Economy
NNPC Partners Halliburton to Search Crude Oil Deposits
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The ongoing search for commercial hydrocarbon in the inland sedimentary basins by the Research and Development Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has received a boost with a recent partnership with US-based Halliburton Corporation.
Both organisations will step up efforts to achieve the exact location of viable crude oil deposits in the inland.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, the Group General Manager in charge of the R&D Division, Dr Bola Afolabi, disclosed that the collaboration with Halliburton would help fast-track the inland basin exploration efforts through the use of the innovative Neftex solution designed to provide exactitude in drilling for oil.
He said the Halliburton Neftex solution would provide a geophysical mapping structure of the country and would complement the ongoing in-house efforts by the NNPC research centre to develop what is known as “Turonian Cenomanian Cretaceous source rock” for all the basins in Nigeria.
This essentially seeks to identify all the prolific basins in Nigeria by locating the cretaceous kitchen, that is, areas where large crude deposits could be found.
‘’If you take a football field for instance, there are technologies that will direct you to drill for oil within the whole field but we are using a soft wear solution that will tell you with exactitude to drill for instance in goal post one and when you do that you find large oil. That is what we are seeking to achieve with Neftex solution’’, Dr Afolabi explained.
Dr Afolabi said the collaborative research with Halliburton, which had crossed the 65 percent threshold, would take 18 months to complete.
‘’We are so excited about this project and with the assured support of the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, our projection is that by the turn of next year, we should be able to help the frontier basin team achieve a pin-point location of possible commercial oil finds for eventual drilling activities’’, he said.
The GGM also informed that research work had reached advance stage on the Federal Government commissioned project assigned by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, to classify Nigeria’s crude oil and natural gas.
‘’The idea is to check Nigeria natural gas and condensate using the OPEC classification model and determine whether it is within the upper limits or lower limits. The ability to do that well will enable Nigeria to properly classify its Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) and also gas condensate so we don’t mismatch production of oil with condensate because if you do that you may short change yourself,’’ he said.
He also stated that the NNPC research centre was already working on a project to enhance production from existing assets by introducing a cost effective and reliable alternative to drilling new wells. Already successful pilot scheme has been executed in collaboration with its strategic partners – Cypher Crescent Limited.
‘’With minimal cost, remarkable additional production potential was discovered. We are talking about a digital approach to wells & reservoir management. We are applying a first of its kind technology to easily reveal hidden opportunities and propose realistic well intervention programmes. We are seeking to improve the success rate of exploration and production well intervention activities, reduce operations and improve asset integrity, among others”, he said.
Established in 1977 to provide solution to operational and technical challenges of the Nigerian oil and gas industry, the NNPC R&D Division currently has on its employ, three professors, 12 Ph.D holders and handful of master degree graduates in various fields of the sciences ranging from geology to chemistry and physics.
Under the ongoing NNPC restructing, the projection is to transform the 40-year old research outfit into an autonomous and well equipped one-stop shop technology centre in the frontline of petroleum technology development efforts in the West Coast of Africa and beyond.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.13 per cent on Wednesday, April 29, after its share price shrank by N5.06 to N71.99 per unit from N77.05 per unit.
As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went below the 4,000 mark after it lost 45.73 points to 3,999.23 points from 4,044.96 points. The market capitalisation declined by N27.36 billion during the session to N2.392 trillion from N2.420 trillion.
Midweek trading data showed that the volume of transactions slid by 76.2 per cent to 308,698 units from 1.3 million units, and the value of trades decreased by 7.1 per cent to N25.2 million from N27.1 million units, while the number of deals rose by 3.7 per cent to 28 deals from 27 deals.
At the close of business, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.9 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira was able to tame the pressure building at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, April 29, after it gained N1.25 or 0.1 per cent against the United States Dollar to close at N1,379.46/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,380.71/$1.
Also, the outcome was the same against the Pound Sterling in the same window, as it added N2.18 to trade at N1,861.58/£1 versus Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,863.76/£1, and against the Euro, it appreciated by N2.14 to settle at N1,612.87/€1 versus N1,615.01/€1.
However, the Naira depreciated further against the Dollar at the GTBank forex counter by N10 to quote at N1,389/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,379/$1, and at the parallel market, it maintained stability yesterday at N1,390/$1.
The improvement witnessed across official market points to NFEM interbank turnover increasing sharply on Wednesday, with data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showing $249.905 million in transactions among institutions across 180 deals.
This indicates improved market liquidity and greater market confidence, leading to tighter bid-ask spreads across all foreign exchange deals.
Market analysts noted that improved liquidity and growing investor confidence now allow the market to function more independently.
Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) and major benchmarked cryptocurrencies fell as Brent crude surged to a four-year intraday high on renewed fears of US military escalation against Iran.
The jump in oil prices reflects a growing war premium tied to the effective shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz and expectations that hypersonic US weapons could be deployed in the region.
Analysts say BTC is unlikely to break above $80,000 unless Middle East tensions ease. Its value shrank by 1.5 per cent to $75,931.00.
In addition, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 3.2 per cent to $2,254.51, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 1.9 per cent to $83.11, Ripple (XRP) lost 1.6 per cent to sell at $1.37, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped by 1.5 per cent to $616.58, and Cardano (ADA) dropped by 1.4 per cent to $0.2463.
But Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 1.9 per cent to $0.1062 and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.5 per cent to $0.3242, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied by 3.77 per cent on Wednesday on the back of sustained bargain-hunting in equities with sound fundamentals.
The growth reported by Nigerian stocks at midweek raised the year-to-date return above 50 per cent, precisely at 52.43 per cent.
According to data, only the insurance sector ended in red after it shed 1.01 per cent at the close of business.
The industrial goods index appreciated by 6.14 per cent, the energy segment grew by 4.54 per cent, the banking counter expanded by 1.92 per cent, and the consumer goods industry rose by 1.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 8,465.40 points to 237,205.59 points from 228,740.19 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N5.450 trillion to N152.728 trillion from N147.278 trillion.
The quartet of UAC Nigeria, Zichis, CAP, and Airtel Africa gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N165.00, N19.80, N132.00, and N3,021.30, respectively, and Jaiz Bank surged by 9.99 per cent to N8.81.
On the flip side, the duo of John Holt and Cadbury Nigeria lost 10.00 per cent each to trade at N12.60 and N66.15, respectively, as eTranzact shed 9.97 per cent to close at N15.80, Morison Industries slipped by 9.92 per cent to N10.62, and Haldane McCall shrank by 9.74 per cent to N3.43.
The busiest stock for the day was Access Holdings with 281.3 million units worth N7.3 billion, UBA transacted 160.6 million units valued at N7.0 billion, Lasaco Assurance traded 78.6 million units for N153.6 million, Wema Bank sold 65.7 million units worth N2.3 billion, and Morison Industries exchanged 65.0 million units valued at N690.3 million.
At the close of trades, investors bought and sold 1.3 billion equities for N69.1 billion in 83,445 deals versus the 908.0 million units worth N68.2 billion in 72,886 deals on Tuesday.
This showed that the trading volume, value, and number of deals increased yesterday by 43.17 per cent, 1.32 per cent, and 14.49 per cent, respectively.
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