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NNPCL, Heirs Energies Sustains Gas Supply To Geometric Power
NNPCL, Heirs Energies Sustains Gas Supply To Geometric Power
Heirs Energies, an indigenous oil and gas firm working with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) which took over the ownership and operations of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17 from The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), have sustained gas supply to Geometric Power which has resulted to uninterrupted electricity supply to the Company’s network area.
To this end the Aba Power Electricity Limited has achieved an other 45 days of uninterrupted power supply to its customers.
Electricity consumers in the Southeast geopolitical zone affirmed this laudable achievement which has boosted businesses in the Aba Ring-fenced Area of Abia State.
Aba Power provides electricity to nine of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in Abia State known as the Aba Ring-fence.
“As Geometric Power Ltd, the owner and operator of the 188-megawatt thermal plant in the Osisioma Industrial Layout of Aba, marks yet another 45 days of uninterrupted electricity”, declared the Southeast zone of the Electricity Consumers Association of Nigeria (ECAN) in a statement in Awka, Anambra State. “We commend Aba Power for delivering the entire electricity generated by the plant to our people and industries faithfully”.
The statement signed by Engr Joe Ubani, the ECAN chairman in the Southeast, and Comrade Chris Okpara, the secretary, attributed the steady supply in almost two months to uninterrupted natural gas supply to the plant.
“Our investigation shows that gas supply has been steady”, said the statement.
“This shows that Heirs Energies, an indigenous oil and gas firm working with the Nigeerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) which took over the ownership and operations of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 17 from The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), has been grappling with operational challenges to the admiration of all”.
Heirs Energies supplies natural gas to the 188MW Geometric Power Plant from its gas facilities in Owaza in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State through a 27-kilometre gas pipeline built by the Geometric Power group at $50m.
ECAN explained that the gas facilities recorded technical depreciation before Heirs Energies and the NNPCL acquired them because the SPDC stopped investments in them following a protracted case in Court between Shell and the Federal Government when the immediate past federal administration declined to renew SPDC’s lease.
“We are delighted that Heirs Energies, alongside NNPCL, is building up capabilities, indicating what Nigerian corporate entities, entrepreneurs and professionals can do if given the opportunity”, ECAN added.
The association of electricity consumers stated that the steady gas supply from Heirs Energies in recent weeks which has resulted in constant power supply to the Aba Ring-fence by Aba Power led Governor Alex Otti of Abia to declare that “in Aba we have gone beyond this problem” when he was speaking at the graduation ceremonies of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought and public power to the venue suddenly went off almost two weeks ago.
“Our advice to the Nigerian authorities”, continued ECAN, “is to take a look at what the Geometric Power Group has been doing and borrow a leaf from it, so that the rest of the country can enjoy uninterrupted, quality, and affordable electricity.
“It is heartwarming that the Minister of power, Chief Adebaya Adelabu, is already going in this direction, and we urge all Nigerians to support him”.
UK Energy Watchdog Dismisses Dirty Petrol Import Allegations Against Dangote
An independent investigation by a United Kingdom-based energy watchdog, Impact Investigators Platform (IIP), has come up with its findings dismissing recent media claims that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery imported substandard petrol into Nigeria.
The organisation after its investigation described the allegations as “technically inaccurate, commercially implausible, and unsupported by verifiable evidence.”
The investigations finds no dirty fuel In a detailed report signed by its lead investigator, Raymond Neil, and released on Friday, in which it confirmed that its independent review of shipping manifests, customs declarations, and refinery process documentation found no indication that Dangote Refinery imported or sold finished petrol exceeding Nigeria’s sulphur limit of 50 parts per million (ppm).
The IIP said it launched an independent probe following viral reports alleging that a vessel delivered high-sulphur petrol to the refinery disguised as locally produced fuel.
However, Neil clarified that the shipment in question was not a finished fuel product but an intermediate feedstock — a common raw material used globally by refineries to optimise production. “Our analysis confirms that the shipment being referenced was a blending component, not a finished petrol product,” Neil stated.
“It was imported strictly for refinery processing and never intended for direct sale to consumers.” According to Neil, refineries worldwide, in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, routinely import intermediate streams such as high-sulphur catalytic gasoline or straight-run naphtha to balance their production yields. “This is normal industry practice,” he emphasised, “and it does not imply that substandard fuel is being sold to the public.”
The IIP report confirmed that all Dangote Refinery import documentation and clearances were consistent with the regulations of both the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The refinery, which operates under a Free Trade Zone licence, is authorised to import intermediate materials for processing, all of which must undergo refining before entering the domestic market.
Neil further explained that the IIP’s assessment involved verifying laboratory test results, refinery utilisation records, and port inspection certificates in both the UK and Nigeria.
None of the reviewed evidence, he said, supported the claim that Dangote imported petrol ready for public consumption. “The sulphur levels cited in those reports belong to intermediate-grade gasoline, not finished petrol. To suggest otherwise is to misunderstand refinery operations,” Neil clarified.
Neil warned that misinformation on technical matters could damage public confidence in Nigeria’s biggest industrial project.
“The Dangote Refinery is a strategic national asset,” he said. “Public debate must be guided by facts, not conjecture.”
The IIP also urged Nigerian authorities to establish a rapid-response verification mechanism to counter unverified claims about refinery operations. Transparency requires both openness and accurate interpretation of data,” Neil noted.
The report further praised the refinery’s strong compliance and audit culture, stating that its internal systems meet the standards of the European Refining Association and the American Petroleum Institute.
“Every product stream leaving the refinery is certified by an ISO-accredited lab,” Neil revealed. “These certificates are regularly submitted to the NMDPRA before any domestic dispatch.” Verdict:
Concluding the investigation, the UK-based watchdog reaffirmed that Dangote Refinery did not import dirty fuel and operates within global best practices. “Our findings show a refinery engaged in legitimate global trade, committed to delivering cleaner fuels that meet international standards,” Neil declared.
Gas Operators Raises Fear Of Weak Domestic Demand
It was also argued that the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (PiCNG) Initiative which targets to popularize use of natural gas as alternative fuel for transportation in the country has not gained any level of traction with the motoring public because of the prohibitive cost of converting internal combustion engines to run on gas.
The main concerns,are the high cost of conversion, availability of gas refuel outlets along major highways in the country and sustainability of CNG supply in the market.
To address the cost of conversion, Mr Adeosun proposed that government should incentivize conversion of heavy vehicles and industrial equipment to run on CNG while the mostly older vehicles that dominate private and local transit could be addressed later.
He also called on government to directly intervene with supply of adoption kits including gas cylinders, stoves and cookers to mainly rural and low income Nigerian homes to enable them overcome the cost of switching from dirtier kitchen fuels.
He, again, called for policies that make inclusion of gas reticulation infrastructure and facilities in future and existing residential estates mandatory in order to create more structured demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) for home applications.
Without developing the last mile demand centers through robust infrastructural development that connects the market with consumers, the panelist argue, the key objectives of the prevailing campaign for gas penetration might not be realized in good time.
Industry pundits who examined the progress of the government’s Decade of Gas programme also stressed the need to urgently determine the real targets of gas penetration initiatives in order to refine the policy strategies in order to achieve the desired goals.
It would be recalled that government has in the past 20 years tinkered with several policies and programmes to harness the country’s huge gas reserves to spur economic and industrial development.
More recently, there has been the Nigerian Autogas Policy, the Nigerian Gas Expansion Policy, Nigerian LPG Penetration Programme, the Presidential CNG Initiative, and many similar schemes.
Earlier policies and programmes which yielded positive but limited results including investments in gas monetization including liquefaction and export, regional supply pipelines, gas-to-liquid (GTL) plants and others were recently consolidated with the recent ones into the Decade of Gas programme.
However, the expected results and dividends from the Decade of Gas programme have proved very slow in creating robust domestic gas market that delivers affordable and cleaner fuel options to homes and businesses in the country.
With persistent pressure from gas producers for returns on solid investments in harnessing produced gas to meet domestic supply obligation, players in the retail end of the chain also struggle with limited results in expanding the market to accept greater volumes and enhance the economies of scale.
Whereas policy drivers in government continue assure the public that efforts are being maximized to bring the citizens cleaner and affordable energy for industrial, commercial and domestic applications; prices continue to defy mitigation.
