Page 14 - AfrOil Week 32

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil

According to the statement, the decline in gas the first six months of 2020,” he said. “We are
sales stemmed from “sustained and significant well placed to finance and deliver a number of
rainfalls that enabled the Tanzania Electricity essential capital projects [that] are critical to sus-
Supply Company (TANESCO) to operate its taining gas production in Tanzania through to
hydro facilities at high utilisation rates.” Orca the end of the licence period. The government of
does expect sales volumes to rise in the second Tanzania has shown a long-term commitment
half of the year, though, as the country is now to natural gas through its investment in gas
entering its dry season. infrastructure, and we will continue to develop
Nigel Friend, Orca’s CEO, expressed satis- the Songo Songo field with our partner, Tanza-
faction with the company’s operational results. nia Petroleum Development Corp. [TPDC], to
“Despite the challenging macro backdrop, we fuel economic growth and prosperity in [the]
are very pleased with Orca’s performance in country.” ™

POLICY
NDPR chief says Abuja is overly

critical of independent operators

NIGERIA LAYI Fatona, the CEO of Niger Delta Petroleum to operate and produce at break-even cost, some
Resources (NDPR), has asserted that the Nige- shut-in of production operations, difficulty in
rian government is too critical of the country’s meeting royalty, taxes and debt financing obliga-
independent oil and gas companies. tions [and] disengagement of staff and employ-
Speaking at a recent webinar, Fatona ees in some cases,” he said.
described Nigerian regulators’ treatment of pri- The government has the ability to improve
vate-sector operators as shabby. “We indigenous conditions for independent companies, Fatona
independents are like orphans,” he declared. added. He said regulatory agencies could “act as
He was speaking shortly after Mele Kyari, the critical enablers and support for advancing the
group managing director of Nigerian National case of the Nigerian independents” and sug-
Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), reiterated his belief gested that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
that Nigerian independents had played a lead- could work with local banks to develop options
ing role in driving the country’s production for debt restructuring.
costs up. Kyari said in late June that most of the Additionally, he urged the government to
companies reporting the highest costs were local adopt a new law to govern the oil and gas indus-
firms that were overly dependent on highly paid try. “The Petroleum Industry Bill [PIB] is needed
expatriate staff. now to create the right fiscal environment for
Fatona did not respond directly to the NNPC new development investments,” he said. ™
chief’s statements, but he did argue that NDPR
and other privately owned companies deserved
recognition for the role they played in the
country’s oil and gas sector. These independ-
ent operators are working to help make Nigeria
self-sustaining in energy, he said.
“Nigerian independents account for [approx-
imately] 20% of total oil production combined.
We are the largest suppliers of domestic gas
to the Nigerian economy. We continue in all
circumstances to invest in Nigeria’s energy
industry and among the over 15 of us that truly
operate our fields, we take the everyday brunt of
insecurity – pipeline vandalism, illegal bunker-
ing and kidnapping. Perhaps we are the ‘stone’
the builder is rejecting or neglecting,” he said.
He also asserted that small independent
companies had suffered more than their larger
counterparts from the decline in world crude oil
prices and from the demand destruction caused
by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
These firms are now struggling with “inability Independents produce about 20% of Nigeria’s oil (Photo: BusinessDay.ng)

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