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 NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
