Oil & Energy

Oil Price Crash: Nigeria Needs Emergency Measures – SEC

Published

6 years ago

March 12, 2020

Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Ms Mary Uduk, yesterday, disclosed that emergency measures needed to be put in place by the country to insulate the Nigerian economy against expected shocks caused by the falling crude oil prices and increasing spread of coronavirus.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, on its forthcoming International Conference on Nigeria’s Commodities Market, Uduk stated that with the current state of things, Nigeria’s 2020 budget is already seriously threatened.
She maintained that the Nigerian capital market was not totally insulated from the global shocks, noting that the commission would continue to monitor developments in the global market to ensure that the effect on the Nigerian capital market was minimal.
According to her, the declining crude oil price if not properly managed, would affect Nigeria’s foreign exchange-earning ability and the capacity of the country to service its debts.
She called for a multi-sectoral approach towards addressing the challenges to ensure that the country does not plunge into another round of recession.
Uduk, however, commended efforts spearheaded by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, noting that the apex bank needed to be supported by stakeholders across all sectors of the Nigerian economy in order to achieve meaningful results. She said: “In CBN right now, the government has convened a conference that is looking at how this thing is affecting the economy of Nigeria.
The budget 2020 is already seriously threatened because the country’s crude oil benchmark was at $57 per barrel, but as of last night when I was looking at a report on a news network, I saw that oil price had gone down to $31 per barrel. That is how bad it is.
“The government has to sit down and calibrate and look at what are the steps that are to be taken in order to avoid a recession if we are not already even there. And you know that will affect our ability to earn foreign exchange which is predicated on doing a lot of things. We have to service our debts and all of that. “It does not just have to be one sector it has to be a concerted effort, all of our needs to sit down and say what can we do and right now as we speak it is been done in CBN.”
“It does not just have to be one sector it has to be a concerted effort, all of our needs to sit down and say what can we do and right now as we speak it is been done in CBN.”
Uduk further stated that the forthcoming International conference on Nigeria’s commodities market was another platform for critical stakeholders to brainstorm on issues bothering on diversification of the Nigerian economy and the roles agriculture would play in insulating the Nigerian economy from the shocks in the global economy.
She commended the Federal Government’s efforts at diversifying the Nigerian economy and moving the country away from overreliance on one commodity, adding that agriculture remained an important part of that plan holding the potential of delivering on the country’s food security needs, providing jobs and increasing our foreign exchange earnings.
“The International Conference on Nigeria’s Commodities Market 2020 will gather relevant stakeholders in the commodities ecosystem to consider the most pertinent issues in growing the ecosystem in Nigeria, with the end goal of creating an enabling environment for the deployment of innovative solutions that improve processes, products, productivity, and the partnerships available in the market as well as enable investors to access various investment opportunities across the value chain,” the SEC boss noted.

Oil & Energy

NERC, OYSERC Partner To Strengthen Regulation

Published

5 hours ago

February 23, 2026

The Tide

THE Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has stressed the need for strict adherence to due process in operationalizing state electricity regulatory bodies.

It, however, pledged institutional and technical support to the Oyo State Electricity Regulatory Commission (OYSERC).

The Chairman, NERC, Dr Musiliu Oseni, who made the position known while receiving the OYSERC delegation, emphasised that the establishment and take-off of state commissions must align fully with the law setting them up.

Oseni said that the NERC remains committed to partnering with State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERC) to guarantee their institutional stability, operational effectiveness and long-term success.

He insisted that regulatory coordination between federal and state institutions is critical in the evolving electricity market framework, noting that collaboration would help to build strong institutions capable of delivering sustainable outcomes for the sector.

Also speaking, the Acting Chairman, OYSERC and leader of the delegation, Prof. Dahud Kehinde Shangodoyin, said that the visit was aimed at formally introducing the commission’s acting leadership to the NERC and laying the groundwork for a productive working relationship.

Shangodoyin said , the acting members were appointed to provide direction and lay a solid foundation for the commission during its transitional period, pending the appointment of substantive members.

“We are here to formally introduce the acting leadership of OYSERC and to establish a working relationship with NERC as we commence our regulatory responsibilities,” he said.

He acknowledged NERC’s readiness to provide technical and regulatory support, particularly in the area of capacity development, describing the backing as essential for strengthening the commission’s operations at this formative stage.

“We appreciate NERC’s willingness to support us technically and regulatorily, especially in building our capacity during this transition,” he added.

Oil & Energy

NLC Faults FG’s 3trn Dept Payment To GenCos

Published

5 hours ago

February 23, 2026

The Tide

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Association of Power Generation Companies have engaged in a showdown over federal government legacy debt.

NLC president Joe Ajaero has faulted the federal government’s move to give GenCos N3 trillion from the Federation account as repayment for a power sector legacy debt, which amounts to N6.5 trillion.

In a statement on Thursday, Ajaero said the Federal Government proposed the N3 trillion payment and the N6 trillion debt as a heist and grand deception to shortchange the Nigerian people.

“Nigerians cannot and should not continue to pay for darkness,” Ajaero stated.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Power Generation Companies, APGC, Dr. Joy Ogaji, said Ajaero may be ignorant of the true state of things, insisting that the federal government is indebted to GenCos to the tune of N6.5 trillion.

She feared the longstanding conflict could result in the eventual collapse of the country’s power.

According to her, the federal government’s N501 billion issuance of power sector bonds is inadequate to address its accumulated debt.

Oil & Energy

PENGASSAN Rejects Presidential EO On Oil, Gas Revenue Remittance ……… Seeks PIA Review

Published

5 hours ago

February 23, 2026

The Tide

The Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria(PENGASSAN) Festus Osifo, has faulted the public explanation surrounding the Federal Government’s recent oil revenue Executive Order(EO).

President of the association, Festus Osifo, argued that claims about a 30 per cent deduction from petroleum sharing contract revenue are misleading.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, last Wednesday, February 18, signed the executive order directing that royalty oil, tax oil, profit oil, profit gas, and other revenues due to the Federation under production sharing, profit sharing, and risk service contracts be paid directly into the Federation Account.

The order also scrapped the 30 per cent Frontier Exploration Fund under the PIA and stopped the 30 per cent management fee on profit oil and profit gas retained by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

In his reaction, Osifo, while addressing journalists, in Lagos, Thursday, said the figure being referenced does not represent gross revenue accruing to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

He explained that revenues from production sharing contracts are subject to several deductions before arriving at what is classified as profit oil or profit gas.

Osifo also urged President Bola Tinubu to withdraw his recently signed Presidential Executive Order to Safeguard Federation Oil and Gas Revenues and Provide Regulatory Clarity, 2026.

He warned that the directive undermines the Petroleum Industry Act and could create uncertainty in the oil and gas industry, insisting that any amendment to the existing legal framework must pass through the National Assembly.

Osifo argued that an executive order cannot override a law enacted by the National Assembly, describing the move as setting a troubling precedent.

“Yes, that is what should be done from the beginning. You can review the laws of a land. There is no law that is perfect,” he said.

He added that the President should constitute a team to review the PIA, identify its strengths and weaknesses, and forward proposed amendments to lawmakers.

“When you get revenue from PSC, you have to make some deductibles. You deduct royalties. You deduct tax. You also deduct the cost of cost recovery. Once you have done that, you will now have what we call profit oil or profit gas. Then that is where you now deduct the 30 per cent,” he stated..

According to him, when the deductions are properly accounted for, the 30 per cent being referenced translates to about two per cent of total revenue from the production sharing contracts.

“In effect, that deduction is about two per cent of the revenue of the PLCs,” he added, maintaining that the explanation presented in the public domain did not accurately reflect the structure of the deductions.

Osifo warned that removing the affected portion of the revenue could have operational implications for NNPC Ltd, noting that the funds are used to meet salary obligations and other internal expenses.

“That two per cent is what NNPC uses to pay salaries and meet some of its obligations.The one you are also removing from the midstream and downstream, it is part of what they use in meeting their internal obligations. So as you are removing this, how are they going to pay salaries?” he queried.

Beyond the immediate impact on the company’s workforce, he cautioned that regulatory uncertainty could affect investor confidence in the sector.

“If the international community and investors lose confidence in Nigeria, it has a way of affecting investment. That should be the direction. You don’t put a cow before the horse,” he added.

According to him, stakeholders, including labour unions and industry operators, should be given the opportunity to make inputs at the National Assembly as part of the amendment process saying “That is how laws are refined,”