Business

Shell not leaving Nigeria, investing more in deep water — MD

Published

2 months ago

October 16, 2024

Shell not leaving Nigeria, investing more in deep water – MD

Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company and Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, has insisted the company is not leaving Nigeria despite moves to divest its onshore assets.

Okunbor spoke on Tuesday during a high-level panel session at the ongoing Nigeria Economic Summit.

He said the company was concentrating more on the deep water where it has significant technological and financial advantage.

‘Fuelling growth: The Future of Oil and Gas’ was the theme of the session.

According to him, the company is investing more money in Nigeria with a single project in the deep offshore costing as much as $5 billion.

“Shell is not leaving Nigeria. We are not going anywhere and we will be together for a long time. Our onshore assets shares are being divested to a consortium of four companies which had gone through rigorous selection process,” he stated.

He noted that despite pessimism around the industry, Nigeria’s petroleum sector is not in decline.

He said:l, “Let us not go away from here with the thought that our industry is in decline; it is not.

“I make bold to say that since the enactment of the PIA (Petroleum Industry Act), and the supporting regulations, we are actually in a much better place.

“The Presidential directives that have come out are providing the degree of coherence that we hadn’t seen in a long time in the industry.”

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Also speaking at the panel session, the Managing Director, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, Mr. Philip Mshelbila, said it had become critical that Nigeria must grow its economy and diversify the economy.

According to him, Nigerians have to lead the drive to achieve both the growth and diversification of the economy.

He said, “If I go back on the need for the economy to grow, it is key that the oil and gas industry participate in that growth as well. We have huge potential and it is important that we diversify.

“But the way that I see diversification in Nigeria is that it needs to be addictive rather than a replacement.

“If you go back to the 50s and 60s, what happened then was that we had agriculture based economy but it then got replaced with oil and gas as the primary driver of the economy. What we are asking for is not a reversal of that but that both must grow.”

He explained that the insecurity in the Niger Delta region has limited the growth of the oil and gas industry, noting that it was responsible for driving international oil companies away from onshore operations.

Mshelbila said this has also impacted the operations of Nigeria LNG with the company’s six trains operating at 62 percent capacity, stressing that Nigeria has not addressed insecurity challenges in Niger Delta.

“To date NLNG has never had problem with financing but our capacity utilisation was in the 40s and year to date our capacity utilisation is 62% which means that roughly about 40 capacities has largely been empty. This is a result of a number of different things; one of them is that investment has slowed over the past decade within the upstream. Coupled with this is the insecurity in the environment,” he stated.

On her part, the Group COO, MRS Holdings, Amina Maina assured that the ongoing petrol shortage in the country would ease in the coming days as more supply comes from the Dangote Refinery.

“I think over the next few days those queues will disappear because I’m aware that there are a lot more products that have come into the system. Dangote Refinery has started selling petrol and I’m aware that trucks are going out and a vessel is currently loading. So by the end of this week we should have more petrol from Dangote Refinery,” she added.

Shell not leaving Nigeria, investing more in deep water — MD

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Railway

Lagos Rail Mass Transit part of FG free train ride – NRC

Published

10 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Trends Admin

Lagos Rail Mass Transit part of FG free train ride – NRC

The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) has disclosed that the Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) trains are included in the Federal Government’s free train ride initiative for the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The LRMT, which currently includes the Phase 1 Blue Line Rail and the Phase 1 of the Red Line Rail, operates under the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).

This announcement was made by Ben Iloanusi, the Acting Managing Director of the NRC, during an interview on NTA News TV on Friday, following the launch of the initiative earlier that day.

While Iloanusi stated that Phase 1 of both the Blue Line and Red Line Rail projects are part of the program, LAMATA has yet to confirm this inclusion.

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Iloanusi outlined the other routes benefiting from the scheme, which include the Lagos-Ibadan Train Service, Kaduna-Abuja Train Service, Warri-Itakpe Train Service, Port Harcourt-Aba Train Service, and the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Mass Transit in Lagos. Notably, little was previously known about the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Mass Transit service until this disclosure.

“Let me mention the routes where this free train service is happening. We have the Lagos-Ibadan Train Service, we have the Kaduna-Abuja Train Service, we have the Warri-Itakpe Train Service, we have the Lagos Rail Mass Transit trains, we have the Port Harcourt-Aba Train Service, and we have what we call the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Mass Transit, which is also in Lagos,” he stated.

Iloanusi provided operational updates, stating that passengers nationwide can access free tickets online or, for those unable to do so, at train stations where they will be profiled and validated.

He noted that passengers using NRC-managed services (excluding the Lagos Rail Mass Transit) should reserve tickets via the official website, www.nrc.gov.ng, with a valid ID required. He also advised travelers to plan, arrive on time, and bring valid identification.

Lagos Rail Mass Transit part of FG free train ride – NRC

Business

NNPC denies claim of Port Harcourt refinery shutdown

Published

10 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Trends Admin

Port Harcourt refinery

NNPC denies claim of Port Harcourt refinery shutdown

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has denied claims in media reports that the newly refurbished Port Harcourt refinery has shut down.

The national oil company denied the claim in a press release issued by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Saturday.

Soneye said the claim was false and urged Nigerians to disregard it. He stressed that the Port-Harcourt Refinery is fully operational.

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The statement read, “The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has been drawn to reports in a section of the media alleging that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery which was re-streamed two months ago has been shut down.

“We wish to clarify that such reports are totally false as the refinery is fully operational as verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.”

He noted that preparation for the day’s loading operation is currently ongoing, and added that claims of the shutdown are “figments of the imagination of those who want to create artificial scarcity and rip-off Nigerians.”

NNPC denies claim of Port Harcourt refinery shutdown

Business

CBN permits BDCs to buy up to $25,000 FX weekly from NFEM

Published

2 days ago

December 20, 2024

Trends Admin

CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso

CBN permits BDCs to buy up to $25,000 FX weekly from NFEM

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has granted Bureau de Change (BDC) operators temporary permission to purchase up to $25,000 weekly in foreign exchange (FX) from the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).

This move, detailed in a circular dated December 19, 2024, is designed to meet seasonal retail demand for FX during the holiday period.

The circular was signed by T.G. Allu, on behalf of the Acting Director of the Trade and Exchange Department.

The arrangement will be in effect from December 19, 2024, to January 30, 2025.

Under the directive, BDCs may purchase FX from a single Authorized Dealer of their choice, provided they fully fund their accounts before accessing the market.

Transactions to occur at the prevailing NFEM rate

The transactions will occur at the prevailing NFEM rate, and BDCs are required to adhere to a maximum 1% spread when pricing FX for retail end-users.

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All transactions conducted under this scheme must be reported to the CBN’s Trade and Exchange Department.

The circular read in part:

“In order to meet expected seasonal demand for foreign exchange, the CBN is allowing a temporary access for all existing BDCs to the NFEM for the purchase of FX from Authorised Dealers, subject to a weekly cap of USD 25,000.00 (Twenty-five thousand dollars only).

This window will be open between December 19, 2024 to January 30, 2025.

“BDC operators can purchase FX under this arrangement from only one Authorized Dealer of their choice and will be required to fully fund their account before accessing the market at the prevailing NFEM rate. All transactions with BDCs should be reported to the Trade and Exchange department, and a maximum spread of 1% is allowed on the pricing offered by BDCs to retail end-users.”

The CBN assured the general public that PTA (Personal Travel Allowance) and BTA (Business Travel Allowance) remain available through banks for legitimate travel and business needs.”

These transactions are to be conducted at “market-determined exchange rates” within the NFEM framework.

This initiative reflects the CBN’s strategy to stabilize the FX market and manage seasonal surges in demand.