Economy
Lokpobiri, Elumelu Say 2.06mbpd Oil Production Target Achievable
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria can achieve the ambitious 2.06 million barrels per day crude oil production target in 2025 based on investment and security in the sector.
This was the view of stakeholders, including the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Heineken Lokpobori, the Chairman of Heirs Energies Limited, Mr Tony Elumelu, and others at the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse in Abuja.
At the forum organised by Heirs Energies Limited, Mr Lokpobori said Nigeria’s target of 2.06 million barrels per day of crude oil production in 2025 is achievable.
“The 2025 budget is indeed predicated on 2.06 million barrels a day, and I want to assure Nigerians that this is doable.
”Nigeria has been doing 1.5 million barrels of production per day,” he said, adding that the industry has been able to make an additional 250,000 barrels incrementally.
“For now, we are operating at about 1.75 million barrels per day,’’ he said.
The minister said for over a decade, there has been no investment in the sector, adding that things are now changing for the better.
“We have changed the perception about Nigeria. So, investments are coming in.
“We want to improve the security situation in the Niger Delta. And I want to use the opportunity to thank our military.
“Nigerian military, the paramilitary, and civilian contractors. The combined effort of these stakeholders have led to less infractions in our pipelines, less thefts, less pipeline vandalisation,’’ he said.
Mr Lokpobori said the federal government has also carried out some reforms in the sector.
“We have taken care of the issue of bureaucracy. Before now, you must know the minister or somebody who knows the minister before your documents are signed.
“Right now, you do not need to know me before your documents are signed.
“Once I get the recommendation from NUPRC, statutorily, no documents stay on my table for more than 24 hours,’’ he said.
Mr Lokpobiri said the government has also addressed the issue of inefficiency by deploying technology.
“Before now, everything was done manually. We could not monitor real-time, what was happening in our terminals. We could not monitor real-time, when payments will be given.
“Technology has also been deployed to ensure that we reduce the corruption that has existed in that sector in the past,’’ he said.
On his part, the Chairman of Heirs Energies Limited, Mr Elumelu, said the oil industry has been able to turn around the season of decline to that of growth.
Mr Elumelu said the country’s increase in crude oil production to 1.7 million barrels per day in January attests to this growth.
He said that with the completion of the major divestments that have just come through, over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s oil production was now operated by indigenous companies.
“For a lot of people, there is trepidation that we can deliver. There is also optimism that we can deliver.
“Heirs Energies has been one of those companies that have stood strongly for growth, as demonstrated by the growth we have achieved in our company by doubling production since inception,’’ he said.
Mr Elumelu said that the leadership discourse was informed by the need to chart a way forward for the company, as well as the country.
“As we embark on our second leadership forum, we bring our entire leadership to discuss the way forward for our company.
“We thought that being a child of the Nigerian petroleum industry, we needed to bring all the parties together to discuss the growth of the industry.”
“In that light, we felt it was important to bring together the industries to start talking about the growth.
“Now that it is us, the indigenous companies that are in control of a larger proportion of the production, we have to power it, we have to own the challenge, and we have to deliver to the Nigerian people,’’ Mr Elumelu added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four price decliners overpowered the two price gainers recorded at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, August 10, weakening it by 0.32 per cent at the close of transactions.
The advancers were led by Food Concepts Plc, which chalked up 25 Kobo to sell at N2.75 per unit versus the previous price of N2.50 per unit, and Mass Telecoms Innovation Plc appreciated by 3 Kobo to 35 Kobo per share from 32 Kobo per share.
However, 11 Plc lost N24.75 to close at N222.75 per unit versus N247.50 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc declined by N3.09 to N145.00 per share from N148.09 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc went down by 5 Kobo to 50 Kobo per unit from 55 Kobo per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc slid by 1 Kobo to N2.27 per share from N2.28 per share.
As a result, the market capitalisation contracted by N8.94 billion to N2.798 trillion from the previous session’s N2.807 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) retreated by 14.9 points to 4,663.18 points from 4,678.08 points.
The trading data showed that the volume of securities exchanged by investors rose by 108.9 per cent to 1.1 million units from 535,7560 units, and the value of securities jumped by 69.5 per cent to N10.2 million from N6.0 million, while the number of deals executed receded by 2.8 per cent to 35 deals from 36 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc closed the trading session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 77.0 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira opened the week on a positive note, appreciating against the US Dollar by N5.55 or 0.41 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, August 10, to N1,360.14/$1 from N1,365.69/$1.
The domestic currency also improved its exchange rate against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by 67 Kobo to sell at N1,838.50/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,839.17/£1, and gained N4.64 against the Euro to quote at N1,571.09/€1, in contrast to last Friday’s N1,575.73/€1.
However, the Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the black market and the GTBank forex counter on Monday at N1,400/$1 and N1,371/$1, respectively.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank FX turnover fell by 46 per cent yesterday to $213.845 million from the $393.477 million recorded at the close of trading on Friday.
The decline came despite a sharp increase in the volume of foreign exchange transactions executed during the session, indicating weaker participation by high-ticket FX customers and other major market participants.
The lower turnover suggests reduced demand for FX among large-scale buyers, even as market makers continued to facilitate transactions through the NAFEM window, with the number of FX traded rising to 182 from 102.
In the cryptocurrency market, traders and investors took profit as broader markets’ focus shifted to rising bond yields, higher oil prices and upcoming US inflation data.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.2 per cent to $0.1873, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 2.6 per cent to $1,873.43, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 2.3 per cent to $1.01, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 1.8 per cent to $63,949.22, Solana (SOL) crashed by 1.3 per cent to $75.81, and Binance Coin (BNB) tumbled by 0.6 per cent to $599.49.
But TRON (TRX) gained 0.5 per cent to trade at $0.3314, and Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.2 per cent to $0.0700, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading session of the week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended in the green territory on Monday, with a 1.20 per cent rise.
This was buoyed by the gains recorded by Airtel Africa and other equities, according to analysis of data harvested from the Customs Street yesterday.
During the trading day, the consumer goods index grew by 0.76 per cent, enough to offset the losses recorded by the other sectors.
The insurance counter shrank by 1.64 per cent, the banking space lost 0.24 per cent, the energy sector contracted by 0.09 per cent, and the industrial goods segment retreated by 0.05 per cent.
When trading activities ended for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 2,956.15 points to 248,529.75 points from 245,573.60 points, and the market capitalisation gained N1.909 trillion to finish at N160.422 trillion compared with the previous session’s N158.513 trillion.
Fortis Global Insurance expanded by 10.00 per cent to N2.86, Chams surged by 9.80 per cent to N4.48, NAHCO jumped by 9.29 per cent to N153.00, Airtel Africa soared by 8.59 per cent to N6,300.00, and Sovereign Trust Insurance rose by 6.59 per cent to N1.78.
Conversely, AVA Capital shed 10.00 per cent to N9.90, Ecobank decreased by 9.92 per cent to N64.95, Caverton crashed by 9.09 per cent to N5.00, Ikeja Hotel slipped by 8.41 per cent to N43.00, and FTN Cocoa dropped 8.37 per cent to trade at N8.10.
A total of 23 equities were on the gainers’ chart yesterday, while 37 equities ended on the losers’ table, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
As for the activity log, the trading volume remained elevated, though lower than the preceding session, as it receded by 26.67 per cent to 1.1 billion units from 1.5 billion units. The trading value, however, increased by 1.12 per cent to N27.0 billion from N26.7 billion, while the number of deals advanced by 39.00 per cent to 59,185 deals from 42,580 deals.
Consolidated Hallmark was the most active stock yesterday, with a turnover of 354.1 million units valued at N1.5 billion, Fortis Global Insurance traded 307.3 million units worth N818.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 48.1 million units for N1.4 billion, Chams transacted 37.4 million units worth N163.3 million, and First Holdco sold 35.8 million units valued at N5.1 billion.
