Economy
Dangote Urges Nigeria to Prioritise Domestic Crude Supply
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Chairman of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited, Mr Aliko Dangote, has tasked the Nigerian government to prioritise domestic crude supply to enable local refiners to take advantage of supply gaps in the African market.
The businessman said Nigeria must transit from a net importer of the commodity to a net exporter of petroleum products, saying despite producing over 3.4 million barrels of crude oil per day, Africa imports around 3 million barrels of petroleum products daily.
He noted that these imports, primarily from Europe, Russia, and other regions, are estimated to cost approximately $17 billion in 2023.
“Both the crude oil and the petroleum products will travel shorter distances. The logistics costs of floating storage will be eliminated, and countries can purchase their petroleum product requirements just in time.
“Nigeria and Africa can become completely self-sufficient, and we can keep all the value on our shores. We have done it in cement, and we can certainly do it for petroleum products,” Mr Dangote said at a summit held in Lagos by the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN).
“It is worth noting that the Dangote Refinery already produces sufficient diesel and jet fuel to meet Nigeria’s demand. We recently started the production of PMS and will soon ramp up to meet Nigeria’s needs.
“Our refined products have been exported to diverse markets, including Europe, Brazil, the UK, the USA, Singapore, and South Korea,” the business mogul, represented by the Group Executive Director of Dangote Industries Ltd, Mr Mansur Ahmed, said.
Mr Dangote emphasised that Nigeria must develop a refining capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day and prioritise domestic crude supply obligations to seize this opportunity.
“It is unfortunate that while countries like Norway are putting oil proceeds into a future fund, in Africa, we are spending oil proceeds from the future. We will also need to prioritise the implementation of domestic crude supply obligations.
“We will need to expand our crude oil production capacity to support demand from new refining capacity. The government of President Bola Tinubu is taking active steps to achieve this through fast-tracking IOC divestments and other initiatives,” he stated.
The Chairman of CORAN’s Board of Trustees and chief executive of Integrated Oil and Gas, Mr Emmanuel Iheanacho, remarked that the Dangote Oil Refinery has set a high standard by producing Euro-V products, thus protecting citizens from exposure to high-sulphur products.
He noted that transforming Nigeria into a net exporter will bring numerous benefits but reiterated the need for increased investment to boost crude production, lamenting that Nigeria loses approximately $83 billion annually by not meeting its OPEC quota.
He urged the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to consider cancelling import licences, as Nigeria can now meet its local demand.
Chairman of Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), Huub Stokman, stated that Nigeria is on the verge of becoming Africa’s refining powerhouse, which will significantly boost the economy.
The Chairman of CORAN, Momoh Oyarekhua, also expressed concern over challenges related to crude supply and stated that domestic refiners will work with regulators and stakeholders to address these issues.
On his part, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr Heineken Lopkobiri, assured that the government would continue to refine frameworks to enhance crude production and support domestic refineries.
His counterpart from the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Ms Doris Uzoka-Anite, emphasised the Tinubu-led administration’s commitment to ensuring value addition for mineral resources before export.
By Dipo Olowookere
Investors at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited have continued to show excitement for the full-year earnings of companies on the exchange so far.
On Friday, Customs Street further appreciated by 1.01 per cent as more organization released their financial statements for the 2025 fiscal year.
During the session, traders continued their selective trading strategy, with the energy sector going up by 2.47 per cent at the close of business despite profit-taking in the banking counter, which saw its index down by 0.11 per cent.
Yesterday, the insurance space grew by 2.16 per cent, the industrial goods segment expanded by 1.70 per cent, and the consumer goods industry jumped by 0.42 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,722.13 points to 171,727.49 points from 170,005.36 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N1.106 trillion to N110.235 trillion from the N109.129 trillion it ended on Thursday.
Business Post reports that there were 59 appreciating stocks and 19 depreciating stocks on Friday, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The trio of Omatek, Deap Capital, and NAHCO gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N2.64, N6.82, and N136.40 apiece, as Zichis and Austin Laz appreciated by 9.98 per cent each to close at N6.72 and N5.40, respectively.
Conversely, The Initiates depreciated by 9.74 per cent to N19.45, DAAR Communications slumped by 7.32 per cent to N1.90, United Capital crashed by 6.55 per cent to N18.55, Coronation Insurance lost 5.71 per cent to quote at N3.30, and First Holdco shrank by 5.53 per cent to N47.00.
The activity chart showed an improvement in the activity level, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals up by 33.77 per cent, 93.27 per cent, and 10.63 per cent, respectively.
This was because traders transacted 953.8 million shares worth N43.1 billion in 51,005 deals compared with the 713.0 million shares valued at N22.3 billion traded in 46,104 deals a day earlier.
Fidelity Bank was the most active with 92.4 million units sold for N1.8 billion, Chams transacted 69.2 million units valued at N310.9 million, Deap Capital exchanged 59.1 million units worth N382.7 million, Access Holdings traded 57.2 million units valued at N1.3 billion, and Tantalizers transacted 48.6 million units worth N228.2 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira contracted against the United States Dollar on Friday by 13 Kobo or 0.01 per cent to N1,366.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) from the previous day’s value of N1,366.06/$1.
According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian currency also depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday by N2.37 to N1,857.75/£1 from the N1,855.38/£1 it was traded on Thursday, and further depleted against the Euro by 57 Kobo to close at N1,612.52/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,611.95/€1.
In the same vein, the exchange rate for international transactions on the GTBank Naira card showed that the Naira lost N8 on the greenback yesterday to N1,383/$1 from the previous day’s N1,375/$1 and at the black market, the Nigerian currency maintained stability against the Dollar at N1,450/$1.
FX analysts anticipate this trend to persist, primarily influenced by increasing external reserves, renewed inflows of foreign portfolio investments, and a reduction in speculative demand.
In the short term, stability in the FX market is expected to continue, supported by policy interventions and improving market confidence.
Nigeria’s foreign reserves experienced an upward trajectory, increasing by $632.38 million within the week to $46.91 billion from $46.27 billion in the previous week.
The Dollar appreciation this week appears to be largely technical, serving as a correction to the substantial losses experienced from mid- to late January.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market slightly appreciated, with Bitcoin (BTC) climbing near $68,000, up nearly 5 per cent since hitting $60,000 late on Thursday after investor confidence in crypto’s utility as a store of value, inflation hedge, and digital currency faltered.
The sell-off extended beyond crypto, with silver plunging 15 per cent and gold sliding more than 2 per cent. US stocks also fell.
The latest recoup saw the price of BTC up by 4.7 per cent to $67,978.96, as Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 6.3 per cent to $2,021.10, and Ripple (XRP) surged by 9.5 per cent to $1.42.
In addition, Solana (SOL) grew by 7.3 per cent to $85.22, Cardano (ADA) added 6.1 per cent to trade at $0.2683, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 5.4 per cent to $0.0958, Litecoin (LTC) rose by 5.2 per cent to $53.50, and Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 2.3 per cent to $637.79, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled higher on Friday as traders worried that this week’s talks between the US and Iran had failed to reduce the risk of a military conflict between the two countries.
Brent crude futures traded at $68.05 a barrel after going up by 50 cents or 0.74 per cent, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures finished at $63.55 a barrel due to the addition of 26 cents or 0.41 per cent.
Iran and the US held negotiations in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on Friday to overcome sharp differences over Iran’s nuclear programme.
It was reported that the talks had ended with Iran’s foreign minister saying negotiators will return to their capitals for consultations and the talks will continue.
Regardless, the meeting kept investors anxious about geopolitical risk, as Iran wanted to stick to nuclear issues while the US wanted to discuss Iran’s ballistic missiles and support for armed groups in the region.
Any escalation of tension between the two nations could disrupt oil flows, since about a fifth of the world’s total consumption passes through the Strait of Hormuz between Oman and Iran.
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq export most of their crude via the strait, as does Iran, which is a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
According to Reuters, Iran objected to the presence of any US Central Command (CENTCOM) or other regional military officials, saying that would jeopardise the process.
The current confrontation was sparked by more than two weeks of unrest in Iran that saw authorities launch a deadly crackdown that killed thousands of civilians and shocked the world. As reports of the deaths trickled out of Iran, US President Donald Trump threatened to strike Iran if any of the tens of thousands of protesters arrested were executed.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s planned oil exports could fall by as much as 35 per cent this month via its main route through Russia, as the country’s top oil company, Tengiz oilfield, slowly recovers from fires at power facilities in January.
ING analysts have pointed out Iran’s neighbour, Iraq, and a disagreement with the US as another bullish factor for oil prices. It seems Iraqi politicians favour Mr Nouri al-Maliki as the country’s next Prime Minister, but the US thinks Mr al-Maliki is too close to Iran. President Trump has already threatened the oil producer with consequences if he emerges as PM.
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