Economy
NNPC Lauds FG’s Moves on Illegal Refineries
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has described the interplay between members of the executive and the legislative arms of government as an indispensible element of the democratic process with potential positive spin-off effect on the oil and gas industry in the country.
Delivering a keynote speech at the Executive Intelligence Management Course, EIMC 10 of the Institute for Security Studies, Bwari, Abuja on Tuesday, entitled: “Executive-Legislative Relations: Gaps, Challenges and Prospects”, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, said the occasional struggles between the executive and legislature when handled with the interest of the Nigerian people at heart can be a healthy rivalry capable of unlocking the potentials of the nation for prosperity, good governance and democratic excellence.
“It is believed that a government business enterprise such as the NNPC, and by wider application, the oil and gas industry as a whole, will benefit from a constructive legislative-executive interplay that stimulates government agencies and parastatals to thrive and support our national aspirations,” he said.
On the relations between the national oil company and the legislature, the GMD said the contributions of the National Assembly to the effective operation of the NNPC were immeasurable over the years.
“While the critical role of the legislature may be blurred to the laity, we in the oil and gas industry, the NNPC, appreciate this arm of government’s immeasurable significance in our day-to-day operations. In appreciation of the importance of the National Assembly to our operations, a full department headed by a General Manager, is dedicated to managing the relationship between NNPC and the legislature,” he said.
The GMD said about 21 committees of the National Assembly made up of eight core standing committees, 11 non-core standing Committees and two ad-hoc committees perform oversight functions on the operations of the NNPC.
Dr Baru said the NNPC was currently collaborating with the legislature and other industry stakeholders to ensure the passage of the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, PIGB, hitherto referred to as the Petroleum Industry Bill.
He re-iterated that the Industry, under the leadership of the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu and with the support of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, has adopted the approach of splitting the PIB into four segments, namely: the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, (PIGB), the Fiscal Regime Bill, the Upstream and Midstream Administration Bill and the Petroleum Revenue Bill in order to expedite its passage.
The NNPC GMD said that despite the cordial relations between the Corporation and the Legislature, there existed grey areas which occasionally reared their ugly heads in the relationship which has spanned closed to two decades.
Dr Baru stressed his inability to be physically present at all National Assembly engagements, pleading that the legislature should show understanding as the commitment of the office of the GMD of NNPC was highly demanding which he noted must be appropriately shared between doing the operational/administrative functions and responses to the National Assembly and other arms of government’s invitations.
On the reported move by the Federal government to legalize and regularize the operations of illegal refineries in the Niger Delta, the GMD said the initiative would help instill sanity and provide the much needed technical support and framework for the operation of the would-be modular refineries.
Dr Baru identified enacting laws to criminalize pipeline vandalism or sabotage as an area in which he sought closer relations with the legislature, explaining that the activities of the vandals posed a lot of challenges to the industry and that existing legislation on the subject appeared too weak to serve as deterrence.
In his remark, Mr Mathew Seiyefa, Director of the Institute of Security Studies, commended Dr Baru for making time out from his busy schedule to share his perspectives on the subject with the course 10 participants.
He said as the cash cow of the entire country, the strategic role of the NNPC could not be over stated, noting that apart from serving as the main foreign exchange earner for the nation; the Corporation was critical to Nigeria’s national energy security.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, February 11, by N2.07 or 0.15 per cent to N1,348.95/$1 from N1,351.02/$1 as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) moved to further ease shortages and narrow the gap between the official and street rates.
The CBN approved the participation of licensed Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) as part of efforts to improve forex liquidity in the retail segment of the market and meet the legitimate needs of end users.
The apex bank capped the weekly FX purchases at $150,000, adding that utilisation complies with existing BDC operational guidelines.
In the same official market, the Nigerian currency gained N6.46 against the Pound Sterling to quote at N1,840.11/£1 versus N1,846.57/£1, and added N6.36 on the Euro to close at N1,600.13/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,606.49/€1.
At the GTBank FX counter, the Nigerian Naira gained N5 on the greenback to settle at N1,358/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,363/$1, but remained unchanged at N1,430/$1 in the black market.
Meanwhile, the digital currency market was bearish yesterday as traders sold their positions after digesting a more hawkish macro outlook.
Analysts mainly attributed the latest crypto selloff to shifting expectations around US macro policy, following a “hawkish shift” in Federal Reserve expectations after Kevin Warsh’s nomination as chairman of the US central bank, which signals tighter liquidity and fewer rate cuts ahead.
Traders will be watching key US labour market data for signs on the future path of interest rates and broader risk appetite.
Solana (SOL) shed 3.2 per cent to sell at $79.86, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 2.7 per cent to $1,958.44, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 1.5 per cent to $67,540.62, Cardano (ADA) slid 1.5 per cent to $0.2579, Ripple (XRP) dipped 1.4 per cent to $1.37, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped 1.2 per cent to $609.73, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.2 per cent to $52.58, and Dogecoin (DOGE) crashed by 1.1 per cent to $0.0917, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The positive momentum witnessed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited lately continued on Wednesday after it further closed higher by 0.78 per cent.
More investors are showing interest in Nigerian stocks because of the recent bull run, leaving the market capitalisation to grow further by N880 billion yesterday to N114.377 trillion from N113.497 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,374.93 points to 178,184.35 points from 176,809.42 points.
Though the level of activity waned at midweek, data showed that it remained high, with a turnover of 939.2 million shares worth N34.0 billion in 61,279 deals compared with the 1.3 billion shares valued at N50.4 billion traded in 58,965 deals in the preceding session.
This showed that the trading volume went down by 27.75 per cent, and the trading value shrank by 32.54 per cent, while the number of deals jumped 3.92 per cent.
The busiest equity on Wednesday was Tantalizers with the sale of 85.3 million units worth N498.8 million, Access Holdings transacted 61.4 million units for N1.5 billion, Chams exchanged 38.6 million units valued at N174.1 million, Japaul sold 38.2 million units worth N89.5 million, and Deap Capital sold 36.8 million units valued at N314.1 million.
Fortis Global Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark, Nestle Nigeria, and Meyer all gained 10.00 per cent each to close at 33 Kobo, N4.95, N2,420.00, and N20.90 apiece, and CAP rose by 9.98 per cent to N99.20.
On the flip side, Honeywell Flour declined by 9.70 per cent to N22.80, Neimeth slipped by 9.15 per cent to N12.90, The Initiates crashed by 5.81 per cent to N19.45, RT Briscoe tumbled by 5.70 per cent to N14.40, and Sterling Holdings depreciated by 5.56 per cent to N7.65.
At the close of business, 49 stocks ended on the gainers’ table and 31 stocks finished on the losers’ chart, showing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
As for the performance of the bourse’s sectors, four of the five monitored by Business Post were in green, with the industrial goods down by 0.02 per cent due to profit-taking in Lafarge Africa.
The banking counter improved by 1.58 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.53 per cent, the consumer goods index gained 1.28 per cent, and the energy sector soared by 0.02 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices gained about 1 per cent on Wednesday, as investors worried about escalating tensions between Iran and the United States, which were preparing to resume negotiations.
Brent crude oil futures chalked up 60 cents or 0.87 per cent to sell for $69.40 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures appreciated by 67 cents or 1.05 per cent to $64.63 per barrel.
US President Donald Trump said nothing definitive was decided during his meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, but that negotiations with Iran toward a deal would continue.
On Tuesday, the American leader said he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal is not reached with Iran, even as both oil producers are prepared to resume talks.
US and Iranian diplomats held indirect talks last week in Oman, amid a regional naval buildup by the US threatening Iran. The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced.
After talks between US and Iranian teams in Oman on February 6, the US government imposed additional sanctions on Iran’s oil sector.
Meanwhile, Iran signalled readiness for nuclear verification while denying any intent to build weapons.
Also supporting oil prices was data showing that US job growth unexpectedly accelerated in January and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 per cent, signalling a healthy economy.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) left its oil supply-demand expectations largely unchanged in its monthly report, but highlighted that global oil demand for the wider group’s crude will drop by 400,000 barrels per day in the second quarter compared to the first.
The OPEC+ group, comprising OPEC nations, plus other allies, began raising output last year after years of cuts, but paused production hikes in the first quarter of 2026 amid predictions of a glut. Eight OPEC+ members meet on March 1, where they are expected to decide whether to resume the hikes in April.
Crude oil inventories in the US increased by 8.5 million barrels during the week ending February 6, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday. The increase brings commercial stockpiles to 428.8 million barrels according to government data.
EIA’s data release followed earlier figures released by the American Petroleum Institute (API), which suggested that crude oil inventories rose by 13.4 million barrels.
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