The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has debunked allegations leveled against it in the media, following the House of Representatives Ad- Hoc Committee report on subsidy regime in Nigeria, saying it did not pay N312 billion to itself.
In a statement from the agency, it emphasized that the payment of N999 million was made to identified marketers and not to unknown entities, as claimed by the report.
The Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has debunked allegations leveled against it in the media, following the House of Representatives Ad- Hoc Committee report on subsidy regime in Nigeria, saying it did not pay N312 billion to itself.
In a statement from the agency, it emphasized that the payment of N999 million was made to identified marketers and not to unknown entities, as claimed by the report.
With regards to the allegation that it paid itself the sum of N312 billion, the agency noted that the said amount was subsidy and other payments, including Forex differential and interest on late payment of subsidy, approved by government, based on the report of the Federal Ministry of Finance appointed auditor. It said such payments were legally made through the e-payment.
"From the available information to the Agency which was equally provided to the Ad-Hoc Committee, the sum of money described by the media as administrative charge is wrong.
The amount is subsidy and other payments -Forex differential and interest on late payment of subsidy- approved by government based on the report of the Federal Ministry of Finance appointed Auditor using e-payment," said the Agency.
PPPRA further disputed the report that it did not provide reliable information data base for verifying and tracking all transactions under its scheme, stressing that such information was misleading, as there has always been an efficient data device as required.
Nigeria targets 40bn barrels of crude reserve, 4m barrels daily production
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan has stated that the key objective of his administration’s reform agenda in the oil and gas industry is to expand the crude oil reserve base to about 40 billion barrels, and increase the country’s daily production to about four million barrels per day.
Jonathan, who made the remark while inaugurating the giant Usan field built by Total Exploration and Production Nigeria last week, further noted that he has instructed the Minister of Petroleum Resources to ensure the acceleration of all on-going upstream oil and gas development projects.
According to him, “The objective is to ensure that Nigeria attains the set targets of crude oil reserve of 40 billion barrels and the production of 4 million barrels per day within the decade. It is gratifying to note that substantial progress is made is being made in this direction.”
The President observed that the Usan field, a major deepwater development with over 500 million barrels of oil in place, is definitely one of such projects aimed at achieving the targets.
He also praised the high level of Nigerian content in the areas of man-hours of engineering, training, fabrication and installation, adding that the realization of the Usan project further attests to the fact that Nigeria presents a conducive environment for business and a favoured destination for investment.
The ceremony at the Usan field, which lies around 100 kilometers off the South East Nigerian coast, was also attended by the Minister of Petroleum Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke, Chairman and CEO of Total, Mr. Christophe de Margerie, President of Exploration & Production at Total, Yves-Louis Darricarrère, and partners of the Usan project.
“We are delighted to inaugurate Usan today together with our concession holder, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and our partners. The realization of the Usan Project has served as an eloquent metaphor for our business model in Nigeria: we are proud of the exceptional contribution Usan has made to the growth of local capacity and the high level of Nigerian Content in the Project,” Christophe de Margerie stated during the ceremony.
He noted that production commenced in the field on February 24, 2012 and it marked a milestone in the company’s activities in Nigeria. “At plateau, USAN will add another 180,000 barrels of oil per day to Nigeria’s production. For us in Total, we are proud of this achievement.
“The success of this endeavour further illustrates Total’s expertise in the deepwater exploration and continuing deployment of technological innovations in deepwater production. The USAN Field is Total’s second major deepwater development in Nigeria after Akpo and sixth in Africa, after Girassol, Dalia, Pazflor fields in Angola and Moho Bilondo in Congo.”
De Magerie observed that Total’s upstream operations in Nigeria, which started in 1962, have continuously embraced new frontiers and overcome new challenges to make Total Nigeria a very active multinational oil and gas company with the most rapid portfolio, reserves and production growth. Total Upstream will be 50 years in Nigeria, this May.
He noted that, “From the Onshore to the classical offshore and now to deep offshore, Total has made significant successes, adding to Nigeria’s reserves base and production capacity. But beyond geographical and geological frontiers, Total has also embraced new concepts and business models, making it one of the pioneers in the monetization of gas by our early investment in the NLNG, to be followed by the Brass LNG.
“To develop Usan Total as operator has introduced a number of technological innovations, among which is a solution that drastically reduces gas flaring and thus minimizes the environmental impact of the Project.”
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