, “I want to see this project running for the good of Nigeria and its investors”.
Earlier in his speech, Leader of the Chinese delegation, Mr Zheng Bi Jun, said the visit to the country was to carry out feasibility studies for investments in methanol projects.
On his part, the Managing Director of Brass Fertiliser and Petrochemical Ltd, Mr Ben Okoye, expressed optimism in partnering with genuine investors on the project.
Crude oil prices recently logged their second monthly gain in a row as OPEC+ extended their supply curb deal until the end of Q2 2024.
The gains have been considerable, with WTI adding about $7 per barrel over the month of February.
Yet a lot of analysts remain bearish about the commodity’s prospects. In fact, they believe that there is enough oil supply globally to keep Brent around $81 this year and WTI at some $76.50, according to a Reuters poll.
Yet, like last year in U.S. shale showed, there is always the possibility of a major surprise.
According to the respondents in that poll, what’s keeping prices tame is, first, the fact that the Red Sea crisis has not yet affected oil shipments in the region, thanks to alternative routes.
The second reason cited by the analysts is OPEC+ spare capacity, which has increased, thanks to the cuts.
“Spare capacity has reached a multi-year high, which will keep overall market sentiment under pressure over the coming months”, senior analyst, Florian Grunberger, told Reuters.
The perception of ample spare capacity is definitely one factor keeping traders and analysts bearish as they assume this capacity would be put into operation as soon as the market needs it. This may well be an incorrect assumption.
Saudi Arabia and OPEC have given multiple signs that they would only release more production if prices are to their liking, and if cuts are getting extended, then current prices are not to OPEC’s liking yet.
There is more, too. The Saudis, which are cutting the most and have the greatest spare capacity at around 3 million barrels daily right now, are acutely aware that the moment they release additional supply, prices will plunge.
Therefore, the chance of Saudi cuts being reversed anytime soon is pretty slim.
Then there is the U.S. oil production factor. Last year, analysts expected modest output additions from the shale patch because the rig count remained consistently lower than what it was during the strongest shale boom years.
That assumption proved wrong as drillers made substantial gains in well productivity that pushed total production to yet another record.
Perhaps a bit oddly, analysts are once again making a bold assumption for this year: that the productivity gains will continue at the same rate this year as well.
The Energy Information Administration disagrees. In its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook, the authority estimated that U.S. oil output had reached a record high of 13.3 million barrels daily that in January fell to 12.6 million bpd due to harsh winter weather.
For the rest of the year, however, the EIA has forecast a production level remaining around the December record, which will only be broken in February 2025.
Oil demand, meanwhile, will be growing. Wood Mackenzie recently predicted 2024 demand growth at 1.9 million barrels daily.
OPEC sees this year’s demand growth at 2.25 million barrels daily. The IEA is, as usual, the most modest in its expectations, seeing 2024 demand for oil grow by 1.2 million bpd.
With OPEC+ keeping a lid on production and U.S. production remaining largely flat on 2023, if the EIA is correct, a tightening of the supply situation is only a matter of time. Indeed, some are predicting that already.
Natural resource-focused investors Goehring and Rozencwajg recently released their latest market outlook, in which they warned that the oil market may already be in a structural deficit, to manifest later this year.
They also noted a change in the methodology that the EIA uses to estimate oil production, which may well have led to a serious overestimation of production growth.
The discrepancy between actual and reported production, Goehring and Rozencwajg said, could be so significant that the EIA may be estimating growth where there’s a production decline.
So, on the one hand, some pretty important assumptions are being made about demand, namely, that it will grow more slowly this year than it did last year.
This assumption is based on another one, by the way, and this is the assumption that EV sales will rise as strongly as they did last year, when they failed to make a dent in oil demand growth, and kill some oil demand.
On the other hand, there is the assumption that U.S. drillers will keep drilling like they did last year. What would motivate such a development is unclear, besides the expectation that Europe will take in even more U.S. crude this year than it already is.
This is a much safer assumption than the one about demand, by the way. And yet, there are indications from the U.S. oil industry that there will be no pumping at will this year. There will be more production discipline.
Predicting oil prices accurately, even over the shortest of periods, is as safe as flipping a coin. With the number of variables at play at any moment, accurate predictions are usually little more than a fluke, especially when perceptions play such an outsized role in price movements.
One thing is for sure, though. There may be surprises this year in oil.
lrina Slav
Slav writes for Oilprice.com.
