By Oluwayanmife Lucas

Axxela Limited, a gas and power portfolio company in sub-Saharan Africa, has published its 2025 Sustainability Report, providing a comprehensive overview of the company’s environmental, social and governance performance across its operations during the year.

The report, themed: “Enabling Access, Deepening Impact”, highlights Axxela’s performance across key metrics and underscores its efforts to expand its infrastructure footprint, deepen stakeholder engagement and strengthen responsible business practices.

In the year under review, Axxela expanded its gas pipeline network by 39km, enhancing connectivity across Lagos, Ogun and Rivers states. The company also recorded zero fatalities and achieved 9.6 million Lost Time Injury (LTI) free man-hours across its operations.

In addition, the firm also strengthened its customer portfolio by connecting new industrial and commercial customers to its network. Other significant milestones include achieving Great Place to Work certification and receiving a Gold Medal rating in the EcoVadis Sustainability Assessment, placing Axxela among the top five per cent of companies assessed globally.

Commenting on the report, Group Chief Executive Officer, Axxela, Moshood Olajide, emphasised that the firm’s 2025 performance reflected the company’s commitment to responsible growth and long-term value creation.

“Expanding domestic gas utilisation remains central to our strategy. Each new customer connection supports cleaner and more efficient energy use, helping industries improve efficiency and reduce reliance on traditionally dirtier fuels. Our growth remains anchored in responsible infrastructure development and long-term value creation. We will continue to support Nigeria’s transition towards a more sustainable gas-powered economy,” he said.

The report also outlines Axxela’s approach to environmental management, including environmental monitoring, operational controls and rehabilitation programmes designed to minimise environmental disturbance and protect biodiversity.

The company maintained environmental compliance registers, conducted annual compliance audits and risk assessments, and carried out quarterly emerging risk scans across its operations and projects.

Axxela’s 2025 Sustainability Report, its ninth consecutive edition, was prepared in line with the core requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards and builds on the reporting discipline and frameworks established over previous reporting years. The report highlights the company’s steadfast commitment to transparent disclosure, responsible business practices and long-term value creation, while detailing the progress, priorities and actions shaping its approach to sustainable and responsible growth.

By Oluwayanmife Lucas

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) yesterday revealed that the 11 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) collected N191.86billion revenue from customers in June 2026.

In the period under review, the companies issued N240.71billion bills to the customers for the N315.73 billion energy that was received.

This was contained in the June 2026 Factsheet, which broke down the financial health and efficiency of the Distribution Companies (DisCos) across the country.

In June, said NERC, the companies failed to collect N48.95billion revenue.

While the energy distributors recorded 76.24 pper cent billing efficiency, 79.71 per cent collection efficiency, the industry posted 74.24 per cent revenue performance efficiency.

In the highlights of the factsheet, NERC said, “Billing Efficiency: Stood at 76.24 per cent, with total energy billed reaching ₦240.71billion out of ₦315.73billion energy received.

Collection Efficiency: Recorded at 79.71 per cent, resulting in a total revenue collection of ₦191.86billion for the month. Revenue Recovery Performance: The industry reached an overall Recovery Efficiency of 74.24 per cent.”

The factsheet also disclosed that with 87.04 per cent, Eko DisCo was top on the list of performance as Port Harcourt trailed it with 86.33 per cent.

With 82.23 per cent, Benin DisCo, according to NERC, was the third on the performance ladder.

“Top Performers: Eko (87.04 per cent), Port Harcourt (86.33 per cent), and Benin (82.23 per cent) DisCos stood out with the highest recovery efficiency levels for June,” NERC said.

• Surpasses OPEC quota for third consecutive

By Oluwayanmife Lucas

For the third consecutive month, Nigeria has sustained exceeding her Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+) allocated crude oil quoted of 1.5 million barrels per day (mbpd). This was contained in the latest statistics from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) released yesterday.

According to the data, in the month of July, the country produced 1.505mbpd of crude oil and 0.17mbpd of condensate, bringing the combined daily production to 1.67mbpd. In this period, the daily peak production of crude oil and condensate was 1.78mbpd while the lowest daily production was 1.57mbpd.

A breakdown of the daily average crude oil and condensate production by terminals/streams during the review month shows that Forcados Terminal accounted for 322.34kbpd while Bonny Terminal accounted for 303.72kbpd while Qua Iboe Terminal recorded an average production of 158.02kbpd of crude oil and condensates while Escravos Oil Terminal posted a daily average of 131.41kbpd. Bonga ranked as the fifth highest producing terminal, recording an average of 100.23kbpd of crude oil.

Although Nigeria met its OPEC quota in the month of July, the statistics show that on a month on month basis, production fell by four per cent. This, the Commission, in a statement signed by its Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, attributed the decline in production to operational challenges experienced at the Erha and Akpofields, which impacted production output during the period under review.

“These disruptions constrained production volumes and contributed significantly to the overall reduction in national crude oil output. But despite the challenges encountered, production operations across other producing assets remained relatively stable, with operators implementing measures aimed at maintaining production efficiency and minimizing the impact of operational constraints. Routine production activities and crude evacuation operations were largely sustained across the sector,” the statement said.

The sustained increase represents a buoy for the country’s 2.2mbpd production output target by end of 2026. This, if attained, will support the national budget viability, which bodies like the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) said remains critical for stabilising government revenue and foreign exchange. The NUPRC said the July outcome underscores the importance of proactive asset management, operational resilience, and timely intervention in mitigating production disruptions within the Nigerian upstream petroleum industry.

It added that industry stakeholders remain focused on addressing the identified operational issues, restoring affected production capacity and strengthening asset reliability to support improved performance in subsequent months.
The sustained production output by the country has also contributed to OPEC+ boost in its output. In the month of July, the organisation recorded an increase in her oil production soared by 1.17mbpd from its June figure.

Still, in January and May, Nigeria contributed 1.53mbpd respectively to OPEC+ representing 102 per cent compliance. However, in February, March and April, the country failed to meet the quota allocation contributing 1.40mbpd or 93 per cent compliance; 1.38mbpd or 92 per cent compliance and 1.48 mbpd or 99 per cent compliance respectively to OPEC+.