Economy
FG Eyes 100% Nigerian Content in 2027, Trains Illegal Refiners
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Ibe Kachikwu has directed the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to ensure that the Nigerian oil and gas industry is able to produce all its needs by year 2027.
The Minister set the target in Owerri, Imo State at the just concluded Nigerian Content Workshop organised by New Planets Projects in conjunction with the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources Upstream.
He said the Federal Government expects that over the next 10 years, the Nigeria oil and gas industry, in collaboration with foreign investors would have developed in-country capacities and capabilities to produce all its offshore platforms locally.
“I would like to see the Japanese coming; I would like to see the Koreans come here; I would like to see collaborative efforts that will make our oil industry produce everything that we need,” he said at the event.
However, the Minister acknowledged the giant strides made by the board in seven years, commending particularly the excellent achievements of the current Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Wabote, whom he credited for working with energy and passion and meeting several targets set for the Board in the past one year.
Noting that Nigerian Content achievement in engineering services had hit 80 percent, the Minister insisted that performance in offshore aspects of the industry was still substantially low and charged international and local operating oil companies to collaborate with the NCDMB to achieve the new target.
Mr Kachikwu described Nigerian Content as the future of the industry.
According to him, “It doesn’t matter how much money we make, how much gas we produce or alternative fossils we produce; if we do not ensure that a lot of that is captured locally in terms of benefits, we have no stake.”
Commenting on NCDMB’s strategies for addressing noncompliance with provisions of the Nigerian Content Act by some companies, the Minister said the focus should not be on identifying defaulters and penalizing them.
According to him, NCDMB should develop corrective measures and understand why some companies fail to comply.
“The Board needs to develop corrective visitation programmes to institutions that have not complied. Sit down with them and do an audit of the issues and jointly develop models, giving specific timelines for delivery and create incentives for those who comply and penalties for those who blatantly refuse to comply,” he said.
On industry’s capacity building initiatives, the Minister directed NCDMB, the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) to collaborate and develop a plan for training youths who are involved in pipeline vandalism, illegal refining and other illicit activities in the oil and gas industry.
The training programme will focus on improving their skillsets and getting them to embrace productive activities.
He said, “We need to find a middle-level specialized system of training people in the oil industry, a system that is not necessarily tied to degrees. We need to capture a lot of those in the hinterlands who have finished WAEC or their first diploma and don’t know where to go to but have some unique skillsets. We need to bring them to finishing schools.”
Mr Kachikwu also directed the NCDMB, PTDF and PTI to use existing industry facilities in Port Harcourt and Kaduna to carry out the planned trainings and other bespoke capacity building programmes for industry stakeholders. “We have to provide local competency trainings, relying on support from oil companies in terms of investment and overseas faculty.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange further dropped 0.35 per cent on Tuesday, March 17, with the market capitalisation down by N8.80 billion to N2.471 trillion from the preceding day’s N2.480 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dipping by 14.71 points to 4,130.89 points from 4,145.60 points.
The loss recorded during the session was influenced by three securities, which overpowered the gains recorded by four stocks.
Okitipupa Plc lost N15.00 to sell at N215.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N230.00 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N1.23 to trade at N122.32 per share versus Monday’s closing price of N123.55 per share, and Afriland Plc declined by 90 Kobo to quote at N17.05 per unit versus N17.95 per unit.
On the flip side, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) gained 36 Kobo to close at N75.43 per share versus the preceding session’s N75.07 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc added 6 Kobo to trade at N3.11 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.05 per unit, Lighthouse Financial Service Plc improved by 5 Kobo to 60 Kobo per share from 55 Kobo per share, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc rose by 1 Kobo to 55 Kobo per unit from 54 Kobo per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities surged by 97.5 per cent to 921,265 units from 265,610 units, the value of securities advanced by 64.6 per cent to N54.7 million from N33.2 million, and the number of deals went up by 46.2 per cent to 38 deals from 26 deals.
The most active stock by value (year-to-date) was CSCS Plc with 38.7 million units worth N2.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.4 million units valued at N1.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc traded 6.8 million units for N649.1 million.
The most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) was Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.6 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 130.9 million units exchanged for N505.1 million, and CSCS Plc with 38.6 million units worth N2.4 billion.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.54 per cent surge was witnessed by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday as a result of strong investor demand and broad-based gains in the banking and industrial goods sectors.
According to data from the bourse, the industrial goods space expanded by 4.44 per cent, and the banking index chalked up 4.30 per cent, offsetting the losses recorded by the three other indices due to profit-taking.
Business Post reports that the consumer goods sector depreciated by 1.30 per cent, the insurance counter shrank by 0.41 per cent, and the energy landscape lost 0.13 per cent.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation soared by N696 billion to N130.026 trillion from N129.330 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) surged by 1,084.52 points to 202,559.41 points from 201,474.89 points.
BUA Cement ended the day as the best-performing equity after it jumped 10.00 per cent to N326.70, Premier Paints appreciated by 9.86 per cent to N23.40, Zenith Bank expanded by 7.91 per cent to N111.15, NAHCO moved up by 7.14 per cent to N175.60, and RT Briscoe grew by 6.67 per cent to N11.20.
Conversely, Presco was the worst-performing equity, with a decline of 10.00 per cent to quote at N1,875.60. Caverton dropped 8.70 per cent to N6.30, Secure Electronic Technology lost 7.69 per cent to trade at N1.20, Guinea Insurance shed 6.43 per cent to quote at N1.31, and International Breweries crashed by 6.35 per cent to N14.00.
During the session, 1.8 billion shares worth N88.1 billion exchanged hands in 62,654 deals compared with the 948.2 million shares valued at N49.2 billion traded in 72,735 deals a day earlier, implying a contraction in the number of deals by 13.72 per cent, and an expansion in the trading volume and value by 89.83 per cent and 79.07 per cent, respectively.
Dominating the activity chart was FCMB with a turnover of 516.2 million equities valued at N6.6 billion, Wema Bank transacted 213.4 million shares for N5.6 billion, Zenith Bank traded 163.1 million stocks worth N18.1 billion, Access Holdings sold 123.9 million equities valued at N3.2 billion, and GTCO exchanged 100.0 million shares worth N12.4 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was another outstanding performance for the Nigerian Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, March 17, as it further appreciated against the US Dollar by N8.46 or 0.62 per cent to trade at N1,344.04/$1, in contrast to Monday’s closing rate of N1,357.77/$1.
It also gained N6.85 against the Euro in the official FX market during the session to sell at N1,551.46/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,558.31/€1, but weakened against the Pound Sterling by N6.33 to close at N1,795.87/£1 versus Monday’s value of N1,789.54/£1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira improved its value against the Dollar yesterday by N20 to settle at N1,365/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,385/$1, and in the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,395/$1.
With over $50 billion in foreign reserves, analysts assert that the outlook for the Naira is positive, powered by expectations of increased forex receipts from Nigeria’s hydrocarbon sales, as potential disruptions to global oil supply have increased volatility in energy markets.
The pressure that has piled on the local currency appeared to ease, buoyed by higher oil prices that have continued to bolster market sentiment.
Call for allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz was ignored, prompting traders to speculate that a continued closure is likely, which means oil prices will remain higher.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was in green ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting. There are no expectations that the US central bank will move rates at its Wednesday meeting, but Chairman Jerome Powell’s tone regarding the inflation outlook could prove a catalyst.
Analysts noted that a hawkish tone alongside hot February Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation data could weigh on equities and crypto, but Mr Powell’s signal that the Federal Reserve is treating rising oil prices as a temporary shock could extend the crypto rally.
Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 2.6 per cent to $0.2905, TRON (TRX) grew by 2.3 per cent to $0.3033, Ripple (XRP) jumped 1.2 per cent to $1.52, Ethereum (ETH) rose 0.9 per cent to $2,320.83, Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 0.8 per cent to $0.1005, Solana (SOL) gained 0.6 per cent to sell at $94.11, and Bitcoin (BTC) went up by 0.3 per cent to $74,073.07.
However, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.3 per cent to close at $672.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
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