Economy

Warri, PH, Kaduna Refineries Will Boost Liquified Petroleum Gas – Sylva

Published

5 years ago

28/11/2019

By Adedapo Adesanya

The rehabilitation of the three local refineries which include – the Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna refineries, are expected to bring an output of 360,000 Metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) of Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) by 2023.

This was said by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr Timipre Sylva, at Nigeria LPG Summit 2019 in Lagos on Wednesday. The Minister, who was represented by his Technical Adviser on Gas Business and Policy Implementation, Mr Justice Derefaka, said this was in line with the National Gas Policy of government.

He said government was looking to deepen LPG penetration in the country, noting that only about five percent of its population were currently using LPG as energy source.

He also said government had other plans which include upgrading the Lagos-Apapa LPG Plant from 4,000 MT to 8,000 MT storage and increasing LPG allocation to the domestic market from Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) to reduce butane/propane exports.

According to him, the government wants to diversify supply sources with 110,160 MTPA from Nigerian Petroleum Development Company’s Oredo facility expected to come on stream by first quarter of 2020.

“By our 2018 record, gas utilisation is being deepened by increasing LPG penetration. LPG consumption increased by about 16 per year on year.

“A total of 364 LPG plants licences and approvals were issued in 2018. This is expected to give about 15 per cent rise in the nation’s LPG consumption based on storage capacity.

“We need to deliver the much-needed energy for development and growth.

“We need to explore ways and means to scale through the Nigeria energy hurdle and put in place strategic measures to address the downside issues, challenges, gaps and aggressively pursue the upside opportunities,” he said.

The Minister said that government would continue to provide the enabling environment for both local and foreign investments in the sector to thrive.

On his part, Managing Director, Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), Mr Tony Attah, said the company was committed to deepening the penetration of cooking gas to support environmental and human protection through the use of cleaner energy.

Mr Attah, represented by Mr Abdulkadir Ahmed, Managing Director, NLNG Shipping Management Ltd (NSML), said NLNG would continue to ensure product availability, accessibly and affordability.

“The company has recently begun to explore the possibility of delivering LNG in addition to the LPG to the domestic market in line with the Federal Government’s aspirations on gas-based industrialisation in Nigeria.

“With product availability and accessibility, we expect that more people will be employed in the value chain from the off takers to the major distributors and eventually retail outlets that get the products into the nooks and crannies of the nation.

“Ultimately, more and more Nigerians will begin to appreciate the value that cooking gas has over other unhealthy cooking fuels and they will embrace the commodity,” he added.

Adding to the discourse, Mr Michael Kelly, Deputy Managing Director, World LPG Association (WLPGA), said the organisation would support the efforts of the government to increase gas utilisation in Nigeria.

Mr Kelly said that Nigeria was one of the 20 countries where 2.3 billion people lacked access to modern fuels adding that with the right policies and regulatory framework and cooperation between government and private investors, this could be tackled head on.

Economy

NASD Bourse Closes Mixed at Midweek as Paintcom Joins

Published

10 hours ago

16/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a mixed outcome on Wednesday, January 15 after it welcome a new entrant.

Paintcom Investment Nigeria Plc joined the OTC securities exchange yesterday with shares admitted at a unit price of N10.72 and a market capitalisation of N8.5 billion.

However, when trading activities closed for the session, the alternative stock exchange went down by 0.10 per cent, with the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciating by 3.03 points to 3,093.16 points from the 3,096.19 points recorded in the previous session.

But the value of the trading platform increased by 0.7 per cent or N7.54 billion to settle at N1.068 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.061 trillion.

The volume of securities traded in the session went down by 83.2 per cent to 666,494 units from the 3.97 million units recorded in the preceding session, while the value of shares traded during the session jumped by 98.2 per cent to N16.5 million from N8.3 million, with the number of deals going down by 20 per cent to 20 deals from 25 deals.

Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc gained 3 Kobo to close at 30 Kobo per share versus 27 Kobo per share, Mixta Real Estate Plc increased by 23 Kobo to N2.58 per unit from N2.35 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N1.15 to settle at N23.20 per share, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N22.15 per share.

Further, Afriland Properties Plc grew by 75 Kobo to N16.25 per unit from N15.50 per unit and Geo-Fluids Plc expanded by 13 Kobo to N4.79 per share from N4.66 per share.

On the flip side, 11 Plc fell by N27.74 to close at N253.10 per unit compared with the previous session’s N280.84 per unit and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost 55 Kobo to finish at N38.95 per share versus N39.50 per share.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 690,825 sold for N11.1 million.

IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 23.5 million units sold for N5.3 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 8.9 million units valued at N43.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 3.4 million units worth N134.9 million.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,551/$1 at Official Market Amid Inflationary Pressures

Published

11 hours ago

16/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated on the American currency in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, January 15 by 0.09 per cent or N1.45 to close at N1,551.10/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,549.65/$1.

It was the fourth straight session the local currency was losing value on the greenback in the official forex market as the deadline to end the access of Bureaux De Change (BDCs) to the official trading platform nears.

Also, Nigeria’s inflation neared a 29-year high as it rose for the fourth straight month to 34.80 per cent in December 2024 spurred by high festive activities.

On the British currency, which is the Pound Sterling, the domestic currency depreciated by N24.79 to wrap the session at N1,904.43/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,879.64/£1 and against the Euro, it weakened by N14.74 to sell for N1,600.79 per Euro versus N1,586.05/€1.

At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.

In the cryptocurrency market, most of the tokens gained as the anticipation of Mr Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president is building bullish sentiment for the market, which was also encouraged by a highly anticipated CPI inflation data report in the US.

Litecoin (LTC) grew by 17.7 per cent to quote at $119.82, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 9.0 per cent to a six-year high of $3.10, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 7.2 per cent to trade at $202.81, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 5.3 per cent to finish at $0.3789, Ethereum (ETH) increased its value by 4.7 per cent to end at $3,376.28, and Cardano jumped by 3.3 per cent to settle at $1.06, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 2.8 per cent to close at $99,707.22, and Binance Coin (BNB) improved by 1.6 per cent to trade at $710.31, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

Economy

Oil Market Rallies on US Crude Drop, Russian Sanctions

Published

12 hours ago

16/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The oil market rose more than 2 per cent on Wednesday, supported by a large draw in US crude stockpiles and potential supply disruptions caused by new US sanctions on Russia.

Brent crude futures appreciated by $2.11 or 2.64 per cent to $82.03 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude grew by $2.54 or 3.28 per cent to close at $80.04 a barrel.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory dip of 2 million barrels for the second week of the year.

The change estimated by the EIA compared with a modest draw of around 1 million barrels for the previous week, which also saw sizable fuel inventories build that dragged oil prices lower.

For the week to January 10, the EIA estimated an inventory build of 5.9 million in gasoline, with production averaging 9.3 million barrels daily. This compared with a build of as much as 6.3 million barrels for the previous week when production averaged 8.9 million barrels daily. That build was the second sizable weekly one after 2024 ended with a build of 7.7 million barrels in gasoline inventories.

The latest round of US sanctions on Russian oil could disrupt Russian oil supply and distribution significantly, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its monthly oil market report.

The Paris-based agency said that the sanctions on Iran and Russia cover entities that handled more than a third of Russian and Iranian crude exports in 2024, adding that the market will be in surplus this year as supply growth led by countries outside the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+ exceeds subdued expansion in world demand.

This aligns with an earlier projection by the EIA which assumes that OPEC+ would roll back its production cuts and that non-OPEC production would continue leaping forward.

Limiting the gains was fresh developments in the Middle East as Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

OPEC in its monthly oil report on Wednesday forecast stronger demand growth than the IEA of 1.45 million barrels per day this year and, in its first look at 2026, predicted a similar expansion of 1.43 million barrels per day next year.

OPEC expects global oil demand to rise by 1.43 million barrels per day in 2026, maintaining a similar growth rate to 2025.