Oil & Energy
Police, Electrical Dealers Clash In PH
Commercial activities at the
Electrical Parts Market, along Okija Street in Diobu, Port Harcourt were disrupted Saturday following a clash between some members of the Electrical Parts Dealers Association and officers of the Rivers State Police Command.
The Tide gathered that trouble started when a team of Policemen from Mile I Area Command on patrol ordered a young boy carrying cable from parking shop to stop.
Our source said the boy instead of stopping, ran away leaving the wire and the police chased him.
“Unable to catch the boy, the police siezed the wire and threw it into their vehicle”, said our source.
As the police wanted to drive off, other electrical dealers came out and wanted to know why the policemen were taking the wire away and exchange of words and argument started”.
Sensing trouble, the police were said to had called for re-enforcement and a truck load of officers arrived the scene, while the electrical dealers also mobilised in larger number and barricaded the popular Ikwerre and Umuoji roads, thereby creating panic amongst members of the public most of who abandoned their vehicles and ran for their lives.
The Tide gathered that it took the intervention of some executive members of the association to get the irate members remove the barricade.
Not satisfied, according to the source, the dealers moved in their large number to the Mile I Police Station to see the DPO. The source said, on seeing the crowd of dealers, police men at the station sensed more trouble and began to shoot in the air.
The windscreen of the police truck was touched during the fracas while two members of the dealers were arrested.
One of the electrical dealers, who identified himself as Vitalis decried the attitude of the police, saying they always come here to harass and intimidate us at the slightest provocation, they arrest our members. Enough is enough!
He explained that the young boy carrying the wire is a small boy who was brought in newly from the village. “So he ran away out of fear of being arrested”, he stated.
Vice president of the Electrical Dealers Association, Mr Ochomma Chukwudi confirmed the incident.
He said, cordial relationship exists between the police and the dealers and would want such relationship to continue.
“Though I learnt while the fracas ensued, some miscreants took advantage of the confusion to break the windscreen, but whichever, I condemn in its totality, touching of the truck and throwing of pure water on the policemen”, he said.
He also noted that due to the position of the electrical market, police men always come to arrest members at slightest provocation and called on authorities of the police command to prevail on those on patrol to recognise the fact that the area is a market where one can move his good from parking shop to where he sells or dash across to the next store of his friend or colleague to collect items to make up.
But he also said, he always warn members not to take laws into their hands. “If police stops you to find out anything, you don’t need to run. We have Police Relations Committee that can come for your rescue if you are arrested in error,” the vice president said.
Chris Oluoh
l-R: Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Senator Philip Aduda, Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo and Minister of State for Power, Mr Mohammed Wakil, at the inauguration of the National Council on Power in Abuja last Thursday.
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