Page 11 - AfrOil Week 36 2021

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

Nigeria officially recognises

Anambra as oil-producing state

NIGERIA NIGERIA’S Revenue Mobilisation Alloca- It is not immediately clear whether Anam-
tion and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has bra has met that requirement yet. However,
recognised Anambra as the country’s 11th Nigerian press agencies reported last week that
oil-producing state, putting to rest an ongoing RMAFC had made a decision on the division
bureaucratic dispute. of revenue from several wells along the Anam-
The state, which is located in south-east- bra river, which serves as a boundary between
ern Nigeria, has 11 producing oil wells within Anambra and neighbouring Kogi State. Spe-
its borders. It has been trying to secure a posi- cifically, they said, the commission ruled that
tion on the federal government’s official roster Anambra-1, -2 and -3 were the joint property
of oil-producing states for several years. In late of these two states and should be split on a 50:50
August, RFAMC granted its request, saying in a basis, pending a final settlement on the bound-
letter signed by its Secretary Mohammed Shehu ary between Anambra and Kogi.
that it had added Anambra to the list. The other oil-producing states included on
As a result of this development, Anambra Nigeria’s federal roster are Abia, Akwa Ibom,
will be entitled to collect from the government’s Bayelsa, Delta, Edo, Imo, Lagos, Ondo and Riv-
13% derivation fund. In the letter, Shehu wrote ers. ™
that the state would be eligible to draw on the
fund as soon as it began contributing to the rel-
evant account.
In the past, Nigeria’s Department of Petro-
leum Resources (DPR) has opposed Anambra’s
request for inclusion on the list, on the grounds
that it did not meet the relevant requirements.
In 2019, DPR representatives told members of
the Senate, the upper chamber of the National
Assembly, that neither Anambra, Enugu nor
Kogi should be recognised as oil producers until
the companies working there upgraded their
licences from oil prospecting leases (OPLs) to
oil mining leases (OMLs). Anambra state (Image: Wikimedia)

Sasol, CEF sign MoU on gas development

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa’s Sasol has teamed up with Cen- develop “multiple low-cost gas import locations
tral Energy Fund (CEF), a government-run around the country,” it said.
developer of energy solutions, to expand the These “import locations” are likely to include
domestic natural gas sector. multiple LNG regasification terminals, which
In a statement, Sasol said it had signed a may then attract investment to surrounding
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with areas, it noted, adding that this model had
CEF earlier this week. It did not reveal many proved successful in India.
details of the document, but it said that the MoU Ishmael Poolo, CEF’s group chief executive,
“brings together South Africa’s two leading pio- commented that development of the gas sec-
neers of the gas industry that possess deep expe- tor had the potential to benefit South Africa’s
rience in operating across the gas value chain, economy while also facilitating the transition
from exploration to downstream operations.” to renewable energy sources. “[Gas] remains a
The company further stated that it intended critical component in our country’s just energy
to work with CEF to assess future options for transition journey, and our continued collabo-
securing, transporting and distributing gas ration with Sasol in unlocking growth in the gas
within South Africa. The parties will focus on space remains critical for us in contributing to
“enabling infrastructure critical to sustain and the achievement of an optimal energy mix,” he
grow the gas market” and will also work to said.

Week 36 08•September•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11