Economy
NNPC Gets DPR Support to Strengthen Energy Sector
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has pledged to support the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to deliver value to Nigerians in the energy sector.
The Director/Chief Executive Officer of the DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, gave this assurance when a delegation of the NNPC management team led by the Group Managing Director, Mr Mele Kyari, visited his office in Abuja on Tuesday.
The DPR chief said that as a regulator, it does not stand to look for faults, rather, it helps operators to deliver on business mandates to boost economic activities.
“Being a regulator is trying to catch people that you regulate doing something right, not the other way round; it is better for us to come together like you have done today.
“The most important thing for us is to help operators do something right. Our own is to enable business and create opportunity, and for everything we do, especially for our own company like NNPC, it is to ensure the success of the company.
“This is because the success of the company is the success of Nigeria, and coming together like this is great, and that is why we are excited that the GMD and his team are visiting us, the first in the history of this organisation,” he said.
According to him, the move goes down to change the history and to prove that they are all for Nigeria and the success of the business of oil and gas in our country.
He said that working together would encourage transparency and efficiency, adding that it was a commitment to business and efficiency that brought the NNPC to a profit company.
Mr Auwalu commended the GMD for the various landmarks that had helped to transform the operations of the NNPC which history will not forget.
“Today, in the whole world after 44 years, this is the first year NNPC has recovered and declared profit.
“We are proud of it and we put our head high in the comity of nations that our biggest corporation in Nigeria is no longer the way it is being seen,” he said
He noted that energy security and availability of gas through the East-West pipeline (OB3), Trans Niger pipeline, which the GMD was championing, would help to tackle poverty in the country.
He thanked Mr Kyari for making out time to visit the DPR and assured him of the support of the department to create success in all the corporation was doing.
“What we are doing is to guarantee the success and stability of what you have already done.
“DPR, looking at the success and strategy you embarked on, had created a platform to help consolidate the assets, the licenses, permits and approvals we have issued,” he said.
He noted that DPR was committed to oil exploration in the country and appreciated the effort of NNPC to ensure that more volumes were out to help the country make more money through royalties.
The DPR helmsman also commended NNPC’s effort to enhance production and encourage new production reservoirs.
He noted that the reserve to production ratio was not equal, adding that the profit declared by NNPC had opened a floodgate for investors to the country.
On his part, Mr Kyari thanked the DPR for the support it had been giving to the corporation, which had helped the NNPC operations.
“The fate of the oil and gas industry rests in the hands of DPR and the NNPC, and by implication, the prosperity of the country rests in the hands of the two organisations.
“As we go through the journey of transition to deepen gas penetration and monetisation in the country, to ensure that we create new gas industry, to process new oil, everything leads to making sure there is prosperity in the country.
“Nigerians depend on DPR and NNPC to bring prosperity to this country and therefore as a regulator, you are also the supporter of the National oil company.
“Your presence is to help the National oil company to deliver value to all of us and for us in NNPC, it is our responsibility to make sure that we comply with every regulation to make sure that we are doing the right thing,” he noted.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The woes of the Nigerian Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) further continued on Tuesday, February 24.
During the session, the domestic currency weakened against the United States Dollar by N6.13 or 0.45 per cent to N1,355.37/$1 from the N1,349.24/$1 it was traded in the previous trading day.
The local currency also moved southwards on Tuesday in the same market window against the Pound Sterling after it lost N6.39 to trade at N1,828.26/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N1,821.87/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N4.94 to close at N1,596.36/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,591.42/€1.
Similarly, the Naira crashed against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter yesterday by N4 to settle at N1,361/$1 versus the N1,357/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier, and at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,365/$1.
The fall of the Naira coincided with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) buying US Dollars from the market to slow down the rapid rise of the nation’s legal tender. Latest information showed that last week, the apex bank bought about $189.80 million to reduce excess Dollar supply and control how fast the Naira was gaining value.
The rationale was to keep foreign investors from pulling their money out of Nigeria’s fixed-income market. If they sell their investments, it could increase demand for US Dollars and lead to more Dollar outflow from the economy.
Meanwhile, Mr Yemi Cardoso, the Governor of the CBN, said Nigeria’s gross external reserves have risen to $50.45 billion – the highest level in 13 years, while speaking after the 304th meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the CBN held on February 23 and 24.
The committee also reduced interest rates by 50 basis points to 26.50 per cent from 27 per cent after inflation eased in January 2026.
As for the cryptocurrency market, losses on concerns by embattled software businesses that artificial intelligence (AI) tools will destroy their business models continued and overturned some rallies on Tuesday.
Binance Coin (BNB) lost 2.1 per cent to sell for $585.41, Cardano (ADA) dropped 1.8 per cent to trade at $0.2595, Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 1.5 per cent to $0.0920, Bitcoin (BTC) shrank by 1.2 per cent to $64,098.80, Litecoin (LTC) slipped 1.1 per cent to $51.31, Ripple (XRP) slumped 0.6 per cent to $1.35, and Ethereum (ETH) declined by 0.4 per cent to $1,857.75.
However, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to sell at $78.95. while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil depreciated on Tuesday after Iran said it was prepared to take any necessary steps to clinch a deal with the United States ahead of nuclear talks later this week, with Brent futures shedding 72 cents or 1.0 per cent to trade at $70.77 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures declining by 68 cents or 1.0 per cent to $65.63 a barrel.
Iran, the third-biggest crude producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the US will hold a third round of nuclear talks on Thursday in Geneva, Switzerland.
America wants Iran to give up its nuclear programme, which the country has denied trying to develop an atomic weapon.
Meanwhile, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said on Tuesday that it was ready to take any necessary steps to reach a deal with the US.
However, the US State Department is pulling out non-essential government personnel and their families from its embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, as concerns mount about the risk of a military conflict with Iran.
The US has deployed a vast naval force near the Iranian coast ahead of possible strikes on the Islamic Republic. The American president, on February 19, said he was giving Iran about 10 to 15 days to make a deal.
Also, the US began collecting a temporary new 10 per cent global import tariff on Tuesday, but President Trump’s administration was working to increase it to 15 per cent, a development that has led to confusion after the country’s Supreme Court ruling.
On the supply front, trading houses and buyers of Venezuelan oil have chartered the first very large crude carriers to export from the South American country since a supply deal began between the US and Venezuela. This is set to speed up shipments from March while boosting deliveries to India.
The European Commission will submit a legal proposal to permanently ban Russian oil imports on April 15.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 11.4 million barrels in the week ending February 20, after falling by 609,000 barrels in the week prior. Official data from the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is set to commence export of a new light, sweet crude grade known as Cawthorne from March 2026.
According to a report by Reuters, an NNPC spokesperson confirmed the development, describing it as part of efforts to increase output and consolidate Nigeria’s recent recovery in crude oil production.
The move aligns with Nigeria’s broader strategy to boost production after years of constraints caused by pipeline vandalism, crude theft, and unrest in oil-producing regions.
This follows the launch of two other new grades, Obodo in 2025 and Utapate in 2024, Nigeria, whic,h as Africa’s top oil exporter, seeks to strengthen its standing within the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+)
Cawthorne crude is scheduled for export in the third week of March and has an API gravity of 36.4, making it similar in quality to Nigeria’s Bonny Light, which is prized for high petrol and diesel yields.
According to Reuters, citing a trading source, the state oil national company issued a tender last week for cargo loading between March 24 and 25.
Analysts at Kpler noted that the new grade is expected to be exported via the Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessel Cawthorne, which has a storage capacity of about 2.2 million barrels. The vessel is designed to enhance transportation and production from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 18 and nearby assets in the Eastern Niger Delta.
Kpler estimates that, based on storage capacity, Cawthorne could increase Nigeria’s crude and condensate output from roughly 1.65 million barrels per day to around 1.7 million barrels per day for the remainder of the year.
Nigeria’s crude oil production recently dropped from the OPEC+ quota of 1.5 million barrels per day, with output at 1.48 million barrels per day recorded in January, according to OPEC data.
Beyond increasing Nigeria’s crude offerings to the international market, the introduction of Cawthorne could also attract buyers seeking specific light, sweet crude qualities, buoy foreign exchange earnings, which would help strengthen government revenue and ease borrowing needs.
New crude grades are typically differentiated by sulfur content, API gravity, and production source, enabling producers to target specific refinery configurations and market segments.
In November 2024, NNPC officially launched the Utapate crude oil blend in the international market, describing it as a milestone for Nigeria’s export profile.
Earlier in July 2024, NNPC and its partner, Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company (SEEPCO), lifted the first 950,000-barrel cargo of Utapate crude, which was shipped to Spain.
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