By Adedapo Adesanya

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has recommended that private operators handle a chunk of operations in order to drive efficiency in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

President of PENGASSAN, Mr Festus Osifo, made this assertion on Thursday in Abuja at the ongoing 4th PENGASSAN and Labour Summit 2025, themed Building a Resilient Oil and Gas Sector in Nigeria: Advancing HSE, ESG, Investment and Incremental Production.

Mr Osifo said Nigeria’s refineries should operate under a model similar to the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, where the government holds minority stakes while competent private operators take majority control for efficiency.

According to him, while Nigeria’s workforce possesses the expertise to manage refineries, the absence of proper tools and the persistence of political interference have led to inefficiency, waste, and recurring breakdowns.

“Government must divest majority control of the refineries, just as in the NLNG model, where private partners hold 51 per cent while government retains 49 per cent,” he said.

He further warned that Nigeria’s 37 billion barrels of crude reserves risk remaining underutilised if production continues to hover around two million barrels per day, urging authorities to intensify drilling and exploration.

The PENGASSAN president stressed that oil revenues should be reinvested in infrastructure, education, and healthcare to promote diversification, citing Dubai’s transformation funded by Abu Dhabi’s oil wealth as a model Nigeria could replicate.

Mr Osifo commended the recent marginal field bid round, describing it as the most transparent in Nigeria’s history, unlike previous politically influenced allocations that, he said, hindered development due to incompetence.

He also condemned alleged anti-labour practices, singling out 11PLC for reportedly forcing workers to sign agreements barring union membership, warning that PENGASSAN would resist any attempt to suppress workers’ rights.

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Felix Ogbe, underscored the need for human capacity development as the bedrock of Nigeria’s oil and gas growth.

Mr Ogbe said the sector’s sustainability depends not only on reserves and infrastructure but also on equipping Nigerians with critical skills in engineering, safety, automation, and digital technologies.

He highlighted NCDMB’s investments in training, research, and technical innovation, noting that every major oil and gas project must include skill-transfer components, stressing the importance of prioritising STEM education, vocational training, and collaboration between government, industry, and labour to prepare a workforce that can adapt to energy transition and automation.

“Human capacity is the true oil that will sustain Nigeria’s industry for generations,” Mr Ogbe said.

By Adedapo Adesanya

A marginal loss of 0.02 per cent was recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday, August 21, with the pull back caused by the fall in the price of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) by 4 Kobo to 52 Kobo per unit from 56 Kobo per unit.

This contracted the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 0.76 points to 3,640.80 points from the 3,641.56 points recorded a day earlier.

In the same vein, the market capitalisation, which measures the total value of all securities on the platform, went down by N460 million to remain relatively unchanged at N2.178 trillion.

The alternative stock exchange suffered the loss yesterday despite the price of Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc increasing at the close of business by 3 Kobo to N3.08 per share from N3.05 per share a day earlier.

It was a quiet day for NASD as the trading was low, with the volume of securities down by 91.2 per cent to 1.5 million units from 16.6 million units at midweek, the value of securities decreasing by 94.2 per cent to N6.0 million from N104.3 million, and the number of deals coming down by 7.1 per cent to 26 deals from 28 deals.

Okitipupa Plc maintained its position as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 158.7 million units worth N5.9 billion. The second spot was taken by Air Liquide Plc with the sale of 507.2 million units for N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc claimed the third spot with 44.0 million units valued at N1.9 billion.

IGI Plc ended the trading session as the most traded equity by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.2 billion units transacted for N402.9 million, followed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with a turnover of 536.9 million units valued at N524.8 million, and Air Liquide Plc with the sale of 507.2 million units worth N4.2 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

For the first time in four trading sessions, the Naira heaved a sigh of relief on Thursday, August 21, after its value appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the local currency gained 29 Kobo or 0.02 per cent against the greenback during the session to close at N1,535.89/$1 compared with previous day’s rate of N1,536.18/$1.

Similarly, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N7.43 to sell for N2,064.55/£1, in contrast to Wednesday’s closing price of N2,071.98/£1 and gained N6.08 against the Euro to close at the rate of N1,785.96/€1 versus the N1,792.75/€1 it ended at midweek.

There was a relative ease on mounting pressure seen earlier this week after the CBN initially held back from making any direct interventions into the market.

Currency traders expect the value of the Naira to weaken against the US Dollar to as much as N1,560 per Dollar at the official foreign exchange market next week.

According to Reuters, the domestic currency is also expected to remain range-bound, with the apex bank and exchange bureaus selling Dollars to meet demand from importers and travellers.

“With inflation easing, speculative trading has been limited, causing the Naira to trade in a tight range around 1,530,” one trader told the publication, “The Naira is likely to stay in a narrow band between 1,520 and 1,560 next week.”

Meanwhile, the digital currency market was bearish as one of the US Federal Reserve’s policy heads, Cleveland’s Federal Reserve President, Ms Beth Hammack, said the current data does not make the case for a September interest rate ease in the world’s largest economy.

“We have inflation that’s too high and has been trending upwards over the past year,” she said. “If the meeting was tomorrow, I would not see a case for reducing interest rates,” arguing that inflation numbers are only beginning to show the impact of tariffs and that the full effect wouldn’t be seen until next year.

Ms Hammack’s comments are notable, showing the Chairman of the US central bank, Mr Jerome Powell, continues to have plenty of support in his hawkish stance despite two dissident dovish votes at the last central bank policy meeting and President Trump’s continuing campaign for lower rates.

Dogecoin (DOGE) was down by 2.4 per cent to $0.2173, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 2.1 per cent to $0.8549, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 1.9 per cent to $183.35, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $2.86, and Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 1.5 per cent to $849.27.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 0.5 per cent to quote at $113,142.30, and Ethereum (ETH) weakened by 0.2 per cent to $4,289.27, while Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $115.85, with the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closing flat at $1.00 each.