Economy
DPR Okays Waltersmith Modular Refinery for Production
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has given the green light to the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith Modular Refinery to kickstart operations.
This stamp of approval was given by the Director of the regulatory agency, Mr Sarki Auwalu, during a pre-commissioning visit to the project site located in Ibigwe, Imo State, saying that the purpose of the visit is to confirm that the refinery is ready to start operations.
“We can confirm that the refinery is very much ready to commence operations. We have seen all the preparations. To us, the plant is alive. The commissioning is just symbolic. Everywhere is ready to start off. My overall assessment is excellent.
“We have been to other modular refineries but we have not seen anything like this – the space, the way it is arranged and the way it will work,” Mr Auwalu added.
The DPR director said that people should start seeing the DPR as an enabler and not a regulator as its focus is on how to create opportunities and how Nigeria’s vast oil and gas resources are managed for the betterment of Nigerians.
“The role we play is to enable businesses and create opportunities. When DPR issues you a license, it enables you to invest and as a result, that opportunity we create, that business is enabled,” Mr Auwalu said.
According to the DPR boss, “Waltersmith is one of our success stories. We consider the project as ours. We have been tracking their growth and we are happy to see that our child is growing. It is our plan that they expand, and they have the potential”.
Business Post had reported that the 5,000 barrels per day modular refinery, scheduled for official commissioning on Monday, (October 26, 2020) has a crude oil storage capacity of 60,000 barrels and is projected to deliver over 271 million litres per year of refined petroleum products, comprising of diesel, kerosene, naphtha and heavy fuel oils to the domestic market.
The bulk of the crude supply for this phase will come from Waltersmith’s upstream business with backup from nearby third-party crude, according to Mr Abdulrasaq Isah, Chairman of the company.
He said, “What you see here is a proof of the absolute faith we have in our country. We want to demonstrate that it is practically a waste of resources to produce crude oil and just sell it. It is more impactful to add value and make more significant impact on the GDP of our nation.
“This is the first phase of a series of refinery development which will culminate in the delivery of up to 50,000bpd refining capacity that will expand the product slate to include PMS, LPG and Aviation fuel.”
He added that the expansion plan consists of 20,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery and a standalone 25,000bpd condensate refinery both of which are at early stages of project development,” he added.
On the sustainability of the refinery project, Mr Chikezie Nwosu, Managing Director/Chief Executive of Waltersmith, said that domestic consumption is more sustainable than crude export.
“With export, there are things you do not have control over and for every dollar you gain by exporting crude oil as a commodity, you gain multiples of those dollars in terms of GDP growth by consuming the energy within the economy”, Nwosu said.
Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company obtained a license to establish from DPR in June 2015 and obtained authority to construct in March 2017.
The company partnered with Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, the 30 per cent equity holders, while the Africa Finance Corporation, AFC, committed significant financing to the project. The company signed an EPC contract in June 2018 with a consortium of Vfuels and Lambert Electromec.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A 0.91 per cent growth was recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, May 22, after the share prices of four securities ended in green.
According to data, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc went up by N15.61 to N179.67 per share from N164.06 per share, Newrest Asl Plc grew by N6.11 to N67.26 per unit from N61.15 per unit, Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 17 Kobo to N2.75 per share from N2.58 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc added 6 Kobo to sell at N25.50 per unit compared with the previous day’s N25.44 per unit.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation chalked up N23.22 billion to settle at N2.561 trillion versus Thursday’s N2.538 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 38.81 points to 4,281.28 points from 4,242.47 points.
During the session, the price of Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was down by N3.13 to N71.07 per share from N74.20 per share.
The activity chart showed that the volume of securities transacted by the market participants decreased yesterday by 81.6 per cent to 590,339 units from the 3.2 million units recorded on Thursday, as the number of deals shrank by 28.6 per cent to 30 deals from the 42 deals recorded a day earlier, while the value of securities increased by 0.5 per cent to N95.3 million from the preceding session’s N94.8 million.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 61.2 million units traded for N4.1 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was GNI Plc, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange witnessed a decline in transactions on Friday despite closing higher by 0.22 per cent on the back of sustained bargain-hunting.
During the last trading session of the week, investors transacted 711.9 million equities valued at N29.1 billion in 62,386 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities worth N31.0 billion traded in 62,448 deals in the previous day, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 35.28 per cent, 6.13 per cent, and 0.10 per cent, respectively.
Fidelity Bank closed the day as the most active stock with the sale of 198.1 million units for N4.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 69.7 million units worth N1.8 billion, Mutual Benefits exchanged 42.7 million units valued at N197.4 million, Japaul transacted 33.9 million units worth N134.4 million, and Zenith Bank sold 24.4 million units valued at N3.2 billion.
Yesterday, the industrial goods index rose by 0.53 per cent, the consumer goods sector jumped 0.28 per cent, the banking industry improved by 0.25 per cent, and the energy counter soared by 0.18 per cent, while the insurance space shed 0.18 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 536.98 points to finish at 249,712.37 points compared with the previous day’s 249,175.39 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N344 billion to N160.077 trillion from N159.733 trillion.
Aluminium Extrusion and DAAR Communications expanded by 10.00 per cent each to sell for N9.90 and N2.09, respectively, RT Briscoe surged by 9.93 per cent to N14.06, Learn Africa increased by 9.79 per cent to N12.90, and Red Star Express advanced by 9.56 per cent to N34.95.
On the flip side, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.92 per cent to N5.72, Livestock Feeds dipped by 9.64 per cent to N8.90, The Initiates crashed by 8.65 per cent to N33.80, Ellah Lakes drowned by 8.64 per cent to N10.05, and Neimeth lost 6.36 per cent to trade at N10.30.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened against the United States Dollar by N3.15 or 0.23 per cent to N1,375.46/$1 from N1,372.31/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, May 22.
It was also a similar situation for the domestic currency against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday, as it lost N9.46 to sell for N1,849.72/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,840.26/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N6.26 to close at N1,597.04/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,590.78/€1.
At the GTBank FX desk, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the Dollar during the session by N2 to trade at N1,381/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,379/$1, and at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,390/$1.
Analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited, in their weekly financial outlook, have projected the Naira will remain under soft pressure in near term due to continuous FX demand.
“Looking ahead, the Naira may remain under mild pressure in the near term due to persistent FX demand, though rising external reserves could help cushion volatility,” they noted.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this week reiterated that it would continue with its current policy direction to sustain the fight against inflation and stabilise the exchange rate.
This comes as the FX market has changed significantly under the ongoing reforms introduced by the apex bank, with increased market liquidity reducing the need for heavy intervention by the CBN. Its intervention currently accounts for only about 1.2 to 1.3 per cent of total market turnover in 2025, a development he said reflects the growing strength of the market.
Turnover has risen sharply from about $100 million in 2023 to roughly $550 million presently, with transactions occasionally climbing to as high as $1 billion in a single day.
A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that it was down on Friday as Mr Kevin Warsh was sworn in by President Donald Trump as the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, replacing Mr Jerome Powell, who will continue as a governor in the US central bank.
The appointment was made in the hope that he would lead the central bank to cut interest rates, but the Iran war has sent oil prices soaring and re-ignited what had been cooling inflation.
Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 5.5 per cent to $2,010.90, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 5.2 per cent to trade at $0.1001, Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.0 per cent to $0.2389, Solana (SOL) slipped by 4.9 per cent to $82.69, and Bitcoin (BTC) slid by 3.3 per cent to $74,950.02.
Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 2.9 per cent to $1.32, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 2.6 per cent to $641.61, and TRON (TRX) shrank by 1.2 per cent to $0.3606, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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