Business

Dry Season Farmers Seek Govt’s Assistance

Published

14 years ago

December 28, 2011

Dry season farmers in Kaduna State have asked the state government to come to their aid in efforts to boost food production.

In separate interviews with newsmen recently in Kaduna, the farmers said that their needs included loans, farm implements and agro-allied chemicals.

They maintained that as much as they desired to contribute to the food security programme of the Federal Government, they were severely handicapped because of the outlined problems.

An irrigation farmer, Malam Bara’u Haladu, lamented that although he had a large area for irrigation activities, he had abandoned it due to lack of funds and support from the state government.

Another farmer from Bagoma Village in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of the state, Umaru Muhammad, stressed the need for government to upgrade irrigation fields in different parts of the state, to enhance the performance of farmers.

He said that hundreds of farmers, who prepared their irrigation fields by River Kaduna, in readiness for the season, needed some moral and financial support from the state government in order to succeed.

“Farmers willing to produce crops such as wheat, rice and maize in large quantities can only cultivate little fields because they cannot afford the high cost of cultivating large fields.

Aliyu Muhammad, another farmer, said that apart from paucity of funds, which hampered the efforts of the farmers, frequent clashes between them and cattle rearers also contributed to the problem.

He added that lingering clashes had resulted in the destruction of hundreds of hectares of farmlands, pointing out that he had to delay the planting of maize and okro for fear of his farm being invaded by cattle.

Alhaji Shekari Doka, on his part traced the plight of the farmers in the state to the menace of pests and other crop diseases, adding that the development had discouraged farmers from expanding their dry season farming activities.

Reacting to the issues, the Head of Media, Kaduna Agricultural Development Programme (KADP), Malam Shehu Aliyu, advised dry season farmers to always seek advice and expertise from extension workers of the programme, to improve on their farming techniques for improved yields

Business

Gas Master Plan: NNPC To Boost Supply by 1.8bcf/d in 2026

Published

3 minutes ago

February 27, 2026

The Tide

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has disclosed plans to supply an additional 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcf/d) in 2026 to meet rising demand in the domestic market.

The company, which made this known at a media briefing with the Nigeria Guild of Editors in Abuja, stated that its subsidiaries, NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) and Nigerian Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), are expected to produce additional volumes of 1.496bcf/d and 223.6 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) respectively this year.

According to the company’s Gas Master Plan 2026 document made available at the event by the NNPC Corporate Communication Team Lead, Andy Odeh , the initiative would serve as a major contributor to Nigeria’s target of supplying 10bcf/d by 2027 and 12bcf/d by 2030.

NNPC noted that with rising demand across key sectors such as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), power generation, industrial parks and compressed natural gas (CNG), the master plan serves as a blueprint for achieving the Federal Government’s gas development objectives.

In his presentation, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Engr. Bayo Ojulari, said that the gas plan sets out a commercially driven, execution-focused roadmap to transform Nigeria into a globally competitive gas hub.

“The plan is built to deliver the presidential mandate of increasing national production to 20bcf/d by 2027 and 12bcf/d by 2030, while catalysing over $60 billion in new investments across the oil and gas value chain by 2030,” he said.

To achieve the GMP’s goals, NNPC identified key success factors and enablers that must be in place.

These include: sustained global and domestic gas demand; a strong implementation governance structure to ensure consistent delivery; partner alignment to secure adequate buy-in; funding supported by the bankability of gas projects; competitive fiscal and commercial incentives to attract investments, particularly in deepwater gas development; and the resolution of power sector challenges to improve the attractiveness of the gas-to-power value chain.

The company added, “To ensure robust and transparent execution, a dedicated governance framework has been proposed for the NNPC Corporate Master Plan (CMP). Leadership will rest with the Head of the GMP Implementation Assurance Team (IAT), supported by managers responsible for cluster oversight across gas assets. This structure will ensure direct engagement with operators, centralised tracking of project progress, and streamlined coordination with Executive Vice Presidents and sponsor groups.

“The governance model incorporates specialist teams covering subsurface, facilities, planning, commercial strategy, legal, and communications, ensuring a multidisciplinary approach to implementation. This framework is essential for driving cross-functional alignment, accelerating decision-making, and maintaining the momentum required to deliver the CMP’s outcomes.”

Business

Super Tanker Rates Soar Amid Sanctions, Supply Shifts, and Strategic Hoarding

Published

18 minutes ago

February 27, 2026

The Tide

Geopolitics, growing oil supply, longer voyages, and disruptions due to sanctions and altered shipping lanes pushed crude oil tanker rates to multi-year highs at the end of 2025.

After a dip in January, rates started climbing again this month in what shipping executives described as a fundamental shift in the market for very large crude carriers (VLCC) capable of carrying around 1.9 million barrels to 2.2 million barrels of crude.

This shift is a major buying spree from South Korea’s Sinokor shipping group and Italian billionaire Gianluigi Aponte, founder of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, according to Bloomberg interviews with shipping brokers, vessel owners, and executives.

Shipbroker reports and shipping executives noted in recent reports and earnings call that Sinokor’s move to control more than a hundred VLCCs of the available non-sanctioned fleet is changing the way other owners act and is pushing freight rates higher.

Rates were soaring at the end of last year, even before the market became aware of an unprecedented consolidation shift.

Growing demand for crude oil shipments, particularly from buyers in East Asia, boosted crude tanker rates to multi-year highs at the end of last year, as the number of vessels available for bookings began to shrink due to higher oil shipments demand, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in an analysis in January.

As higher oil production and lower oil prices created additional demand for crude, VLCC rates spiked by 118% year on year in November from the Persian Gulf to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Rates from the Persian Gulf to Asia jumped by 139%, according to Argus data cited by the EIA.

Moreover, supertanker rates on the route between the Middle East and China hit their highest in five years as traders sought alternatives to Russian crude after the U.S. sanctioned Russia’s biggest oil producers and exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil.

Seasonal factors pushed tanker rates lower in January, before the next leg higher, driven by geopolitical concerns over U.S.-Iran tensions.

In addition, the new oil order in Venezuela imposed by the Trump Administration prompted the world’s top traders to charter more legitimate vessels to ship and sell Venezuela’s crude to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast or in Europe and Asia.

Adding to all these factors is Sinokor’s massive bet to control an estimated number of 120 VLCCs.

Because of the Sinokor deals to buy and charter vessels, the supertanker rates have now jumped fourfold over the past month, market sources told Bloomberg.

This fleet consolidation was confirmed in the latest weekly report by shipbroker Fearnleys, which said that the week to February 11 saw “healthy daily earnings upwards of USD 120k/day and above.”

Geopolitical tension was one reason for the high rates. The other was “Sinokor’s continued appetite for tonnage, and by and large, pricing the spot market higher than the prevailing rate level has underpinned the strong sentiment and left charterers with slim pickings for alternatives.”

Kpler, for its part, noted earlier this month that the VLCC market has seen increased volatility in rates.

“The combination of vessels migrating into the shadow fleet last year, more vessels fixed on time charters and a smaller group of owners acquiring larger fleets is creating greater rate volatility,” Kpler’s Matt Wright said in a Q1 2026 tanker market outlook.

One-year charters have jumped by 20% over two months, Ole Hjertaker, chief executive officer of SFL Corporation, said on the shipping company’s earnings call last week.

“I think one very important underlying factor here on the tanker side, which I would call almost unprecedented in the market, at least in the history I have seen, is that you have one party or group of people who are working together who effectively control around a third of the available or traded tanker VLCC fleet out there,” Hjertaker said, without mentioning names.

“We believe they are willing to hold back ships if they do not get the charter rate where they want it to be, which implicitly would give also the other owners out there confidence to hold back and not just drop their rates,” the executive added.

Svein Moxnes Harfjeld, CEO of another crude tanker firm, DHT, said the company believes the supply squeeze in the supertanker is real, also because of the major fleet consolidation.

“As you may have read in the news, a fundamental shift in the fleet ownership is taking place, with fleet consolidation by private actors gaining meaningful traction,” Harfjeld said on DHT’s earnings call in early February, without naming any names.

“We estimate that the aggregators to have gained control of some 120 ships, and we expect their efforts to continue, and in not too long, to control at least 25% of the compliant tramping VLCC fleet, a critical market share,” the executive added.

“This consolidation is shifting the pricing dynamics and is putting pressure on timely availability of ships,” Harfjeld noted.

Looking forward, the tanker market now accounts for another major development on top of the various geopolitical and fundamental factors at play.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

Business

Customs Operation Whirlwind Siezes Fuel Tankers Hand Over To NMDPRA, Auctions 1,275 Jerrycans

Published

18 minutes ago

February 27, 2026

The Tide

The Operation Whirlwind ,a special unit of the Nigeria Customs service has again dealt a big blow on recalcitrant economic saboteurs who specialize on trans-border smuggling as its operatives last week intercepted four tankers laden with a combined 154,000 litres of Petroleum products,hand over to the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for appropriate sanctions.

The coordinator of the special unit, Deputy comptroller general,Lucky Aliyu speaking with journalists at the Customs Training College in Lagos on Friday, quoted the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi as saying that the intercepted tankers with capacities of 60,000, 49,000, and 45,000 litres respectively were seized for illegal diversion along the Owode Apa, Seme and Baragry axis.

Represented by the National Coordinator of Operation Whirlwind, Deputy Comptroller General, Lucky Aliyu, Adeniyi added that 1,630 jerry cans of 25 litres each amounting to 40,750 litres were also seized across notorious smuggling routes including Ado- Odo, Seme, Seme- Owode Apa, Ajilete, Ijoun, Iaro, Badagry, Idiroko, Eree and Imeko Axis within nine weeks. The products valued at N40, 750,000 were subsequently auctioned to members of the public.

“In a space of nine weeks, our operatives relentlessly intestified surveillance and enforcement operation across critical borders communities. As a result, a monumental volume of 1,630 jericans of 25 litres each of PMS yielding a total of 40,750 litres were seized across notorious smuggling routes including Ado- Odo, Seme, Seme- Owode Apa, Ajilete, Ijoun, Iaro, Badagry, Idiroko, Eree and Imeko Axis “The total duty paid value of intercepted 1,630 jericans litres each of PMS product is in the tune of N40,750,000, ” he said. Adeniyi emphasized that the operation is intelligence driven and aimed at safeguarding Nigeria’s energy security.

He explained that the transportation and movement of petroleum products are governed by a clearly defined regulation framework and standard operating procedure established to prevent diversion, smuggling, hoarding and economic sabotage.

“The items in question were found to have contravened the established SOP of Operation Whirlwind. Such violation undermines government policy, distorts market stability and deprives our nation of critical revenue.

The border corridors of Owode Apa, Seme and Baragry remain sensitive economic actors.

“These routes have historically been exploited by illegal cross-border petroleum movement.

However, let it be clearly stated, under our watch, there will be no safe haven for economic sabotage, ” he warned.

Adeniyi said the seized tankers were handed over to NMDPRA authority in line with established interagency collaboration for appropriate sanctions.

“This singular action underscores institutional synergy. While the Nigeria Customs Service enforces border control and smuggling mandate, NMDPRA regulates distribution and ensures compliance with the downstream state.

This collaboration ensures due process, transparency and regulates safety and integrity. “The public auction is in line with the regulatory procedure that demonstrates our commitment to accountability.

They are processed strictly in line with external law and guidelines, ” he said.

Adeniyi clarified that Operation WhirlWind is not against legitimate trade but against those who circumvent national laws for personal gains.

He lauded NMDPRA for their technical expertise, noting that their robust regulatory framework.ensures that enforcement actions align with global best practices while at the same time addressing systemic vulnerabilities within the petroleum distribution chain.

The Customs boss also commended operatives of Operation Whirlwind, attributing the success of the operation to their professionalism, vigilance, discipline and courage.

Earlier, the representative of NMDPRA, Mrs. Grace Dauda, said that the agency has the responsibility to ensure that petroleum products produced in the country are consumed here.

“It is unfortunate that some few businessmen, instead of ensuring that this product is consumed within Nigeria attempt to take it across neighboring countries.

It is in the light of this that the NMDPRA, in conjunction with the Nigeria Customs, the Office of the ONSA. and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, have ensured that all products that is being attempted to be smuggled out of the country are intercepted,” she said.

By: Nkpemenyie mcdominic, Lagos