Economy
No More Licenses to Gas Firms Without Pipeline Capacity—FG
By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has said it would stop granting licences to gas companies with no capacity to build pipelines for gas distribution following the aftermath of the explosion which claimed a life in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
This was communicated by the Minister of State For Petroleum Resources (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, when he visited Abeokuta for an on-the-spot assessment of Saturday’s CNG explosion at Ita Oshin.
According to him, the development became imperative to discourage the transportation of compressed natural gas through the roads.
On Saturday (April 28), a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) gas truck owned by Gasco Marine suffered a brake failure, rammed into the road barricade and went up in flames, killing one person and razing some vehicles.
Mr Ekpo, who was received into the state by Governor Dapo Abiodun and his deputy, Mrs Noimot Salako-Oyedele, stated that he was sent by President Bola Tinubu to see to the root cause of the incident and sympathise with the people of Ogun State.
While saying the country must transit from fossil fuel to CNG, Mr Ekpo revealed that he had directed the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Farouk Ahmed, not to issue licenses to anyone who could not pipe CNG to the end users.
The gas Minister emphasised, that there was the need to stop virtual gas transportation, saying the federal government was putting efforts in top gear to build pipelines for seamless transmission of CNG.
According to him, this would prevent explosions on the road, while saving lives and property.
“As the Federal Government, we are trying all that we can to ensure we reduce virtual transportation of gas because of the volatility of it, especially with the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano pipeline,” he said
“I have directed the authority chief executive that for any further issuance of a licence, the company should be competent enough to pipe it to their end users so that we are not exposed to this kind of danger any longer.
“As a ministry, we are looking at how we can reduce a lot of virtual conveyance of gas. That is why we are putting much in developing the gas pipeline infrastructure so that the transportation would not be virtual, but rather through the pipelines. This will reduce this kind of incident and take off the pressure on our roads,”
Mr Ekpo stressed that despite the incident, CNG remains a better alternative to petrol, urging Nigerians not to be discouraged.
“This is better than even fuel if you look at what happened in Port Harcourt where lives were lost and so many vehicles burnt. It is better we go this route,” he added.
He harped on the importance of companies using only quality cylinders for the distribution of gas to avoid incidents.
On his part, Mr Ahmed the NMDPRA boss, assured Nigerians that the agency is working with the Standard Organisation of Nigeria and the Federal Road Safety Corps to forestall similar explosions on the road.
Ahmed maintained that some of the accidents occur due to the roadworthiness of the vehicle, adding that training programmes are being organised for truck drivers to ensure safety on the road.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Naira sustained stability against the United States Dollar in the black market segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, remaining unchanged at N1,540/$1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the greenback during the trading day in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N8.49 or 0.56 per cent to sell for N1,520.00/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s value of N1,528.49/$1.
Equally, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market window by N2.91 to close at N2,084.18/£1 versus N2,087.09/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N7.14 to finish at N1,793.65/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,800.79/€1.
Last week, the Naira found support via sufficient forex liquidity and could find further help based on foreign demand for short-term government debt due to high yields.
Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, profit-taking took charge as volatility signals picked up soon ahead of the June Federal Reserves minutes which are due for release on Wednesday. Further, the 90-day tariff pause for many US trading partners has reportedly been extended to August 1, although there are indications that the July 9 deadline may remain.
Yesterday, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 3.6 per cent to sell at $0.1678, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.8 per cent to finish at $86.24, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 1.6 per cent to close at $149.25, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 1.5 per cent to trade at $0.5775.
In addition, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 0.9 per cent to $2,551.30, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.9 per cent to end at $108,141.36, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.4 per cent to settle at $659.59, and Ripple (XRP) depleted by 0.3 per cent to $2.26, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market improved by 1 per cent on Monday as signs of strong demand outweighed the impact of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) hiking output more than expected for August, as well as concern about the potential impact of US tariffs.
Brent crude futures gained 91 cents or 1.3 per cent to close at $69.20 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures appreciated by 57 cents or 0.8 per cent to $67.57 a barrel.
Stronger demand was estimated to have remained above expectations as well after a record number of Americans travelled for the Fourth of July holiday by road and air.
OPEC+ agreed on Saturday to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day in August, more than the 411,000 barrels per day hikes carried out in the earlier three months.
The decision of the group will bring nearly 80 per cent of the 2.2 million barrels per day voluntary cuts from eight members back into the market.
The latest hike sends a clear message that the cartel is firmly shifting toward a market share strategy. It was also a response to Kazakhstan and Iraq, which are still overproducing their higher quotas.
Market analysts noted that these overproducers are unlikely to significantly raise their output compared with the recent heights reached during the first quarter.
Also, by approving another output hike, heavyweight OPEC+ leader, Saudi Arabia might seek to up pressure on members for not keeping to agreed quotas by slashing expected oil profits due to lower prices.
Saudi Arabia also raised the August price for its flagship Arab Light crude to a four-month high for Asia.
Amid these development, Goldman analysts expect OPEC+ to announce a final 550,000 barrels per day increase for September at the next meeting on August 3.
Meanwhile, pressure came as US officials flagged a delay regarding when tariffs would begin, but failed to provide details on changes to the rates that will be imposed. Investors are worried that higher tariffs could slow economic activity and oil demand.
The Donald Trump-led administration will make several trade announcements in the next 48 hours.
According to the US Treasury Secretary, Mr Scott Bessent, there are offers from countries to clinch a tariff deal before the July 9 deadline.
On the geopolitical front, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said it sank a ship in the Red Sea on Monday ahead of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to meet with President Trump.
By Dipo Olowookere
Fifty-three stocks ended on the gainers’ chart of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday, led by the quartet of Tripple Gee, Ellah Lakes, UPDC REIT, and Cadbury Nigeria.
The four equities appreciated by 10.00 per cent each to quote at N2.97, N8.91, N7.15, and N53.35, respectively, while Red Star Express gained 9.92 per cent to trade at N9.20.
However, Sunu Assurances topped the losers’ table of 23 stocks after it depreciated by 10.00 per cent to finish at N4.50, as RT Briscoe shed 9.59 per cent to N3.30, Prestige Assurance crumbled by 9.09 per cent to N1.20, UPDC deflated by 8.23 per cent to N4.35, and Berger Paints lost 7.58 per cent to sell for N30.50.
The analysis showed that investor sentiment was bullish because of the positive market breadth index triggered by renewed bargain-hunting by the market participants.
Business Post reports that the industrial goods and the commodity sectors closed flat yesterday, but the banking sector gained 0.93 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 0.75 per cent, the insurance space improved by 0.39 per cent, and the energy counter gained 0.01 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 305.67 points to 121,295.33 points from 120,989.66 points and the market capitalisation N193 billion to N76.532 trillion from N76.339 trillion.
A total of 824.1 million shares valued at N14.4 billion exchanged hands in 24,042 deals during the session compared with the 923.9 million shares worth N11.0 billion traded in 25,680 deals last Friday, showing a rise in the trading value by 30.91 per cent, and a decline in the trading volume and number of deals by 10.80 per cent and 6.38 per cent apiece.
Universal Insurance was the busiest stock on the first trading day of the week with 71.9 million units worth N48.9 million, FCMB transacted 61.4 million units valued at N564.8 million, Japaul transacted 53.3 million units for N136.1 million, Coronation Insurance sold 44.5 million units valued at N94.6 million, and Access Holdings traded 42.0 million units valued at N942.8 million.
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