COVER
Miners Demand use of Local Barite by IOCs
Association of Miners and Processors of Barite (AMAPOB) has urged the Federal Government to compel the International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country to use Nigerian barite.
Secretary of AMAPOB, Mr Patrick Odiegwu, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja.
Odiegwu said that the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Act of 2010 prescribed local content requirements to promote the patronage of Nigerian products and services by IOCs, while calling for its strict enforcement.
He, however, said that the IOCs had continued to import barite for their drilling operations, adding that they were flouting the 60 per cent requirement to locally source the mineral from the country.
Barite, a mineral found in Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba, Benue, Adamawa, Cross River, Gombe, and Ebonyi states is primarily used as a weighting agent in drilling muds for oil and gas exploration.
It is also used for paints and coating; glass and ceramics; medical imaging and in the automobile industry for the production of brake pads and clutches.
“For the past 14 years since the law was passed in 2010, there is no year they (IOCs) don’t spend a minimum of 300 million dollars importing barite.
“We cannot have a product that is deposited in this country, can be mined, and taken through the value chain of our industry, yet the same product, day in and day out is being imported into this country.
“When this product gets imported into the country, Nigerians are deprived of getting the job. We need to know that mining is not just mining but also production of raw materials.
“So if we are producing raw materials, we need to take it to our value chain to the industry that uses it,” he said.
He said the Nigerian barite was of international standard and could be used by IOCs, saying that it had undergone assessment by the relevant agencies regarding its quality
“There is a barite standard being established by Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON),” he said.
Odiegwu said Nigeria also had the mineral in abundance, and claimed that some mining companies exploring the minerals had more than 10 million Metric Tonnes available.
“Some of our companies that are carrying out exploration have more than 10 million metric tonnes of barite. If you have 10 million, it can serve the oil and gas company for the next 20 years.
” Over eight states have barite deposits in so many locations, that can comfortably service the oil and gas sector, develop it further for exports so that we have export earnings,” he said.
He urged the government to take advantage of its mineral resources in developing its economy, particularly in addressing hunger and creating employment opportunities for its teeming population.
“Reports of Nigeria not possessing high-grade barite needed for use by the IOCs can be contested.”
He urged the government to conduct its own independent investigations on the quality of the miberal, instead of relying on information from IOCs that were only protecting their interest.
“We can supply the best quality even better than the international grade,” he said.
He emphasised the need for an interface between the Miners Association of Nigeria and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (NAN) , to make enquiries and provide them with the locally sourced materials they use in their production.
He said that interfacing with key stakeholders, including domestic barite producers, IOCs, and the oil industry regulator, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), would help in addressing the situation.
He said mining was capital intensive, while calling for adequate funding for the sector and improved infrastructure. NAN
By David Torough, Abuja
Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has declared 281 inmates missing from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Maiduguri, Borno State.
NCoS said this followed an evacuation after the flood that engulfed the state capital.
A statement onby the Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Mr Abubakar Umar yesterday in Abuja said seven other inmates had been recaptured.
Umar said that the service was in custody of the details of the missing inmates, including their biometrics.
“The flood brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the medium security custodial centre Maiduguri (MSCC) as well as the staff quarters in the city.
“Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.
“However, it is important to note that the service is in custody of their details, including their biometrics, which is being made available to the public.
“The service is working in synergy with other security agencies as both covert and overt deployments have been activated to look out for them.
“Presently, a total of seven (7) inmates have been recaptured and returned to custody, while efforts are on ground to track down the rest and bring them back to safe custody.“While this effort is on, the public is assured that the incident does not impede or affect public safety,” he said.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
After controversies, trucks from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) yesterday lifted petrol from the Dangote Refinery.
NNPCL revealed that Dangote Refinery sold the fuel at N898 per litre.
The national oil company began loading yesterday after moving about 300 trucks to the 650,000 capacity refinery Dangote Refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.
Its spokesman, Olufemi Soneye was quoted as saying, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today [Sunday].
”“The claim that we purchased it at N760 per liter is incorrect.
“For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per liter.
”At least, over 70 trucks had loaded at the time of this report.
This marks an end to the month-long debate over the quality and sale of the Dangote petrol.
Speaking to newsmen at the refinery, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin described the commencement of the petrol lifting moment of pride to every Nigerian.
He said, “My President has been showing presentations that 52 years ago, we were trying to see how to solve the problem of PMS supply and the queues. Now, after 52 years, we have a solution.
“And the solution is local production of PMS and it is from a Nigerian oil company. And as EPC contractor, it was constructed by a Nigerian company.
“So, it’s a matter of pride that a Nigerian oil company, constructed by a Nigerian-owned company, is able to generate PMS from the local crude and daily will not only to meet the entire requirement of Nigeria, but can also have surplus to export. So, it is a time and moment of great pride to every Nigerian.”
Edwin said 44 percent of the PMS production from the Dangote refinery can meet the requirement of the entire country.
“If you look at the refinery as a whole, PMS alone, every day, 650,000 barrels of crude if we’re processing, we can generate more than 54 million litres of PMS.
“And, of course, the refinery has the capacity to produce various other products too. 44% of the production can meet the entire requirement of the country, 56% of the production has to be exported. “So, it is a huge refinery. So, it is not only going to be doing import substitution, but it is also going to make Forex generation through export revenue.
“The gantries are actually 86 and they can load 86 trucks at a go,” he said.
Last Friday, in Abuja, a member of the Presidential Committee on the Sale of Crude Oil and Refined Product and Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji confirmed that the NNPCL remains the sole buyer of petrol from the Dangote refinery while willing off-takers are free to lift diesel and other products from the refinery.
According to Adedeji, the NNPCL would further distribute to other independent marketers after lifting from the refinery.
He said the nation’s oil company will commence the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira from October 1.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new directive to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), requiring them to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale (PoS) transactions.This move is aimed at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria.
The directive issued on Wednesday aims at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria following CBN’s initiative to diversify the Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) structure, which previously operated through a single aggregator. In a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the CBN Payments System Management Department, the apex bank mandates that all PoS transactions from merchant and agent locations—whether physical or electronic—must now be routed through any CBN-licensed PTSA.The directive is part of efforts to decentralize PoS transaction routing and address concerns over the centralization of such transactions under a single entity.In Aug. 2011, the CBN initially granted a PTSA license to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc to serve as the sole aggregator of PoS transactions.However, to promote competition and enhance service delivery, the CBN awarded a second PTSA license to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL) on April 19.This development aims to reduce the dependence on a single aggregator for the management of PoS transactions, promoting transparency and operational efficiency in Nigeria’s growing electronic payments landscape.
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