RELIEF AS MARKETERS, NUPENG BEGIN DISTRIBUTION OF PETROL

crisis in the country.

The limited service delivery is expected to continue until the fuel situation improves.

However, many bank customers in Abuja expressed dissatisfaction with the new closing time describing it as too early.

GTBank, First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank), Diamond Bank and Access Bank Plc, among others, all had pasted notices to customers to this effect.

However, some commercial banks visited by THISDAY in Abuja were a bit relaxed, being the first day of the notice and agreed to extended services beyond 1 pm. Lagosians Protest Fuel Shortage, Perpetual Blackout Another fallout of the energy crisis yesterday was the protest by Lagos residents who were fed up with the situation.

The peaceful protest which was held at the Agidingbi area of Ikeja, saw men and women chanting slogans expressing their grouse against the epileptic power situation and the lingering fuel scarcity.

With placards that read, ‘Enough of Blackouts’, ‘Enough is Enough’, ‘We Did Not Bargain for Suffering’, the protesters marched through Agidingbi area to register their grievances.

The President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Remi Bello, who noted with concern the unprecedented energy crisis facing the country, stressed the need for the situation to be fixed urgently.

LCCI also urged the incoming administration to immediately deregulate the oil and gas downstream sector (on assumption of office), in order to provide an enduring solution to the recurring problem of petroleum product scarcity, corruption inherent in the subsidy regime, the collapse of refineries, lack of investment in the downstream sector, loss of jobs and so on. Taleveras Clarifies SAA with NPDC Meanwhile, a local oil and gas operator, Taleveras, has provided clarification on the Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA) entered into by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the exploration and production subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), for Oil Mining Lease (OML) 19.

In a statement provided yesterday by Taleveras, the company said NDPC signed an SAA with Petrofac on OML 119, while Taleveras is the local content partner to Petrofac. It stated that Taleveras has no direct connection or business activity with NPDC under any SAA.

It further said not one drop of oil has been lifted under this Petrofac/Taleveras SAA contract with NPDC, adding that the records are there to show that Agip ENI are still the main contractors of the current SAA and it is only when it expires the Petrofac/Taleveras SAA will kick in.

It revealed that the Agip SAA would expire around 2020, once certain production milestones have been met, adding that Petrofac/Talevera is expected to invest enormous capital in drilling new wells around the production area before the expiration of AGIP’s current SAA, but this has not yet commenced.