The report that Brent Crude price surpassed the $90 per barrel threshold since Friday and surged past the $91 per barrel mark as of Sunday is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday. .
The Punch reports that since Friday, Brent Crude price surpassed the $90 per barrel threshold and surged past the $91 per barrel mark as of Sunday.
Global crude oil prices reported a second straight weekly gain and hit six-month high levels as markets watched for signs of any direct conflict between Israel and Iran that could further tighten supplies.
According to Oilprice.com, the anticipation of Iran’s retaliatory strike on Israel, a developing Mexico export shortage, and the continuation of OPEC+ cuts have boosted sentiment in the oil market recently.
As of Sunday, the Brent Crude was $91.17, up from $86.80 on April 1 and $81.92 on March 12, 2024.
The WTI Crude sold for about $87 over the weekend, up from as low as $77.56 a month ago.
Both Brent and WTI settled on Thursday at their highest levels since October according to Reuters.
The Murban crude was at the rate of $91.15 on Sunday evening. The same Murban sold at $73.88 in December 2023.
The newspaper says that the Federal Government, on Sunday, announced that testing has commenced on the 700 megawatts Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant ahead of the evaluation of electricity from the facility to the national grid.
It also stated that the $1.3bn project, located in Niger State, had been connected to the national grid, in contrast to claims in some quarters that the plant was not connected to the grid.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, disclosed this while providing answers to industry questions contained in a document released in Abuja on Sunday by his Special Adviser, Strategic Communication and Media Relations, Bolaji Tunji.
The Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Plant is a major infrastructure project with the capacity to generate 700MW, making it the second-largest hydroelectric plant in Nigeria, behind the Kainji Dam.
Located in the Kaduna River, near the town of Zungeru in Niger State, the plant is to generate 2.64 billion kilowatts-hour of electricity annually, meeting nearly 10 per cent of Nigeria’s domestic energy needs.
The plant provides flood control, irrigation water and fish breeding facilities and its construction partners include the consortium of Chinese firms (Sinohydro Corporation Limited and China National Electric Engineering Company).
Industry analysts say the project is expected to be a significant boost to Nigeria’s power generation and is to contribute to economic development in the region.
The Guardian reports that as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited, moves to end petrol scarcity in Lagos and its environs, Dangote Refinery and oil marketers have intensified efforts at taking final decisions on pricing and delivery of petrol to filling stations nationwide.
Dangote Refinery, which can refine 650,000 barrels per day, bpd of crude oil, intends to commence production and distribution of the product, the bulk of which is currently imported from the global market, in May 2024.
Checks by Vanguard, weekend, indicated that the parties have been meeting and exchanging notes on the pricing, distribution and margins to stakeholders in the value chain, including transporters and insurers.
Recall that depot owners buy the product from NNPC Limited at N556 per litre and sell to independents at N640 per litre.
It was, however learnt that independent markers have proposed N550 per litre to management of Dangote Refinery who is currenty in a discussion with them.
The President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Alhaji Abubakar Migandi Garima, who confirmed the development yesterday, said: “We have been discussing with Dangote Refinery. The discussion, centering on pricing, margins and other issues, is still ongoing.
“We have proposed that the lifting price should be N550 per litre in Lagos. The price of the product will differ from one part of Nigeria to another because of distance and cost of delivering petrol to different locations.
“We are currently waiting on Dangote Refinery to conclude and communicate the price per litre, so we can plan to lift the product when it comes on stream.
‘’We expect that the price of the locally refined petrol would be cheaper than imported petrol, due mainly to local availability of the bulk of its crude oil and removal of transportation cost.”
The newspaper says that the founder and Chief Consultant at B. Adedipe Associates Ltd. Dr. Abiodun Adedipe, has said that Nigeria is poised to attract more manufacturing companies from across the globe if the Naira becomes stable.
He stated this at the weekend at a webinar organized by Nairametrics which focused on the policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and its impacts on the economy.
Adedipe said some new manufacturing companies are already setting up plants in the country and more are being expected, based on recent policies of the CBN.
According to him, the manufacturing sector will be the biggest beneficiary of a stable Naira as that will allow the manufacturers to plan their businesses.
Speaking on the specific sectors that will be impacted by the recent monetary policies of the apex bank, Adedipe said: “My first pick is manufacturing for the good reason that manufacturing thrives when the exchange value of the Naira is stable.
“A stable Naira enables manufacturers to plan and of course, it means that if the rate is also stabilized at let’s say between N1,050 and N1,250, then there’s the possibility for manufacturers to be able to plan so I expect a lot of traction in manufacturing.
“But that also is just by the way, the real fact out there is that we see a lot of new manufacturing entities, setting up factories, in some locations within Nigeria, especially the Southwest, and it is quite interesting.
“So, we expect more of this to happen and a good number of them are also coming from China and of course, Eastern Europe.”
GIK/APA