Economy

DPR, GenCos to Tackle Gas Transportation Challenges in Nigeria

Published

5 years ago

20/04/2021

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has said it will work closely with the electricity generating companies as regards the challenges present in the Nigeria Gas Transportation Network Code (NGTNC).

This was disclosed by the Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Mr Sarki Auwalu, at the NGTNC engagement with the DPR, GenCos and the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in Abuja.

He said, “I appreciate the remark by one of the Managing Directors of the GenCos that they are sitting on gas.

“We have 203 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of gas that is proven, and 600 TCF about to be proven and we have so much gas project already ongoing.

“What I am saying is that the network code is not only looking at end-users, shippers or transporters.

“It is also looking at gas explorers and producers; when you look at the issues you have highlighted, they are issues we have observed with our interactions with you, we will identify them and work through it.”

He added that the only omission in the concerns of the Gencos was the needs of the explorers and the producers, which determine a lot of things.

He noted that the DPR would continue to engage with NERC towards actualising the goal and commended the Gencos for accepting the code.

Mr Auwalu said that the drive of the code was to help the country to migrate to the gas economy endowed with a huge deposit of the product.

According to him, the code is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that the country must migrate to a gas economy.

This, he said, would help to take a lot of Nigerians out of poverty and equally create the needed jobs in the country.

“As you know, the president has declared this decade, a decade of gas, and he has given all the support to ensure that it is achieved,” he said.

He noted that there was a need for the country to change the way things were done to get different results for the growth of the nation.

Mr Auwalu said that there was no misalignment with all the concerns of GenCos but noted that the most important need of the code was to ensure business viability.

He said that the DPR would ensure that all the provision in the gas value chain was keyed into with the code.

“With NERC, Nigeria Gas Company and all the stakeholders we will get things done well, and the essence of the meeting is to get the Gencos to appreciate the code.

“For us, this meeting is the onboarding of the GenCos to the gas network code,” he added.

In his remarks, NERC chairman, Mr Sanusi Garba, said that the most important element to grow the Nigerian economy was gas, adding that the nation cannot make progress without an adequate power supply.

Mr Garba said that there was a need to discuss how 70 to 75 per cent of power generation could be generated through gas.

Represented by the Vice-Chairman, Musilim Oseni, he said that NERC was ready to work with the DPR to ensure that the critical changes needed would be achieved.

He said that NERC was optimistic that the network code would enable the needed milestone to achieve the migration to gas economy.

Also, Mr Nnaemeka Ewelukwa, Managing Director of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc, said that there was a need for the network code to look at all the electricity value chain.

Mr Eweluka added that issues of charges, cost, invoicing and payment should align for its impact in the sector.

The Representative of the Gencos, Mr Godwin Ogaje, said that they supported the gas network code.

Mr Ogaje pointed out that the major challenge was the big gap between the GTA and the code.

He noted that various changes introduced by the code should be looked into for business viability.

Mr Ogaje listed some of the charges to include capacity charges, commodity charges and capacity obligations, among others.

Economy

MRS Oil, FrieslandCampina Wamco Shrink NASD Index by 0.68%

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.

MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.

The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.

Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.

When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.

Economy

NGX Index Rebounds 0.15% on Renewed Interest in Financial Stocks

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.

Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.

This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.

The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.

On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.

Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.

At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.

Economy

Naira Depreciates to N1,362/$1 at Official Market

Published

2 days ago

06/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.

For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.

The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.

Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.

Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.

Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.