Economy
Gas Firms to Boost Nigeria’s Daily Production by One Billion SCF
By Adedapo Adesanya
Major gas-producing companies operating in Nigeria are looking to take concrete steps to increase daily gas production by one billion standard cubic feet (bscf) per annum between 2025 and 2030 to meet the National gas production aspirations as well as bring an end to routine gas flaring.
This followed a charge from the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, during an engagement with upstream gas industry stakeholders held at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Towers Abuja on Monday.
The meeting, which brought together key stakeholders in the industry, including MD/CEOs of NNPC Ltd, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Seplat Energy, Renaissance Energy, Total Energies, NAE/AENR, and Esso Exploration, saw them make a pledge to work towards unlocking Nigeria’s natural gas potential for national development.
Mr Ekpo stressed the need for accelerated growth in the sector to meet the federal government’s target of 12 billion scf of gas per day by 2030 from the current 7.3 billion scf production capacity.
“We need to grow natural gas production by at least 1 BCF annually till 2030,” Mr Ekpo said, “Nigeria must emerge among the top 10 natural gas-consuming nations by 2030. To achieve this, we must aggressively increase drilling operations in joint venture assets across all terrains, land, swamp, and offshore, and prioritise the completion of major gas processing and evacuation infrastructure projects.”
Mr Ekpo described the recent divestments by major oil companies as a pivotal moment for Nigeria’s energy sector, noting that it presented opportunities to aggressively exploit and produce both Associated Gas (AG) and Non-Associated Gas (NAG) in the country.
“Capitalizing on these divestments requires a clear strategy to accelerate project timelines, modernize existing facilities, and deploy innovative extraction and processing technologies,” he added.
The minister also stressed the importance of strengthening collaboration with international stakeholders and technical experts to ensure the successful execution of gas infrastructure projects, including the AKK and OB-3 pipelines.
He said these projects are critical to connecting gas resources to domestic and industrial markets, supporting Nigeria’s ambition to become a regional hub for natural gas.
The Gas Minister while commending the NNPC/TotalEnergies JV for ending routine gas flaring in its operations, called on other operators to emulate same in order to reduce their carbon footprints and convert the flared gas to wealth for the nation.
He also emphasized the need for accelerated timelines, enhanced resource allocation, and the exploration of public-private partnerships to overcome funding and technical challenges.
Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr Gbenga Komolafe, assured investors of a conducive environment to support the government’s targets for the gas sector and stated that the Commission has identified dedicated gas assets to be included in forthcoming bid rounds.
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Mrs Hadiza Usman, represented by Mr Esege Esege, noted that President Bola Tinubu is keenly interested in the gas sector realizing its full potential and contributing to national growth and development.
Also, Executive Vice President, Gas, Power, and New Energy NNPC Ltd., Mr Olalekan Ogunleye, assured that NNPC Ltd. and its partners are working together across the gas value chain to meet the target.
“At present, every industry in the domestic gas space is receiving the gas they require due to the very productive cross-sectional collaboration,” he said, adding that efforts are being made to improve affordability.
Mr Ogunleye also provided an update on the AKK and OB-3 pipeline projects, saying both have advanced to 78 per cent and 97 per cent stages of completion, respectively.
“We are working towards the timely completion of these projects,” he assured.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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