Energy Worth

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has declared its commitment to growing the nation’s crude oil reserves and increasing daily national production with a view to boosting the nation’s revenue generation.  Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr Maikanti Baru, stated this during the flag-off ceremonies of the NNPC/First E&P Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 83/85 partnership for marine seismic data acquisition vessel in Lagos, on Saturday.  Dr Baru, who performed the flag-off ceremony aboard Marine Vessel BGP Prospector offshore Lagos, said the project would boost NNPC’s drive towards enhancing the nation’s abundant hydrocarbon deposits.  The development, Baru added, also reinforced the Federal Government’s commitment to further harness Nigeria’s numerous resources to enhance income streams and ultimately boost the nation’s economic prosperity.  “Without doubt, this development resonates perfectly with NNPC’s commitment to growing the nation’s reserves and increase

The management of   Ikeja Electric Distribution Company (IKEDC), has commenced a data capture exercise of customers across its network. The exercise, which entails capturing the phone numbers, contact details and e-mails of customers within her network, seeks to ensure that customers begin to receive records/data of their energy consumption and monthly bills on a real-time basis, via e-mail/sms immediately the data is processed and generated. On completion of the exercise, customers will also be able to receive SMS alerts for any payments made against their accounts and information concerning outages, maintenance and network upgrade on real-time basis. Speaking on the exercise, Head, Corporate Communications, Felix Ofulue, said that the exercise was put in place to enable customers better manage energy costs and bill payments, thereby improving overall efficiency of the billing process on both sides. Ofulue urged customers to visit Ikeja Electric’s website, www.ikejaelectric.com, t

THE Federal Government said on Friday, that it is planning to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity over the next four years is on course. The Minister of State for Power, Alhaji Mustapha Shehuri, gave the assurance in Funtua, Katsina State, when he inaugurated a 132/33 KV transformer that would boost power supply to local governments in Katsina South by 200 per cent. He said that the government was replacing faulty transformers nationwide and installing new ones in order to ensure steady power supply to Nigerians. Shehuri said that ongoing transmission rehabilitation and expansion programme would facilitate full utilisation of the more than 7000MW of power currently available. “Government is determined to provide safe, reliable and sustainable power supply to the citizenry,’’ the minister emphasised. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 60MVA 132/33 KV power transformer project in Funtua, fully funded by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), was successfully

Oil prices rose and Nasdaq Composite had its best day in nearly a year on Saturday, boosted by strong corporate earnings, while the euro posted its worst week of 2017 after the European Central Bank decided to prolong its bond buying to keep interest rates low. Oil prices jumped on support among the world’s top producers for extending a deal to cut output and as the dollar retreated from three-month peaks. U.S. crude rose 2.6 per cent to 54.01 dollars per barrel and Brent was last at 60.44 dollars, up 1.92 per cent on the day. The Nasdaq Composite added 144.49 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 6,701.26, the S&P 500 gained 20.67 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 2,581.07, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 33.33 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 23,434.19. Gains were led by robust corporate results and upbeat third-quarter U.S. GDP data. The U.S. economy grew at a 3.0 per cent annual rate from July to September, showing resilience even as recent storms hurt consumer spending. Google-par

By Oke Peter The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has expressed difficulty in arresting the former Nigerian petroleum minister, Dan Etete and Mohammed Adoke in the ongoing trial for the alleged diversion of $1.1 billion in sale of Oil Prospecting License, OPL 245. As a result, trial was stalled on Thursday, as prosecutors were unable to present the accused person before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court presided over by Justice John Tsoho. EFCC had charged both Etete and Adoke with fraud for their roles in sale of OPL 245 during the Goodluck Jonathan administration. “My Lord, the process of getting the defendants to come to court has proven difficult,” the agency’s lawyer, Johnson Ojogbane, told the court. “Both Etete and Adoke are not in the country. They are outside the jurisdiction of the court and we cannot try only Abubakar. That’s why we asked for time to finish the process of bringing them back,” Mr. Ojogbane said. The case was adjourned till Feb

ExxonMobil  has announced that it has completed an agreement to purchase half of Statoil’s interest in the BM-S-8 block offshore Brazil, which contains part of the pre-salt Carcara oil field. The Carcara field contains an estimated recoverable resource of 2 billion barrels of high-quality oil. The block is located approximately 200 miles offshore Rio de Janeiro. Statoil currently holds a 66 per cent interest in the block, which contains about half the Carcara field. The other part of the field is in the adjacent North Carcara block, where ExxonMobil, Statoil and Petrogal Brasil were high bidders in a bid round held today. Statoil will continue to operate the Carcara development and hold 33 percent interest. Over the last month, through bid rounds and announced farm-in agreements, ExxonMobil has added 14 blocks comprising more than 1.25 million net acres offshore Brazil to its portfolio, bringing its total acreage in the country to more than 1.4 million net acres. “These agreements a

The oil giant, Exxon Mobil Corporation, has announced an estimated third quarter 2017 earnings of $4 billion, or $0.93 per diluted share, compared with $2.7 billion a year earlier as commodity prices improved and performance in the Upstream and Downstream strengthened. Impacts related to Hurricane Harvey reduced earnings by an estimated 4 cents per share. According to the release, “A 50 per cent increase in earnings through solid business performance and higher commodity prices is a step forward in our plan to grow profitability,” said Darren Woods, chairman and chief executive officer. “For the fourth-consecutive quarter, we generated cash flow from operations and asset sales that more than covered our dividends and net investments in the business.” Upstream earnings rose to $1.6 billion as commodity prices increased. Building on its recent success in deepwater exploration, such as the Turbot discovery in Guyana, ExxonMobil added 12 offshore blocks in Brazil, capturing acreage with

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) has announced its first three investments, moving forward the organization’s commitments into concrete action to spur the growth of promising low carbon technologies.  Chief Executive Officers from OGCI’s member companies and the CEO of its investment arm, OGCI Climate Investments, are meeting in London to share key outcomes of OGCI’s third year of work. Some of the world’s climate and energy leaders – representing government, NGOs and international organizations – will join their discussion. OGCI Climate Investments is the billion-dollar investment fund established last year by OGCI.  The fund invests in promising technologies and business models that have the potential to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. OGCI Climate Investments is building a network of partners and co-investors in key sectors to leverage the expertise of this global network. Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of OGCI Climate Investments, said: “The three investments we

By Oke Peter The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru, has charged engineering practitioners in the country to provide viable solutions towards fast-tracking Nigeria’s quest to diversify the economy.  Dr. Baru gave the charge while speaking at the 30 th  Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NiMechE), shortly after he was conferred with the Institution’s Fellowship in Kaduna today.  “Mechanical engineers are expected to play a major role in Nigeria’s quest for diversification and industrialization. In the near future, you are expected to provide the necessary tools and equipment for agriculture and transportation system which would drive Nigeria’s industrialization,” Baru said.  Describing engineering as a branch of knowledge which provides the foundation for industrialization and growth in both advanced and developing countries, Baru stressed that alternative en

By Oke Peter Oil search in the nation’s inland basins received a fresh impetus following the commencement of exploration activities in the Benue Trough by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).  Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, announced this development during a visit to the Governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Umaru Tanko Almakura in Lafia on Thursday. Dr. Baru stated that the visit was in fulfillment of the Presidential mandate which directed NNPC to resume oil exploration activities in some of the nation’s inland basins which include the Chad Basin and the Benue Trough.  He said the Presidential mandate was driven by the urgent need for the Nation to increase its Oil and Gas Reserves, thereby improving revenue streams and creating more business and employment opportunities for Nigerians.  Dr. Baru added that the move was also in line with NNPC’s corporate vision of 12 Business Focus Areas (12 BUFA), informing Governor Almakura that the

Oando Plc has obtained an ex-parte order from the Federal High Court (FHC)  restraining the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) from implementing a technical suspension of its shares. The company’s Head, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Alero Balogun, disclosed this on Tuesday that the ex-parte order was obtained on October 23. Balogun said the order also restrained the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from conducting any forensic audit into the company’s affairs pending the hearing and determination of the matter. “We are of the view that the SEC’s directives are illegal, invalid and calculated to prejudice the business of the company,’’ Balogun said in a statement. It added that the company was dissatisfied with the most recent actions taken by the SEC and to safeguard its interest and that of its shareholders immediately took steps to file an action with FHC against the SEC and the NSE. The statement said that the NSE and SEC were served with the court order on Oct. 24, noting that the

By Oke Peter CNOOC Limited has announced its key operational statistics for the third quarter of 2017. In a statement made available to newsmen on Wednesday by the company, for the third quarter of the year, the Company has achieved a total net production of 116.2 million barrels of oil equivalent ("BOE"), representing a decrease of 1.3% year over year ("YoY"). Production from offshore China decreased 2.4% YoY to 73.8 million BOE, mainly due to production decline of producing fields. Overseas production increased 0.7% YoY to 42.4 million BOE. During the period, the Company made five new discoveries and drilled nine successful appraisal wells. Successful appraisal of Wushi 16-1W is expected to promote the development of Wushi oilfield Phase II and build it into a mid-to-large size oilfield. In overseas, new progress of exploration in Stabroek block has been made, including the successful appraisal well Payara-2 and the new discovery well Turbot-1. To date, four o

The management of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) has reiterated that it is fully committed to metering all her customers in the shortest possible time future. As part of this commitment, the company has metered over 300,000 customers across its coverage area. In Ogun state, it has metered about 70,000 customers with over 23,000 metered in the Sango-Ota axis to date. Metering in the power sector is a nationwide challenge as factors such as the fluctuation and scarcity of foreign exchange, inflation rate among others have slowed down the sincere efforts of DisCos in tackling this issue. IBEDC has tried to balance the challenge by patronizing local manufacturers who unfortunately cannot meet the current demand. This however, has not deterred the company in the drive to metering all customers, as reflected in the total metering of all maximum demand customers. In conclusion, on the issue of cancellation of customers accumulated outstanding debts, this cannot be done

By One Peter The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, has sent a letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), HE António Guterres, in which he congratulated the UN family on UN day. The occasion has offered an opportunity to reflect on the success of OPEC’s cooperation with the UN in the past and look forward to future collaboration and partnership. UN Day commemorates the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter. With the ratification of this founding document by the majority of its signatories, the UN officially came into being. Since 1948, the 24 th  of October has always been a celebration of the UN’s outstanding contribution to world peace. In his letter, l Barkindo stated that “ since OPEC was registered with the UN Secretariat as an inter-governmental organization on 6 November, 1962, following UN Resolution No. 6363, we have celebrated successes on many fronts, particularly in the fields

By Oke Peter The Nigerian Association of Energy Economics (NAEE) said the Nigerian government will need estimated 1.6 billion dollars to complete critical infrastructure in generation, transmission and distribution of power between 2017 and 2020. The President of the association, Professor Wumi Iledare disclosed this in Abuja to mark the 2017 World Energy Day with the Theme “Green Energy Solution for Sustainable Development Iledare was represented by a former president of the association, Professor Adeola Adenikinju. ”It has been estimated that between 2017 and 2020, Nigeria government will need over 1.6 billion dollars  to develop or complete critical infrastructure in generation, transmission and distribution of power and another 14 billion dollars  to start and complete critical projects in the oil and gas sectors. “However, the good thing is that with the right incentives and policies, implementation of pro-market policies, the private sector can take a large chunk of these

By Oke Peter Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on monday in Jakarta, Indonesia, said Nigeria was yet to overcome the consequences of the shady award of OPL 245 to Malabu Oil and Gas Limited in 1998. Osinbajo made the remark while addressing the conference on beneficial ownership organised by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Malabu, which has been described as one of the largest corruption scandals in the global oil industry involved controversial $1.3 billion deal on OPL 245 perceived as the most valuable oil field in West Africa. Investigation on the scam is being conducted in Nigeria, Italy and Netherlands because of the involvement of oil giants, Shell and ENI, as the oil block, comprising about 9 billion barrels of crude oil, was sold to Shell and ENI at the rate of $1.3 billion in 2011. The proceeds were said to have been shared among public officials in Nigeria as bribes while the government allegedly got $210 million as signature bonus on OPL 245. But

By Oke Peter An international coalition that promotes public debate on the reforms in the extractive sector, Publish What You Pay, has disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is still not transparent enough despite the various reforms introduced by the Federal Government to make the corporation accountable to Nigerians. According to the report, the Federal Government has yet to take strategic actions in its reform process at the NNPC, which the Nigerian masses can feel and relate with. Speaking on the sidelines of a two-day multi-stakeholders’ workshop for civil societies working in the extractive sector, the National Coordinator, PWYP, Mr. Peter Egbule, observed that the current administration had good intentions for the corporation, but stressed that more work should be done to open up the national oil firm. He said, “Those intentions must materialise into actions that the ordinary man can feel. For instance, the NNPC runs as government within a govern

By Oke Peter The Federal Ministry of Power, Works, and Housing, the Nigerian Electricity System Operator (NESO) and Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), have contradicted one another over how much power Nigeria currently generates and transmits. NESO is a semi-autonomous sector under TCN, responsible for operating the transmission system, while TCN was recently transferred back to the government after the exit of its past owner, Manitoba Hydro International. In a statement signed by Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing on Monday and published on its website, titled ‘Shehuri Solicits Support From Development Partners’, Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri said power generation in Nigeria has increased to 7, 001 megawatts, likewise transmission to 6, 800 megawatts. “The Minister revealed that with the support of the Development Partners especially, the African Development Bank (AfDB), generation and transmission capacities in the coun

By Oke Peter The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries' Non-OPEC producing countries’ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) has disclosed that based on the report of its Joint Technical Committee (JTC) for the month of September 2017, OPEC and participating Non-OPEC producing countries have achieved a record high conformity level with the voluntary production adjustments, reaching 120 per cent. The JMMC was established following OPEC’s 171 st  Ministerial Conference Decision of 30 November 2016, and the subsequent Declaration of Cooperation made at the joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Producing Countries’ Ministerial Meeting held on 10 December 2016 at which 11 (now 10 after Equatorial Guinea became a Member of OPEC), non-OPEC oil producing countries cooperated with the 13 (now 14) OPEC Member Countries in a concerted effort to accelerate the stabilization of the global oil market through voluntary adjustments in total production of around 1.8 million barrels per day. The re

By Oke Peter The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Kacalla Baru, has stated that the Federal Government has mandated the Corporation to pursue an aggressive gas development programme to stimulate economic growth in the country. Dr. Baru made this disclosure recently in Lagos, during a Gas Roundtable meeting for Chief Executives and Directors levels of the oil and gas companies organized by the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) where he was named the Pioneer Advisory Board Chairman of the NGA. The GMD said the mandate was to ensure that gas Infrastructure development is enhanced for gas supply, stressing that this was a critical focus areas in the Federal Government’s 2016-2019 “Big Wins” for the Oil and Gas Industry as well as in the NNPC’s 12 Key Business Focus Areas to grow the industry. “With the vast Oil and Gas experience entrenched in this Advisory Board and with the passion, I, as the Pioneer Chairman of the NGA Advisor

By Oke Peter Oil prices rose on Monday, over supply concerns in the Middle East and as the U.S. market showed further signs of tightening while demand in Asia keeps rising. Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $57.84. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $52.03 per barrel. The amount of U.S. oil rigs drilling for new production fell by seven to 736 in the week to Oct. 20, the lowest level since June, General Electric Co’s Baker Hughes energy services firm said on Friday. RIG-OL-USA-BHI Much will depend on demand to guide prices, with the U.S. market tightening, flows from Iraq reduced due to fighting between government forces and Kurdish militant groups. Again, production is still being withheld as part of a pact between the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers to tighten the market. In the main growth areas of Asia, consumption remains strong especially in China and India, the world’s number

In this exclusive interview with Marcus Heal, Chief Executive Officer, Pan Africa Solar - at Future Energy Nigeria, he will be part of a panel discussion on Solar Projects in Nigeria. What is the background on Pan Africa Solar. Pan Africa Solar is well known in Nigeria as the ‘front-runner’ solar developer and we are targeting commissioning our 75MW solar project in Katsina State in 2018. This project will provide electricity for more than 1-million Nigerian citizens at the present per capita usage. Pan Africa Solar has gained unparalleled experience in developing a solar business where none existed and then developing bankable utility scale projects in Africa’s largest and most challenging country. In addition to utility scale development and investment the Pan Africa Group has invested into the Home Scale Market and is working on an exclusive basis with BBOXX Limited in Nigeria. Our local business is called PAS BBOXX Limited and is one of the fastest growing Home Solar businesses

By Oke Peter There seems to be no end in sight to the downward operational performance of Nigeria’s refineries since the beginning of 2017 despite several interventions made to reinvigorate the facilities by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The latest monthly oil and gas report released by the national oil firm showed that the cumulative capacity utilisation of the nation’s three refineries dropped further from 12.73 per cent in June to 11.94 per cent in July 2017. On individual performance, the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company remained dormant for the two consecutive months as it processed no crude oil in the period under review. Other refineries, Port Harcourt Refining Company and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, also performed far below expectation. While the WRPC moved up marginally in its performance, processing 1.87 per cent of crude oil in July, as against the zero output it recorded in June, the PHRC’s capacity utilisation dropped fr

By Oke Peter The immediate past president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has tackled the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, over the latter’s struggles with the power sector. Jonathan, who spoke in Abuja while receiving PDP chairmanship aspirant, Professor Tunde Adeniran, also added that APC has been telling lies on a professional level. Jonathan said, “The PDP administration for 16 years did well and will continue to do well but this administration has done nothing. They deployed propaganda and lies at a professional level.” “Particularly, in the power sector, we did well to revive it. A state governor attacked our government, saying that any serious government should be able to fix the power challenge within six months. Today, APC has been in power for how many years now? Fortunately, the then governor is in the APC government as a Minister.” The statement on fixing power within six months is one popularly attri

By Oke Peter The average price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, dropped by 1.2 per cent year-on-year, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said. According to a report on the NBS website, the bureau also listed states with the highest and lowest average price of petrol in comparison with the approved government price of N145. “The average price paid by consumers for PMS decreased by 1.2 per cent year-on-year and increased by 0.1 per cent month-on-month to N144.5 in September 2017 from N144.4 in August 2017. “States with the highest average price of PMS were Yobe N149.7, Bayelsa N147.1 and Taraba N146.1, while states with the lowest average price of petrol were Abuja N142, Osun N142.8 and Ondo N142.9,” the NBS said. On Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), the Bureau said the “average price per litre paid by consumers for kerosene increased by 17.28 per cent month-on-month. “It decreased by -8.38 per cent year-on-year to N264.48 in September, 2

By Oke Peter The Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), says the degradation of the environment in the Niger is mainly due to spillages from the activities of crude oil thieves, sabotage of facilities, illegal refining and other third party interferences, rather than negligence by the company.   Representatives of the oil multinational firm who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, during the 2017 West Hub Integrated Stakeholders Engagement Forum for Tarakiri/Egbemo/Oporomor communities, urged all stakeholders to rethink the destruction being done to the environment with a view to effecting the needed change.    Some of those who made presentations during the event attended by monarchs, youth groups, leaders of local communities, industry experts, government reps as well as security agencies included the company’s Asset Manager, Swamp West Hub, Mesh Maichibi; Alaiye Dokubo, Government Relations Manager for Edo/Delta and Jerry Udjo, Community lnterface Coordinator, and the Special

By Oke Peter Shell Petroleum Development Company has said that its economic contribution to the Nigerian government in four years is $29bn. The company’s General Manager, External Relations, Mr. Igo Weli, made this known in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, during the 2017 Swamp West Hub Integrated Stakeholders Engagement Forum for Tarakiri/Egbema/Oporoma Community Leadership. Weli , represented by the Assets Manager, Swamp West Hub, SPDC, Mr. Mesh Maithibi, also said the company contributed $1.8bn to the Niger Delta Development Company’s funds within the period for the development of communities in the region. He said, ‘’The economic contribution from the SPDC JV partners to the Nigerian government between 2012 and 2016 was $29bn. ‘’We also know that we have the NDDC and the NDDC was set up to develop basically the Niger Delta and the Federal Government has come up with a law where all the oil companies must pay certain amount to the NDDC for them to use in development. ‘’As

By Oke Peter An international organisation that promotes activities in power and energy sector in the world, EnergyNet Limited, has announced that its 2017 edition of Latin America and Caribbean Gas Options summit will hold between 16th and 17th November in Panama City. The event will be taking place under the aegis of the Secretariat of Energy of Panama with official endorsement by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and will be hosted in partnership with the International Gas Union (IGU), the largest natural gas organisation in the world representing about 97 per cent of the world gas market. Among the topics to be discussed at the summit are: Gas in the energy mix: South Cone, Central America and the Caribbean Import and Export – Shale and LNG Infrastructure;  Technology in Latin America and Caribbean Gas Supply as well as the  Contracts Financing Options in the region and Panama’s role in the Regional Gas for Power Industry.  Some of those that will speak at the event are

By Oke Peter An International oil giant, TAG OIL has announced updates on its operations in New Zealand and Australia. According to the release, the firm's Net production in New Zealand averaged approximately 1,110 boe/d over September, which is down slightly from the 1,169 boe/d (79% oil) average over the three months ended June 30, 2017. The decline is the result of several factors, but is primarily due to the Cheal-A12 well being shut-in due to a pump failure and the waterflood response taking longer than expected to begin increasing production. Recent workover activity over the past week has restored approximately 140 boe/d and TAG expects to exit fiscal 2018 at March 31, 2018 with production of ~1,300 boe/d. The decline in production has been partially offset by the recent rise in the price of Brent crude. Over September, the average price received by TAG was approximately US$58/ bbl after taking in to account the quality differential that TAG receives for its oil. TAG’

By Oke Peter The Director-General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Dr. Rajeev Singh, has disclosed that Indian utility vendors and services will find a huge market and scope in Africa, especially in West Africa’s energy sector. The summit will discuss the theme: “To address today’s challenges and implement tomorrow’s solutions.” ICC represents India as the featured country partner at the forthcoming  Future Energy Nigeria conference holding between 7th and 8th November, 2017, at Eko Hotel and Suites Convention Centre, Lagos Nigeria. The event will host a pavilion of almost 50 suppliers of specialised technology and services for the energy sector. As the country partner at  Future Energy Nigeria , Dr Singh said: “The primary objective of the ICC is to connect over 1,800 C-level industry professionals across the full spectrum of the sector to address today’s challenges and implement tomorrow’s solutions.” He added that visitors to the Indi

By Oke Peter The House of Representatives has queried loans totalling $1.5bn taken from foreign creditors by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). This is in spite of a separate $500m loan, which the power firm is already negotiating with the Islamic Development Bank (IBD). The House, resolved, on Wednesday, to investigate the operations of the TCN in the past 10 years, especially the loans, which it said were taken without applying due process of the law. The motion calling for the probe was moved by a member from Kaduna State, Mr. Simon Arabo. The motion stated, “The House notes that the TCN is wholly owned by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and the Bureau of Public Procurement, which hold the shares on its behalf. “(The House is) aware that the TCN has taken loans amounting to $1.5bn from the World Bank and other international lenders over a period of time without complying with the provisions of Section 44 of the Fiscal Responsibility