By Modupe Gbadeyanka

President Bola Tinubu has been urged to urgently look into the escalating hunger and suffering faced by millions of Nigerians due to the policies of his administration.

This call was made by the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) in a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr James Ezema.

The group was reacting to the recent tragic incidents, including stampedes in Ibadan Oyo State, Anambra State and Abuja, resulting in loss of lives as citizens scrambled for palliatives.

“The current economic policies have had devastating short-term impacts, leading to increased hardship for the populace,” a part of the statement said.

“The federal and state governments must prioritize the survival of its citizens before they can even begin to enjoy the so-called long-term benefits of ongoing reforms in the country,” the organisation stated further.

The CNPP said it firmly believes that the “reality is that Nigerians must be kept alive first; only then can they contribute to the nation’s economic growth and development.”

To address this, the CNPP called on President Tinubu to immediately reconsider the pricing of petroleum products, particularly in light of the recent completion of the Port Harcourt Refinery’s rehabilitation and the ongoing loading of petroleum products at the refurbished refinery.

“We equally call on the President to urgently consider releasing crude oil at a highly subsidized rate to local refineries, including Dangote Refinery for domestic consumption,” it added.

“This will lead to a reduction in fuel prices, which is essential to alleviate the burden of transportation costs and the expenses associated with fueling power generators for manufacturing companies,” it added.

The CNPP warned that if these issues are not addressed, the increasing cost of production will continue to complicate Nigeria’s economic woes, rendering both interim and long-term gains from the ongoing economic reforms unattainable.

According to the group, the current trajectory is unsustainable and threatens to push more Nigerians into poverty and despair.

“No responsible leader can stand by and watch avoidable deaths occur among our citizens — individuals who should be contributing to the economic growth of our nation but are instead succumbing to the negative impacts of government policies and poor governance,” it stated.

It called for an immediate and comprehensive response from the Tinubu administration and state governments to address these pressing issues, urging the government “at all levels to implement policies that prioritize the welfare of the people,” ensuring that “no Nigerian is left behind in the quest for economic recovery and stability.”

The group implored Mr Tinubu to take decisive action to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians and to create an environment where citizens can thrive, saying, “The time for rhetoric is over; it is time for tangible action that reflects the needs and realities of the Nigerian people.”

By Adedapo Adesanya

TechnipFMC has been awarded a substantial contract by Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited to supply Subsea 2.0® production systems for the Bonga North development in Nigeria.

The contract covers the design and manufacture of subsea tree systems, manifolds, jumpers, controls, and services.

According to Mr Jonathan Landes, President of Subsea at TechnipFMC, commented: “Shell was the first to adopt our Subsea 2.0® configure-to-order solution, and continues to deploy it across multiple basins—underscoring its commitment to the technology globally. This award further positions us for future deepwater opportunities in the region.”

Shell last week announced a final investment decision (FID) on Bonga North, a deep-water project off the coast of Nigeria.

The deal valued at $5 billion was the first of such investments in over a decade.

According to a statement to the effect, Bonga North will be a subsea tie-back to the Shell-operated Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility which Shell operates with a 55 per cent interest.

Bonga is a deep-water development located in OML 118, at water depths exceeding 1,000 meters. Production at the Bonga FPSO began in 2005, with a capacity to produce 225,000 barrels of oil per day. The project produced its one-billionth barrel of crude oil in 2023.

This means Shell will operate the majority (55 per cent) in the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (20 per cent), Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. (12.5 per cent), and TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (12.5 per cent), on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

The Bonga North project involves drilling, completing, and starting up 16 wells (8 production and 8 water injection wells), modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO and the installation of new subsea hardware tied back to the FPSO.

The project will sustain oil and gas production at the Bonga facility. Bonga North currently has an estimated recoverable resource volume of more than 300 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and will reach a peak production of 110,000 barrels of oil a day, with the first oil anticipated by 2030.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s Dangote Refinery is now operating at 85 per cent capacity and is on course to deliver European-standard products by January 2025.

This was disclosed by Mr Edwin Devakumar, the Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited and the head of the $20 billion refinery.

The 650,000 barrels per day Dangote oil refinery built by Nigerian billionaire, Mr Aliko Dangote, in Lagos, aims to compete with European refiners when operating at full capacity.

However, since it started operations this year, it has struggled to secure sufficient crude locally — as production remains below target and tied to contracts with other players by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

“We have gone up to 550,000 barrels per day, that is 85 per cent capacity in crude distillation,” Mr Devakumar said.

The refinery was forced to source crude from international markets following a dispute with the Nigerian state oil firm, the NNPC, over a crude supply deal under which Dangote Group had agreed to sell a 20 per cent stake in the refinery to NNPC for $2.76 billion

“Of this, we agreed that they will only pay $1 billion while the balance will be recovered over a period of five years through deductions on crude oil that they supply to us and from dividends due to them,” a spokesperson of the company said.

“Unfortunately, NNPCL was later unable to supply the agreed 300,000 barrels per day of crude given that they had committed a greater part of their crude cargoes to financiers with the expectation of higher production which they were unable to achieve,” the spokesperson said in a statement last Wednesday.

Dangote Refinery began processing crude in January into products, including diesel, naphtha and jet fuel and started processing petrol in September.

It still faces challenges distributing the products at home with local fuel traders and even the NNPC importing refined products.

The NNPC recently said it had restarted its 60,000 barrels per day Port Harcourt refinery.

However, there have several reports claiming that production was not as presented with the state oil firm denying such claims.

Dangote Refinery cut the price of its petrol to N899.50 per litre on Thursday from N970 “to alleviate transport costs during the holiday season.”

Business Post reports that petrol prices have relatively dropped to N935-N950 in some retail stations.