NNPC Secures Court Order Stopping ExxonMobil from Quitting Nigeria
Federal High Court in Abuja has granted the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited relief in the quest to restrain the sale of shares of ExxonMobil’s Nigerian unit to any third parties.
It will be recalled that last February, Seplat Energy Plc, a major Nigeria international energy company, had agreed to buy the entire onshore and shallow-water assets of ExxonMobil in Nigeria.
While opposing the deal, the NNPC early in July 6, secured an order restraining Mobil Producing Nigeria Ltd and Mobil Development Nigeria Plc from selling, trading, allocating, transferring, or disposing of their shares in their interests covered by or connected to the Joint Operating Agreement between them and the NNPC.
The order restrains “sale of assets covered in Oil Mining Lease 68, Oil Mining Lease 69, Oil Mining Lease 70 and Oil Prospecting Licence 94, to anybody, person (s), company, consortium or entity howsoever described pending the determination of the claimant/applicant’s motion filed on the 5th of July or when the judicial tribunal is duly constituted and can make interim preservation orders,” according to the injunction.
The motion, with suit no: FCT/HC/BW/CV/173/22 m/203/2022, was filed on July 5 at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, in the Abuja division, presided over by Justice B. Belgore. It had the upstream regulator as one of the defendants.
Power: Nigerian Businesses Turn to Solar As Diesel Cost Soar
Investigations show that Nigeria firms dealing in solar power are struggling to contain demand from manufacturers and other business concerns who are increasingly resorting to solar power for energy.
This development comes on the heels of soaring price of diesel, said to be a response of rising global oil prices, which is stifling businesses in Nigeria.
Supply constraints could, however, hamper their ability to capitalize on the trend, with some saying they have begun to turn away customers because they are unable to meet demand.
Nigeria with a population of more than 200 million people, has installed electricity capacity of 12,500 megawatts but the national grid only provides 4,000mw at peak, leaving businesses and citizens heavily reliant on diesel-powered generators.
The price of diesel, not subsidised like petrol, has nearly tripled to N800 a litre ($1.93). Most of that increase came in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“There has been an increased growth in demand (for solar), I think really driven by the spike in diesel prices this year,” Victor Ezenwoko, Daystar Power chief commercial officer said.
The Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) says the country spends $22 billion annually to fuel generators. Solar power adoption is estimated at below 2% and some businesses perceive it as unsuitable for large-scale use, industry executives said.
A study earlier this year by Boston Consulting Group and All-On, a Shell-funded firm, said Nigeria’s installed photovoltaic solar panel per capita amounted to 1 watt compared to an average 8 watts in similar emerging markets like South Africa.
That is changing as energy costs eat into company margins, forcing businesses to actively consider solar, a clean form of energy, said Prince Ojeabulu, CEO at Rensource Energy.
$23m ZimFund Raise Hope For Power Supply In Zimbabwe
Courtesy of the $23million fund from the Emergency Power Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project funded by ZimFund, Zimbabweans are looking forward to great relief of the delivery of new transformer to restore adequate power supply to the South African country.
The project, according to a statement made available to the media on Monday, has reached the last leg of implementation with the delivery of a 175 MVA transformer.
The new transformer was delivered on Sunday 10 July to the Sherwood Substation in Kwekwe Midlands Province, about 200km to the west of Harare.
Phase II of the ZimFund Emergency Power Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project (EPIRP II) was funded to the tune of $22.74 million by ZimFund, in which the African Development Bank Group is a major partner.
The African Development Bank-managed EPIRP Phase II was designed to improve the availability of electricity supply. The project target areas were Kwekwe, Gweru, Bulawayo, Mutare, Harare and Hwange, with a combined target population of 5 million people.
WSP Power Managing Director, Dinesh Buldoo representing the government of Zimbabwe said the delivery of the transformer was “a key milestone since it is the largest key equipment included in the project scope.”
The $145.8 million fund’s donors include Australia, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom. Most of the substations rehabilitated under ZimFund power project, supply power to critical institutions such as hospitals, schools and universities, water and sewage treatment plants, mines and other public facilities that cater for a population of over 5 million people, spread across the country’s provinces.
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