The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Oil

  • Despite issues, Nigeria ends 2022 as Africa’s largest oil producer

    Despite issues, Nigeria ends 2022 as Africa’s largest oil producer

    The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has revealed that Nigeria ended 2022 as Africa’s largest oil producer.

    According to OPEC, Nigeria in the month of December recorded a four percent increase in oil production to 1.235 million barrels per day, from 1.186 mb/d in November 2022.

    While on Year-on-Year, YoY performance, the nation’s oil output also increased to 1.235 mb/d in December 2022, from 1.197 mb/d in the corresponding period of 2021.

    OPEC disclosed this in its January 2023 Monthly Oil Market Report, MOMR obtained by Ripples Nigeria from its website.

    In 2022, Nigeria’s oil production fell heavily amid reports of increased oil theft. In fact, NNPC reported that it lost 95 percent of oil production to thieves at Bonny Terminal, Rivers State.

    While this happened other oil producers in Africa and other parts of the world reported large windfall from oil sales.

    However, OPEC in its report noted that Nigeria succeeded in beating Angola, its close rival that produced 1.088 mb/d in December 2022, to become the leading African producer while Equatorial Guinea came last with 54,000 bp/d.

    “Nigeria did not meet its 1.8 mb/d OPEC quota during the period even though the nation has the capacity to produce an additional 300,000 – 400,000 bpd of condensate,” OPEC stated.

    (Ripples)

  • Nigeria produce 1.57 million barrels of oil per day

    Nigeria and several other members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries exceeded their oil production quotas in March, according to S&P Global Platts.

     

    Nigeria, which had also recently improved its compliance, saw a steady rise in its March exports.

     

    Nigeria produced 1.57 million barrels per day last month, a 30,000 bpd rise from February, and 70,000 bpd above its quota.

     

    Crude oil production from OPEC and its allies rose by 450,000 bpd in March, the latest S&P Global Platts survey found, as Russia and Iraq pumped well above their agreed caps, while quota-exempt members Iran and Libya also boosted output. In Libya’s case, its production hit an almost eight-year high.

     

    Iraqi compliance fell to 88 per cent in March, as it produced 3.95 million bpd, an increase of 60,000 bpd from the previous month.

     

    Despite a fall in exports, its crude inventories grew, survey panelists said. The March figure is almost 90,000 bpd above its OPEC+ production quota of 3.857 million bpd.

     

    Meanwhile, Angolan crude output recovered to 1.16 million bpd in March after its production had slumped to a 16-year low in February.

     

    OPEC’s 13 members pumped 25.20 million bpd in March, up 340,000 bpd from February, while their nine non-OPEC partners, led by Russia, produced 13.08 million bpd, a rise of 110,000 bpd, the survey found.

     

    With the production gains, OPEC+ compliance with its quotas slipped to 111 per cent in March, compared with 113.5 per cent in February, juiced by Saudi Arabia voluntarily cutting an additional 1 million bpd since January.

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Man sentenced to two years imprisonment for Illegal oil dealing

     

    Justice E. A Obile of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Tuesday sentenced one Sa’adu Isa to two years in prison for dealing in petroleum products without licence.

     

    Isa was given summary judgement after he pleaded guilty in the case brought against him by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC),

     

    A Federal High Court sitting in Jos on Tuesday sentenced a 30-year-old man to 18 months imprisonment for illegal possession of Indian hemp.

     

     

    The convict, Lepan David, who was arrested by officials of NDLEA with 78kg of Indian hemp in Langtang North Local Government Area of Plateau State, pleaded guilty to the crime.

     

    Justice Dorcas Agishi sentenced David to 18 months imprisonment with a fine  of N50,000.

     

     

     

    Source: www.nationonlineng.com

  • Crude Oil: Nigerian refineries lose a total of 152.08bn

     

    The nation’s refineries lost a total of N152.08bn in 15 consecutive months of being idle, the latest data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have shown.

    Analysis of data collated from NNPC monthly reports revealed that all the refineries did not refine crude oil from July 2019 to September 2020.

     

    The refineries, which are located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri, have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but have continued to operate far below the installed capacity.

     

    The country relies largely on importation of refined petroleum products as its refineries have remained in a state of disrepair for many years despite several reported repairs.

     

    In 2019, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company only processed crude in one month, June; Port Harcourt Refining Company in two months (February and March); and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company in four months (January, February, March and May).

     

    The Kaduna refinery incurred an operating deficit of N57.99bn from July 2019 to September 2020, according to the NNPC data.

     

    Port Harcourt refinery lost N48.99bn in the period under review while the Warri refinery lost N45.10bn.

     

    The NNPC said in its latest monthly report that the declining operational performance of the refineries ‘is attributable to ongoing revamping of the refineries, which is expected to further enhance capacity utilization once completed’.

     

    The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, has reiterated its plan to revamp the refineries and end fuel importation by 2023.

     

    Bloomberg reported on January 15 that a year after shutting down all of its dilapidated refineries to figure out how to fix them, Nigeria still could not say how much it would cost to do the work or where the money would come from.

     

    According to the report, the NNPC said it had finished the appraisal of its largest facility, but hadn’t completed the process at two others.

     

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    The international news agency quoted refining experts as saying that the extended halt meant the plants were at risk of rotting away and unlikely to restart on time.

     

    It noted that the NNPC had totally shut all three plants down by January 2020 to do a comprehensive appraisal, and set the ambitious target of having them all back up and running at 90 per cent of capacity by 2023.

     

    The NNPC spokesman, Dr Kennie Obateru, was quoted as saying that the appraisal of the 210,000-bpd Port Harcourt refinery had been completed and the NNPC had called for bids for the necessary repairs.

     

    “It is when we close the bids, everything is analysed and presented that we will know how much we need,” he said.

     

    He said the diagnosis was underway at the 125,000bpd Warri facility and should be complete before the end of the year, adding that after that, the study of the 110,000b pd Kaduna plant would commence.

     

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • NNPC: Nigeria generated $120.49m in September from oil exports

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Sunday announced a total export receipt for crude oil and gas valued at $120.49m for the month of September 2020.

    NNPC’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Kennie Obateru, said the figure was contained in the September 2020 edition of the corporation’s Monthly Financial and Operations Report.

    He said in a statement issued in Abuja that the $120.49m crude oil and gas export receipt was a 16.28 per cent improvement on the $100.88m posted in August 2020.

    The report showed that out of the figure, proceeds from crude oil amounted to $85.40m, while gas and miscellaneous receipts stood at $25.31m and $9.78m respectively.

    The September 2020 MFOR also indicated a trading surplus of N28.38bn, lower than the N29.6bn surplus in August 2020.

    The reduction in surplus, according to the report, was as a result of lower contribution from the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, which recorded zero crude oil lifting from the Okono Okpoho facility during the month due to ongoing repairs.

    Other NNPC subsidiaries including the Integrated Data Services Limited, National Engineering and Technical Company Limited, Nigerian Gas Marketing Company, Petroleum Products Marketing Company and NNPC Retail recorded 268, 234, 21, 422 and 41 per cent trading surpluses respectively over their previous month’s performance.

    In the gas sector, a total of 223.82 billion cubic feet of natural gas was produced in the month under review, translating to an average daily production of 7,460.8 million standard cubic feet per day.

    From September 2019 to September 2020, a total of 3,039.05bcf of gas was produced, representing an average daily production of 7,730.35mmscfd during the period.

    Period-to-date production from Joint Ventures, Production Sharing Contracts and NPDC contributed about 69.1 per cent, 20.29 per cent and 10.61 per cent respectively to the total national gas production.

    Out of the 221.91bcf of gas supplied in September 2020, a total of 140.45bcf was commercialised, consisting of 36.37bcf and 104.08bcf for the domestic and export markets respectively.

    This translates to a total supply of 1,212.17mmscfd of gas to the domestic market and 3,469.45mmscfd of gas supplied to the export market for the month.

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    This implies that 63.29 per cent of the average daily gas produced was commercialised, while the balance of 36.71 per cent was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared.

    Gas flare rate was 6.66 per cent for the month under review, representing 492.93mmscfd when compared with average gas flare rate of 5.84 per cent i.e. 439.90mmscfd for the period of September 2019 to September 2020.

     

    To ensure effective supply and distribution of Premium Motor Spirit across the country, a total of 0.59 billion litres of PMS translating to 19.59 million litres/day was supplied for the month in the downstream sector.

    During the period under review, 21 pipeline points were vandalised. This represents about 43 per cent decrease from the 37 points recorded in August 2020.

    Of this figure, Mosimi Area accounted for 90 per cent of the vandalised points, while Port Harcourt Area accounted for the remaining 10 per cent.

    The NNPC stated that it was collaborating with the local communities and other stakeholders to reduce and eventually eliminat e the menace of pipeline vandalism.

     

    Source: www.punchng.com

  • Crude Oil : Price of Oil hits $56

     

    The sustained increase in global crude oil prices has pushed up the landing cost of imported petrol closer to the current pump prices of the product in Nigeria, and appears to have triggered a return to petrol subsidy era, ’FEMI ASU reports

    Since November 13, 2020 when the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) were last increased in the country, the price of the international oil benchmark, Brent crude, has been on an upward trajectory, rising from $41.51 per barrel to close at $51.22 per barrel on December 31.

    Fuel marketers had in December expected another upward adjustment of PMS prices to reflect the further rise in crude oil prices.

    However, a N5 reduction in petrol price, effective December 14, was announced by the Federal Government – a development that left them reeling in shock and questioning the deregulation of petrol price.

    Crude oil price accounts for a large chunk of the final cost of petrol, and the country has continued to spend so much on petrol imports for many years amid low domestic refining capacity.

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, had said in September last year that the Federal Government had stepped back in fixing the price of petrol, adding that market forces and crude oil price would determine the cost of the product.

    The Federal Government removed petrol subsidy in March 2020 after reducing the pump price of the product to N125 per litre from N145 on the back of the sharp drop in crude oil prices. The price reduction lasted till June.

    Nigerians saw increases in the pump prices of petrol in four months, rising from N121.50–N123.50 per litre in June to N140.80-N143.80 in July, N148-N150 in August, N158-N162 in September and N163-N170 in November.

    Brent, the international oil benchmark, has risen by about 35 per cent since November 13 when the pump price of petrol was last increased. It closed at $55.99 per barrel on Friday, its highest level in 11 months.

    Going by the petrol pricing template of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, the landing cost of petrol rose from an average of N143.60 in December to N158.53 per litre on January 7, with the expected open market price (retail price) being N181.53 per litre.

    The product is currently being sold at between N160 and N165 per litre at many filling stations in Lagos.

    The cost of petrol quoted on Platts rose to $480.25 per metric tonne (N139.67 per litre, using N390/$1) last Thursday from an average of $430.107 per MT (N125.09 per litre) in December. The cost of petrol averaged $391.75 per MT (N113.24 per litre) in July, according to PPPRA’s template.

    Apart from the increase in global crude oil prices, the devaluation of the naira last year also led to a significant rise in the cost of imported petrol.

    The PPPRA used an exchange rate of N306.90/$1 on January 14, 2020 to calculate the cost of petrol, while N387.63/$1 was used on July 31.

    The naira closed at 393.50 against the dollar on Friday at the Investors’ and Exporters’ Foreign Exchange Window, and 472/$1 at the parallel market.

    As of January 7, the cost of petrol plus freight stood at $500.72 per MT, translating to N145.62 per litre.

    Other cost elements that make up the landing cost include lightering expenses (N4.57), insurance cost (N0.21), Nigerian Ports Authority charge (N2.38), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency charge (N0.23), jetty throughput charge (N1.61), storage charge (N2.58), and financing (N1.33).

    The pump price is the sum of the landing cost, wholesale margin and the distribution margins. The wholesale margin is N4.03 while the distribution margins comprise transporters allowance (N3.89), retailer (N6.19), bridging fund (N7.51), marine transport average (N0.15), and admin charge (N1.23).

    The NNPC, which has been the sole importer of petrol into the country in recent years, is still being relied upon by marketers for the supply of the product despite the deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector.

    Private oil marketing companies have continued to lament that their inability to access foreign exchange at the official rates has hampered efforts to resume petrol importation.

    If the pump price of petrol is left unchanged amid the rise in oil prices, it means the NNPC would again bear the latest subsidy cost on behalf of the government as it did for several years before its removal last year.

    There is currently subsidy, but it is being absorbed by the government through the NNPC,” the National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr Mike Osatuyi, told our correspondent.

     

    He recalled that he said in December that petrol pump price was moving closer to N180 per litre, adding that with the current price of crude oil, petrol subsidy would gulp about N800m daily with an average consumption level of 40 million litres.

    He said, “Because of the volatility of petrol in the Nigerian political landscape, government does not have the boldness to allow full deregulation of petrol because of the spiral effects on Nigerians, and bearing in mind that Nigerians are in very hard times.”

    Osatuyi said, “But the government is supposed to come out and present the subsidy to the National Assembly. They should tell Nigerians that we are going back to subsidy. But because of the loans from the IMF and World Bank that they got with the condition that petrol should be deregulated, I believe the government is trying to manage the problem.

    “If we are going to do genuine deregulation, there must be a level playing field for the players. We are not where we are supposed to be; there is still some dark, hidden elements in our ‘deregulation’.

    “We are practising monopolistic deregulation – where one player is on the field and it is the goalkeeper, the defender and the referee.”

    The President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr Billy Gillis-Harry, stressed the need for deregulation to be properly done.

    He said, “The concern I have is that we are not getting it right. We must think inwards and grow our local production capacity. I don’t know why our refineries should not work.

    “Deregulation is the way to go; we want the sector to be deregulated. But we need to do it rightly. There should be a level playing field for all operators; everybody should be able to access forex at the same rate.”

    While opposing the return to subsidy, he said, “We call on the government to fast-track the regulatory process to ensure that deregulation is in place.”

     

    The Source had reported on September 8, 2020 that the Federal Government’s removal of petrol subsidy and the increase in electricity tariff were in line with reforms being sought by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

    “The recent introduction and implementation of an automatic fuel price formula will ensure fuel subsidies, which we have eliminated, do not reemerge,” the Federal Government told the IMF in the letter of intent dated April 21, 2020 with respect to its request for emergency financial assistance of $3.4bn.

    In July, Sylva said in a statement that the Federal Government had reached  a conclusion that it could no longer bear the burden of petrol subsidy.

     

    Source : www.punchng.com