Economy
Nigeria’s Crude Export Drops 30.9% in March
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s total crude oil and gas export plunged 30.9 percent in the month of March 2020 to $256.2 million, according to the latest data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
In its Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for March 2020, the oil agency said of the total sales, crude oil export sales contributed $184.59 million (72.1 percent) of the dollar transactions compared with $281.1 million contribution in the previous month, while the export gas sales amounted to $71.6 million in the month.
A statement issued by the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru, stated that in terms of year-on-year sales, from March 2019 to March 2020, crude oil and gas transactions indicated that crude oil and gas worth $4.95 billion was exported.
The national oil company said that 218.4 billion Cubic Feet (BCF) of natural gas was produced in March 2020, translating to an average daily production of 7.5 million Standard Cubic Feet per Day (mmscfd).
This is even as the corporation, within the period under review, recorded a vandalisation of not less than 19 pipeline points, which represented a 47 percent decline from the 32 points recorded in February 2020.
The corporation explained that 3,119.9 BCF of gas was produced for the period March 2019 to March 2020, representing an average daily production of 7,912.05 mmscfd during the period.
It noted that period-to-date production from Joint Ventures (JVs), Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) and NPDC contributed about 69.4 percent, 21.7 percent and 8.9 percent respectively to the total national gas production.
Out of the 218.4 BCF of gas supplied in March 2020, according to the report, 120.7 BCF of gas was commercialized, consisting of 33.5 BCF and 87.3 BCF for the domestic and export market respectively, translating to 1,235.6 mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 3,817.4 mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month.
The report said 55.6 percent of the average daily gas produced was commercialized, while the balance of 44.4 percent was re-injected, used as Upstream fuel gas or flared.
Gas flare rate was 9.1 percent for the month under review, 679.6 mmscfd, compared with average gas flare rate of 8.4 percent, 66.9 mmscfd for March 2019 to March 2020.
During the month under review, the report also announced a trading deficit of N9.5 billion for March 2020 compared to the N3.9 billion surplus posted in February 2020.
The report declared that the over 300 percent decline in March 2020 earnings was due primarily to the huge decrease of 181 percent in the national oil company’s upstream subsidiary, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), due to the decline in crude oil prices precipitated by the coronavirus-induced global slowdown which it stated led to reduced exports and dwindling world oil consumption; combined with deficits posted by the refineries, among others.
In the downstream, to ensure continuous availability of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol, and effective distribution of the product across the country, 1.7 billion litres of PMS, translating to 59.7 million litres/day were supplied for the month.
Explaining the 19 pipeline points that were vandalized during the period under review, NNPC explained that Atlas Cove-Mosimi accounted for 53 percent, while Mosimi-Ibadan recorded 21 per cent and Suleja-Minna accounted for the remaining 26 percent.
The report assured that NNPC was collaborating with the local communities and other stakeholders to continuously strive to reduce vandalism.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
