Economy
Dangote Calls PENGASSAN’s Gas, Crude Oil Supply Directive Economic Sabotage
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has criticised the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) for directing its members to cut crude oil and gas supplies to the refinery.
In a statement, the private crude oil refiner based in Lagos described this directive as an economic sabotage and criminal, warning it could plunge Nigerians into fresh rounds of fuel scarcity while inflicting huge revenue losses on the government.
It emphasised that starving the $20 billion refinery of crude oil and gas would disrupt the production and nationwide supply of critical petroleum products, including petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, kerosene, and cooking gas.
“The products that would be disrupted and stopped include but are not limited to aviation fuel, petrol, kerosene, diesel and cooking gas – all products that are used and required by all stripes of Nigerians and persons living in Nigeria, whether high and mighty or lowly and ordinary.
“In what circumstance would it be justified for PENGASSAN to so disrupt and introduce insufferable hardship into the living conditions of Nigerians? None that we can see.
“The follow up question is, in whose interest and on whose behalf is PENGASSAN directing and intending to inflict such anarchic and criminal disruption upon the Nigerian society and persons living in Nigeria? Most certainly, not in the interest of the Nigerian State and/or the Nigerian public and citizens,” the statement said.
“This is also economic sabotage against the Nigerian State at multiple levels. Dangote Refinery is the only refinery of its type in Africa and ordinarily should be the pride of all Nigerians as well as the governments of Nigeria. It should ordinarily have special protection and status and indeed qualifies as a strategic national asset,” it added.
Dangote Refinery said the group’s directive constitutes a national embarrassment to the country and a disincentive to external investors who ordinarily would have been encouraged by the success of the oil facility to contemplate investing in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector or generally.
“PENGASSAN may also not be aware that Dangote Refinery is one of the largest contributors to the revenue purse of the Nigerian governments – both federal and sub-nationals. That contribution is currently threatened by PENGASSAN and would of course be paused if and as soon as and for as long as the PENGASSAN directive is implemented by its branches,” it noted.
Dangote Refinery stated that PENGASSAN had no legal authority to interfere in supply contracts between the refinery and its vendors, insisting that the action undermined the rule of law.
“Absolutely no law gives PENGASSAN the right to direct its branches to cut off gas and crude oil supplies to Dangote Refinery or at all. There is also no law in our statute books that would support or enable the PENGASSAN branches having to cut off gas and crude oil supplies to Dangote Refinery or at all.
“Besides, it constitutes a criminal conduct for PENGASSAN or its members to disrupt and/or interfere howsoever in the contract between Dangote Refinery and its various vendors for the supply of gas and crude oil to the Refinery.
“Those supply contracts were not entered into with PENGASSAN; they were entered into by Dangote Refinery with third party vendors and suppliers and PENGASSAN has no right whatsoever to disrupt and/or interfere with the performance of those contracts,” it noted.
Calling on the federal government and security agencies to act swiftly, the refinery urged Nigerians to take note of the “unquantifiable and irredeemable hardship which PENGASSAN wishes to inflict on all of us” if not checked, warning that fuel queues, energy shortages and price hikes could quickly resurface.
It urged PENGASSAN to submit to amicable and legal resolution and not resort to economic sabotage and mob action that could introduce mayhem and chaos and easily translate into anarchy.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.
This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.
It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.
MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.
On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.
Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.
GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.
Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.
Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.
This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.
The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.
Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.
Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.
Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.
Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.
On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.
The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.
Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.
Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn