Economy
Nigeria Raises Oil Export in January by 94%
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that Nigeria’s crude oil and gas export increased by 94.3 percent month-on-month in January 2020.
The national oil company, in its first Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for the year released in Abuja, on Wednesday, stated further that the total revenue from oil and gas within the period amounted to $434.85 million
It also said that during the month under review, crude oil export sales contributed $336.65 million (77.42 percent) of the dollar transactions for the period, compared with the $136.36 million in the previous month, December 2019.
It added that export gas sales in January amounted to $98.20 million even as it noted that 2019 to January 2020 crude oil and gas transactions valued at $5.18 billion was exported.
The report added that vandalism of NNPC pipelines across the country recorded a phenomenal spike of 50 percentage increase in January.
“60 pipeline points were vandalized, compared to the 40 incidents recorded in December 2019.
“Atlas Cove-Mosimi and Mosimi-Ibadan axis pipelines accounted for 50 per cent and 17 per cent of the breaks respectively, while all other routes accounted for the remaining 33 per cent, according to the report,” it said.
It, however, explained that NNPC, in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders, were working in harmony to curtail this menace.
The report stated that to ensure steady supply and effective distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise called petrol, across the country, 1.20 billion litres of the white product, translating to 38.68mn liters/day, were supplied for the month.
It noted that the corporation had continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of fuel to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the nation.
In the gas sector, it revealed that out of the 253.09 billion cubic feet (BCF) of gas supplied in January, a total of 151.16 BCF of gas was commercialised, consisting of 36.20 BCF and 114.96 BCF for the domestic and export market, respectively.
This, it said translated to 1,167.80 million standard cubic Feet (mmscfd) of gas supply to the domestic market, with 3,708.23 mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market during the month.
It report further stated that 59.89 percent of the average daily gas produced was commercialised, while the balance of 40.11 per cent was re-injected, used as Upstream fuel gas or flared. Gas flare rate was 7.90 percent for the month under review.
According to the report, it is 643.59 mmscfd, compared with average gas-flare rate of 8.46 percent i.e. 671.40 mmscfd, for the period January 2019 to January 2020.
“Out of the 1,167.80 mmscfd of gas supplied to the domestic market in January 2020, about 639.70 mmscfd of gas, representing 54.78 percent, was supplied to gas-fired power plants.
“The balance of 528.10 mmscfd or 45.22 percent was supplied to other industries,” it said
The report said 640 mmscfd of gas delivered to gas fired-power plants in January generated an average power of about 2,683 MW, compared with December 2019 where an average of 596mmscfd was supplied to generate 2,498 MW.
It explained that for January 2019 to January 2020, an average of 1,203.93 mmscfd of gas was supplied to the domestic market, comprising an average of 693.73 mmscfd or (57.62 percent) as gas supply to the power plants and 510.20 mmscfd or (42.38 percent) as gas supply to industries.
Economy
UBN Property Triggers 0.22% Loss at NASD OTC Exchange
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.22 per cent decline on Monday, January 20, with the market capitalisation shedding N2.35 billion to close at N1.073 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N1.075 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) going down by 6.79 points to wrap the session at 3,105.12 points compared with 3,111.91 points recorded in the previous session.
It was observed that the loss recorded on the first trading day of the week was triggered by UBN Property Plc, which crashed by 20 Kobo to trade at N2.00 per share versus last Friday’s N2.20 per share.
However, the share price of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc went up by 4 Kobo to 40 Kobo per unit from 36 Kobo per unit, it could not stop the bourse from going down at the close of transactions.
The activity chart showed that on Monday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 57.9 per cent to 767,610 units from the 486,215 units traded in the preceding session, while the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 17.7 per cent to N2.3 million from the N2.8 million recorded in the preceding trading day, as the number of deals declined by 14.3 per cent to 12 deals from the 14 deals carried out in the previous trading day.
At the close of transactions, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with a turnover of 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and 11 Plc with the sale of 55,358 for N14.5 million.
Also, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 25.3 million units sold for N5.9 million, Geo-Fluids Plc came next with 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million.
Economy
Naira Weakens to N1,550/$1 at Official Market, Gains N5 at Black Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira weakened against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, January 20 amid FX pressures associated with this period.
Most people who came into the country for Christmas and New Year holidays are already going back and are in need of forex, putting pressure on the local currency.
Also, the poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to end to the 42-day access granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators to buy forex at official price.
According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the Nigerian Naira lost 0.16 per cent or N2.47 on the greeback yesterday to sell at N1,550.05/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s rate of N1,547.58/$1.
Similarly, the Naira slumped against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on Monday by N23.39 to trade at N1,906.98/£1 versus N1,883.59/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N23.14 to sell for N1,613.48/€1 compared with last Friday’s N1,590.34/€1.
However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the Dollar during the session by N5 to quote at N1,665/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,670/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it turned red yesterday as the US President, Mr Donald Trump, didn’t bring up the much-expected subject of crypto in his inauguration speech on Monday afternoon.
Mr Trump had promised a far more friendly crypto policy stance than the previous administration but in the long speech that announced his plans in the coming days, he didn’t make mention of Bitcoin or crypto.
Just over the weekend, the President ignited a speculative frenzy with the Friday evening launch of the Trump meme coin, which was shortly followed by a meme coin associated with his wife, Melania.
Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled yesterday by 6.3 per cent to $0.3419, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.7 per cent to $235.32, Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to $0.9777, and Litecoin (LTC) moderated by 1.9 per cent to $114.98.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.7 per cent to $3,241.36, Binance Coin (BNB) retreated by 1.4 per cent to $693.30, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $3.06, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.8 per cent to $101,746.99, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
Economy
Oil Prices Fall as Trump Announces Changes in US Energy Policies
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled lower on Monday after Mr Donald Trump was sworn in for a second time as President of the United States.
On assumption of office, Mr Trump declared a national energy emergency immediately, promising to replenish strategic reserves and export American energy worldwide.
Consequently, Brent crude futures went down by 64 cents or 0.8 per cent to settle at $80.15 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures depreciated by $1.30 or 1.7 per cent to trade at $76.58 per barrel.
Mr Trump and his allies have signalled they would use the authority to rapidly approve new oil, gas, and electricity projects that typically take years to permit, and during his speech said he plans to unleash new oil and gas development on federal lands while reversing the Biden-Harris administration’s de-growth climate regulations.
Market analysts noted that while many of the executive actions will simply kick off a lengthy regulatory process, they extend by a large degree to the US energy industry, from oil fields to car dealerships.
These also underscore Mr Trump’s determination to reorient federal government policy behind oil and gas production, a sharp pivot from Biden’s efforts to curb fossil fuels.
He also said in his inaugural speech that he would impose tariffs and tax countries and promised an overhaul of the trade system.
Last week, prices rose for a fourth-consecutive weekly gain after the Biden administration imposed sanctions on more than 100 tankers and two Russian oil producers. This led to a scramble by top buyers China and India for prompt oil cargoes and a rush for ship supply.
Meanwhile, dealers of Russian and Iranian oil sought tankers not under sanctions for oil shipment.
While the new sanctions could cut supply from Russia by nearly 1 million barrels per day, market analysts noted that recent price gains could be short-lived depending on Trump’s actions as the new American president promised to help end the Russia-Ukraine war quickly.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Mr Trump on taking office hours, saying he was open to dialogue with the new US administration on Ukraine and nuclear arms.
Pressure was reduced based on easing tension in the Middle East after Hamas and Israel exchanged hostages and prisoners on Sunday which marked the first day of a ceasefire after 15 months of war.
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