Economy
Lokpobiri, Elumelu Say 2.06mbpd Oil Production Target Achievable
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria can achieve the ambitious 2.06 million barrels per day crude oil production target in 2025 based on investment and security in the sector.
This was the view of stakeholders, including the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Heineken Lokpobori, the Chairman of Heirs Energies Limited, Mr Tony Elumelu, and others at the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse in Abuja.
At the forum organised by Heirs Energies Limited, Mr Lokpobori said Nigeria’s target of 2.06 million barrels per day of crude oil production in 2025 is achievable.
“The 2025 budget is indeed predicated on 2.06 million barrels a day, and I want to assure Nigerians that this is doable.
”Nigeria has been doing 1.5 million barrels of production per day,” he said, adding that the industry has been able to make an additional 250,000 barrels incrementally.
“For now, we are operating at about 1.75 million barrels per day,’’ he said.
The minister said for over a decade, there has been no investment in the sector, adding that things are now changing for the better.
“We have changed the perception about Nigeria. So, investments are coming in.
“We want to improve the security situation in the Niger Delta. And I want to use the opportunity to thank our military.
“Nigerian military, the paramilitary, and civilian contractors. The combined effort of these stakeholders have led to less infractions in our pipelines, less thefts, less pipeline vandalisation,’’ he said.
Mr Lokpobori said the federal government has also carried out some reforms in the sector.
“We have taken care of the issue of bureaucracy. Before now, you must know the minister or somebody who knows the minister before your documents are signed.
“Right now, you do not need to know me before your documents are signed.
“Once I get the recommendation from NUPRC, statutorily, no documents stay on my table for more than 24 hours,’’ he said.
Mr Lokpobiri said the government has also addressed the issue of inefficiency by deploying technology.
“Before now, everything was done manually. We could not monitor real-time, what was happening in our terminals. We could not monitor real-time, when payments will be given.
“Technology has also been deployed to ensure that we reduce the corruption that has existed in that sector in the past,’’ he said.
On his part, the Chairman of Heirs Energies Limited, Mr Elumelu, said the oil industry has been able to turn around the season of decline to that of growth.
Mr Elumelu said the country’s increase in crude oil production to 1.7 million barrels per day in January attests to this growth.
He said that with the completion of the major divestments that have just come through, over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s oil production was now operated by indigenous companies.
“For a lot of people, there is trepidation that we can deliver. There is also optimism that we can deliver.
“Heirs Energies has been one of those companies that have stood strongly for growth, as demonstrated by the growth we have achieved in our company by doubling production since inception,’’ he said.
Mr Elumelu said that the leadership discourse was informed by the need to chart a way forward for the company, as well as the country.
“As we embark on our second leadership forum, we bring our entire leadership to discuss the way forward for our company.
“We thought that being a child of the Nigerian petroleum industry, we needed to bring all the parties together to discuss the growth of the industry.”
“In that light, we felt it was important to bring together the industries to start talking about the growth.
“Now that it is us, the indigenous companies that are in control of a larger proportion of the production, we have to power it, we have to own the challenge, and we have to deliver to the Nigerian people,’’ Mr Elumelu added.
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.
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.
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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