Economy
UK Court Grants NNPC $100m Reprieve
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A Supreme Court in the United Kingdom has granted a reprieve to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over a $100million Bank guarantee in a case involving the agency and a service company, IPCO (Nigeria) Limited.
IPCO had referred its claims to arbitration in Nigeria and obtained an Arbitral Award of $154 million in 2004, with annual interest running at 14 percent, leaving NNPC with no option than to promptly challenge the award at the Federal High Court in Lagos.
The reprieve was the latest in the protracted dispute arising from the contract between NNPC and IPCO for the construction of the Bonny Export Terminal (BET) Project in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Reacting to the judgment, NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Baru, said he was delighted on the new development, commending the efforts of the legal team that secured judgment in favour of the corporation.
He said no stone would be left unturned to extricate NNPC from encumbrances that may impede the Corporation’s access to hard earned funds which are much needed to execute developmental projects by the various tiers of government in the country.
The development is a significant decision in the history of the case as the English Supreme Court has not only discharged NNPC from the responsibility to sustain the additional security of $100million in favour of IPCO but it also further reiterated the finding of the English Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal that NNPC has a good prima facie case that IPCO procured the Arbitral Award by fraud.
Additionally, the decision of the Supreme Court has clarified conclusively the limits of an enforcing Court’s power to order security as a condition on the right to have a decision of a properly arguable challenge under the New York Convention 1958 and the English Arbitration Act 1996.
Since 2004, IPCO has repeatedly sought to enforce the award in England prior to the conclusion of NNPC’s challenge of the Arbitral Award in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that in 2008, during one of IPCO’s attempts to secure an order for the enforcement of the award in the UK, NNPC claimed it discovered evidence that IPCO had allegedly forged documents relating to the claims and the related arbitration in Nigeria, and as a result, the parties agreed in 2009 to adjourn the enforcement proceedings in England, in order to await the determination of the fraud allegations in Nigeria.
In 2012, IPCO again applied to the English Commercial Court to enforce the award despite the agreement on the adjournment of the enforcement action.
IPCO’s application was however, dismissed on March 14, 2014, holding inter alia that NNPC had made out a good prima facie case of fraud giving NNPC a realistic prospect of proving that the whole award should be set aside. IPCO however appealed to the UK Court of Appeal.
In 2015, the UK Court of Appeal decided that the delays in the Nigerian proceedings required the English Court to lift the adjournment and to decide whether to allow enforcement following a trial of the fraud allegations in the English Court.
Both the Commercial Court and, the Court of Appeal concluded that the fraud allegations against IPCO were made bona fide, that NNPC has a good prima facie case that IPCO practised a fraud on the Arbitral Tribunal, and that NNPC has a realistic prospect on that basis of proving that the whole award should be set aside.
However, the UK Court of Appeal ordered NNPC to provide an additional security of $100 million (NNPC having previously provided security of $80million) as a condition of being entitled to advance a defence that enforcement should be refused because the award had been procured by IPCO’s alleged fraud.
Subsequently, NNPC appealed to the UK Supreme Court to decide whether the English court, as an enforcing court, is empowered to require security for money payable under the award (or any part thereof) from a party resisting enforcement of such award as a condition for being entitled to advance a good and arguable defence that enforcement would be contrary to English public policy because the award was allegedly procured by fraud.
On March 1, 2017, the UK Supreme Court unanimously set aside the Court of Appeal’s Order, allowing NNPC to advance its defence in the English Commercial Court free of any such conditions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian government on Wednesday dismissed reports suggesting that it has adopted or is considering new taxes on telecommunications services and petroleum products following the publication of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV Consultation Report on Nigeria.
The clarification followed reports that the IMF recommended that Nigeria may need to extend VAT to fuel products and introduce excise duties on telecommunications services to raise revenue, fund development, and social spending, a development that sparked outrage from Nigerians.
In a statement by the Head of Information and Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance, Mr Efe Ovuakporie, it was clarified that the reports misrepresented the content of the IMF report and did not reflect its policy direction.
“The IMF Article IV Consultation Report contains the Fund’s assessment of Nigeria’s economy as well as recommendations for consideration by the authorities.
“Those recommendations do not amount to government policy and are not binding on Nigeria. Decisions on tax matters are taken through established constitutional and legislative processes and are guided by national priorities and prevailing economic realities”.
The government clarified that the Value Added Tax (VAT) waiver on petroleum products remains in place and has not been withdrawn.
It also noted that although existing legislation provides for a fuel surcharge, such a measure can only take effect through a ministerial order and publication in the Official Gazette.
“No such process is under consideration.
“The continued suspension of these charges has helped cushion the effect of global energy price fluctuations on households and businesses while keeping domestic fuel prices relatively stable”.
The government further clarified that the telecommunications excise duty introduced before 2023 has been repealed under the new tax laws and is therefore no longer applicable.
Against this backdrop, the statement noted that reports claiming that new taxes are being planned for telecommunications services or petroleum products “are not factual and should be disregarded”.
The federal government said it remained focused on reforms that promote economic growth, improve revenue administration, and create a more competitive environment for investment and job creation.
“The emphasis remains on expanding economic activity, plugging leakages and improving efficiency rather than placing additional tax burdens on citizens.
“Any future tax measures will be announced through official channels and implemented in line with the law”, the statement added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s natural gas production slid marginally by 0.12 per cent on a month-on-month basis to 7.93 billion standard cubic feet per day (bcf/d) in May 2026 from April’s 7.94bcf/d.
According to fresh data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the figure represents a 0.63 per cent year-on-year increase from 7.88bcf/d recorded in May 2025.
Breakdown of the May data shows Associated Gas contributed 3.96 bcf/d, while Non-Associated Gas accounted for 3.98bcf/d, highlighting a near-even split in Nigeria’s production mix and the growing strength of dedicated gas developments.
Domestic utilisation continued to expand. Sales to the local market rose to 2.18bcf/d, up from 2.03bcf/d previously, representing 26.6 per cent of total gas usage, as demand from power generation and industrial users strengthened under the national gas expansion agenda.
Export sales, however, declined to 3.07bcf/d, accounting for about 40 per cent of utilisation, while 2.11bcf/d (26.5 per cent) was consumed for field operations. Gas flaring stood at 0.57bcf/d, or 6.9 per cent, reinforcing gradual progress toward Nigeria’s 2030 zero-flare target.
Production has maintained a steady upward trend over the year, rising from 7.80bcf/d in January to 7.94bcf/d in April, before stabilising in May. Year-to-date performance averaged 7.87bcf/d, slightly higher than the first-quarter average.
Between January and April 2026, Nigeria produced 947.78bcf of gas. Of this, 872.69bcf was utilised, while 57.34bcf was flared, translating to utilisation levels of about 92 per cent, according to NUPRC’s provisional data.
Monthly performance showed consistent utilisation above 90 per cent: January recorded 91.4 per cent, February 93 per cent, March 93.2 per cent, and April 93.1 per cent, underscoring improved efficiency in gas utilisation across the value chain.
Domestic supply remained stable throughout the period, averaging between 59bcf and 66bcf monthly, while exports fluctuated but remained significant, with volumes peaking at 98.69bcf in April.
The commission noted that the growing contribution of non-associated gas reflects ongoing investments in dedicated gas projects and aligns with government efforts under the Decade of Gas initiative to expand domestic utilisation, reduce flaring, and strengthen energy security.
Nigeria, which holds over 200 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, continues to face infrastructure and investment constraints that limit full monetisation of its resources, despite improving production and utilisation trends.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was further pulled back by 0.50 per cent on Tuesday as a result of profit-taking in some heavyweight stocks.
Like the preceding session, the key sectors of Customs Street were depressed yesterday, with the banking index down by 2.82 per cent. The consumer goods declined by 0.52 per cent, the insurance space lost 0.10 per cent, and the energy counter shrank by 0.03 per cent, while the industrial goods segment was flat.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) eased by 1,437.54 points to 241,984.80 points from 243,422.34 points, and the market capitalisation contracted by N922 billion to N155.204 trillion from N156.126 trillion.
The worst-performing stock was International Energy Insurance, which gave up 10.00 per cent to close at N5.76. Vitafoam dipped by 10.00 per cent to N189.00, Austin Laz crashed by 9.93 per cent to N3.90, SUNU Assurances depleted by 9.82 per cent to N3.58, and Sovereign Trust Insurance lost 8.37 per cent to finish at N2.30.
On the flip side, Conoil gained 9.79 per cent to trade at N213.00, Prestige Assurance also expanded by 9.79 per cent to N1.57, Neimeth jumped 9.74 per cent to N8.45, eTranzact chalked up 9.40 per cent to close at N16.30, and Cornerstone Insurance improved by 9.09 per cent to N5.40.
The bourse witnessed heavy sell-offs in some equities, with Sterling Holdings recording the sale of 100.9 million units worth N782.8 million to lead the activity log. UAC Nigeria transacted 49.4 million units valued at N9.1 billion, Access Holdings sold 28.8 million units for N699.3 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 29.4 million units worth N3.0 billion, and GTCO traded 20.2 million units valued at N2.7 billion.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 535.5 million shares worth N36.8 billion in 55,123 deals compared with 569.1 million shares valued at N31.4 billion traded in 77,652 deals on Monday. This implied that the trading value went up by 17.20 per cent, while the trading volume and the number of deals went down by 5.90 per cent and 29.01 per cent, respectively.
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