Economy
Gas Remains Nigeria’s Pathway to Economic Prosperity—Ekpo
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, has asserted the federal government’s determination to advance the nation’s gas resources as the surest pathway to economic prosperity.
The Minister stated this in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, on Wednesday when he visited the facilities and projects of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), where he serves as the co-chair of the Governing Council.
He stated that Nigeria is endowed with vast natural gas resources of about 209 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, emphasizing the necessity to harness these resources effectively to drive economic development.
He underlined President Bola Tinubu’s support for the gas sector, with initiatives extending to the entire value chain, notably gas development, distribution and penetration.
According to Mr Ekpo, the federal government’s drive is geared to lower the cost of transportation, and the cost of living and impact every part of the country.
He listed some of the key initiatives his ministry is pursuing to include investments in critical gas infrastructure development to support the transportation and distribution of natural gas across the country, promotion of domestic gas utilization for power generation, industrial applications, and transportation as well as strengthening NCDMB’s capacity to build capacity and enforce local content policies.
Other laudable initiatives reeled out by the Minister included encouraging and supporting gas-to-power projects to ensure a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity, expanding Nigeria’s capacity to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to international markets, to generate revenue and positioning Nigeria as a key player in the global gas market and strengthening the policy and regulatory frameworks governing the gas sector to create an enabling environment for investment and innovation.
The Minister remarked that 60 per cent of NCDMB’s investments are gas-based and advised that new projects by the agency should focus on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) because of the direct impact on transportation and cost of living.
He lauded NCDMB for the remarkable strides it had made in promoting local content and for constructing the magnificent 17-storey headquarters building, which signifies the impressive growth and depth of local capacity.
Mr Ekpo added that the visit provided him with an opportunity to meet with the management and staff of the Board, learn more about the agency’s operations, and discuss how to continue driving local content development in our nation’s gas sector.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Felix Omatsola Ogbe thanked the Minister for visiting the Board’s facilities and assured him of the commitment of the management and staff of the Board to supporting the Federal Government’s economic aspirations.
The Minister and his entourage toured NCDMB’s facilities, including the Technology Innovation and Incubation Centre (TICC) and listened to presentations from three incubates on their technology solutions and how NCDMB is supporting them from concept to commercialisation.
The team also visited the NCDMB Conference Hotel project, which is undergoing construction, the NCDMB gas hub at Polaku, Yenagoa as well as the 10 megawatts gas-power plant, which supplies electricity to the Nigerian Content Tower and selected offices of the Bayelsa State Government.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another bearish outcome for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Wednesday due to persistent profit-taking.
The local bourse shed 0.05 per cent at midweek as investors tread cautiously, causing the All-Share Index (ASI) to contract by 78.28 points to 146,862.01 points from 146,940.29 points, with the market capitalisation giving up N34 billion to settle at N93.625 trillion compared with the previous day’s N93.659 trillion.
Chams ended the trading day as the worst-performing stock after it lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N3.06, Haldane McCall declined by 8.88 per cent to N4.00, UAC Nigeria slumped by 8.18 per cent to N80.80, and Sunu Assurance moderated by 6.98 per cent to N4.00.
The best-performing stock for the session was Japaul due to its 10.00 per cent rise, closing at N2.53. Prestige Assurance expanded by 9.40 per cent to N1.63, MeCure inflated by 7.72 per cent to N34.90, The Initiates rose by 7.30 per cent to N12.50, and Consolidated Hallmark gained 6.97 per cent to close at N4.30.
Business Post observed that despite the loss, the market breadth index was positive after Customs Street finished with 28 price gainers and 23 price losers, implying a strong investor sentiment.
The most traded equity was Cutix with 122.9 million units sold for N369.1 million, FCMB exchanged 80.7 million units worth N879.3 million, Consolidated Hallmark transacted 71.2 million units valued at N286.4 million, Fidelity Bank traded 63.8 million units worth N1.2 billion, and Tantalizers had a turnover of 57.8 million units valued at N136.5 million.
In all, investors bought and sold 747.1 million shares for N12.4 billion in 19,161 deals versus the 2.0 billion shares worth N30.2 billion executed in 23,038 deals on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 62.65 per cent, 58.94 per cent, and 16.83 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.52 or o.24 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to N1,455.38/$1 on Wednesday, December 8, from the N1,451.86/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
It was a similar story for the local currency against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday as its value shrank by N2.51 to close at N1,937.26/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,934.75/£1 and lost N1.63 against the Euro to settle at N1,692.76/€1 compared with Tuesday’s closing value of N1,691.13/€1.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against the greenback yesterday by N5 to sell for N1,470/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,465/$1 but traded flat at N1,460/$1 at GTBank.
The domestic currency faces pressures from increasing year-end Dollar demand as importers and retailers are actively sourcing FX for Christmas and New Year’s sales.
However, this is still stable, reflecting divergent currency dynamics between the regulated official segment and the informal markets as the Naira’s movement remains within the trading band.
This suggests that the FX market is adjusting gradually to seasonal pressures while awaiting further policy signals from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market tumbled despite the Federal Reserve’s decision to trim its fed funds rate range by 25 basis points. Traders were spooked by comments by Federal Reserve’s chairman Jerome Powell who sounded both dovish and hawkish.
While the rate cut is largely anticipated by market participants, looser financial conditions with a resilient US economy could help bolster risk appetite on markets. According to Mr Powell, the US labour market might be weaker than previously thought, while also sounding cautious about gains made in fighting inflation.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 7.0 per cent to $0.4311, Solana (SOL) fell by 5.9 per cent to $131.06, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.6 per cent to $0.1385, Litecoin (LTC) crashed by 3.9 per cent to $81.26, and Ripple (XRP) declined by 3.7 per cent to $2.01.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) moderated by 3.4 per cent to $3,209.84, Binance Coin (BNB) retreated by 2.6 per cent to $871.20, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 2.5 per cent to sell at $90,316.82, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil prices settled higher on Wednesday as the US seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, adding to concerns about immediate supplies, with Brent futures up by 27 cents or 0.4 per cent to $62.21 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures up by 21 cents or 0.4 per cent to $58.46 per barrel.
The American government seized a large oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, marking a major escalation in tensions between the two nations.
President Donald Trump confirmed the operation, saying, “We’ve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized actually,” adding later that the US will keep the oil.
The US Coast Guard, Federal Bureau of Information (FBI), and Homeland Security, executed a seizure warrant, boarding the tanker by helicopter. The vessel, identified by maritime sources as the Panama-flagged Skipper (formerly named Adisa), had been under US sanctions for several years for its alleged role in transporting Venezuelan and Iranian crude via a shadow oil-shipping network tied to Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force.
According to tracking data, the tanker had recently loaded heavy crude at Venezuela’s Puerto José.
In Caracas, the government of President Nicolás Maduro condemned the seizure, branding it “a blatant theft” and an act of “international piracy.”
The tanker seizure further inflames concerns about immediate supplies in a market that was already worried about movements of Venezuelan, Iranian and Russian barrels.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve reduced its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, which could help lift oil demand by boosting economic growth.
The Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Mr Jerome Powell declined to say whether there would be another rate cut in the near future, but said the central bank is well positioned to respond to what lies ahead for the economy.
Crude oil inventories in the US decreased by 1.8 million barrels during the week ending December 5, after adding a modest 600,000 barrels in the week prior, according to new data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday.
The EIA’s data release follows figures from the American Petroleum Institute (API) that were released a day earlier, which suggested that crude oil inventories fell by 4.8 million barrels.
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