Economy
DPR, GenCos to Tackle Gas Transportation Challenges in Nigeria
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.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shareholders of Unilever Nigeria Plc will receive an interim dividend of N2 per share, the board of the organisation has said.
The cash reward was announced after the company released its financial statements for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2026.
The payment will be made on Friday, August 14, 2026, only to investors whose names appear on the Register of Members at the close of business on Friday, July 31, 2026.
A quick look at the financial performance of the firm in the first six months of this year showed that revenue improved by 22.22 per cent to N119.9 billion from the N98.1 billion achieved in the corresponding period of last year.
A rise in earnings also resulted in a 16.43 per cent surge in cost of sales, though this did not shrink the gross profit, which rose by 29.93 per cent to N54.7 billion from N42.1 billion. The operating profit stood at N24.4 billion in the period under review, higher than N18.8 billion in the same period of 2025, while the net finance income contracted by 9.43 per cent to N4.8 billion from N5.3 billion due to elevated borrowing costs.
Business Post reports that despite higher taxes paid in the first six months of 2026, the net profit grew by 8.33 per cent to N15.6 billion from N14.4 billion, enabling the board to pass on value to shareholders for their faith in the firm.
