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Petrol smuggling: Nigerian government using device to track trucks, smugglers
The Federal Government says it has facilitated the use of a tracking device to track every truck loading petroleum product from any of its depots as part of efforts to nip smuggling in the bud and arrest culprits. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said this at a forum organised by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to gauge the achievements recorded in the oil and gas sector in the last two years. Sylva noted that a lot had been achieved in the industry but that the activities of smugglers had continued to overshadow the successes especially as it concerned fuel subsidy and the quantity of petroleum products consumed in the country. “This is one big question that we try to answer ourselves because when we look at the number of load-outs from our depots every day...
Fuel marketers bewail extortion by DPR officials, threaten strike
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Suleja/Abuja Unit, on Sunday, threatened to embark on a strike action over alleged extortion by officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). It said members would be instructed not to load from Suleja depot in Niger State. The Chairman of the Unit, Alhaji Yahaya Ahman Alhassan, made the disclosure during an interactive session with journalists in Abuja. According to him, the association seeks an explanation as to DPR’s incessant demand for daily sales activities from filling stations. “IPMAN has no other alternative other than instructing our members not to load from Suleja depot in Niger State to express our frustrations after all efforts to make DPR officials desist from unethical practices failed. “These iss...
Suez Canal reopens after stranded ship is freed
Traffic has resumed in Egypt’s Suez Canal after a stranded container ship blocking it for nearly a week was finally freed by salvage crews. Tug boats honked their horns in celebration as the 400m-long (1,300ft) Ever Given was dislodged on Monday with the help of dredgers. Hundreds of ships are waiting to pass through the canal which links the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. It is one of the world’s busiest trade routes. Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch salvage company Boskalis, said the Ever Given had been refloated at 15:05 (13:05 GMT) on Monday, “thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible again”. Egyptian officials say the backlog of ships waiting to transit through should be cleared in around three days, but experts believe the knock-on effect on global shipping could take w...
Nigerian government mulls TCN’s unbundling, partial concession to boost power supply
The federal government is considering the unbundling and partial concession of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to boost its efficiency in the government’s bid to improve power supply. Director, Energy, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Yunana Malo, said during the March edition of “the Electricity Hub” conversation series on power that the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) had directed that a proper strategy should be mapped out for the unbundling of TCN. He stated that the government believed that all the players in the energy value chain should be able to align with the needs of the power sector seamlessly, adding that the right environment is being created for the transmission component to match generation and distribution. Malo said data was key to making decision...
NDLEA intercepts container containing two million capsules of Tramadol in Apapa port
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced the interception of a container load of Tramadol at the Apapa seaport in Lagos, just as 90 persons including an Indian were caught in its dragnet during raids of some drug cartels in parts of Lagos where a total of 614.396 kilograms of various hard drugs were reportedly seized. A breakdown showed that at the Apapa seaport, about two million capsules of Tramadol (precisely 1,994,400 capsules) tucked in 554 cartons were intercepted in the container, which was falsely declared to contain ceramic tiles. NDLEA Apapa Seaport Area Commander Samuel Gadzama said one of the containers bearing the illicit drug had been intercepted and seized in Kenya, according to a statement by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi on Wedn...
