Oil & Energy
Reactions Trail Soku Oil Wells’ Victory
Some eminent personalities in Rivers State have hailed the Supreme Court judgement that ceded the Soku Oil Wells to the state.
They said the judgement was in the best interest of every Rivers man as it would bring additional revenue to the state.
Before the Supreme Court judgement, last Thursday, the Federal High Court, Abuja, had earlier ruled in favour of Rivers State, directing the Bayelsa State Government to hand over the oil wells to Rivers State.
Unsatisfied with the Federal High Court ruling on the suit, the Bayelsa State Government, in a bid to reclaim the ownership of the oil wells, approached the apex court, demanding that the federal government stopped payment of statutory monthly allocations from the oil wells to Rivers State.
In the suit marked: SC/SC649/2020, which had the Attorney-General of the Federation and Rivers State as Defendants, Bayelsa State urged the Supreme Court to, among other things, bar the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) from deducting earnings due to it from the Soku oil wells.
But the Supreme Court in its ruling, dismissed the Bayelsa State Government’s appeal and directed the appellant to cede the disputed oil wells with all the benefits to Rivers State.
Hailing the judgement, the Amayanabo of Opukula in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, King Hope Dan Opusingi said the court verdict has confirmed Governor Nyesom Wike as a defender of the inheritance of the Kula people in particular and Rivers State at large.
He explained that the boundary dispute, which had lasted over a long period of years had ceded more than 60 per cent of Kula’s territory to Bayelsa State and thanked Governor Wike for his determination to get the Soku well back.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr (Mrs) Ipalibo Harry Banigo has congratulated Governor Wike and all true patriots of Rivers State on the Supreme Court judgement.
She noted that every action Governor Wike had taken since assuming office in 2015 had been in the best interest of the Rivers people.
According to her, the governor’s determination to pursue the Soku oil suit to a logical conclusion against all odds, was a clear demonstration of his determination to ensure that the interest of the Rivers people was protected at all time.
However, a consultant to the United Nations Environment Programme, Dr Ogbowuokara observed that “the boundaries and demarcations between oil wells, oil fields, towns and villages or between individuals of the Niger Delta did not take into account the relationships that existed between these people”.
Ogbowuokara further said, “the victory in the court and the return of the oil field to Rivers State could bring more income to it, but it could also deepen the anger or perhaps the fury of the loser”.
He advised the Rivers State Government to ensure that the “immediate communities, loser and winner, gain immensely from the benefits. I am of the opinion that it never happens again that shoddy jobs such as the one oil companies do ever happen again”.
By: Stories by Tonye Nria-Dappa
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
