Economy
Firm Builds Gas Plant in Lagos to Deepen LPG Penetration
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government, in line with its goal to expand its footprint in the manufacturing of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) or cooking gas, over the weekend announced the groundbreaking of Rungas ALFA plant.
The event was performed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, at Alaro City, Free Trade Zone, Epe, Lagos State.
It was gathered that plant, alongside its sister plant – Rungas Prime in Polaku, Bayelsa State, is being developed with equity investments by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
The federal government said upon its completion, the plant will have a combined capacity of over 1.2 million cylinders per annum, surpassing the record held by a European firm that produces 900 cylinders.
The Minister described the cylinder plants as key to achieving deeper penetration of LPG and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to ensure economic diversification.
He stated that cylinders are the most visible element of the LPG value chain and the manufacturing facilities will not only bring affordable and durable cylinders to Nigeria but also create countless direct and indirect jobs for citizens.
Mr Sylva also commended NCDMB for recording another milestone in the drive to enhance domestic participation and capacity building of indigenous companies in the oil and gas industry.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Simbi Kesiye Wabote noted that the expected completion date of the facility would be about 12 months and noted that he was confident that the Board will successfully deliver on any project it participates in.
He said the ground-breaking event confirms that Private-Public Partnership is an effective model for putting in place the needed infrastructure, facilities, and manufacturing base, to position Nigeria for the opportunities that abound in the region and continent.
Mr Wabote also affirmed the board’s excitement for being an active participant and a front-runner in taking practical steps to deliver on lofty goals of the ‘’Decade of Gas’’ that is being championed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
Other interventions by the board in the gas value-chain include the development of LPG storage terminals and jetties, inland gas processing for the production of LPG and propane, infrastructure for gas gathering and injection into gas pipeline networks and CNG facilities.
He said NCDMB was deliberate in going for the Type-3 Composite LPG cylinders considering the unique features such as safety, lightweight, and durability.
In his words, “Our handshake with the Rungas Group will catalyse the transition away from the heavy metallic LPG cylinders. It will also address the issue of high importation of LPG cylinders with the attendant economic losses.”
Other benefits of the project include helping to eliminate deaths and illnesses caused by smoke and wood fumes associated with cooking with firewood and bringing the products closer to end-users.
The NCDMB Chief noted that its interests in equity investments in strategic oil and gas projects were because the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act mandates the Board to build capacities in the oil and gas industry and harness opportunities to create jobs.
“You cannot create jobs if you do not get involved in projects. We expect that during the construction phase, hundreds of people will be involved and during the operations phase, direct and indirect jobs will be created. There is no way to create jobs if you do not create the opportunity.
“As a country, we cannot continue to sit and wait for people to bring opportunities for us. We must create those opportunities so we can employ our youths.
“We have proven the concept with regards to a modular refinery and today, the Waltersmith modular refinery cannot even meet demand from customers for its products. Imagine that we had done this in the past; today we would not be discussing the issue of fuel availability or scarcity in this country.”
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, Rungas Group, Mr Lanre Runsewe lauded the NCDMB for triggering the local manufacturing of safe cooking gas cylinders and becoming the catalyst for the rapid industrialisation of gas-based Industries.
He stated that “without the NCDMB initial and extended facilitation for the local manufacture of cooking gas cylinders in Nigeria, it would have been more difficult and expensive to implement the imminent National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) rollout, due to lack of locally manufactured safe cylinders. The country would have had to resort to importation.”
He also revealed that NCDMB’s participation and the substantial quantity of cylinders to be manufactured had “triggered a clause in our contractual agreements based on one million cylinders with our Italian, Portuguese Original Equipment Manufacturers which will result in direct investments of over $40 million to produce some of our key raw materials in Nigeria. We are currently working in conjunction with our Alaro City Partners to position them in this Free Trade Zone.”
The Chairman, Rungas Group, Mr Shuaibu Ahmed added the facility in Bayelsa was Africa’s first composite cylinder manufacturing plant and expressed hope that the facilities would produce enough products to meet local demand and export to other countries, earning the nation much needed foreign exchange.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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