Economy
Experts Provide Roadmap to Advance Nigeria’s Lubricant Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
As part of the efforts to address the influence of technological developments on the Nigerian lubricants industry, stakeholders gathered at the virtual 2022 Nigeria edition of the International Lubricants Conference (ILC) to share insights on global trends as well as practical suggestions to improve the state of the industry.
The ILC is a bi-annual conference organised to enlighten relevant stakeholders on key industry developments and advancements while connecting manufacturers with key stakeholders.
This year’s edition was held on April 28 and 29, 2022, and had in attendance Mr Taiye Williams, Managing Director of Lubcon Limited; Mr Indu M Gupta, Director for Product Research and Development, Innova Specialty Chemicals; Niket Shah, Director Openspace Services Pvt Ltd; Mrs Lilian Ikokwu, Chief Marketing Officer OVH Energy Marketing; Mr Roberto Vargas, Technical and Commercial Consultant for the Lubricant Industry in Latin America; Mr Godwin Gabriel-Ejeh, General Manager Operations, Pacegate Limited amongst others.
Although Nigeria’s lubricant market currently accounts for about 20 per cent of Africa’s total lubricant demand, the industry is still in its infancy. The adoption of innovative technological advancements, favourable regulations, increased stakeholder collaborations, and consumer education will boost performance strengthening the industry.
The conference themed Technology and its application to the lubricants industry featured panellists and speakers who shared insights on technological advancements in the lubricants industry, the influence of digital technology on the lubricant industry value chain, global regulatory changes as well as an analysis of the raw material supply chain and logistics in Nigeria.
Commenting on the impact of the conference, Mr Williams, the keynote speaker, commended the organisers, noting how insights shared will affect the decisions of stakeholders.
He further commented on the technology and its application to the lubricants industry, noting that, “As manufacturers push the boundaries of engine development, the pursuit of performance has placed new demands on the lubricants required by modern machines.
“With the application of technology, the lubricant industry will produce top quality products, build the capacity of the industry and increase output for Nigeria to remain relevant in the lubricant market.”
Speaking at the conference, Mrs Lilian Ikokwu, the Chief Marketing Officer, OVH Energy Marketing, she said technology is a tool to curb the proliferation of substandard lubricants in Nigeria.
“75 per cent of the lubricants consumed in this country is produced locally which is encouraging. We do hope that in a very few years we would do 100 per cent of what we produce. Out of the 25 per cent being imported, 64 per cent of that volume is substandard. In total, we have 70 per cent of Total Lubes consumed in Nigeria being substandard,” she said.
On his part, Mr Godwin Ejeh, the General Manager, Operations for Pacegate Limited, who spoke on Evolve, Adipro’s CSR said, “the vision of Evolve is to educate the girl child by providing school supplies, thereby giving back to the community. This initiative was birthed from two of the studies ranked 6th (educating women) and 7th (Family Planning) out of 100 in making an impact on reducing the CO2 emissions in the atmosphere.”
One of the panellists, Mr Franklin Oranusih, General Manager, Sales and Technical, Pacegate Energy and Resources Limited, addressed the presence and causes of adulterated lubricants in the market.
He said “the reason for having substandard lubricants is not farfetched. Most of the blenders present in Nigeria do not put many factors into consideration during the product formulation process.”
He concluded that with an understanding of the right proportions of components, blenders will produce standard lubricants for the Nigerian market.
This edition of the programme also recognised outstanding industry players with the presentation of awards. The 2022 ILC Prime Player award was presented to Ammasco International Limited for the second time in a row, Total Energies also received the 2022 ILC Impact Award, Bestaf Trading was awarded the 2022 ILC Best Production Technology while Seahorse Lubricants was awarded the 2022 ILC Quality award.
The ILC, being one of the largest lubricant conferences held annually in Nigeria, continues to offer industry professionals the valuable opportunity to develop long-lasting business partnerships and learn about the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities within the sector.
The South Africa Edition of the ILC will be taking place on November 17 and 18, 2022, and will attract stakeholders across the world to drive conversations and topical issues in the lubricants industry.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
On Tuesday, December 17, 2024, President Bola Tinubu will present the 2025 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.
The size of the 2025 Appropriation Bill is about N47.9 trillion and would be presented to the parliament for approval.
Speaking at the plenary on Thursday, December 12, 2024, the President of the Senate, Mr Godswill Akpabio, said the presentation by Mr Tinubu would be at the chamber of the House of Representatives.
However, it is not certain if the lawmakers will pass the budget before December 31 to allow for a recent budget cycle of January to December.
Recall that on December 3, the senate approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) for 2025 to 2027.
This was after the President presented this the National Assembly on November 19 ahead of the consideration of the 2025 budget proposal.
In the MTEF/FSP, the government said it planned to borrow about N9.22 trillion from local and foreign sources to finance the budget deficit.
It pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel and a daily oil production of 2.06 million barrels at an exchange rate of N1,400 to $1, and a targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4 percent.
At the plenary today, Mr Akpabio informed his colleagues that, “The President has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on December 17, 2024.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria added 150,000 barrels per day to its crude production in November 2024 as it continues to pursue an ambitious 2 million barrels per day target.
According to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s oil production rose to 1.48 million barrels per day in November, up from 1.33 million barrels per day the previous month.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), OPEC revealed that at 1.48 million barrels per day, it is the continent’s leading oil producer, surpassing Algeria’s 908,000 barrels per day and Congo’s 268,000 barrels per day.
Business Post reports that OPEC doesn’t account for condensates, which Nigeria’s accounts for in its broader 2 million barrels per day target.
Despite the surge in production levels, Nigeria is still under producing its 1.5 million barrels per day output quota under a deal involving OPEC and 10 other producers known as OPEC+.
OPEC said it relied on primary data gotten through direct communication, noting that secondary sources reported 1.417 million barrels per day as Nigeria’s crude production in November — up from 1.4 million barrels per day in October.
The data also shows that OPEC’s total oil production among its 12 members rose by 104,000 barrels per day in the month under review.
According to secondary sources, the total of the 12 OPEC countries’ crude oil production averaged 26.66 million barrels per day in November 2024.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased”, OPEC said.
“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia,” the organisation added.
In a related development, OPEC trimmed its 2024 and 2025 oil demand growth forecasts for the fifth time this year.
Now, the cartel expects the world’s oil demand growth at 1.61 million barrels per day from the previously 1.82 million barrels per day.
For 2025, OPEC says the world oil demand growth forecast is now at 1.45 million barrels per day, a 900,000 barrels per day cut from the previously expected 1.54 million barrels per day.
On the changes, OPEC says that the downgrade for this year owes to more bearish data received in the third quarter of 2024 while the projections for next year relate to the potential impact that will arise from US tariffs.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Afriland Properties Plc and Geo-Fluids Plc crashed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by a marginal 0.06 per cent on Wednesday, December 11 due to profit-taking activities.
The OTC securities exchange experienced a downfall at midweek despite UBN Property Plc posting a price appreciation of 17 Kobo to close at N1.96 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1.79.
Business Post reports that Afriland Properties Plc slid by N1.14 to finish at N15.80 per unit versus the preceding day’s N16.94 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc declined by 1 Kobo to trade at N3.92 per share compared with the N3.93 it ended a day earlier.
At the close of transactions, the market capitalisation of the bourse, which measures the total value of securities on the platform, shrank by N650 million to finish at N1.055 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.056 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 1.86 points to wrap the session at 3,012.50 points compared with 3,014.36 points recorded in the previous session.
The alternative stock market was busy yesterday as the volume of securities traded by investors soared by 146.9 per cent to 5.9 million units from 2.4 million units, as the value of shares transacted by the market participants jumped by 360.9 per cent to N22.5 million from N4.9 million, and the number of deals increased by 50 per cent to 21 deals from 14 deals.
When the bourse closed for the day, Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units worth N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc, which is now listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited after its exit from NASD, remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units sold for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 billion.
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