TheNewsGuru

Tag: Oil

  • Price for petrol drops, kerosene increases – NBS

    Price for petrol drops, kerosene increases – NBS

    The average price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) dropped by 1.2 per cent year-on-year, the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has said.

    According to a report on the NBS website, the Bureau also listed states with the highest and lowest average price of petrol in comparison with the approved government price of N145.

    “The average price paid by consumers for PMS decreased by 1.2 per cent year-on-year and increased by 0.1 per cent month-on-month to N144.5 in September 2017 from N144.4 in August 2017.

    “States with the highest average price of PMS were Yobe N149.7, Bayelsa N147.1 and Taraba N146.1, while states with the lowest average price of petrol were Abuja N142, Osun N142.8 and Ondo N142.9,’’ the NBS said.

    On Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), the Bureau said the “average price per litre paid by consumers for kerosene increased by 17.28 per cent month-on-month.

    “It decreased by -8.38 per cent year-on-year to N264.48 in September, 2017 from N225.52 in August, 2017.

    “States with the highest average price per litre of kerosene were Plateau N316.67, Yobe N294.44 and Kaduna N294.12.

    “States with the lowest average price per litre of kerosene were Abia N240.56, Edo N240.00 and Ekiti N233.33,’’ the NBS said.

  • Oil rises to $57.8 on fears of new Iran sanctions, Iraq conflict

    Oil markets jumped on Monday on concerns over potential renewed U.S. sanctions against Iran as well as conflict in Iraq.

    An explosion at a U.S. oil rig and reduced exploration activity also supported prices there.

    Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at 57.85 dollars.

    There were also concerns about the stability of Iraq, the second biggest oil producer within OPEC behind Saudi Arabia.

    Iraqi forces on Sunday began moving towards oil fields and an important air base held by Kurdish forces near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, Iraqi and Kurdish officials said.

    An explosion overnight at an oil rig in Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain drew market attention, with at least six people injured.

    U.S. crude prices were also supported by drillers cutting back the number of rigs looking for new production.

    U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were trading at 51.89 dollars per barrel, up 44 cents, or 0.9 per cent.

    Drillers cut five oil rigs in the week to Oct. 13, bringing the total count up to 743, the lowest since early June, General Electric Co’s Baker Hughes energy services firm said late on Friday.

  • Oil rises to $58, set for weekly gain

    Oil rises to $58, set for weekly gain

    Oil prices rose on Friday as investors bet that efforts to cut a global glut are working and that the demand outlook is improving.

    U.S. crude was down 8 cents at 51.48 dollars a barrel after earlier rising slightly. Still the contract is heading for a fourth consecutively weekly gain.

    Global benchmark Brent crude was 57.54 dollars a barrel of around 20 per cent, this performance is Brent’s best since June 2016.

    Earlier in the week on Monday Brent rose to 65 dollars.

    The price gains, most of them in the last two-and-a-half weeks, have come as traders anticipated renewed demand from U.S. refiners that were resuming operations after shutdowns due to Hurricane Harvey.

    Major world oil producers outside the United States have also indicated they will stick to output cuts to limit supply.

    They are getting support from Turkey’s threats to cut off a pipeline from the Kurdish region of Iraq after a referendum where Kurds voted overwhelmingly in favour of independence.

  • We will never make it in Nigeria until we take agriculture seriously – Obasanjo

    We will never make it in Nigeria until we take agriculture seriously – Obasanjo

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said Nigeria cannot make it until the nation takes agriculture and its value chains seriously.

    He said this on Thursday at the Youth Enterprises Summit organised by the Youth Development Centre, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    The former President said agriculture had the capacity to develop entrepreneurs and create millions of employment for Nigerian youths.

    Obasanjo, who described agriculture as his second career, noted that not many countries in the world had been successful without agriculture.

    The former President recalled that his administration created an enabling environment which opened doors of opportunities and made some Nigerians billionaires.

    He said, “The truth is this, if we are going to have employment for millions of youths in this country, it will be mainly in agriculture business not in oil and energy. Oil and energy will give you money; will make a few billionaires and multi-billionaires.

    “I opened the doors of opportunity and they took advantage of it, and I thank them for taking advantage of it.

    “All the billionaires we have today, they came out as a result of them taking advantage of those opportunities. And I am grateful to them that the opportunities that my administration created, they grabbed it and utilised it.”

    He added, “One thing is to create opportunity, another thing is to find people who will seize the opportunity and make what they have to make out of it.

    “But let’s take agriculture, we will never make it in this country until we take agriculture seriously. There are not many countries that have made it without taking agriculture seriously.”

    Obasanjo, who described himself as a successful farmer, urged youths to embrace agriculture and entrepreneurship.

    He said, “If Obasanjo can do it, why can’t you do it. There is entrepreneurship in you and you must develop it. And we will make you develop it.”

    Mr. Ayodele Aderinwa, who chaired the occasion, noted that the future looked scary with fear of poverty in view of the growing population of youths.

    Quoting statistics, he said, African youths population would hit 850 million by 2050, arguing that “the wealth creation via entrepreneurship is the way out to combat poverty.”

    A keynote speaker, Tope Shonubi, who spoke on the topic, ‘Youth and Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Which way forward?’, submitted that Nigerian youths had entrepreneurship skills but lacked discipline.

    Shonubi urged the youths to be consistent, humble, confident and embrace entrepreneurship with a view to adding values to human lives.

    The event attracted youths from across the country.

  • OPEC exempts Nigeria from oil production cut

    OPEC exempts Nigeria from oil production cut

    The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Non-OPEC countries have approved Nigeria’s exemption from oil production cuts.

    A statement by the Director, Press Relations, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr Idang Alibi, said the endorsement was given by at a meeting of OPEC’s Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee on Friday in Vienna.

    Nigeria was first granted production cuts at the November, 2016 Ministerial Conference and this was later extended in May at another Ministerial Conference, until the country stabilizes its crude oil production.

    Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said though Nigeria’s production recovery efforts had made some appreciable progress from October, 2016, it was not yet ”out of the woods”.

    The statement quoted Kachikwu, who was at the Vienna meeting, as saying that though Nigeria hit 1.8 million barrels production per day in August, it was not enough justification for call by some countries for Nigeria “to be brought into the fold”.

    ”Nigeria as one of the older members of OPEC will continue to work for the good of the organisation and its member countries, respecting whatever agreements and resolutions are collectively made.

    ”Nigeria will be prepared to cap its crude production when it has stabilized at 1.8 million barrels per day,” he said.

    The meeting noted that overall compliance by OPEC and Non-OPEC participating countries to the Agreement on oil production cut for August was 116 per cent, the highest since the agreement in January, 2017.

    It said that the objectives of the accord were steadily being achieved with the gradual draw-down of inventories by nearly 50 per cent since the agreement came into effect.

     

     

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  • Oil rises to $56 as demand rises

    Oil rises to $56 as demand rises

    Oil markets were firm on Monday and remained near multi-month highs reached late last week as the number of U.S. rigs drilling for new production fell and refineries continued to start up after getting knocked out by Hurricane Harvey.

    U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at 50.0 dollars per barrel at 0547 GMT, and close to the more than three-month high of 50.50 dollars reached last Thursday.

    Brent crude futures, benchmark for oil prices outside the United States, were at 55.71 dollars a barrel, up 9 cents and not far from the almost five-month high of 55.99 dollars touched on Thursday. Brent was 56 dollars on Wednesday.

    “Demand forecasts from OPEC and IEA… continued to improve sentiment in the market. Refineries are also reporting a much better recovery from the recent hurricanes,” ANZ bank said on Monday.

    Royal Dutch Shell’s Deer Park refinery in Texas was among the latest, beginning its restart on Sunday. The plant can process 325,700 barrels per day.

    The refinery restarts are occurring “as signs emerge of stalling growth in the U.S. shale industry. The number of rigs drilling for oil in the U.S. fell sharply last week,” ANZ said.

    U.S. energy firms cut seven oil rigs in the week to Sept. 15, bringing the total count down to 749, the fewest since June, energy services company Baker Hughes said on Friday.

     

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  • We’ll shut down oil, power sectors indefinitely if FG does not accede to our demands tomorrow – Labour

    We’ll shut down oil, power sectors indefinitely if FG does not accede to our demands tomorrow – Labour

    The United Labour Congress, ULC, and its affiliate unions have threatened to shut down the oil and power sectors by Friday if the Federal Government does not meet its demands.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that other affiliates of the union that promised to shut down the sectors by Friday include Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE.

    Others are National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE; National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Employees, NUBIFIE; Nigeria Union of Mine Workers, National Association of Aviation Professionals, Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria; Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria; Nigeria Union of Railway Workers; Private Telecommunications, Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Shop and Distributive Employees.

    This was revealed in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos by the General Secretary of the union, Comrade Didi Adodo.

    Adodo noted that the Federal Government was yet to address the concern of its members, following a 14-day ultimatum issued to the Federal Government through its Central Working Committee, CWC, which expired Friday, September 8, 2017.

    He explained that in line with due process and in keeping with industrial relations’ best practices and traditions, ULC, had issued a final seven-day strike notice to the Federal Government to address its demands or face nationwide strike.

    Adodo maintained that the seven days notice which was contained in a letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, would expire Friday, September 15.

    He, however, warned that after the expiration of the 7days ultimatum, the union will enforce the strike action indefinitely starting with the oil and power sectors.

    The group further lamented that the official response it received from the Federal Government on the matter, vide a letter from the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, fell grossly short of addressing the issues raised, which warranted an ultimatum in the first instance.

    ULC said mobilisation for the strike nationwide had begun, adding that state councils and affiliates were on red alert to ensure that if the Federal Government remained unyielding to members’ demands, they shall be compelled to embark on strike across the country.

    Our demands According to the statement, “once again, we reiterate these demands as follows: That Federal Government bans the stationing of the Army and Police in our workplaces and factory premises. ‘’This will stop employers who are now colluding with the Army and other security agencies from setting up their men in our factories for the purposes of intimidating and harassing workers in order to deny them their rights and privileges.

    “The Army and the Police should immediately withdraw their men in the different workplaces where they are currently stationed.

    “That the government should demand that the Federal Ministry of Labour sets up a task force immediately to carry out factory inspections as most of our factories are death traps.

    “An immediate review of the privatisation of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, to save Nigerians the agony of suffering under the suffocating darkness which the GENCOs and DISCOs have foisted on the nation among other demands.”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Federal Government is however yet to react or issue any statement concerning the proposed strike by the unions.

     

     

  • The earlier oil dries up, the better for Nigeria – El-Rufai

    The earlier oil dries up, the better for Nigeria – El-Rufai

    The Governor of Kaduna, Nasir El-Rufai, yesterday in Ibadan said the discovery of oil in Nigeria is responsible for the brain drain in the country.

    Governor El-Rufai, who spoke at the 2017 Founder’s Day Celebration in memory of Prof Ojetunji Aboyade, which was organised by the Development Policy Centre, said because Nigeria got ‘easy money’ from oil, the nation lost its thinking initiative on how to develop other sources of revenue and diversify the economy.

    His statement reads, “Having suffered brain drain, how do we attract back our Diaspora and the brain-gain associated with it like the Chinese and Indians have witnessed?”

    “The earlier the oil dries up the better for our national ability to think, be innovative and respect intellect and academic achievement.

    “We get easy money, we do not collect taxes and our taxes are six per cent of Gross Domestic Product…We stopped respecting the intellectuals that we have in our universities because we got easy money.”
    El-Rufai said Nigeria lacked sustainable national planning policy capable of helping its development.

    “It is obvious that Nigeria is severely under-policed, and will require more personnel, intelligence assets, better training, technology and equipment for its security agencies for the country to be a credible guarantor of security.”

    “Even if these were to be available, it is also debatable whether a single centralised policing system, structure and staffing for 200 million citizens is viable in a diverse, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic nation like Nigeria.”

    “How can we promote a national subscription to meritocracy? How can we ensure that the imperative of reflecting federal character does not become the enemy of merit and quality of appointments?”

  • Attacks on oil facilities to resume September 10 – Militants

    THE Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators has said it will renew its attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta on September 10.

    It also stated that the notice to quit issued to Hausa and Yoruba in the Niger Delta had not been withdrawn.

    “Our intelligence department has given us the list of the oil wells owned by the northerners. The northerners have over 90 per cent of the oil wells and the Yoruba have about seven per cent, while the Igbo have about two per cent and the Niger Delta people do not have up to one per cent of the oil wells.

    “We are not talking only about the notice to quit; we are also talking about the Niger Delta Republic. We have seen that the Federal Government is not serious about the Niger Delta issue. Let me make a point here; the Academic Staff Union of Universities is on strike and the government has set up a committee to engage in a dialogue with ASUU.

    “This has never happened in the case of the Niger Delta; the Federal Government has never inaugurated a committee to handle the Niger Delta issue. The only language the Federal Government seems to understand is violence. September 10 is the day we will resume attacks (on oil installations). By September 10, which is on Sunday, over 5,000 members of the Niger Delta Coalition of Agitators will shut down no less than over 20 platforms,” the group told SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday.

    Similarly, the coalition refuted the claim that it gave the Pan Niger Delta People’s Congress the mandate to withdraw the notice.

    The CNDA had in August told northerners and Yoruba to leave before October 1 or be forced out of the region.

    The leader of the Niger Delta agitators, John Duku, added, “We have not given anybody any mandate to withdraw the notice to quit we issued. On the group (PNDPC) talked about, we have said we are not working with this set of old people again. The composition of that group is not different from that of PANDEF.

    “Already, we are talking with leaders of ethnic nationalities and if at the end, we reach a conclusion, we will make it public. Nobody will withdraw the notice on our behalf – we will do that. The fact is that those that announced the withdrawal of the notice are not the ones that issued it. We don’t know them.”

  • Buhari’s mandate to shift dependence from oil yielding results – Kachikwu

    Buhari’s mandate to shift dependence from oil yielding results – Kachikwu

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, on Tuesday in Abuja said the mandate of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to shift focus from oil-dependence to gas was yielding results.

    Kachikwu said this while addressing newsmen after the signing of the Gas Sales and Aggregation Agreement (GSAA) by the NNPC/Total Exploration Production Nigeria Joint Venture, Greenville Oil and Gas Company and the Gas Auto.

    According to Kachikwu, the agreement will unlock unbelievable opportunities as the first phase will produce 2200 standard cubic feet, scf, of gas to 5,000 scf.

    ”President Muhammadu Buhari provided this leadership under the seven big wins. Conversations have been on over the last two-three years.

    ”Our first step was to set up the Nigerian Gas Management Company and Nigerian Gas Pipeline Transportation Company.

    ”I am happy that a few months after we launched the gas policy, we are seeing this happening. We want to ensure that the payment issues are dealt with and made on time so there is a good financing for the project,” he said.

    He urged other investors to invest in the sector, saying ”we will see what we can do to move this fairly fast from oil-focused to gas-focused zone”.

    Admitting that most industries in the North were dying due to the power challenge, he urged the investors to move quickly to help solve the problem.

    The Gas Sales Aggregation Agreement will bring an investment of 500 million dollars in the first phase and 350 million dollars in the second phase.

    It will also lead to many Compressed Natural Gas companies selling directly to consumers across the country.