Economy
Revenue from Petrol, Kerosene Sales Jump 24.7% in March
By Adedapo Adesanya
The revenue from the sale of white products – petrol, kerosene, diesel, cooking gas – rose by 24.7 per cent to N234.6 billion in the month of March from N188.2 billion sales recorded in February 2021.
This was disclosed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) downstream subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), in the March 2021 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR).
According to a statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation, Mr Kennie Obateru, the report indicated that total revenues generated from the sales of white products for the period of March 2020 to March 2021 stood at N2.129 trillion, where petrol contributed about 99.2 per cent of the total sales with a value of N2.113 trillion.
In terms of volume, the above value translates to 1.75 billion litres of white products sold and distributed by PPMC in March 2021 compared to the 1.4 billion litres in February 2021.
This volume is made up of 1.782 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol and 0.45 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), popularly known as diesel.
Total sale of white products for the period of March 2020 to March 2021 stood at 17.374 billion litres and PMS accounted for 17.265billion litres or 99.4 per cent, the statement noted.
The state oil corporation emphasized that it will continue to diligently monitor the daily stock of PMS to achieve uninterrupted supply, effective distribution and zero fuel queue across Nigeria.
In the gas sector, a total of 222.74 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced in the third month of this year, translating to an average daily production of 7,183.33million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD).
For the period of March 2020 to March 2021, a total of 2,911.62bcf of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,409.60mmscfd during the period.
Production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and NPDC contributed about 63.2 per cent, 19.8 per cent and 63.9 per cent respectively to the total national gas production.
In terms of natural gas off-take, commercialization and utilization, out of the 210.6 bcf supplied in March 2021, a total of 138.4 bcf was commercialized, consisting of 45.4 bcf and 92.9 bcf for the domestic and export markets respectively.
This translates to a total supply of 1,465.4 mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 2,998.3 mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month.
This implies that 63.2 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized while the balance of 36.8 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.
Nigeria is the seventh country with the largest flaring rate and this was confirmed as the review showed that the gas flare rate was 9.5 per cent for the month under review (i.e. 671.1 mmscfd) compared to the average gas flare rate of 7.3 per cent (i.e. 532.37 mmscfd) for the period of March 2020 to March 2021.
On domestic gas supply to the power sector, a total of 844 mmscfd was delivered to gas-fired power plants in the month of March 2021 to generate about 3,530 megawatts (MW) compared with February 2021 where 825 mmscfd was supplied to generate 3,580 MW.
The report also informed that the corporation recorded 70 vandalized points across its pipeline network in the period under review, representing a 29.6 per cent increase from the 54 points recorded in the previous month.
While the Port Harcourt area accounted for 63 per cent of the vandalized points, the Mosimi area accounted for 21 per cent and the Gombe area accounted for the remaining 16 per cent.
NNPC is, however, working in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders to effectively monitor the pipelines with a view to reducing and eventually eliminating the menace of pipeline vandalism.
The March 2021 MFOR is the 68th edition of the report, it is published monthly to keep the Nigerian public up to date with the operations of the Corporation in line with the management’s guiding philosophy of Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence (TAPE).
Economy
Aradel Holdings Acquires Equity Stake in Chappal Energies
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A minority equity stake in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited has been acquired by a Nigerian energy firm, Aradel Holdings Plc.
This deal came a few days after Chappal Energies purchased a 53.85 per cent equity stake in Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited (ENEC).
Chappal Energies went into the deal with Equinor to take part in the oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitised 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron.
Since production started in 2008, the Agbami field has produced more than one billion barrels of oil, creating value for Nigerian society and various stakeholders.
As part of the deal, Chappal will assume the operatorship of OML 129, which includes several significant prospects and undeveloped discoveries (Nnwa, Bilah and Sehki).
The Nnwa discovery is part of the giant Nnwa-Doro field, a major gas resource with significant potential to deliver value for Nigeria.
In a separate transaction, on July 17, 2024, Chappal and Total Energies sealed an SPA for the acquisition by Chappal of 10 per cent of the SPDC JV.
The relevant parties to this transaction are working towards closing out this transaction and Ministerial Approval and NNPC consent to accede to the Joint Operating Agreement have been obtained.
“This acquisition is in line with diversifying our asset base, deepening our gas competencies and gaining access to offshore basins using low-risk approaches.
“We recognise the strategic role of gas in Nigeria’s energy future and are happy to expand our equity holding in this critical resource.
“We are committed to the cause of developing the significant value inherent in the assets, which will be extremely beneficial to the country.
“Aradel hopes to bring its proven execution competencies to bear in supporting Chappal’s development of these opportunities,” the chief executive of Aradel Holdings, Mr Adegbite Falade, stated.
Economy
Afriland Properties Lifts NASD OTC Securities Exchange by 0.04%
By Adedapo Adesanya
Afriland Properties Plc helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange record a 0.04 per cent gain on Tuesday, December 10 as the share price of the property investment rose by 34 Kobo to N16.94 per unit from the preceding day’s N16.60 per unit.
As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N380 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.056 trillion like the previous trading day.
But the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closed higher at 3,014.36 points after it recorded an addition of 1.09 points to Monday’s closing value of 3,013.27 points.
The NASD OTC securities exchange recorded a price loser and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which went down by 2 Kobo to close at N3.93 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N3.95 per share.
During the trading session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 95.8 per cent to 2.4 million units from the 1.2 million securities traded in the preceding session.
However, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 3.7 per cent to N4.9 million from the N5.07 million recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals surged by 27.3 per cent to 14 deals from 11 deals.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 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 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
Economy
Naira Trades N1,542/$1 as FX Speculators Dump Dollars in Panic
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira continued to appreciate on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), gaining 0.7 per cent or N10.23 on Tuesday, December 10 to trade at N1,542.27/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,552.50/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform introduced to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s FX market has been attributed as the source of the Naira’s appreciation.
Speculators holding foreign currencies, particularly the US Dollar, have seen the value of their money drastically drop due to the appreciation of the local currency. This is forcing them to dump greenback into the system and take the domestic currency alternative- a move that has seen available FX increase.
Equally, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the trading day by N6.81 to sell for N1,955.12/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,961.93/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.84 to close at N1,613.00/€1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,623.84/€1.
Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of forex transactions significantly increased yesterday by $228.85 million or 257.2 per cent to $401.17 million from the preceding session’s $112.32 million.
However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the US Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to settle at N1,625/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,620/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 4.8 per cent to sell at $0.39116, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to trade at $110.25, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 2.3 per cent to $681.44, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.6 per cent to finish at $3,671.08, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.5 per cent to $0.8837
Conversely, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 5.4 per cent to $2.23 amid a continued shift for the coin with its parent company seeing the benefits of a crypto-friendly regulatory environment for US-based companies.
XRP is closely related to Ripple Labs, a high-profile payments company targeted by the SEC in 2020 on allegations of selling the token as a security to U.S. investors. Ripple fully cleared a long-drawn court case in 2024.
Further, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.8 per cent to $219.75, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.4 per cent to $97,446.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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