Category: West Africa

One of the first major tasks the administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari will have to contend with will be how to finance the 2015 budget in the wake of low oil price and rising threats from declining revenue. This becomes very critical when viewed against the backdrop of the tough economic conditions witnessed over the last couple of months in the country, especially in the area of declining crude oil and gas receipts and Federal Government’s inability to meet some of its financial obligations. Budget highlights It was bad enough that the 2015 budget was being passed more than four months into the year, and was passed by the House of Representatives some days ago at a higher spend rate. The House increased the budget to N4.493 trillion from the N4.358 trillion proposed by the Executive, without taking into consideration the prevailing volatility in crude oil prices. The House […]

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Nigeria’s government plans to run down its oil savings to offset revenue shortfalls and pay debt, such as salaries for state workers. The Excess Crude Account, which has a balance of about $2 billion, will be drawn down by $1.7 billion to allocate to the federal, state and local arms of the government, Accountant-General Ahmed Idris told reporters on Monday in the capital, Abuja. Nigeria accumulates revenue in the ECA when the oil price exceeds the benchmark estimated in the budget. Those savings have dwindled from $21 billion in 2008, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund. A lack of savings and an almost 50 percent slump in oil prices in the past year is putting pressure on the government of Muhammadu Buhari to deliver on promises that helped to sweep him into office on May 29. Buhari, 72, said last month his government is facing severe financial […]

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Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spent nearly half of the money it earned in three years and remitted the other half to the federation account, it was revealed yesterday. The corporation earned N8.1trn from crude oil sales from 2012 to 2015, withheld N3.8trn and paid only N4.3 trillion to the national treasury. Officials of the corporation revealed these facts themselves while briefing members of the National Economic Council yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. They also said that former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spent $2.1bn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) without the approval of NEC. The governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, disclosed these while briefing State House journalists on the outcome of the four-hour meeting. President Muhammadu Buhari had inaugurated the National Economic Council chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. Oshiomhole said the NNPC and the office of the Accountant-General […]

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, generated about N8.1trillion between 2012 and May 2015, but paid only N4.3trillion to the federation account, Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said Monday, citing new details from the federal economic council meeting. The balance of the oil money — about N3.8trillion — was withheld and spent by the NNPC unilaterally without approval or National Assembly appropriation, the governor told journalists. Also, the governor confirmed at the meeting that from November 2014, about $2.1billion was withdrawn from the excess crude account without the approval of the National Economic Council, NEC. Mr. Oshiomhole, who, alongside the governors of Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and Zamfara governor, Abdulazeez Yari, briefed journalists, said following the discovery, the NEC has set up a four-member committee to comb the books of the NNPC to confirm its remittances and how the excess crude account was utilised. President Muhammadu Buhari dissolved […]

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Nigeria’s ruling party recommended the government discard a long-delayed oil-industry bill, review fuel subsidies and sell off some units of the state petroleum company. The Petroleum Industry Bill should be scrapped and replaced by a new reform bill that’s based on discussions with international oil companies to “ensure all perspectives are adequately considered,” the All Progressives Congress said in a report obtained by Bloomberg on Monday. Kayode Fayemi, the APC’s policy director, confirmed the authenticity of the document. The bill has been delayed in parliament for six years due to political wrangling and opposition by international energy companies against proposed tax and royalty terms, deterring investment into Africa’s top oil producer. The APC handed the report, which was based on closed-door meetings on May 20 and 21 in the capital, Abuja, to President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office on May 29 and is yet to appoint a cabinet. The […]

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Nigeria ’s new president, Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday dissolved the board of the state oil company from which billions of dollars is reported to be missing. A statement from the head of the Civil Service, Danladi Kifasi, announced the presidential directive regarding the Nigerian National Petroleum Co., the government agency in charge of nearly all aspects of the country’s oil industry , the seventh largest in the world. Mr. Buhari took office last month promising to halt corruption, and he said this week that Western governments had promised to help recover looted state money. The president’s action came before he has named a cabinet and amid speculation that he may be planning to take charge himself of the petroleum portfolio. A former Central Bank director last year largely blamed the state petroleum company for missing federal revenues of about $20 billion — an amount that the company disputes.

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Nigeria will probably be hit by fuel shortages in three weeks as the government doesn’t have enough money to pay for gasoline subsidies, according to the head of Seplat Petroleum Development Co Plc. “In three weeks we will be back to scarcity because we simply don’t have the money to pay for the subsidy,” Austin Avuru, chief executive officer of Lagos-based Seplat, said on Thursday at a Bloomberg conference at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Nigeria almost ground to a halt last month during the country’s worst fuel shortage in a decade due to a dispute between oil-product marketers and the outgoing government. The shortage left service stations closed, aircraft grounded, and businesses unable to operate. A lack of oil refining capacity means Nigeria subsidizes gasoline imports and suffers frequent fuel shortages even though it’s Africa’s biggest crude producer of about 2 million barrels a day. President Muhammadu Buhari, who […]

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As the nagging oversupply of physical oil takes its toll, official prices for Nigerian crude have hit their lowest in at least a decade. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) lowered the official selling price for its largest crude oil stream, Qua Iboe, to dated Brent plus 35 cents per barrel, the lowest differential since May 2005. Bonny Light, once in demand for its high yield of valuable motor fuels, fell to dated Brent plus 23 cents, with the differential below May 2005 levels, traders said. According to a report by Reuters yesterday, the drop follows North Sea crude, which hit a 10-year low earlier this week as all Atlantic Basin sellers, particularly those with light, sweet oil, struggle to place cargoes. "They’re playing along now, towing the line with other OPEC members to try and capture market share," said Kash Kamal, senior research analyst with Sucden. Nigeria is […]

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Nigeria’s four refineries are set to roll back to life in July, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said. Ohi Alegbe, the spokesperson for the NNPC told PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday that the ongoing phased maintenance of the refineries was nearing completion and that the facilities would soon commence production. "I think by July, the four refineries should begin to work," Mr. Alegbe said. He said the two refineries in Port Harcourt are scheduled to begin to receive crude next week while those in Warri and Port Harcourt would follow shortly after. Mr. Alegbe said the turnaround maintenance of the refineries, which he said began in November 2014, was being undertaken by NNPC’s in-house engineers. "We had to resort to in-house engineers after the original builders of the refineries, who were called in to do the job, kept coming up with outrageous bills," he said. He said parts of […]

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The shale boom that’s reduced U.S. dependence on overseas crude is reverberating in Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer cuts the pricing for its flagship grade to the lowest in a decade. The country, part of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, will sell July supplies of its Bonny Light crude at 23 cents more than Dated Brent, according to an e-mailed statement from state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. That’s the smallest differential since 2005 and compares with a 50 cent premium in June and $2.55 a year earlier, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Surging output from U.S. shale formations contributed to a market glut that drove crude down almost 50 percent last year, roiling global markets as producer nations lost revenue and foreign-exchange reserves. While oil has pared losses this year, prices are still below what some producers including Nigeria and other OPEC members need to balance their […]

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