Economy
Firm Builds Gas Plant in Lagos to Deepen LPG Penetration
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government, in line with its goal to expand its footprint in the manufacturing of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) or cooking gas, over the weekend announced the groundbreaking of Rungas ALFA plant.
The event was performed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, at Alaro City, Free Trade Zone, Epe, Lagos State.
It was gathered that plant, alongside its sister plant – Rungas Prime in Polaku, Bayelsa State, is being developed with equity investments by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The federal government said upon its completion, the plant will have a combined capacity of over 1.2 million cylinders per annum, surpassing the record held by a European firm that produces 900 cylinders.
The Minister described the cylinder plants as key to achieving deeper penetration of LPG and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure economic diversification.
He stated that cylinders are the most visible element of the LPG value chain and the manufacturing facilities will not only bring affordable and durable cylinders to Nigeria but also create countless direct and indirect jobs for citizens.
Mr Sylva also commended NCDMB for recording another milestone in the drive to enhance domestic participation and capacity building of indigenous companies in the oil and gas industry.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Kesiye Wabote noted that the expected completion date of the facility would be about 12 months and noted that he was confident that the Board will successfully deliver on any project it participates in.
He said the ground-breaking event confirms that Private-Public Partnership is an effective model for putting in place the needed infrastructure, facilities, and manufacturing base, to position Nigeria for the opportunities that abound in the region and continent.
Mr Wabote also affirmed the board’s excitement for being an active participant and a front-runner in taking practical steps to deliver on lofty goals of the ‘’Decade of Gas’’ that is being championed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
Other interventions by the board in the gas value-chain include the development of LPG storage terminals and jetties, inland gas processing for the production of LPG and propane, infrastructure for gas gathering and injection into gas pipeline networks and CNG facilities.
He said NCDMB was deliberate in going for the Type-3 Composite LPG cylinders considering the unique features such as safety, lightweight, and durability.
In his words, “Our handshake with the Rungas Group will catalyse the transition away from the heavy metallic LPG cylinders. It will also address the issue of high importation of LPG cylinders with the attendant economic losses.”
Other benefits of the project include helping to eliminate deaths and illnesses caused by smoke and wood fumes associated with cooking with firewood and bringing the products closer to end-users.
The NCDMB Chief noted that its interests in equity investments in strategic oil and gas projects were because the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act mandates the Board to build capacities in the oil and gas industry and harness opportunities to create jobs.
“You cannot create jobs if you do not get involved in projects. We expect that during the construction phase, hundreds of people will be involved and during the operations phase, direct and indirect jobs will be created. There is no way to create jobs if you do not create the opportunity.
“As a country, we cannot continue to sit and wait for people to bring opportunities for us. We must create those opportunities so we can employ our youths.
“We have proven the concept with regards to a modular refinery and today, the Waltersmith modular refinery cannot even meet demand from customers for its products. Imagine that we had done this in the past; today we would not be discussing the issue of fuel availability or scarcity in this country.”
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, Rungas Group, Mr Lanre Runsewe lauded the NCDMB for triggering the local manufacturing of safe cooking gas cylinders and becoming the catalyst for the rapid industrialisation of gas-based Industries.
He stated that “without the NCDMB initial and extended facilitation for the local manufacture of cooking gas cylinders in Nigeria, it would have been more difficult and expensive to implement the imminent National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) rollout, due to lack of locally manufactured safe cylinders. The country would have had to resort to importation.”
He also revealed that NCDMB’s participation and the substantial quantity of cylinders to be manufactured had “triggered a clause in our contractual agreements based on one million cylinders with our Italian, Portuguese Original Equipment Manufacturers which will result in direct investments of over $40 million to produce some of our key raw materials in Nigeria. We are currently working in conjunction with our Alaro City Partners to position them in this Free Trade Zone.”
The Chairman, Rungas Group, Mr Shuaibu Ahmed added the facility in Bayelsa was Africa’s first composite cylinder manufacturing plant and expressed hope that the facilities would produce enough products to meet local demand and export to other countries, earning the nation much needed foreign exchange.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 1.08 per cent growth was further printed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday on improved appetite for Nigerian stocks.
Data showed that the insurance sector lost 0.61 per cent yesterday due to profit-taking as the energy space gave up 0.08 per cent, while the commodity counter closed flat.
However, the industrial goods landscape appreciated by 2.06 per cent, the banking index improved by 1.31 per cent, and the consumer goods sector expanded by 0.83 per cent.
At the close of business on Customs Street, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,563.92 points to 147,040.07 points from 145,476.15 points and the market capitalisation went up by N996 billion to N93.722 trillion from N92.726 trillion.
UAC Nigeria led the advancers’ log yesterday after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N96.80, Transcorp Hotels jumped by 9.71 per cent to N172.80, Royal Exchange appreciated by 8.89 per cent to N1.96, Ikeja Hotel soared by 8.74 per cent to N31.10, and Veritas Kapital leapt by 8.07 per cent to N1.74.
On the flip side, Union Dicon declined by 10.00 per cent to N6.30, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N3.10, AXA Mansard depreciated by 7.19 per cent to N12.90, FTN Cocoa lost 4.62 per cent to trade at N4.75, and Guinea Insurance dropped 3.36 per cent to finish at N1.15.
A total of 38 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 17 stocks finished on the losers’ table, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Traders transacted 361.6 million equities for N14.8 billion in 21,051 deals yesterday versus the 1.9 billion equities worth N19.2 billion traded in 23,369 deals a day earlier, showing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 80.97 per cent, 22.92 per cent, and 14.20 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Zenith Bank with 59.5 million units worth N3.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 46.1 million units valued at N973.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 29.4 million units for N560.4 million, FCMB transacted 27.9 million units worth N293.9 million, and Tantalizers sold 13.0 million units valued at N29.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.
The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.
The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.
During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.
The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.
Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.
As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.
However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.
With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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