Economy
NUPRC to Adopt Fresh Approaches for Licences, Leases
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says it will adopt a new approach in the administration of licences and leases, especially as it concerns acreage allocation to attain the objectives set by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NUPRC, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, said in a statement that the new approach would optimise value in the new acreage management and administration of allocation principles enunciated in the PIA.
“To position the commission on a performance-centred paradigm for acreage management, a new strategy of acreage allocation, management and administration based on a holistic assessment of the prior performance of all licences and leases awarded prior to the PIA is required,” he said.
According to Mr Komolafe, the organisation will seek to identify the areas of regulatory underperformance in acreage management and administration, leading to the failure of licensees and lessees’ inability to carry out licence and lease performance obligations.
The commission would also seek to identify other issues, including the acquisition of data, drilling of wells and maturing of identified leads and prospects within the licence or lease span.
The CEO also listed the aspects of the new strategy to include a review of assignee performance and contributions to licences and lessees and review of compliance performance in reporting milestones by licensees and lessees and the administration of regulatory consequence mechanisms.
Other aspects of the new strategy would include reviewing loss allocation by licensees and lessees under the PIA.
These include production, cost and revenue, as well as performance review of existing multi-client arrangements and streamlining ongoing activities to the PIA.
“The assessment framework will require all existing licences and lessees to undergo a performance assessment audit of the operation of licences and leases based on a framework to be developed by Lease and focussed on OPLs, OMLs, Marginal Fields and Multi-client arrangements.
“Evaluation is expected to cover the following: Compliance with environmental requirements and with work programme commitments, compliance with revenue payment obligations and reporting obligations.
“Others are audit of operation systems and third-party provider activities and assessment of assignee roles and performance obligations.”
“In the new dispensation, there will be a need for a team with representation from relevant departments to achieve performance schematic of existing licences and leases; identify oversight weakness, identify licencee and lessee centred failures in regulatory reporting requirements and other performance indices.
“Also in the new dispensation, there will be improved oversight mechanism in line with the objective of the PIA and aspects of the new strategy as well as develop fresh Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for acreage management and lease administration in line with the PIA.
“The team, which will be made up of a member each from Exploration and Acreage Management: Development & Production; Health, Safety, Environment and Community; Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning and the Legal Secretary Departments, is expected to submit a final report by Aug. 30.” the statement further quoted Mr Komolafe as saying.
By Adedapo Adesanya
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.20 per cent fall on Thursday, December 5.
The bourse, as a result, lost N2.14 billion as the market capitalisation wrapped the session at N1.056 trillion compared with the N1.058 trillion it closed in the preceding session.
Equally, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 6.13 points to settle for the session at 3,013.41 points compared with 3,019.54 points recorded on Wednesday.
During the trading day, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by N1.10 to trade at N40.36 per share versus the N41.46 per share it ended at midweek.
Yesterday, the volume of shares bought and sold by the market participants significantly decreased by 99.9 per cent to 74,381 units from the 127.5 million units traded in the preceding session.
In the same vein, the value of securities transacted by investors on Thursday shrank by 95.4 per cent to N2.7 million from N58.2 million, as the number of deals depreciated by 75 per cent to five deals from the 20 deals recorded a day earlier.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units valued at N3.9 billion, Okitipupa Plc came next with 752.2 million units sold for N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc was in third place after trading 297.3 million units worth N5.3 million.
Despite its exit from the trading platform, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown that the Naira appreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, December 5 by N46.69 or 2.9 per cent to settle at N1,567.00/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,613.69/$1.
The value of the local currency has been improving since the CBN-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS), which sets new guidelines for authorised Foreign Exchange (FX) dealers, became effective this month, boosting operational efficiency and transparency of the nation’s FX market commenced operation.
Since dealers are tasked with conducting due diligence, providing transparent pricing and offering market access through digital solutions, this has eliminated unnecessary pricing of the exchange rate.
The system offers spot-matching functionality to the interbank community for the US Dollar against other currencies. It allows anonymous orders to be placed into a central limit order book, which is displayed and matched with counterparty orders based on mutual trading limits and other parameters configured by each bank.
Yesterday, the domestic currency closed flat against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market at N2,044.86/£1 and N1,691.31/€1, respectively.
Similarly, the value of the Nigerian currency remained unchanged against the US Dollar in the black market during the trading session at N1,705/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin’s (BTC) price plunged by 3.7 per cent to $98,006.76 on Thursday after its rapid retreat from its new all-time high of around $100,000 a day earlier.
On Wednesday, it had surged past the $100,000 mark for the first time in its history, fueled by institutional demand, corporate accumulation, and heightened expectations of crypto-friendly policies under Mr Donald Trump’s presidency, which commences next month.
Also, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.4377 and Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.04 per cent to trade at $1.19.
However, Litecoin (LTC) gained 7.9 per cent to quote at $136.60, Solana (SOL) added 2.8 per cent to settle at $239.40, Ripple (XRP) increased by 2.5 per cent to $2.36, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 2.3 per cent to $3,913.11, and Binance Coin (BNB) climbed higher by 1.1 per cent to $729.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears resurfaced at Customs Street on Thursday, pulling down the market by a marginal 0.06 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The loss recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was due to profit-taking in the banking and industrial goods sectors, which closed lower by 0.26 per cent and 0.24 per cent, respectively.
This happened despite the sterling performances put up by the other sectors, as the insurance index gained 3.13 per cent, the energy counter improved by 1.13 per cent, and the consumer goods space rose by 0.02 per cent.
When the bourse ended for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 60.88 points to 98,114.11 points from 98,174.99 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N36 billion to settle at N59.476 trillion compared with the previous day’s N59.512 trillion.
The worst-performing equity yesterday was Red Star Express, which lost 10.00 per cent to close at N4.41, FTN Cocoa depreciated by 5.61 per cent to N1.85, NPF Microfinance Bank declined by 3.23 per cent to N1.50, Neimeth slipped by 2.78 per cent to N2.10, and Prestige Assurance tumbled by 2.50 per cent to 78 Kobo.
The best-performing equities were University Press and Cornerstone Insurance, which improved by 10.00 per cent each to trade at N3.96 and N3.30, respectively, Sterling Holdings gained 9.98 per cent to finish at N4.85, Sunu Assurances appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N4.63, and Golden Guinea Breweries expanded by 9.84 per cent to N4.91.
Business Post reports that despite the poor outcome, investor sentiment was bullish as the NGX finished with 35 price gainers and 16 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index.
Champion Breweries was the busiest stock on Thursday with a turnover of 300.9 million units worth N1.2 billion, Fidelity Bank transacted 48.6 million units valued at N783.0 million, GTCO traded 40.2 million units for N2.1 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 35.6 million units valued at N858.9 million, and Lafarge Africa sold 29.1 million units worth N2.1 billion.
At the close of business, the trading volume increased by 38.53 per cent, the trading value went down by 35.68 per cent, and the number of deals went down by 9.82 per cent.
This was because investors transacted 723.0 million shares valued at N12.8 billion in 8,495 deals compared with the 521.9 million shares worth N19.9 billion in 9,420 deals.
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