Business

Worry as Nigeria’s oil rigs count stagnates

Published

1 year ago

March 21, 2023

Nigeria’s oil rigs count has stagnated at 13 during the month, the latest data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has revealed.

This is coming despite the country adding about 48,000 barrels per day in February, Reuters reports.
Hope of new investment in the oil and gas sector in the country grew in January when Nigeria’s oil rigs count rose from six to 13 between January 2022 and January 2023 as earlier indicated by Baker Hughes figures.
But the velocity has now been slowed, with the February data showing that no new rigs came into the country, although there has been an improvement in the volume of oil drilled, which is still significantly lower by at least 500,000 bpd.
Despite the remarkable recovery in global crude oil demand, Nigeria had been unable to ramp up production, following massive theft of the resource in the Niger Delta as well as shutdowns due to frequent equipment failure.
In the oil and gas industry, the rig count is a major index for measuring activities in the upstream sector.
While for instance, 26 rigs were in operation, on both onshore and offshore terrains, in 1997, Nigeria has had the number remarkably depleted in recent years.
In January, the rigs hit over a dozen, up from 12 in December and up from six one year ago, marking a major positive change of 8.33 per cent from November last year and a whopping 116.7 per cent from one year ago.
However, new information from OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) released this March, showed that expectations that the rigs count could hit 14 this month did not materialise.
There had also been hope of additional rigs when offshore contractor, Dolphin Drilling, which in February had one of its semi-submersible rigs on its way to Nigeria, was expected to start its new drilling campaign.
In addition, Blackford Dolphin had departed Las Palmas and was already en route Nigeria, following a successful shipyard campaign, which enabled the recertification for a further five years. It appeared from the data that they had yet to begin operation as of the second month of this year.
Nigeria’s oil output had begun to rebound since October last year, after a multi-decade low of 900,000 bpd, with the rate of growth rising to 28,000 barrels per day increase in January and 48,000 bpd in February, to hit 1.3 million bpd during the month.
But the figure was lower when compared to the over 55,000 bpd increase in December, according to data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), but much better than the 28,000 bpd January production figure and the 48,000 bpd drilling in February.
While production in December, the previous month, was 1.235 million bpd, the January oil output was 1.258 million bpd, while the February figure stood at 1.306 million bpd.
But as opposed to Nigeria’s 13 rigs, the United States as of February, according to the OPEC MOMR data, had 758 oil rigs, Canada had 248, while Mexico had 46, bringing the Americas’ total to 1,954 rigs.
In Africa, Algeria had 31 while Angola had nine oil rigs as of February.

Iran’s rigs were 117, Iraq’s were 62, Libya had 12 even as Saudi Arabia had 77 and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had 54.
In total, OPEC members’ rig count were 407 while the world rig count stood at 2,004, an increase of 22 rigs during the month.

Business

Naira gains marginally at parallel market as FG plans for diaspora fund

Published

1 hour ago

April 27, 2024

Trends Admin

Naira gains marginally at parallel market as FG plans for diaspora fund

Nigerian currency, Naira, appreciated to N1,380 per dollar on the parallel market on Friday, posting a gain of N70 in one single day, compared to Thursday’s close of N1,450/$1.

On the other hand, the the local currency weakened to N1,339.23/$1 on the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEM) window, representing a N29.42 decline, compared to the N1,309.81/$1 it closed at on Wednesday.

However, daily turnover on the NAFEM declined by 2.85 per cent to $309.01 million compared to $318.08 million the previous day.

The highest spot rate stood at N1,410, with the lowest recorded at N1,051.

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to attract and accelerate inflow of foreign currency into the economy, the federal government has unveiled plans to float a $10 billion Nigeria Diaspora Fund.

Naira gains marginally at parallel market as FG plans for diaspora fund

Aviation

Safety: NCAA to audit all domestic airlines, says Aviation minister

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Safety: NCAA to audit all domestic airlines, says Aviation minister

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has said the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) will carry out a comprehensive audit on all local airlines over safety concerns.

This is coming after a runway incursion incident in which Dana Air’s plane carrying 83 passengers with six crew members skidded the runway at the Lagos airport leading to diversion of flights

The operations of Dana Air were immediately suspended and NCAA directed to commence a comprehensive audit on the airline.

Keyamo spoke on the general audit of all domestic airlines on Thursday when he appeared on Channels TV Politics Today programme.
He said beyond the suspension of Dana Airlines and the ongoing audit of the airline, all other carriers in the country would be audited to guarantee the safety of passengers and the health of the civil aviation industry.

The directive to suspend the operations of the Dana Air was contained in a letter issued and endorsed by the NCAA Acting Director General, Chris Najomo, in Abuja.

It is the second time within two years that the NCAA would suspend the airline’s operational licence over safety violations.

It said the latest action was based on “elevated safety concerns” posed by the airline.

“As a precautionary step, and in accordance with Sec 31 (7) of the Civil Aviation Act 2022, the Authority has imposed a suspension on your Air Operator Certificate (AOC) with effect from 24″ April, 2024 at 23:59 to allow for a thorough safety and economic audit,” the letter partly read.

The NCAA also stated, “The safety audit will entail a re-inspection of your organisation, procedures, personnel, and aircraft as specified by Part 1.3.3.3 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations, while the economic audit will critically examine the financial health of your airline to guarantee its capability to sustain safe flight operations.”

Business

Anxiety as dollar exchanges for N1,420/$ on parallel market

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Anxiety as dollar exchanges for N1,420/$ on parallel market

There are fears prices of essential goods including food items in Nigeria may begin to rise again as naira witnessed a major slide against the United States dollar at the foreign exchange market on Thursday.

The naira fell to N1,309/$ on the official market and N1,420 on the parallel market, according to multiple sources.

This indicates a fall of N90 or 6.8 per cent from N1,330 recorded on Wednesday.

The latest downward trend in naira rate after recording appreciable gain for some weeks followed high demand for dollars.

A report by The Punch quoted currency traders at the popular Wuse Zone 4 market in Abuja as buying the greenback note at N1,340 and selling at N1,420, leaving a profit margin of N80.

In Lagos, a trader Ibrahim Garba told Newstrends that the naira-dollar rate changes almost hourly.

“It was selling at N1,380/$ at 11am today (on Thursday) and by 2pm, it had moved to N1,400/$,” he said.

The naira has this lost 26.2 per cent in two weeks when compared to N1,125/$ on April 12, 2023 on the parallel market.

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday approved the allocation of $15.83 million to 1,583 BDC operators.

This was aimed at enhancing liquidity in the unofficial market.

The CBN in a letter to BDCs announced the allocation of $10,000 to operators across the country.

The allocation came at N1,021)$, aimed at stabilsing the foreign exchange market and ensuring accessibility of foreign currency to eligible end users.

Last weekend, the CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, said the Naira was declared the best-performing currency globally as of April 2024.

The naira was about the worst currency in March when it fell to as low as N1,600/$1 on the official market and N1800/$1 on the parallel market