Business
FG to Boost Crude Oil Production in Two Weeks
– Says shocks in oil market difficult to manage *Attributes high cost of fertiliser to scarcity of potassium
The federal government will boost crude oil production through the reactivation of oil wells that were shut down due to massive oil theft, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has said.
Speaking with Bloomberg Television in an interview monitored by THISDAY, Ahmed, also attributed the rising prices of fertiliser to the scarcity of potassium, an important ingredient in the manufacturing of the product.
She, however, stressed that the government was doing everything possible to ameliorate the impact.
Ahmed stated that the commencement of operations in the reopened oil assets would help ramp up daily crude production closer to the quota allocated to Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the next two weeks.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, Ahmed noted, has also in recent weeks increased the deployment of security personnel in many of the oil assets to protect them, as well as hobbling the activities of oil thieves.
“We are very hopeful that we will be able to reach our OPEC quota of 1.6 million (1.735 million) barrels per day by the next couple of days or one or two weeks,” Ahmed said.
Nigeria has for months been struggling to meet its OPEC quota despite rising oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A THISDAY’s analysis recently showed that the country was under-producing to the tune of 400,000 bpd, resulting in the loss of as much as $1.5 billion monthly.
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Crude oil sale is the nation’s biggest foreign-exchange earner. The country’s inability to meet its production targets is an indication that Nigeria, which has also been battling a dollar shortage is losing an opportunity to build its foreign reserves.
“The security authorities have been doing a lot of work and we have seen the production numbers pick up. In the past month, there was a time it was as low as 1.2 million barrels per day. Some of the wells that had to be shut in because of the criminality have now been opened,” Ahmed explained.
Ahmed pointed out that Nigeria had failed to take full advantage of the rising international oil prices because it imports all its petrol products with huge subsidies.
“It’s been one shock after another. It’s been very difficult to manage but the current crude oil prices are supposed to be an opportunity for Nigeria but it’s for us now a mixed bag. Even though we are an oil-producing country, we also import refined petroleum products.
“So as the crude oil prices rise, we are having to pay more for the products that we import and also in-country, we are still supporting petroleum subsidy, so the net effect for us is nil or negative, depending on how the price goes.
“The Ukraine-Russia war is causing another wave of global economic distortion and we are very much affected in the sense that energy prices are high which comes with increasing transportation costs, which is also reflected in the cost of food,” she noted.
According to the minister, as a fertiliser-producing country, it has been tough getting a key ingredient in the production of the agricultural commodity, which has led to skyrocketing prices.
“And also, for Nigeria as a producer of fertiliser, one of the major inputs for fertiliser production, potash, is affected. Now it is scarce and that means that the input is very expensive and we are seeing that reflected in the cost of fertiliser.
“As a government, we are looking at how to mitigate this high cost to support the fertilizer-producing companies so that the price of the commodity is not too out of the reach of the common man who is the farming population,” the minister explained.
THISDAY
Business
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.
A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.
Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.
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Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”
He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.
“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
Business
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.
This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.
He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.
The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.
Business
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.
The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.
The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.
“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.
“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”
Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.
Employment rate – 76%
The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.
“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.
Self-employment – 85.6%
The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.
It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”
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