NIGERIA: THE CRUDE OIL ECONOMY

PIB A PIB NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE When the Oil and Gas Sector Reform Implementation Committee (OGIC) began its deliberations in 2000 not many thought the pathway to restructuring the Nigerian oil and gas sector would take nigh on two decades. The hugely ambitious bill which was supposed to encourage investment, be equitable and make fairer provisi...

Vitol are the largest global independent trader of crude oil and refined petroleum products. They also have a long established joint venture (JV) called Calson with NNPC based in the offshore tax haven of Bermuda. Their  intimate relationship with NNPC has seen them beneficiaries of supply contracts, including the infamous Direct Sal...

When it first emerged the only surprise was that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had for the first time in its history published audited accounts. The fact that this is an historic event says it all. The financial statements provide in part a snapshot of a poorly run organisation with many of its subsidiaries insolvent which was ...

Nigeria have been brutally knocked back by OPEC in its attempt to maintain an exemption for its condensates production. OPEC are no longer prepared to exempt condensates counting toward its current quota. Specifically production from the Agbami field. The inescapable conclusion must be that it is now time for Nigeria to leave OPEC. The reality is t...

The much anticipated OPEC++ meeting takes place tomorrow, It is time for Nigeria to be bold and clear eyed in pursuing Nigeria’s best interests. However it remains unclear as to  what  position Nigeria have decided to adopt. We have heard a number of statements from the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Silva, yet they seem vague and difficult to interpret. The policy is unclear, not so much as inarticulate but unarticulated. To start with Nigeria’s petroleum ministry has stated.

It simply cannot be the case that an  Excess Crude Account  which has swallowed a whooping $107.4 billion  since it was established should be beyond the scrutiny of  the Nigeria people. If the so called Excess Crude Account (ECA) could talk I suspect it would have a harrowing tale to tell....

After trading as high as $65.65 on Jan. 8, WTI crude oil futures have fallenWTI crude oil traded around $53.14 on the NYMEX in early Monday trading, down almost $5 a barrel in the past week and only $3 short of a 52-week low . Oil began 2020 with a quick...

There is reason for Nigerians to worry and it is not only the arrival of COVID-19. Oil price benchmarks are in freefall, crashing through resistance levels as if they were none existent. This week has seen Oil fall to its lowest price levels since July 2017 and barring  a miraculous cure...

Nigeria must now prepare to accept the new reality, the time of windfall booms fuelled by surging oil revenues has come to an end. The world is awash with oil at a time the renewable footprint is ever increasing. More importantly what the global oil market is witnessing in a time of demand destruction is an existential struggle for market share. Nigeria is ill equipped to join this battle.  In the 1980s the Nigerian economy first  fell victim to a calamitous economic decline following a windfall boom  brought on  by crashing oil revenues. The same thing happened in 2014 and as a consequence drove the country into recession . It has now happened yet again in 2020. To make things worse it comes at a perilous time with COVID-19 threatening economic and societal Armageddon.