Economy

NNPC in Final Talks With Oando, MRS Oil, Others to Revamp Refineries

Published

8 years ago

28/02/2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is already in the final stages of discussions with two consortiums of oil investors willing to pump their money into the nation’s moribund refineries in a bid to make them functional again.

According to Reuters, the investors comprises both local and foreign and they would work to fix the three oil facilities located in Warri in Delta State, Port Harcourt in Rivers State and Kaduna in Kaduna State.

The Nigerian government had made efforts in the past to revamp the three refineries, but they breakdown almost immediately after repairs.

The first consortium in talks with the NNPC consists of world’s largest oil trader, Vitol; Italy’s Saipem; US-based General Electric and Nigerian companies, Sahara Group and MRS Oil Nigeria Plc.

The second consortium comprises global commodities trader Trafigura, Italian oil major Eni, Spanish refiner Cepsa and Nigeria’s Oando.

While the first group will handle the Warri and Kaduna refineries, the second group will take care of the Port Harcourt refinery, which consists of two refining plants.

Relying on banking and trading sources for reporting, Reuters said the groups would be paid via the offtake of refined products rather than cash, putting the onus on them to revive the refineries and keep them running smoothly to ensure their investments earn a return.

The move, it explained, is aimed at helping Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, save billions of Dollars on fuel imports.

President Muhammadu Buhari had pledged to fix the refineries when elected in 2015 but little progress has been made so far.

Nigeria’s refineries operate far below their combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) due to years of neglect, as well as theft from pipelines and sabotage.

This forces the country to import nearly all the fuel it consumes, a hefty burden because of price caps on gasoline. The government said it spent $5.8 billion on imports since late 2017.

Private firms largely stopped importing petrol after the government scrapped subsidy payments to help them sell at the capped price, leaving NNPC to import 90 percent or more of Nigeria’s needs.

At the moment, there is acute shortage of the commodity in the country for the past three months with no end in sight.

Oil minister, Mr Emmanuele Ibe Kachikwu previously said the government would raise $1.2 billion to upgrade its refineries and would end reliance on imports by 2019.

Mr Kachikwu said this month Nigeria planned to announce the names of private investors in its refineries in coming month.

Nigeria’s gasoline consumption is now roughly 40 million liters per day in the nation of almost 200 million people.

Meanwhile, Vitol, Trafigura, Cepsa, Oando, Saipem, Sahara and Eni declined to comment. General Electric was unable to immediately respond to a request for comment. MRS did not respond to requests for comment.

NNPC did not immediately provide a comment.

Further details on the deals being discussed, including the cost of repairs, were not immediately clear.

Economy

World Bank Upwardly Reviews Nigeria’s 2026 Growth Forecast to 4.4%

Published

13 minutes ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Nigeria has been projected to record an economic growth rate of 4.4 per cent in 2026 by the World Bank Group, higher than the 3.7 per cent earlier predicted in June 2025.

In its 2026 Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday, the global lender also said the growth for next year for Nigeria is 4.4 per cent rather than the 3.8 per cent earlier projected.

As for the sub-Saharan African region, the economy is forecast to move up to 4.3 per cent this year and 4.5 per cent next year.

It stressed that growth in developing economies should slow to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2025 before rising to 4.1 per cent in 2027 as trade tensions ease, commodity prices stabilise, financial conditions improve, and investment flows strengthen.

In the report, it also noted that growth is expected to jump in low-income countries by 5.6 per cent due to stronger domestic demand, recovering exports, and moderating inflation.

As for the world economy, the bank said it is now 2.6 per cent and not 2.4 per cent due to growing resilience despite persistent trade tensions and policy uncertainty.

“The resilience reflects better-than-expected growth — especially in the United States, which accounts for about two-thirds of the upward revision to the forecast in 2026,” a part of the report stated.

“But economic dynamism and resilience cannot diverge for long without fracturing public finance and credit markets,” it noted.

World Bank also said, “Over the coming years, the world economy is set to grow slower than it did in the troubled 1990s — while carrying record levels of public and private debt.

“To avert stagnation and joblessness, governments in emerging and advanced economies must aggressively liberalise private investment and trade, rein in public consumption, and invest in new technologies and education.”

Economy

Seven Equities Buoy NASD OTC Securities Exchange by 0.73%

Published

3 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Seven price gainers triggered a 0.73 per cent appreciation in the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Tuesday, January 13.

The advancers were led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which added N5.06 to its value to close at N75.00 per unit versus the preceding day’s N68.70 per unit, followed by MRS Oil Plc, with a price appreciation of N5.06 to sell at N200.00 per share compared with the previous session’s N194.94 per share, and Air Liquide expanded by N1.00 to settle at N14.00 per unit versus N13.00 per unit.

Further, Food Concepts Plc climbed by 31 Kobo to N3.37 per share from N3.06 per share, IPWA Plc appreciated by 11 Kobo to N1.23 per unit from N1.12 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc grew by 6 Kobo to N6.90 per share from N6.84 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc grew by 1 Kobo to end at N1.29 per unit versus Monday’s closing price of N1.28 per unit.

The gains recorded by these seven securities raised the market capitalisation by N15.95 billion to N2.2 trillion from the preceding session’s N2.184 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) added 26.65 points to close at 3,678.13 points compared to 3,651.48 points.

Business Post reports that three stocks she weight yesterday, with Afriland Properties Plc down by N1.49 to N14.73 per share from N16.22 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 64 Kobo to N40.13 per unit from N40.77 per unit, and UBN Property Plc lost 1 Kobo to close at N2.05 per share versus N2.06 per share.

Yesterday, the number of deals executed soared by 39.6 per cent to 67 deals from 48 deals, the total value of transaction surged by 84.1 per cent to N86.1 million from N46.8 million, while the volume of trades shrank by 59.6 million to 1.6 million units from 4.03 million units.

CSCS Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 2.0 million units sold for N81.4 million, trailed by MRS Oil Plc with 265,697 units worth N53.1 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 6.4 million units traded for N43.4 million.

By volume, Geo-Fluids Plc topped the chart with 6.4 million units valued at N43.4 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 3.1 million units transacted for N1.9 million, and CSCS Plc with 2.0 million units valued at N81.4 million.

Economy

Naira Now N1,419/$1 at Official Forex Market

Published

3 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira further appreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, January 13 by N1.80 or 0.13 per cent to N1,419.66/$1 from Monday’s N1,421.46/$1.

This was boosted by an inject of $50 million into the official forex market by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in an effort to defend the local currency.

At the same spot market, the Nigerian currency improved its rate against the Pound Sterling during the session by N1.86 to close at N1,913.98/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,915.84/£1 and gained N5.09 on the Euro to settle at N1,656.59/€1, in contrast to the N1,661.68/€1 it was transacted a day earlier.

At the parallel market and the GTBank FX counter, the Naira maintained stability against the DOllar yesterday at N1,490/$1 and N1,431/$1, respectively.

Market analysts have noted that proper CBN support, stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), improving current account dynamics, and more disciplined FX management will give the Naira stronger footing in the near term, with threats coming from externalities.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was elevated on Tuesday as US inflation eased and political uncertainty around the Federal Reserve increased demand for non-sovereign assets.

Ease in US inflation data reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue cutting rates this year. Lower inflation eased pressure on bond yields and improved liquidity conditions, a setup that has historically favored crypto and other risk assets.

Also, reports that the US Justice Department had served grand jury subpoenas on the Federal Reserve earlier this week unsettled markets and weakened the Dollar, boosting the appeal of assets viewed as insulated from central bank risk.

Cardano (ADA) surged by 7.5 per cent to $0.4206, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 6.2 per cent to $3,321.77, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 5.8 per cent to $0.1472, Ripple (XRP) rose by 3.9 per cent to $2.14, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 3.1 per cent to $936.96, Litecoin (LTC) jumped by 3.1 per cent to $78.58, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 2.9 per cent to $94,662.42, and Solana (SOL) soared by 1.6 per cent to $144.03, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.