Economy

BPE Denies Knowledge of Agip/Oando Plans to Takeover Port Harcourt Refinery

Published

8 years ago

24/05/2017

By Chineme Okafor

Some days ago, Oando Plc claimed it was planning to rehabilitate and operate the 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) Port Harcourt Refinery, but the issue has generated controversies.

A report by ThisDay claimed the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) was ignorant of the proposed rehabilitation and operation under a concession arrangement of the 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) Port Harcourt Refinery by oil firms – Nigeria Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and Oando Plc.

It learnt in Abuja that despite the BPE’s listing of the refinery along with Warri and Kaduna refineries on its privatisation schedule, it has however not been involved in plans by the federal government to concession the Port Harcourt refinery to Agip and Oando on a repair, operate and maintain basis, a transaction oil and gas business experts have faulted.

One of the top sources within the privatisation agency confirmed to THISDAY that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have carried on the refinery concession plan without its involvement. He explained that the agency was in the dark on the concession arrangement, thus claiming that negotiations with the firms have been without it.

The sources stated that even though the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) which is statutorily responsible for signing off on the privatisation and concession of such national assets has not been constituted by the government, the BPE should have been involved in the refinery concession which the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed would be concluded in September.

Mr Kachikwu had earlier in May stated in Houston that the government had got bids from investors to revamp the three refineries, and would make known the preferred offers by September, however, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Oando, Mr Wale Tinubu, subsequently disclosed that his firm had been selected to takeover Port Harcourt refinery, thus raising questions about the transparency of the selection process and the overall transaction.

Similarly, experts who spoke to THISDAY on this stated that the process could be considered unlawful without the approval of the NCP. They also asked the ministry of petroleum resources and NNPC to show evidence of a transparent and competitive selection process from which Agip and Oando emerged as the best candidates to take over and repair the refinery.

One of the experts, Mr Dan Kunle, specifically queried the choice of Agip for Port Harcourt refinery, stating that Agip built the 125,000bpd Warri refinery and should have opted for it instead of Port Harcourt.

Mr Kunle said: “In 2015, I remember vividly the visit of the then GMD of NNPC which happens to be the minister of state now, Emmanuel Kachikwu, to Port Harcourt refinery, and he stated that they had spent $10 million to rebuild it and it was going to come on stream. What has happened, we need to know the truth.”

He alleged that: “The interest of ENI/Agip in Port Harcourt refinery is a manifestation of the long vested interest of Oando in the refinery because they put in bids in the past for it but failed.

“Agip has no technical record in Port Harcourt refinery, they built the Warri refinery and the propane plant in Warri refinery was built by Technimont. I would have expected the minister to look at that history and tell Agip/Eni, that even though they have rights to bid for Port Harcourt, they should look at Warri where they already have a technical record.”

Speaking on the need for the approval of the NCP in such cases of assets’ concession, Kunle stated: “NCP is a life act, and I am surprised that they have not constituted it because they have the mandate to privatise the assets.

“The NCP has to become conscious and wrestle the country from the politics of the petroleum ministry over the refineries. The ministry cannot sell or concession the refineries without the NCP represented by the BPE, and Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC). Besides, those companies are already scheduled in the privatisation timeline.”

“If you are doing selective bidding, what makes Eni/Agip to qualify because it is Warri that they should be qualified for? What is the basis, how did they come about the people, where is the advert and prequalification criteria? They must be subjected to ethical corporate governance. This transaction has to be open and clear, otherwise nobody can take it over,” he added.

Economy

Afriland Properties Lifts NASD OTC Securities Exchange by 0.04%

Published

3 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

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

Published

3 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

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.

Economy

Chinese Demand, Europe, Syria Development Buoy Oil Prices

Published

4 hours ago

11/12/2024

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices rose on Tuesday, influenced by increasing demand in China, the world’s largest buyer, as well as developments in Europe and Syria, with Brent crude futures closing at $72.19 per barrel after chalking up 5 cents or 0.07 per cent while the US West Texas Intermediate finished at $68.59 a barrel after it gained 22 cents or 0.32 per cent.

China will adopt an “appropriately loose” monetary policy in 2025 as the world’s largest oil importer tries to spur economic growth. This would be the first easing of its stance in 14 years.

Chinese crude imports also grew annually for the first time in seven months, jumping in November on a year-on-year basis.

Speculation about winter demand in Europe also contributed to the rise in prices as the period has been known for high demand.

In Syria, rebels were working to form a government and restore order after the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, with the country’s banks and oil sector set to resume work on Tuesday.

Although Syria itself is not a major oil producer, it is strategically located and has strong ties with Russia and Iran – two of the world’s largest oil producers.

Market analysts noted that the tensions in the Middle East seem contained, which led market participants to price for potentially low risks of a wider regional spillover leading to significant oil supply disruption.

The market is also looking forward to the US Federal Reserve, which is expected to make a 25 basis point cut to interest rates at the end of its December 17-18 meeting.

This move could improve oil demand in the world’s biggest economy, though traders are waiting to see if this week’s inflation data derails the cut.

Crude oil inventories in the US rose by 499,000 barrels for the week ending November 29, according to The American Petroleum Institute (API). Analysts had expected a draw of 1.30 million barrels.

For the week prior, the API reported a 1.232-million barrel build in crude inventories.

So far this year, crude oil inventories have fallen by roughly 3.4 million barrels since the beginning of the year, according to API data.

Official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.

Also, the market is getting relief from the recent decision of selected members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+ to delay the rollback of 2.2 million barrels per day of oil production cuts to April from January. Another 3.6 million barrels per day in output reductions across the OPEC+ group has been extended to the end of 2026 from the end of 2025.