Economy
FG Maps Disputed Oil Wells to Reset Derivation Revenue
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has launched the plotting of coordinates of disputed and newly drilled oil and gas wells, a critical process that could redefine derivation revenue flows and fiscal entitlements among Nigeria’s oil-producing states.
The exercise, formally flagged off by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) in Abuja, follows the October 2025 flag-off of verification in the Niger Delta, triggered by petitions from the Governors of Anambra, Delta, Imo, Edo, Ondo and Rivers States, seeking clarity on ownership and boundaries of oil and gas resources.
According to the commission’s chairman, Mr Mohammed Bello Shehu, the process is a constitutional necessity rather than a political choice.
“This is not optional; it is a constitutional obligation,” Mr Shehu said. “The Constitution provides that 13 per cent of revenue from minerals, especially crude oil and gas, should be paid to the states where they are produced, and this is why the verification and plotting of coordinates of the new and disputed oil and gas wells must be done transparently and correctly.”
Mr Shehu disclosed that the Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC), comprising the National Boundary Commission (NBC), Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGoF); Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and RMAFC, has completed the verification phase and is now moving to the plotting stage.
“The IATC has verified the coordinates, and the next phase is to plot them, which will lead to resolving the location of the disputed oil and gas wells and properly attributing newly drilled wells to their rightful owners,” Mr Shehu said.
According to the RMAFC chairman, the exercise covers Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Ondo, Rivers, Delta and offshore locations, where overlapping claims frequently emerge whenever new oil fields come on stream.
“Disputes arise when new fields are developed, because multiple states may lay claim,” he explained. “But it is the facts on ground that will reveal who actually owns what, and where ownership must be shared.”
To guarantee credibility, Mr Shehu revealed that the Commission conducted extensive fieldwork between September 2025 and January 2026, covering creeks, high seas and offshore terrains.
“We went to the field ourselves, and where we could not physically access, we deployed drones to take the coordinates,” he said. “All data collected were witnessed by representatives of the affected states.”
He assured that RMAFC would remain neutral throughout the process.
“RMAFC will be an unbiased umpire and will deploy justice, equity and fairness for which it is known,” he stated.
The Secretary to the Commission, Mr Joseph Okechukwu Nwaze, said the exercise reflects strong inter-agency cooperation.
“This process reinforces confidence in RMAFC as a neutral institution committed to fairness in revenue administration and fiscal federalism,” he said.
On her part, the Director, Crude Oil Department, Mrs Khadija Kumo, described the initiative as “timely and critical to the future of energy governance in Nigeria,” adding that “data-driven decision-making must now define oil and gas administration.”
Coordinator of the IATC, Mr Folorunsho Aderinwala, lauded the commission for providing full institutional support, noting that it enabled the committee to successfully complete verification across difficult terrains.
The mapping of coordinates is expected to become one of the most consequential fiscal governance exercises in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in recent years, potentially redrawing the economic map of the Niger Delta.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira halted two consecutive weeks of depreciation in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, March 9, by remaining unchanged at N1,393.26/$1.
However, against the Pound Sterling, it further depreciated by N3.07 yesterday to trade at N1,863.06/£1 compared with last Friday’s value of N1,859.99/£1, and lost 65 Kobo against the Euro to close at N1,612.14/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,611.49/€1.
In the black market, the Nigerian Naira crashed against the Dollar yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,415/$1 compared with the N1,405/$1 it was exchanged in the previous trading session, and at the GTBank FX desk, it weakened by N9 to sell for N1,419/$1 versus the previous value of N1,410/$1.
The Naira’s performance comes as rising demand for foreign payments is outpacing supply, heightening worries that the domestic currency is entering the threshold it hasn’t traded in over two months.
Despite this, there appears to be a rise in foreign exchange inflows into the country’s currency market, with data from Coronation Merchant Bank showing that in the past week, FX inflows into the market have strengthened. As of the end of last week, total FX inflows into the Nigerian market settled at $1.26 billion, representing an increase of 17.76 per cent compared with $1.07 billion recorded in the previous week.
In the cryptocurrency market, tensions that have spurred higher energy prices and reignited inflation fears, which could potentially delay Federal Reserve rate cuts, eased after US President Donald Trump said the war with Iran could be over soon. This led to crypto and equity markets adding to gains following the comments.
Solana (SOL) appreciated by 5.6 per cent to $86.05, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 5.5 per cent to $2,024.18, Bitcoin (BTC) added 4.6 per cent to sell for $68,802.86, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 4.1 per cent to trade at $639.78, and Cardano (ADA) jumped 3.3 per cent to $0.2582.
Further, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 2.9 per cent to $0.0914, Litecoin (LTC) went up by 2.8 per cent to $54.10, and Ripple (XRP) improved by 2.4 per cent to $1.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The rise in the prices of crude oil grades on the global market as a result of the attacks on Iran by the duo of the United States and Israel has triggered an increase in the price of premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, in Nigeria.
This reporter observed that some petrol stations dispensing the product to consumers were selling above N1,200 on Monday evening.
In the areas monitored by Business Post yesterday in the Alimosho area of Lagos State, most of the fuel stations selling PMS did so at between N1,200 and N1,230 per litre.
A retailer around Jendol Superstores on Ipaja Road, dispensing at N1,020 to motorists, witnessed a long queue on Monday evening, causing traffic gridlock that stretched to Abesan Roundabout.
But the others selling at N1,230, especially in the Okunola area of Alimosho, had few vehicles, while many others shut their gates and were not selling.
It was gathered that the pump price rose to N1,230 per litre yesterday evening, as many of them sold at N1,050 per litre in the morning.
“The situation is crazy,” a motorist, who spoke with the newspaper, lamented.
“But why is petrol very expensive in Nigeria when we were not bombed like Saudi Arabia?” another consumer, who identified himself as Mr Tayo Goriola, queried.
An analyst speaking on Nigeria Info 99.3 FM Lagos on Monday, Mr Majeed Dahiru, said it was wrong for the government to hand off subsidy on energy because of situations like this.
“This was what some of us foresaw when we said the government cannot remove a safety net called a subsidy on energy because of times like this.
“As we speak, all others have triggered their safety mechanisms to stabilise prices, including in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have come under attack, unlike Nigeria, which has not been attacked,” he said on Dailies Today with Kofi Bartels yesterday.
Petrol prices went up on Monday after the crude oil hit $105 per barrel, and there are fears that the war could jack prices up to $150 per barrel, which could raise PMS to N1,500 or N2,000 per litre in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Dangote Refinery has assured Nigerians of sufficient supply of PMS during this period, saying, “With government support and steady access to domestic crude, Dangote Refinery will continue to meet all of Nigeria’s refined fuel requirements.”
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In January 2026, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited recorded a 9.69 per cent rise in profit after tax amid a 46.70 per cent decline in revenue.
According to its latest monthly report summary for the first month of this year, the net profit for the period under consideration stood at N385 billion compared with the N351 billion recorded in December 2025.
The state-owned oil firm disclosed that in January 2026, it generated a revenue of N2.571 trillion, in contrast to the N4.824 trillion achieved a month earlier.
The NNPC also revealed that in the month, the crude oil and condensate production stood at 1.64 million barrels per day, higher than the 1.54 million barrels per day in the preceding month.
Also, the natural gas output increased in the month under review to 7,283 mmscf/d versus 6,914 mmscf/d in December 2025, as the upstream pipeline availability dipped to 96 per cent from 100 per cent a month earlier.
The surge in production was attributed to the completion of Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) at Agbami and Renaissance (Estuary Area – EA), though planned deliveries for January were reduced due to bad weather, evacuation, and asset integrity challenges.
As for the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline, the NNPC said pre-commissioning activities continued while significant progress was reported in the construction of the Block Valve Stations (BVS) and Intermediate Pigging Stations (IPS). The project is 92 per cent completed.
Giving an update on the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline, it said the drilling activities progressed as scheduled in the OB3 River Niger crossing.
The company also said the Financial Literacy Program for 2026 Batch A, Stream 1 NYSC Corps Members was successfully conducted on Sunday, January 25, 2026, via online streaming. The session reached 79,657 participants across the 36 states and the FCT, bringing the cumulative number of corps members trained under the program to 1,231,081.
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