There was panic yesterday among indigenes of coastal communities of Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State following explosions from Oil Pipelines owned by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC). The Continue Reading
Nigeria’s government is in talks for concessionary loans worth $3.5 billion from the World Bank and African Development Bank to help finance a planned record budget this year, Finance Minister Continue Reading
As Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari visits the country, little might be said in public about a yesteryear multi-million-shilling 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day deal that ended up in Continue Reading
Nigeria’s revenue agency said Trafigura Beheer BV owes back taxes for handling 12.5 million metric tons of crude through crude swap contracts with the government between between 2011 and 2014. Continue Reading
With the global economy reeling from plunging oil prices occasioned by massive over production, Nigeria, a key member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which depends hugely on Continue Reading
WE are deeply disturbed by what appears as the renewal of conflict in the Niger Delta between the so-called militants and the armed forces after over seven years of peace Continue Reading
The Nigerian government is set to retrieve one of Africa’s richest oil blocs from oil giants, Shell and Eni, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt. Not only will the two oil giants Continue Reading
Nigeria’s state oil company is shutting down two of the country’s four refineries because militant attacks on pipelines have affected their supplies. A statement Wednesday announced an “operational shutdown” of Continue Reading
The lifting of sanctions against Iran could take up Nigeria’s share of oil export to India, findings have shown. Economic sanctions on Iran were lifted on Saturday after the UN Continue Reading
The Nigerian military on Sunday confirmed that multiple attacks were carried out on oil installations in the Niger Delta area. The Commander of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Alani Okunlola, Continue Reading
Nigeria’s troubled economy, which is on the brink of a recession, is expected to worsen following the lifting of economic sanctions on Iran by the United States which effectively re-admits Continue Reading
The only sure way to get Nigeria back on track economically is to direct attention to the production of natural gas. This was the submission of Gen. Martin Luther Agwai Continue Reading
After waiting in line for more than four hours to buy gasoline in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, taxi driver Adebayo Olawole considered himself fortunate he got a half-filled tank. The day Continue Reading
Nigeria said Wednesday it would not cut oil production outside the framework of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), even as nose diving crude prices caused by a global Continue Reading
Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, IMF, Ms. Christine Lagarde, has warned that the prevailing uncertainty in the oil and gas industry could plunge the Nigerian financial system into crisis. In Continue Reading
Nigeria’s central bank stopped selling foreign exchange to money-changers as it struggles to stabilize the naira amid a plunge in oil prices that have hit government finances. “Operators in this Continue Reading
The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, is meeting with Nigerian President Buhari and industry leaders to discuss the country’s economy and the challenge posed by falling oil prices. Christine Continue Reading
Nigerian authorities are facing growing pressure to devalue the naira as the price of oil, its biggest source of foreign exchange, fell to the lowest since 2004. The Central Bank Continue Reading
Dozens of people were killed and scores more wounded in bombings and other attacks in northern Nigeria on Monday and overnight Sunday, officials said. In the city of Maiduguri, 52 Continue Reading
There are strong indications that the United States will soon resume buying Nigeria’s crude oil following ongoing talks in this regard between the US and the federal government. Minister of Continue Reading
Nigeria will reduce gasoline costs and scrap a fuel subsidy under a pricing mechanism to come into effect from January, Petroleum Minister of State Emmanuel Kachikwu said. Prices will fall Continue Reading
As many as 100 people were killed by an explosion at a gas plant in southeastern Nigeria, a local journalist at the scene said on Friday. “I saw around 100 Continue Reading
The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, yesterday said the eventual removal of fuel subsidy is inevitable. He said the gradual removal of subsidy is Continue Reading
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari hinted for the first time that he would accept a devaluation of the naira, spurring speculation it may take place early next year when the local Continue Reading
The federal government has blamed the lingering fuel scarcity on the poor management of the subsidy regime by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Information and Culture Lai Muhammed, Continue Reading
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari asked lawmakers to approve the country’s biggest ever budget on Tuesday as he looks to revive an economy hit by collapsing oil prices. Buhari outlined plans Continue Reading
The Nigerian government expects to earn Naira 820 billion ($4 billion) from oil exports in 2016, based on a production assumption of 2.2 million b/d and a benchmark price of Continue Reading
Premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol, has emerged Nigeria’s biggest import out of a total value of Nigeria’s imports of N1.69 trillion in the third quarter of 2015, the Continue Reading
The Federal Government stated, yesterday, that the country no longer has the resources to fund the oil and gas industry, and is therefore, considering and developing new models of financing Continue Reading
Israel and Turkey have reached a preliminary agreement to normalize relations, including the return of one another’s ambassadors to both countries, an Israeli official said Thursday. The deal comes five Continue Reading
THE Federal Government has put the country’s crude oil production for October at 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd). This represents an increase of 4.16 per cent relative to August Continue Reading
Pleading acute shortage of funds, the federal government monday said it would begin a gradual withdrawal of fuel subsidy next year. The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, Continue Reading
Nigeria has withstood mounting pressure to devalue the naira since March, defending the currency against events ranging from the crash in oil prices to being booted out of one of Continue Reading
The fuel crisis took a dramatic turn for the worse, yesterday, as massive queues were seen in almost all the petrol stations selling the products in Abuja. Also, some oil Continue Reading
The embarrassment of fuel scarcity in an oil-exporting country continued for the 5thweek across the country, with petrol selling for as high as N400 per litre in some states. It Continue Reading
The recurrent deterioration of the financial crisis that repeatedly hits the already economically struggling state governments in Nigeria, and which further exhausts their rapidly depleting finances hence affects their ability Continue Reading
Nigeria’s central bank reduced its benchmark interest rate for the first time in six years, diverging from its counterparts in most of Africa that have tightened monetary policy in the face of weakening currencies. The key rate was cut to 11 percent from a record high of 13 percent, Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters on Tuesday in Abuja, the capital. None of the 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted such a large cut, and most expected no change at all. Monetary policy in Nigeria is becoming harder to predict as the central bank turns to unconventional tools to protect its currency and boost economic growth. Emefiele has imposed foreign-exchange restrictions in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, to keep the naira stable amid a plunge in oil revenue. “What we’ve decided to do at this meeting is that we must stimulate growth,” Emefiele told reporters after the decision. “We don’t […]
Business activities have drastically slowed down at the popular Gumi market and other business places in Kaduna over fuel scarcity. Most business owners are witnessing low patronage due to the scarcity as fuel is now sold for between 170 and 200 naira per litre and only at the black market. No filling station was selling fuel at the popular Ahmadu Bello way and Constitution road. A shop owner, who gave his name as Alhaji Umar, said, "In just five days, prices of foodstuff have tripled in Kaduna." "Three times I visited the market this week, price of food stuff has risen drastically. "Example, a tin of milk that I sell here for 90 naira is now N120 all in just five days." A resident, who also is a fuel attendant at the Shema filling station, Tudun Wada, told PREMIUM TIMES that the station had been out of fuel since […]
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, on Tuesday directed the Department of Petroleum Resources to seal off fuel stations found to be hoarding petroleum products and dispense the petroleum free to the public. The Minister gave the directive after a working visit to some retail outlets in Abuja. "I have instructed DPR that if they discover any fuel station involved in hoarding, they should sell the products for free to customers around there," he said. "It is not just sealing the station that is the answer. It is penalizing them when they do these things. I hope the message goes out loud and clear." Meanwhile, the Minister has scheduled a session on Wednesday with key operators in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry, namely the Major Marketers Association of Nigeria, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, as well as Jetty and Tank Farm Owners Associations. […]
* Outstanding subsidy claims still to be approved by Assembly * Fuel marketers being denied credit facilities by banks * Substantial backlog of gasoline offshore WAF Nigeria has been hit by a fresh round of fuel shortages after the country’s main fuel marketers were denied credit facilities by banks, and as a result have had to delay placing orders for clean cargoes of gasoline under the government’s fourth-quarter import program, marketers said Wednesday. Sources said these shortages have risen as the payment of Naira 413 billion ($2.1 billion) to domestic fuel marketers in outstanding subsidy claims for gasoline imports have still not been approved by the central bank. Article continues below… Exchanging value in the oil markets We would like to offer you a free one week subscription to one of the following reports: The government pays a subsidy on gasoline imports, which is the difference between the landing […]
In what seems a baptism of fire for President Muhammadu Buhari in his first week as Minister of Petroleum Resources, pockets of queues in filling stations in some major cities across the country appear to have stretched as the fuel scarcity worsened on Friday. In spite of assurances by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, industry operators remain sceptical that these were ominous signs the country may be heading for a big mess in the run up to the coming yuletide season. The operators’ scepticism is fuelled by reports that stock of petroleum products at NNPC facilities across the country was grossly insufficient, with supply from local refineries incapable of supporting imports. The Executive Secretary, Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, DAPPMA, Olufemi Adewole, said on Saturday that all its members who own most of the products storage facilities across the country were fast running out of stock of […]
The Nigerian crude oil market remains under pressure — many grades have lost around $1/b in value since the start of October — as an abundance of sweet crude and high freight rates have failed to excite interest from refinery buyers. With traders also saying Nigerian grades account for the bulk of the estimated 65 million barrels or so still unsold from November and December West African crude programs, flagship Qua Iboe hit a 10-month low Wednesday with smaller grade Escravos at a 6-1/2 year trough, Platts data showed. "There is a big overhang, with such cheap Urals and Azeri [Light in Europe] for instance, European refineries can take closer grades and that is clearly affecting WAF grades," one European refinery trader said. Qua Iboe was assessed Wednesday at Dated Brent plus $0.20/b, the lowest since January 13 and down from Dated Brent plus $1.25/b at the start of […]
Henceforth, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will sell crude oil directly to refiners and purchase refined oil products from them, a measure intended to cut out middlemen and curb graft from the oil sector. The spokesman of NNPC, Ohi Alegbe in a statement on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 said the move was "designed to enshrine transparency and eliminate the activities of middlemen in the crude oil exchange" that have characterized the hitherto swap scheme, Reuters reported. Associated Press further cited him as explaining that the decision was made after a screening of previously used and prequalified petroleum product importers revealed almost all the 34 international and 10 local companies were middleman businesses. NNPC had shortlisted 44 companies for the swap agreements for 2016, also called "offshore processing arrangements" (OPAs), but said most of them did not directly operate refineries, Reuters said. Getting oil products from such companies, NNPC […]
Multi-national oil company, Shell, lied when it claimed it had cleaned up heavily polluted areas of the Niger Delta, Amnesty International and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) said in a new report published on Tuesday. The report titled, "Clean it up: Shell’s false claims about oil spills in the Niger Delta", documents ongoing contamination at four oil spill sites that Shell said it had cleaned up years ago. Amnesty said the report was published to mark the 20th anniversary of the execution of the environmental activist and writer, Ken Saro-Wiwa. Mr. Saro-Wiwa, who campaigned relentlessly against damage caused to the Ogoni area of Rivers State, was executed by the Sani Abacha junta on November 10, 1995. "By inadequately cleaning up the pollution from its pipelines and wells, Shell is leaving thousands of women, men and children exposed to contaminated land, water and air, in some […]
Nigeria’s economy is growing at the slowest pace this decade as oil prices drop. Companies are complaining they can’t get the dollars they need to do business. And trading in the naira has long since dried up. There are many good reasons why Godwin Emefiele, who runs the central bank of Africa’s biggest economy, should lift currency controls and let the naira depreciate. One of the things holding him back is politics. Devaluing the naira may give opposition parties the opportunity to claim that Emefiele’s main supporter, President Muhammadu Buhari, has lost control of the economy. With his backing, the policy chief will be able to resist his critics into 2016 before the worsening economic slump eventually forces him to capitulate, according to Standard Chartered Plc and Bank of America Corp. “They could probably hold out for at least six months, maybe even a year,” said Ayodele Salami, chief […]
The prices of Nigeria’s crude oil grades have recorded significant decline over the last two weeks, fuelling concerns over the ability of the country to meet its revenue target and fund its budget. This was even as shipping companies have started hiking their price for the lifting of crude oil from Nigeria. Meanwhile, the call, weekend, by Lamido Sanusi, Emir of Kano and immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for the removal of fuel subsidy has continued to draw reactions from stakeholders and industry experts. 5Data obtained, weekend, from Platts, a global energy information service, revealed that Nigeria’s crude oil grades had, over the last two weeks, dropped between 60 cents and 40 cents, the lowest in two months. According to the report, Nigeria’s flagship crude oil grade, Qua Iboe, was assessed at a premium to Dated Brent of $0.65 per barrel, the lowest since […]
AP Photo/Sunday Alamba LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The IMF is pressing Nigeria to further devalue its naira currency amid uncertainty over the political and economic outlook for Africa’s biggest oil producer and economy. Analysts said there’s disappointment that President Muhammadu Buhari’s long-awaited Cabinet list – five months in the making and still not finalized – includes no economic stars to guide much-needed reform. "There’s no economist on the (Cabinet) list that can suggest to the government ways to improve revenue generation and how to run the economy," said Garba Kurfi, managing director of APT Securities and Funds. The naira has lost 25 percent of its value in the past year and the stock market plummeted by 20 percent last year and 14 percent this year because of political uncertainty and halved prices for oil that provides most government revenue. Nigeria’s Central Bank devalued the naira by 8 percent in […]
The power crisis in the country is set to worsen in the coming days as Nigeria threatens to cut gas supply to the Aboadze Thermal plant. The development has been occasioned by the failure of government to settle its indebtedness to the Nigerian gas authorities. According to sources within the Power sector, Ghana owes the Nigerian authorities over GHC100million. Currently, Ghana receives in excess of 140million standard cubic feet per day of gas from Nigeria. The supply, although not enough, has greatly enhanced power supply in the country over the last few weeks. Speaking on recent developments in the power sector, a former Chief executive officer of the Volta River Authority Dr. Charles Wireku-Brobbey told Accra-based Joy FM that constant power supply in the country is not dependent on the incoming power barges from Turkey. "The problem for us not the arrival or non-arrival of the power barges. As […]
Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will leave the post of petroleum minister in Africa’s biggest oil producer vacant after signaling that he would take the position, according to his spokesman. “He can’t be president and oil minister at the same time,” Femi Adesina said by phone on Monday from Abuja, the capital. “He will supervise the ministry, so there will be no petroleum minister. Maybe he will appoint a minister of state, which is a junior minister.” Nigeria’s Senate will begin vetting Buhari’s cabinet nominees on Tuesday. The 72-year-old former military ruler sent a list of 21 names to lawmakers last week, without saying which portfolios the candidates would get. The list included four former governors, the head of the state oil company, Emmanuel Kachikwu, and Kemi Adeosun, tipped by several analysts to be the finance minister. Under the constitution Buhari must pick a minister from each of Nigeria’s 36 […]
Nigeria lost $966 million to crude oil swap deal between 2009 and 2012, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative said Friday. NEITI’s Communications Director, Orji Ogbonnaya-Orji, made the disclosure in Lagos at a forum on fuel subsidy, organised by Media for Oil Reform in collaboration with the School of Media Communication, Pan Atlantic University. Crude swap deals allowed the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to trade crude oil for refined products. Mr. Ogbonnaya-Orji said in 2012 alone, the cost of crude oil swapped was $6.4 billion, while value of refined products returned to Nigeria was $6.3 billion. This left the sum of $100 million as revenue loss incurred by government. He said similar concerns were raised with subsidy payment, noting that NEITI’s audit reports disclosed that N4 trillion was oil subsidy payments between 2006 and 2012. Mr. Ogbonnaya-Orji said in 2006, N219.72 billion was spent on subsidy, in […]
