The report that Nigeria has lost nothing less than 120 million barrels of crude oil in nine months this year and the recorded increase in power generation on the national grid by 834.8 megawatts between Monday and Wednesday morning, hitting a high of 4,863.7MW at 6am on Wednesday are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Guardian reports that Nigeria has lost nothing less than 120 million barrels of crude oil from January and September this year amidst revenue crisis.
The level of crude oil loss in production translates to $12.6 billion going by crude oil production data obtained from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
While Nigeria had proposed a budget of N20.5 trillion ($47.3 billion) in 2023 with the feasibility of relying heavily on borrowing amidst the country’s debt crisis, the $12.6 billion loss from the oil production would have provided a quarter of what is needed to finance the budget.
Infrastructure issues, pipeline leaks and oil theft have squeezed Nigerian output this year, leaving the country consistently below its OPEC+ crude targets. Nigeria’s own submission to the OPEC Secretariat put September crude output at just 938,000 b/d, just over half its quota for the month, while total liquids production was only 1.14mn b/d, according to the NUPRC.
Notwithstanding the challenges, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is hopeful the country’s oil production will rebound to 1.8mn b/d by the end of the year and to increase further in 2023.
If Nigeria is successful in increasing its oil production, it may again broach the subject of adjusting the baseline production figure that determines its quotas within the OPEC+ group.
In 2021, the country produced 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in January, 1.76 million bpd in February and 1.74 million bpd in March. Production volume dropped slightly to 1.68 million bpd in April, went down to 1.65 million bpd in May and went to 1.63mbpd in June and July before dropping to 1.5 million bpd in August and September.
The newspaper says that leading Pay TV service company, MultiChoice Nigeria, has promised to deliver an all-round experience from the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar for its customers.
The Chief Executive Officer of MultiChoice, Mr John Ugbe, reiterated the company’s commitment while speaking at the Qatar 2022 Media Launch Experience held in Lagos.
Ugbe noted that as the official broadcaster of the FIFA World Cup in Nigeria, MultiChoice is poised to introduce local commentaries for the 64 games from the tournament in a bid to endear its customers to the widely-watched tournament.
“For the first time ever, our customers can listen to match commentaries from the World Cup in the three major Nigerian languages and pidgin English.”
That means they can – using their DStv or GOtv remote control devices – either tune into to listen to English, Pidgin English, Igbo, Yoruba, or Hausa commentaries in the comfort of their homes.
“We believe this will improve the overall viewing experience for our customers as they get to enjoy the games in a language they are comfortable with guaranteeing our viewers the best seat in the house throughout the World Cup,” Ugbe added.
Meanwhile, the YaQatar Media Experience anchored by on-air personality, Hero Daniels and Season 7 Big Brother Naija Housemate, Adekunle Olopade, saw media personalities battle for the YaQatar trophy in a series of curated games and team sports patterned after the FIFA World Cup.
The Punch reports that power generation on the national grid increased by 834.8 megawatts between Monday and Wednesday morning, hitting a high of 4,863.7MW at 6am on Wednesday.
Data obtained from the Abuja headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Power showed that the grid recorded an off-peak power generation of 4,028.9MW on Monday, October 31, 2022.
The energy generated on Monday was put at 103,049.22 megawatts-hour, while what was sent out on the same day was 101.864.04MWh.
All the figures moved up on Tuesday, as both off-peak and peak power generation were 4,182.3MW and 4,803MW respectively.
Similarly, energy generated rose to 108,582.78MWh on Tuesday when compared to what was recorded the preceding day, as what was sent out on Tuesday also increased to 107,335.02MWh.
The northward movement in power generation continued on Wednesday. Data from the FMP showed that the grid boasted of 4,863.7MW as at 6am on Wednesday, indicating a growth of 834.8MW within about 48 hours.
Nigeria’s power grid has been characterised by series of fluctuations in electricity generation since this year, recording about seven system collapse in 2022.
But the Federal Government, through its Transmission Company of Nigeria, had repeatedly stated that it was making efforts to stabilise the grid through the construction of power substations across the country and other facilities. TCN manages the grid.
Analysts stated that the recent growth in power generation as witnessed on the grid could be a sign progress was being recorded by TCN in the deployment of transformers and other electricity transmission facilities across the country.
The newspaper says that the Central Bank of Nigeria is targeting a stronger digital economy to support the growth of the financial systems.
This is even as the digital currency, eNaira, records 190.1 per cent growth in transactions relative to its level when it was launched on October 25, 2021.
Speaking at the Central Bank of Nigeria Executive Seminar entitled “Digitalisation of Money and Monetary Policy in Nigeria” held in Abuja on Wednesday, Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, CBN, Dr Kingsley Obiora, said the volume of eNaira in circulation was N2.10bn, with 3,320 merchants successfully registered on the platform across the country, including Shoprite, Sahad Stores, A.A. Rano, among others.
The deputy governor said the CBN was primed to reach lofty heights in the adoption and integration of its digital currency in collaboration with the Federal Government and other relevant stakeholders, as it continued to unlock new phases and possibilities in facilitating reduction in cash processing costs and creating an efficient payment ecosystem in Nigeria.
He further said in addressing the issues associated with the digitalisation of money and monetary policy, the transmission of monetary policy had been aided by the growth of money supply, which signified the direction of liquidity and changes in price level.
He noted that the efficacy of the control of these important macroeconomic tools would determine the extent to which the growth in national output was going to impact the Nigerian economy.
“We must continue to improve on the rate of adoption of the eNaira, especially for the informal sector of the economy. Pooling all these factors together will strengthen the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, improve payments system and lead a more stable economy,” he said.
GIK/APA