Oil & Energy
Fear Grips Power Company Staff …As Contract Ends Next Week
Morbid fear now grips
workers in the generation (GENCOs) and distribution companies (DISCOs) across the country as their six months contract work agreement terminates next week.
The Tide investigations show that the new GENCOs and DISCOs which bought over the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) have since begun strict assessment of their staff performances and have penciled down thousands of their staff for disengagement.
Though when contacted, the Acting General Manager Public Affairs of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC), Mr Obi Onuwah, declined comment on the pending loom, but a reliable source confirmed that the company has since last month started performance assessment and authoritatively revealed that over 1,000 staff of PHEDC may be laid off.
Our correspondent who visited some Business Units of the company reports that sack fever has gripped the staff whose hopes now hang in the balance.
“Honestly, the issue is the biggest worry in my unit. Most of us have embarked on fasting and prayer because only God can retain one here”, said a worried employee in the Diobu Business Unit.
The lady staff who pleaded anonymity said nobody is free including the big officers in the unit.
At the Borikiri Business Unit, another male staff said, “that is what the staff are bothered about day and night.”
It was gathered that some staff have started serious lobbying using their influential contacts to see if they could scale through.
At Rumuola Business Unit, a staff told The Tide that, some have already gone spiritual – consulting native doctors, while others consult their church priests for prayers and others who have big people in the government, particularly those who were instrumental in the sale of PHCN to help save their jobs.
While handing over to power investors who bought over the defunct PHCN, on November 1st 2013, the Federal Government ordered the retrenchment of about 20,000 out of over 50,000 PHCN workers.
Those staff who survived the initial retrenchment exercise were re-engaged by the private investors on the condition that their performances would be reviewed after six months which expires this April (next week) to determine if they would continue or go.
To survive the impending sack The Tide investigation showed that the new staff particularly the middle and junior cadre work under all manner of hash condition without any iota of complaint to avoid attracting issues that could endanger their stay.
This was quite unlike before when they were working under the defunct PHCN when the usual laxity associated with government work was the order of the day.
Early this month, our correspondent revealed that a secret cocktail party was organised in Port Harcourt by PHEDC where the Business Unit managers had their performances re-examined.
The party which was organised quietly without involving the press was used to honour some business managers and other senior managers who performed creditably while those who could not meet the required high record were reprimanded.
One unique thing according to our correspondent was that revenue generation was the major concerned of the new investors.
Our source further said that unlike the period of PHCN, there was a remarkable improvement in virtually all business units in terms of revenue generation.
This explains why in the recent past, the issue of crazy bills was the complaints of consumers every where to enable the units meet their high revenue targets.
While remarkable improvement was recorded in revenue generation, by the new investors, some analysts insist that the new investors must listen to the lamentations of power consumers over poor electricity supply.
Mr Johny Nwobodo, a Port Harcourt based businessman said assessment based only on revenue is not enough. “It must include workers’ welfare. It must most importantly take into cognizance the quality and standard of service delivery to the public”.
Another business manager, Nduka Clarice advised the Power investors on the danger of sacking more workers after the six months contract.
Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo (left), declaring open the 7th Annual Nigerian Association for Energy Economics and International Association for Energy Economics conference in Abuja, recently.
Chris Oluoh
The Nigerian Navy Units under the auspices of Operation Delta Sanity says it has recorded significant successes against crude oil theft and illegal refining sites in the Niger Delta.
The Navy, in an updated operations, said the successes were recorded between Thursday August 29 and Monday September 2, 2024.
According to the information, on 29th August, seven large cotonou and two fibre boats operated by heavily armed oil thieves loading crude oil from an illegal loading point around Botokiri axis of Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State were seized.
Also, on 31st August, six suspected crude oil thieves with 109 sacks of illegally refined petroleum products, four fibre boats and two wooden boats were arrested and seized along Ogboinbiri-Kasama-Azama-Isoni of Bayelsa State.
Again, on 1st September, two wooden boats and 328 sacks of illegally refined automated Gas Oil were seized at Otuogori community’s river bank in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Additionally, on 2nd September, 35 sacks of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil in a wooden boat were seized at Gbaraun area of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
These successes indicate the effectiveness of Operation Delta Sanity, and the resolve of the Nigerian Navy to sustain current efforts to rid Nigeria’s maritime environment of the menace of crude oil theft and enhance crude oil production for the overall growth of the economy.
The Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc. has clarified that the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the Federal Government, including the military, owed the power distribution company N42billion as the cost of electricity consumed and not N144billion.
The Bureau of Public Enterprise(BPE), disclosed this in a Statement signed by the Head, Public Communications, Amina Othman, at the Weekend.
According to the Statement, the Disco affirmed that its total outstanding debt was N144billion, of which the MDAs and the military owe N42billion.
“The Eko Electricity Distribution Company Plc has clarified that contrary to earlier reports, the aggregate outstanding debt owed by consumers is N144billion, out of which, ministries, departments, and agencies including the military owe N42billion”, Othman stated.
The Statement said this was against prior reports that the MDAs, including the army, police, and other government agencies, were owing N144billion and had refused to pay.
The Disco said, “the clarification became necessary for proper reportage on the matter and to put the records straight”, it stated.
Recall that during a recent oversight visit by members of the House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, led by its Chairman, Ibrahim, the Acting Managing Director of the EKEDC, Mrs. Rekhiat Momoh, among other things, informed the members about the legacy debts owed the company by MDAs.
The committee had reported the acting MD as stating that the company was owed N144billion by MDAs within its operational area, saying she mentioned that the military, police, and various state government agencies failed to settle their debts, creating financial difficulties for the distribution company.
Energy infrastructure, a crucial part of global oil and gas supply and the energy transition, are set to get a boost after a heavy lifting equipment provider unveiled the world’s strongest crane-equipment capable of lifting 6,000 tons, or 15 fully loaded Boeing 747 aircraft.
Dutch heavy lifting and transport services company Mammoet has launched a new type of crane, the SK6,000, which, the firm said, could be used for modules to be built faster and also “bigger than ever before”.
As oil and gas continue to be a key part of the world’s energy system—and likely will continue for decades to come—and as renewable energy developers aim for bigger wind turbines, the support equipment for installing oil and gas platforms, offshore wind equipment, and even nuclear power stations is becoming bigger.
Bigger cranes such Mammoet’s SK6,000 could remove some of the limitations of engineering and construction firms. These firms are generally limited by how much weight can be lifted when installed on a platform or turbine.
Cranes that can carry 5,000 tons and more can shorten the time of a project being erected on a site, onshore or offshore, Mammoet says.
“Limitations on lifting capacity force engineers to fabricate smaller modules than would be optimal; tying up site space and increasing the complexity and duration of projects,” the company notes.
“This limitation can also narrow the execution choices available during each project’s planning stage and the percentage of each project that can be executed locally.”
These days, energy companies and their contractors seek faster deployment of energy infrastructure, be it wind turbines or floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels and platforms for oil and gas production.
“There are so many supply chain constraints at the moment that need to be de-bottlenecked,” Gavin Kerr, Mammoet’s director of global services, told Bloomberg, commenting on the new crane.
“The bigger everything gets, you need bigger cranes.”
Moreover, the SK6,000 is containerised and can be assembled quickly on-site. This feature allows it to deliver heavy lift capability wherever it is needed, giving contractors greater flexibility in where and how energy projects are completed” Mammoet said.
“With the innovation of the SK6,000 crane, our customers can think bigger than ever before; pushing modules beyond the 4,000t and even 5,000t barriers. Its low ground bearing capacity also means the crane can be used all over the world”, said Mammoet’s Sales Director Giovanni Alders.
“With its long outreach, small minimum footprint and relatively small site impact, the SK6,000 greatly reduces the topside integration time.
“Needless to say, with larger building blocks you spend less time connecting and testing, and more time producing” Alders added
Energy companies do need faster permit-to-production times in both oil and gas and renewable energy to provide the conventional and green energy sources the world will need.
Wind turbine technology is evolving and making the hub height increasingly taller. According to the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, the hub height for utility-scale land-based wind turbines has surged by 83per cent since 1998–1999, to about 103.4 meters (339 feet) in 2023. That’s taller than the statue of Liberty.
The average hub height for offshore wind turbines in the United States is projected to grow even taller from 100 meters (330 feet) in 2016 to about 150 meters (500 feet), or about the height of the Washington Monument, in 2035, DOE said.
In the oil and gas industry, new resource development is needed as demand for LNG grows and legacy oilfields mature and output declines.
If contractors can bring energy projects on stream faster, both oil and gas supply and the energy transition will benefit.
By: Charles Kennedy
