Nigeria’s reserves drop to $30.04bn

30 November 2015, Abuja –  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said that the nation’s foreign reserves fell to 30.04 billion dollars as at Nov. 26. The bank disclosed this on its Website on Monday. It said that the figure dropped by seven million dollars from 30.11 billion dollars recorded in Oct. 26. It said the 30.04 […] More »

IMF approves China’s yuan as elite reserve currency

30 November 2015, Lagos – The International Monetary Fund welcomed China’s yuan into its elite reserve currency basket on Monday, recognizing the ascendance of the Asian power in the global economy. The yuan, also known as the renminbi, will join the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and British pound in the basket of currencies the IMF […] More »

UAE launches world’s biggest solar plant

30 November 2015, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The United Arab Emirate, UAE, has launched the world’s biggest solar plant, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has said. According to him, the project is worth AED 50 billion. “We have launched the world’s biggest solar plant worth AED 50 Bn., to be accomplished in 2030 […] More »

Ferreira quits as Petrobras chairman

30 November 2015, News Wires –  Boss of Brazilian miner Vale not returning to chair at beleaguered state oil giant Petrobras chairman Murilo Ferreira has quit the post less than a year into the job and following an extended period of leave. Interim chairman Nelson Guedes de Carvalho is to remain in the position until the […] More »

China jails 14 over Qingdao pipeline blast

30 November 2015, News Wires – Ex-Sinopec and government officials jailed over explosion at port city that left dozens dead China has sentenced 14 former officials of state oil giant Sinopec and local government officials over a 2013 pipeline blast that left 63 people dead. The explosion that ripped through the Sinopec-owned Dongying-Huangdao II pipeline in […] More »

Fuel shortage to ease as Kachikwu meets marketers in Lagos

…PH refinery to resume operations this week 30 November 2015, Abuja – There are strong indications that the acute fuel shortage in the country will soon ease as the Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, will today meet with marketers in Lagos to […] More »

Transcorp Ughelli Power becomes Transcorp Power

30 November 2015, Lagos – Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp) has announced the successful merger of its two power subsidiaries Transcorp Ughelli Power Limited and Ughelli Power Plc. The merged companies are now a single entity called Transcorp Power Limited. The merger, according to the Chief Executive Officer of the new company, Adeoe Fadeyibi, was designed […] More »

Govt urged to shun critics of cargo tracking note

30 November 2015, Abuja – Importers Association of Nigeria (IMAN) has advised the federal government to disregard the opposition against the reintroduction of Cargo Tracking Note (CTN) by some trade groups, including Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN). IMAN said those who are kicking against the CTN have not taking into consideration the huge economic and security […] More »

Rates cut fails to lift NSE as index declines by 1.8%

30 November 2015, Lagos – The decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)  to cut the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from  13 per cent to 11 per cent  failed to  lift the Nigerian equities market last week as the market closed in the red taking the while Year-to-Date (YTD) decline to 20.31 per cent. The […] More »

Oil marketer denies subsidy theft allegations

30 November 2015, Lagos — An oil marketer, Adaoha Ugo-Ndagi, has told a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja that the N1.9 billion subsidy fraud charge preferred against her and three others were false. Ugo-Ndagi, Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, who was testifying before Justice Lateefa Okunnu, maintained that the allegations were an attempt to […] More »

Cylinder explosion: Lagos assures victims of adequate medical attention

30 November 2015, Lagos — The Lagos State Government has assured  victims of the Owode-Onirin scrap market, along Mile-12, Ikorodu Road, cylinder explosion receiving treatment at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, Ikeja of adequate medical attention and would not abandon them. Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter Governmental Relations, Dr. […] More »

Fashola, NERC meet with DISCOs on tariff

30 November 2015, Lagos—Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, is meeting with the management of distribution companies, DISCOs, today with a view to acquainting himself with them and also intimate them about his expectations from them on the way forward. The meeting, which will hold in the minister’s office this afternoon comes […] More »

Banks lend N21.4tn to customers in six months

30 November 2015, Abuja – The net domestic credit of the banking system to the economy grew by 11.1 per cent to N21.4tn at the end of the first half of this year, according to statistics obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The figure, which is contained in the financial stability report for the first […] More »

Ogun communities protest poor electricity, want manager removed

30 November 2015, Abeokuta – Some residents of 16 community development associations in Igberen, in the Ado-Odo Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State, have thronged the district office of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company in Iyana Iyesi to protest against poor power supply and high billing. The residents also accused the district manager of the […] More »

Petrol won’t sell above N100 without subsidy – Experts

30 November 2015, Lagos – Though the biting petrol scarcity across the nation is not showing any sign of ending, experts in the oil and gas sector are insistent that now is the right time for the Federal Government to hands off the payment of subsidy on the product, OKECHUKWU NNODIM, writes Experts in the […] More »

Osinbajo decries Nigeria’s dependence on oil

30 November 2015, Abuja – Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described the over-dependence on oil resources as the cause of the high level of corruption, dwindling economy and the redundant human resource base in the country. Osinbajo also observed that the over-reliance on oil was behind the agitation for resource control, especially from the South-South geo-political […] More »

NCDMB seeks partnership with OEMs

*NCIF to boost collaboration/investment 30 November 2015, Sweetcrude, Houston – Nigeria seeks to partner with Houston’s well known size of Original Equipment Manufacturers to set up facilities for manufacturing and services in the oil and gas sector in the country. Mr. Denzil Kentebe, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development & Monitoring Board will address […] More »

Financial market products & services update

30 November 2015, Sweetcrude, Houston – Local and international financial market products and services update. NIGERIA: The net domestic credit of the banking system to the economy grew by 11.1 per cent to N21.4tn at the end of the first half of this year, according to statistics from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The figure, […] More »

Oil rises in early trade

30 November 2015 – Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Monday, although gains were limited as investors look ahead to an Opec meeting where ministers from the oil producing group will set policy in the face of a market still in glut. Oil prices are heading for declines of as much as 10% […] More »

OPEC daily basket price close at $39.08/b

30 November 2015, Sweetcrude, Vienna, Austria — The price of OPEC basket of twelve crudes stood at 39.08 dollars a barrel on Friday, compared with $39.65 the previous day, according to OPEC Secretariat calculations. The new OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Oriente (Ecuador), […] More »

Afam VI Power Plant now Nigeria’s 1st energy efficient project

*Obtains 541,537 CER credit from UNFCCC 30 November 2015, Sweetcrude, Lagos, Nigeria – The Afam VI Power Plant in Rivers State has been recognised and rewarded by the United Nations for reducing carbon emissions through environmentally friendly operations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) issued the 650-megawatt plant some 541,537 Certified Emission […] More »

IPMAN wants petroleum products loading decentralised from Lagos

30 November 2015, Port Harcourt – The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), on Sunday, urged the Federal Government to decentralise loading of petroleum products to make for effective loading at depots across the country. Chief Lawson Obasi, National President, IPMAN, told newsmen in Port Harcourt that spreading of petroleum products to other coastal […] More »

UN rewards SPDC’s Afam VI power plant for reducing carbon emissions

30 November 2015, Lagos – The Afam VI Power Plant in Rivers State has been recognised and rewarded by the United Nations for reducing carbon emissions through environmentally friendly operations. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) issued the 650-megawatt plant some 541,537 Certified Emission Reductions (CER) credits for its first crediting period between […] More »

NARTO urges govt to end lingering fuel crisis

Kunle Kalejaye 30 November 2015, Lagos – The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, has called on the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to find immediate and lasting solutions to the lingering problem of petroleum products scarcity in the country.   In a communiqué issued at the end of its 16th […] More »

How alleged corruption in NNPC is fueling petrol scarcity

29 November 2015, Abuja – The current fuel scarcity across Nigeria is due largely to the entrenched corruption at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, reliable sources familiar with the operations of the state-owned oil company have said. The NNPC had said the resurgent queues in filling stations were due to panic buying and claimed it had […] More »

Egypt, Sudan Discuss Cooperation in Petroleum field

29 November 2015, Cairo – Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Tarek el Molla and his Sudanese counterpart Mahmoud Abdel Rahman discussed oat the weekend means of fostering bilateral relations in the petroleum and gas fields. Sudanese Ambassador in Cairo Rashad el Tayyeby attended the meeting. During the meeting, Molla expressed Cairo’s readiness to support Sudan in this domain. […] More »

Calls deepen to diversify Nigeria economy from oil

29 November 2015, Lagos — The falling oil prices in the international markets have made it imperative for Nigeria, Africa ‘s biggest producer of the product, to explore untapped industries to revive the economy. This is the view of international market watcher, First Bank of Nigeria Capital (FBN Capital), an entity of one of the […] More »

South Africa announces fuel price increase

29 November 2015, Johannesburg – South Africa’s Department of Energy has announced that 93 and 95 octane petrol will increase by 1 cent per litre from December 2. There will, however, be decreases in diesel and liquefied petroleum gas. The price of diesel 0.05% sulphur and of 0.005% sulphur will decrease by 3.8c and 1.8c per […] More »

Egypt signs MOU with European Bank to enhance petroleum sector dvelopment

29 November 2015, Cairo  – Egypt’s Petroleum Minister Tarek el Molla attended the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the petroleum sector and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with the purpose of supporting cooperation between the two sides in the field of enhancing sustainable development and developing environmental standards in […] More »

Nigeria: No figure on returned loot yet – Adeosun

29 November 2015, Abuja – The Federal Government is yet to put a specific figure to the amount of money so far returned by those who looted the treasury, as disclosed by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, told journalists, at the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting, in Abuja, that […] More »

Nnaji: NEMSA created from NERC’s poor grasp of technical regulation

29 November 2015, Lagos – A former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, thursday disclosed that the new technical enforcement agency in Nigeria’s electricity supply industry, the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), was created due to the failure of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to understand and undertake technical regulations and enforcement in the […] More »

At CHOGM, Buhari tells IOCs, foreign shipping lines to stop aiding oil theft

29 November 2015, Lagos – President Muhammadu Buhari has cautioned international oil companies and financial institutions as well as international shipping lines against helping and encouraging oil thieves to perpetrate frauds in the Nigeria’s oil industry. Buhari, who spoke at a group meeting of Commonwealth leaders on corruption chaired by Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain […] More »

Nigerians groan as petrol scarcity lingers

29 November 2015, Lagos – The scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, which started last month in same parts of the country has worsened as the product, at the weekend, was being  sold for between N150 and N200 per litre, instead of the official pump price of N87, depending on the […] More »

Dangote to construct 500 Mw power plant for Kano, Katsina, others

29 November 2015, Abuja – President, Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has pledged to construct a 500 megawatt power plant for Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Kaduna states. In his address at the 36th Kano Trade Fair held in Kano, the executive director stakeholders management, Engineer Mansur Ahmad who represented Aliko Dangote at the […] More »

Oil will remain in demand for next 100 years, says ExxonMobil

29 November 2015, Lagos – Statistics presented by oil giant, ExxonMobil, has indicated that oil will still sustain the global energy need for 100 years. Its General Manager, Deep Water Operations, Oladotun Isiaka, broke the news in his presentation on ‘2015 Energy Outlook series’ in Abuja. He said: “The franking technology now avails us the opportunity to […] More »

NNPC loses N241bn in 10 months

29 November 2015, Abuja –  A total of N240.98bn was lost by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation between January and October this year, latest figures from the firm’s oil and gas report for October 2015 have shown. The NNPC made a total revenue of N1.71tn and group expenses of N1.95tn during the period under review. […] More »

Cameroon: Bowleven ‘pleased’ with Moambe flow test results

29 November 2015, News Wires – Bowleven Chief Executive Kevin Hart stated that the company was “pleased with the positive initial flow test results” at the Moambe well on the Bomono permit in Cameroon, which indicated a maximum stabilized flow rate of 7.3 million cubic feet per day through a 48/64 choke with no signs of […] More »

Penspen to conduct engineering study for offshore Nigerian field

28 November 2015, News Wires – UK’s Penspen, a leading global provider of engineering and management services to the energy industry, has announced that the company has been awarded a contract from Sirius Group to conduct an engineering study for the monetization of gas reserves from oilfields offshore Niger Delta. A key element of this agreement […] More »

Glencore sees Tripoli-based NOC as sole legal seller of Libyan oil

28 November 2015, News Wires – Commodities trader Glencore said on Thursday it recognises Libya’s Tripoli-based National Oil Corp. (NOC) as the sole legal marketer of the country’s oil, after securing an export deal earlier this year with the state-run company. The Tripoli-based NOC has said it operates independently of either the rival government that controls […] More »

Senegal JV Partners Receive 3-Year PSC Extension

28 November 2015, News Wires – FAR Ltd announced Friday that it, along with its joint venture partners, has received a presidential decree to extend a current Petroleum Sharing Contract (PSC) in Senegal by three years, starting from February 6, 2016. The extension gives the joint venture more time to appraise the SNE and FAN […] More »

European Oilfield Services: More pain to come before sector recovers

28 November 2015, News Wires – When France’s Schlumberger Ltd. reported its third-quarter results in mid-October, the company delivered numbers that looked very robust at the bottom line. But the world’s number one oilfield services provider produced a marginally better-than-expected quarterly profit only because it made deep cost cuts. Schlumberger is unusual among European oilfield […] More »

Egbin generates 1, 100 megawatts electricity

28 November 2015, Lagos – Authorities at Nigeria’s largest power generation plant, Egbin Power Plc, said yesterday that it had maintained a consistent generation of 1,100 megawatts of electricity into the country’s national grid in the last three weeks. The company Chairman, Mr. Kola Adesina, made this known to Saturday Vanguard in a telephone conversation. According […] More »

Local, foreign syndicates worsen oil theft, drug trafficking, terrorism —Navy

28 November 2015, Lagos – The Nigerian Navy disclosed, yesterday, that promblems plaguing Nigeria’s maritime environment have become more challenging with local and international syndicates combining to wreak havoc in the areas of crude oil theft, drug trafficking and terrorism. Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ibas, who made the disclosure at a briefing to […] More »

Nigeria can’t sustain generator-based economy – SSANU

28 November 2015, Nsukka – The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) has said that mass unemployment looms in the country following epileptic power supply that is hampering the operations of industries. National President of SSANU, Comrade Samson Ugwoke who raised the alarm at the SSANU 2015 National Delegate Conference holding at the University […] More »

Nigeria, others to drive 25-year global energy demand – Exxonmobil

28 November 2015, Lagos – Data presented by oil giant, ExxonMobil at the launch of its ‘2015 energy outlook series’ have indicated that global demand for energy in the next 25 years would be led by countries outside of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD. These countries include Nigeria; China and India. ExxonMobil […] More »

South Africa: Eskom gets mixed credit ratings

28 November 2015, Johannesburg – While credit ratings agency Moody’s rated Eskom as having a stable outlook on Friday, Standard & Poor’s gave the utility a negative outlook. “Following the announcement of Eskom’s 2015 interim financial results this week, Moody’s Investors Service has affirmed Eskom’s Ba1 senior unsecured credit rating with a stable outlook. Standard […] More »

Nigeria: Nnaji blames rising incidents of electrocution on poor installation

28 November 2015, Abuja — A former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, yesterday blamed rising incidents of electrocution in Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry, NESI, on lack of proper installation of electric appliances. Prof. Nnaji, stated this while speaking during a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, NEMSA, in Abuja. He tasked […] More »

Nigeria: Total targets 10 solar-powered filling stations by December

28 November 2015, Lagos – TOTAL Nigeria Plc, has expressed its commitment to further improve service delivery to customers, even as it unveiled plans to lunch additional eight solar-powered filling stations to make a total of 10 efficient stations across the country. The oil marketing firm already has one solar-powered station in Ikeja Lagos and […] More »

South Africa: Brics Development Bank Vice Presidents announced

28 November 2015, Pretoria — The New Development Bank (NDB) of BRICS on Thursday announced the allocation of formal responsibilities to the four vice presidents of the bank. Xian Zhu has been appointed as the Chief Operations Officer, who will be responsible for operations, including project lending, operational compliance and project procurement as well as […] More »

Nigeria’s Central Bank cuts rates for first time in six years

28 November 2015, Lagos – Nigeria’s central bank surprisingly cut the benchmark interest rate to 11 percent from 13 percent on Tuesday, its first reduction in the cost of borrowing in more than six years, in an effort to stimulate growth in Africa’s biggest economy. The bank also reduced the cash reserve ratio for commercial […] More »