News
Dangote to start crude production soon-Report
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Amid feedstock challenges, the Dangote Group, owners of the Dangote Refinery, will soon commence crude oil production.
According to reports by S&P Global Commodity Insights, the Dangote Group is looking to start production at its two Nigerian oil assets in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The company, which has endured months of crude supply woes, would reportedly commence production at its two Niger Delta upstream projects in Oil Mining Leases 71 and 72, starting with about 20,000 barrels per day before ramping up further in the first quarter of 2025.
“The company source said production at the company’s two Niger Delta upstream projects in Oil Mining Leases 71 and 72 would start at around 20,000 b/d, before ramping up further in the first quarter of 2025,” the report said.
The report stated that Dangote is currently seeking a floating production, storage and offloading vessel with a capacity of 650,000 barrels of crude.
The company, it was learnt, holds an 85 per cent stake in West African E&P Venture, which in turn has a 45 per cent working interest in the two blocks, alongside the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s 55 per cent.
The other stakeholder in West African E&P is Nigerian upstream player, First E&P, which operates OMLs 71 and 72.
“The licences are located in the shallow water in the southeast of the troubled Niger Delta, just 22 km from the onshore Bonny terminal. They contain the Kalaekule and Koronama oilfields.
“Discoveries were first made on the blocks in 1966, and Shell began production there two decades later. Output peaked at 21,000 b/d in 1999, before declining in 2003,” S&P explained.
However, according to Commodity Insights, the fields still hold recoverable resources of almost 300 million barrels of oil and as much as 2.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The report noted that though Dangote’s upstream activities are seldom discussed, the imminent startup of production at OMLs 71 and 72 suggests the Dangote refinery could soon supplement its crude feedstock, after battling crude supply issues for months.
The $20 billion facility came online in January, and started up its residue catalytic cracker in early September, allowing for high-volume petrol production when the unit stabilises.
Built by Africa’s richest man, the refinery was designed to end Nigeria’s decades-long dependence on imported refined products. To date, it has produced volumes of gasoline, diesel, gasoil, jet fuel and naphtha, for domestic use and export.
However, the plant struggled to obtain sufficient Nigerian crude in its early months, forcing it to import large volumes of WTI Midland crude from the US, and sparking a bitter public row between the NNPC, international oil companies, Dangote and Nigeria’s upstream regulators.
Data from S&P Global Commodities at Sea shows Dangote took just under 200,000 bpd of Nigerian crude in September and it has not imported any US crude since mid-July.
However, Dangote may acquire crude from other oil producers, including Libya, Senegal and even Brazil, with company sources warning that NNPC could only be able to fulfil 60 per cent of its crude demand.
News
BREAKING! FG delegation in meeting with NLC, TUC
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Federal government delegation is currently meeting with the leaders of organised labour at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The meeting is centred on the state of the nation, especially the petrol pricing system.
The meeting is taking place at the Secretary to the Office of the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume.
At the meeting are Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser, NSA; Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, the Labour Minister; and Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy.
Others are the Information Minister, Petroleum Minister, State Minister of Gas, and representatives of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Limited.
News
Reps Ask FG To Reverse Petrol Pump Price Hike, Cooking Gas Price
News
PMS Prices Determined By Market Forces, No Price Deal With IPMAN – NNPC
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has debunked claims that it reached an agreement with the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), on the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, saying fuel prices are now determined by market forces.
Reports credited to IPMAN President, Abubakar Maigandi had stated that NNPC agreed to reduce the ex-depot price of petrol for its members from N958 per litre to N955 per litre.
Refuting the claim in a statement on Wednesday, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the national oil company, Olufemi Soneye, emphasised that under the current deregulated regime, fuel prices are determined by free market forces, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021 rather than by agreements.
Refuting any form of price deal with Marketers, Soneye said NNPC had only provided a one-time N3 discount to marketers with funds deposited at NNPC to facilitate fuel lifting and prevent shortage, saying the initiative “was a temporary measure”.
Maintaining that prices are still determined by market forces, not by NNPC Ltd, Soneye said, “The market has been deregulated, meaning that petrol prices are now determined by market forces rather than by the government or NNPC Ltd.
“There is no price agreement between IPMAN, NNPC, or any marketer. The market forces determine prices under the current deregulated regime.”
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