Economy
Expect Full Integration of FPSO in Eight Years—Wabote
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian oil and gas industry must strive to develop local capacities to execute full fabrication and integration of Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessels in-country within the next eight years, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr. Simbi Wabote has said.
He spoke last Tuesday in Lagos when he accompanied the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu and other top officials of the oil and gas industry to inspect the Total Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited’s Egina FPSO docked at the SHI-MCI Yard, LADOL Free Zone.
The Executive Secretary commended Total E&P for setting high Nigerian Content benchmarks with the Egina project, in engineering, fabrication, testing, coating and integration, stressing that the challenge for forthcoming projects would be how to raise the bar.
“Our aim is to stretch the limit to get more for Nigeria. Our aspiration is that come the next seven to eight years, full integration of an FPSO must happen in Nigeria,” he said.
Already the Board and major operating companies are working towards full domiciliation of FPSOs. The Zabazaba deepwater project being promoted by Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited (NAE) in partnership with Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) and the Bonga South West Aparo (BSWA) deepwater project also developed by SNEPCO have been planned to domicile 50 percent of the fabrication of modules and integration of the FPSOs.
He also charged other operating companies in Nigeria to take a cue from Total’s can-do attitude and their fervent belief in the Nigerian capability. “When the oil price fell to almost $27 a barrel, they did not stop the project. They continued and Nigerians were engaged.”
The first key step he said is for companies “to stop looking for waivers and change the default thinking from ‘it cannot be done here’ to ‘what do we need to do to make it happen’.”
The NCDMB boss also affirmed that the Egina project has changed the narrative about the capacities and capabilities of oil servicing companies in Nigeria. According to him, “the project simply raised the bar in local participation in various scope covering the Wells, Subsea Production Systems, Umbilicals, Flowlines and Risers, FPSO topsides, and Offloading buoy.
“One of the Nigerian contractors that fabricated the Buoy completed it three months ahead of schedule. The argument often put forward by project promoters is that Nigerian Content is expensive and cannot deliver on schedule. Egina has buried that mindset for forever,” he added.
He also underscored the need for new projects to sustain the achievements and employments that were created on the Egina project.
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources commended Total for the feat noting that local capacities deployed to fabricate the Egina FPSO was sufficient to solve the nation’s electricity challenges, refine petroleum products to meet the needs of the populace, build durable roads and address other infrastructural deficiencies.
Mr Kachikwu charged project promoters in all spheres of the energy sector to fast track their projects, noting that the Federal Government was in a hurry to industrialize the nation and increase the volume of crude oil production at competitive costs.
In view of the oil prices which currently hover within the range of 60 dollars per barrel, the Minister informed that the Federal Government will soon prioritize oil production from fields that bring more returns to the nation as against others that operate with high production costs.
He said, “we will begin to pay more emphasis on where we make more money. As you look at your numbers and the terms under which you want to develop these fields, please spend a good amount of time in checking the bottom-line and what goes to the Federation Account.
“There is no need building a huge $70 billion facility without commensurate value addition. Those kinds of things wouldn’t happen anymore. So the terms will change and basis on which you will proceed will change.”
Also speaking, the Managing Director of LADOL, Dr. Amy Jadesimi highlighted the key roles played by the Board on the Egina project.
She said, “The feat would not have been possible if NCDMB had not insisted and if Total had not taken a huge risk when nobody thought it was possible to support us. I also want to thank NCDMB for providing us the financial support.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Foreign Exchange (FX) demand pressure eased on the Naira on Wednesday, April 8, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) after gaining N14.84 or 1.07 per cent against the greenback to quote at N1,371.82/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,386.66/$1.
Also, the local currency appreciated against the Euro in the same market window at midweek by N1.54 to close at N1,604.07/€1 versus Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,605.61/€1, but lost N6.26 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,844.83/£1 versus N1,838.57/£1.
In the parallel market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the US Dollar remained unchanged yesterday at N1,410/$1, according to data sourced by Business Post.
There were indicators that the official FX market experienced a liquidity surge, which eased worries around the dominant US Dollar on Wednesday, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed interbank deals rose to 220 from 71 reported the previous day.
The domestic currency has been in strong demand from foreign portfolio investors seeking to purchase OMO bills and other fixed-income instruments.
Forecasts also show that the local currency will remain relatively stable during the second quarter of the year, trading within the N1,340 to N1,430 per Dollar band on improved FX liquidity, stronger oil earnings, and rising external reserves, which have climbed above 50 billion dollars.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it fell after an initial ceasefire-fueled rally, with markets retracing Wednesday’s “ceasefire euphoria” as cracks emerge in the US-Iran truce while the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed.
Global risk assets face renewed pressure as geopolitical uncertainty combines with what analysts call “uncoordinated tightening” by major central banks, reinforcing higher-for-longer interest-rate expectations.
The price of Cardano (ADA) fell by 4.7 per cent to $0.2500, Ripple (XRP) slumped 3.7 per cent to $1.33, Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 3.5 per cent to $0.0915, Binance Coin (BNB) slipped 2.6 per cent to $600.02, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 2.5 per cent to $2,183.82, Solana (SOL) dipped 2.5 per cent to $82.24, and Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated by 1.1 per cent to $70,995.20.
However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $0.3173, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied by 0.28 per cent on Wednesday despite weak investor sentiment, as the bourse ended with 18 price gainers and 38 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.
The growth recorded yesterday by Customs Street was influenced by the 2.11 per cent rise posted by the energy index, and the 1.79 per cent jump achieved by the banking sector.
The other sectors experienced profit-taking, with the consumer goods losing 1.07 per cent, the insurance counter down by 0.36 per cent, and the industrial goods space down by 0.19 per cent.
Universal Insurance chalked up 10.00 per cent to sell for N1.21, Omatek improved by 9.78 per cent to N2.47, VFD Group expanded by 9.71 per cent to N11.30, CWG appreciated by 9.64 per cent to N21.05, and Livestock Feeds gained 9.56 per cent to close at N7.45.
On the flip side, UPDC REIT lost 10.00 per cent to settle at N6.75, Fortis Global Insurance shed 9.92 per cent to quote at N1.18, Deap Capital depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N5.40, Chams went down by 9.47 per cent to N3.06, and Japaul declined by 8.82 per cent to N3.10.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 562.43 points to 202,585.53 points from 202,023.10 points, and the market capitalisation advanced by N389 billion to N130.404 trillion from N130.015 trillion.
During the session, 1.0 billion stocks worth N40.6 billion exchanged hands in 52,723 deals compared with the 1.1 billion stocks valued at N40.3 billion executed in 78,006 deals a day earlier, indicating an uptick in the trading value by 0.74 per cent, and a shortfall in the trading volume and number of deals by 9.09 per cent and 32.41 per cent apiece.
The activity chart was led by Access Holdings, which sold 233.0 million units valued at N6.1 billion, Fidelity Bank exchanged 113.1 million units worth N2.2 billion, Wema Bank recorded a turnover of 103.3 million units valued at N2.7 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 60.6 million units for N6.5 billion, and Chams traded 47.5 million units worth N154.6 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil plummeted on Wednesday on hopes of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz after US President Donald Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
Brent crude futures moderated to $94.75 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude eased to $94.41 a barrel.
President Trump said on Wednesday that the US will work closely with Iran and will be talking about tariff and sanctions relief with Iran.
However, analysts cautioned that the ceasefire is a temporary two-week reprieve rather than a permanent resolution, and the global energy system remains fragile due to structural damage to regional infrastructure.
Reuters reported that Iran could open the strait in a limited and controlled way on Thursday or Friday ahead of a meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials in Pakistan.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that two ships appeared to have transited the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran ceasefire deal. A Greek-owned bulk carrier and a Liberia-flagged vessel both transited the waterway early on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month, even as the Iran-aligned group paused attacks on northern Israel and Israeli troops in Lebanon under the ceasefire.
Also, Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, a critical artery bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, was reportedly hit in an Iranian drone attack. Prior to the attack, the pipeline was pumping at its emergency capacity of 7 million barrels per day to bypass the shuttered strait.
The strikes occurred just hours after a US-Iran ceasefire announcement, which has so far failed to halt regional hostilities. Other facilities in the kingdom were also targeted in the wave of strikes, which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed included oil facilities owned by American companies in Yanbu.
US crude stocks rose by 3.1 million barrels to 464.7 million barrels during the week ended April 3, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.
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