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Economy

Kerosene: NNPC Meets 60% of 8m Litres Daily Consumption

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By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, has disclosed that the three government’s refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna now supply 60 percent of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), popularly known as kerosene, consumed in the country.

Mr Baru made this disclosure at a 2-day Investigative Public Hearing of the House of Representative Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) in Abuja.

He expressed optimism that the state owned oil firm would meet the 2019 target date for the cessation of petroleum products importation by the Federal Government.

According to him, the three refineries were producing 5 million litres of kerosene daily representing more than 60 percent of the national daily consumption requirement of 8 million litres.

Mr Baru, represented by the Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, Mr Henry Ikem Obih, disclosed that the balance of 3 million litres of the product was being imported by private petroleum products marketers.

He noted that kerosene and other petroleum products supplied by the NNPC were of high quality and meet safety standards.

“The NNPC ensures that the entire refining output in Nigeria through its refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna and any products imported by it to make up for  market supply-shortfalls meet the specifications of the Nigerian Institute of Standard (NIS) and Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON),” Mr Baru said.

He said NNPC would not compromise safety and quality in its products and processes, adding that all the depots in the country had laboratories for quality checks to ensure safety of consumers.

The GMD explained that in keeping with its avowed commitment to the safety of consumers, the Corporation investigated the recent incident of kerosene explosion in Calabar and could not trace the truck that delivered the adulterated product in any of its depots loading schedule.

He advised the committee to contact the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which is the petroleum Industry regulator to investigate the source of the adulterated kerosene among the private depots.

Mr Baru called on relevant authorities to empower the DPR to carry out its responsibilities more diligently by ensuring that petroleum products imported by marketers meet the required quality and safety standards as NNPC cannot guarantee the quality of products imported by other market players.

“The quality of kerosene being sold to the general public required regular inspection to ensure that it meets health, safety, environment and quality standards at all times to avert any regulatory breaches or threat to lives and properties of the general public and consumers of the products,” the NNPC boss stated.

Speaking earlier, the Committee Chairman, Mr Joseph Akinlaja, stated that the Committee was deeply concerned about high cost of kerosene in the market as well as incessant explosion due to adulteration.

He said the committee was mandated by the House of Representatives to, among other things, work out a clear cut policy framework on deregulation of kerosene to avert the current challenges faced by the poor masses in procuring the product; arrest the resurgence of kerosene explosion with attendant fatalities and investigate the disappearance of N11 billion worth of petroleum product belonging to the NNPC.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

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Economy

Four Securities Erase N51.17bn from NASD Exchange

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NASD Exchange

By Adedapo Adesanya

Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.

In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.

The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.

During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

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Economy

Cautious Trading, Profit-taking Weaken Nigeria’s Stock Exchange by 0.66%

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Nigeria's stock exchange

By Dipo Olowookere

The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.

This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.

Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.

Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.

The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.

As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.

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Economy

Official FX Market Sees Naira Dip to N1,380.93/$1

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naira official market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.

Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.

Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.

Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.

If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.

At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.

On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

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