Page 9 - AfrOil Week 39 2021

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

He also noted that the company had used its – including the Tema-Akosombo and Bui-
own funds to eliminate more than half its total pe-Bolgatanga fuel pipelines, as well as the
debt load, thereby bringing operational debts barges used to transport fuel across Lake Volta
down from $624mn to $39mn and domestic from Akosombo to Buipe – are currently out of
debts down from GHS248mn ($102.65mn) to operation, he reported. As a result, he explained,
GHS61mn ($10.03mn). BOST has no choice but to deliver fuel to down-
BOST has also succeeded in boosting the stream operators by truck, which is more
performance of its operational assets, he added. expensive.
This is evident in the fact that the company has Conditions are set to improve soon, he said.
resumed fuel deliveries to neighbouring land- He noted that Ghana had ordered new pipes in
locked countries such as Niger, Mali and Bur- 2011 but had never received them because pre-
kina Faso, he said. vious governments had failed to complete the
Provencal also stressed, though, that BOST payment process. The matter has now been set-
still faced significant challenges. Many of tled, and the replacement pipes are due to arrive
the company’s key infrastructure facilities in the country in November, he stated. ™

Buhari names members of government’s

new upstream, downstream agencies

NIGERIA NIGERIAN President Muhammadu Buhari has Modibo, Gbenga Komolafe, Hassan Gambo and
asked members of the Senate, the upper cham- Rose Ndong. The president said he was naming
ber of the National Assembly, to confirm his Modibo as the board’s chairman, Komolafe as
nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Mid- chief executive, Gambo as executive commis-
stream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory sioner for finance and accounts and Ndong as
Authority (NMDPRA) and the Upstream Reg- executive commissioner for exploration and
ulatory Commission (URC), the two new state acreage management.
agencies that will oversee the country’s oil and Komolafe is the group general manager of
gas sector. NNPC’s crude oil marketing division and has
In a letter delivered to the Senate last week, also held high-ranking positions within PPMC
Buhari named his nominees to the NMDPRA and government agencies, including the Petro-
board as Idaere Ogan, Sarki Auwalu, Abio- leum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and the Petro-
dun Adeniji and Ogbugo Ukoha. He said he leum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency
was nominating Ogan to serve as the board’s (PPPRA). Ndong is affiliated with the Nigerian
chairman, Auwalu as chief executive, Adeniji as Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), a division
executive director for finance and accounts and of the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development.
Ukoha as executive director for distributions No information was available as of press time on
systems, storage and retail infrastructure. the background of Modibo or Gambo.
Earlier this week, Buhari revised his request, Both NMDPRA and URC are being estab-
removing Auwalu from the list of nominees lished within the framework of the Petroleum
to the NMDPRA board and putting Farouk Industry Act (PIA), Nigeria’s new oil and gas
Ahmed forward as a replacement. Ahmed has law. ™
held a number of high-ranking positions within
Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC),
including special advisor to Mele Kyari, the
state-owned company’s group managing direc-
tor, and has served as head of Petroleum Prod-
ucts Marketing Co. (PPMC), a subsidiary of
NNPC.
For his part, Ogan is a former diplomat with
extensive experience in the financial services
sector; he currently serves as chairman of United
Securities Ltd and also sits on the board of Cor-
onation Merchant Bank and Marina Securities
Ltd. Ukoha is an oil and gas lawyer who heads
U&A Attorneys, an Abuja-based law firm. No
information was available as of press time on
Adeniji’s background.
Meanwhile, Buhari’s URC nominees were Isa Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari (File Photo)

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