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BP Chief Woos Middle East Investors

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Chief Executive Officer of BP Plc, Mr. Tony Hayward, who is holding meetings in Abu Dhabi, may seek support from Middle East sovereign funds after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico halved the company’s share price, UBS AG said.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Hayward arrived on Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, which has one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds.

He declined to say whom he was meeting at the city’s Emirates Palace hotel, where BP hosted a meeting on Wednesday.

“The option for chasing strategic investors in the Middle East is a sound one,” the Dubai-based head of Middle East research at UBS AG,Saud Masud, said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Monday. “They have significant capital; then they also invest for the long-term.”

Sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East may be interested in buying BP stock after its price dropped by about half since the start of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst in US history.

Hayward last month pledged to set aside $20bn to compensate the spill’s victims and finance the cleanup. To pay for it, the company cancelled three quarters of its dividends and planned to sell $10bn in assets across the globe.

BP Plc would be willing to sell a 10 per cent stake in the company to Abu Dhabi, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an unidentified person with knowledge of the matter.

“Tony is meeting key business partners and BP staff,” spokeswoman Sheila Williams said by phone. “We have said that we’re not looking to issue new equity.”

The London-based oil giant would benefit from drawing in capital by easing the pressure for rapid sales, said Rachel Ziemba, a senior analyst who tracks sovereign wealth funds at Nouriel Roubini’s New-York based Roubini Global Economics.

“Raising capital gives more room for manoeuvre by putting less pressure for asset sales,” she said by phone from London. “Buyers may demand a discount.”

Qatar’s sovereign-wealth fund and Mubadala and the International Petroleum Investment Co. in Abu Dhabi are the most likely to be interested in acquiring a BP stake, according to Ziemba.

Abu Dhabi’s sovereign funds hold a combined $500bn, according to Roubini Global Economics.

Sovereign funds traditionally “have invested in the European and western markets in large cap names, and when you can pick up BP at 50 per cent cheaper than its recent highs, then it makes a lot of sense for both parties,” Masud at UBS said.

Spokesmen for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the International Petroleum Investment Company declined to comment on whether Hayward is scheduled to meet officials there. A spokesman for the Qatar Investment Authority also declined to comment.

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Western Marine Command Intensifies Anti-Smuggling Operations … Intercepts N8.75m Worth PMS

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For officers and men of the Western Marine Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the battle is not over until smuggling is over.
In the wake of Wednesday May, 8, 2024, the ever vigilant officers, acting on a tip-off, intercepted 177 sacks and 61 kegs of 25 litres containing petroleum products, valued at about N8.750,000million.
The items were intercepted along Isalu Creek, Badagry Waterway en-route Benin Republic.
While briefing newsmen, the Command’s Customs Area Controller, Comptroller Paul Bamisaiye, said: “This seizure is most economically significant to the Command at this period of scarcity of Petroleum Products, especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in our cities, and shows the anticipatory posture in our response to economic saboteurs.
“At about 2:330hrs on Wednesday 8th May 2024, while on joint patrol by teams in the Command, credible intelligence was received of the movement of 2 boats laden with what was suspected to be petroleum products concealed in sacks. Upon receipt of the information, the team moved into Isalu creeks, Badagry waterway.
“On sighting the approach of the Officers, the smugglers took to their heels through the shore of the Creek. The loaded boats were then towed to the station at Badagry where preliminary examination was conducted and transferred to Western Marine Command Headquarters, Ibafon, Apapa, Lagos.
“Careful examination at the Command Headquarters revealed that the arrest was found to contain One Hundred and Seventy Seven (177) Sacks and Sixty One (61) Kegs of 25 Litres Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) containing Twelve Thousand Five Hundred (12,500) Liters with a total Duty Paid Value standing at Eight Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N8,750,000) only”.
Bamisaiye noted that the action of the smugglers is a contravention of Section 245 & 254 of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 which the service, through Western Marine Command, is responsible for enforcing.
“The Command, under the leadership of Compt. PK Bamisaiye, is poised more than ever to rid the waterways of all acts of smuggling and economy sabotage for the benefit of the growth of economy of Nigeria”, he said
Bamisaiye said so far, no suspect was arrested in the Command’s anti-smuggling operations.

Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

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Illegal PMS Trading Booms In Lagos

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Petroleum products  being sought by motorists have disappeared from virtually all filling stations within Lagos and its environs, but are now booming in business in retail outlets.
Investigations by our correspondent revealed that while the product could not be got at some of the petrol service stations, activities are in top gear in the local retail outlets where the price has gone beyond the reach of users.
It was also gathered that in some filling stations supplied with the products, preference are often given to retail outlet operators by petrol attendants against the consuming public.
A source, directly involved in the business, said some petrol dealers are cashing on the irregular supply to divert the products to retail outlets where they could easily make their gains.
It was also gathered that some sales representatives in the service of major oil marketing firms indulged in the diversion exercise because of their personal interest.
At the retail outlets a liter goes for N950,00 against the normal N760,to N800 at some stations.

Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

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Customs Board Appoints Five DCGs, Eight ACGs

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The Nigeria Customs Service Board (NCSB) has confirmed the appointment of five Deputy Comptroller-Generals (DCGs) and eight Assistant Comptrollers-General (ACGs) of Customs during its 59th regular meeting.
The meeting, chaired by the Honorable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, was held at the Nigeria Customs Service Headquarters in Abuja last Tuesday.
National Public Relations Officer of the Service, Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday, gave details of the confirmed appointments as: O.O. Peters (DCG /Commander, Training and Doctrine Command (rtd); B.M. Jibo (DCG Enforcement Inspection & Investigation); and B.U. Nwanfor (DCG Excise, Free Trade Zone & Industrial Incentives).
Others are: S.A. Bomia (DCG, Commander Training and Doctrine Command); and C.K. Niagwan (DCG, Tariff & Trade).
The Assistant Comptrollers General (ACGs) are: B. Imam (ACG Board); A.A.S. Oloyede (ACG, Trade & Tariff); S.K. Dangaldima (ACG/Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘B’); A. Abdul Azeez (ACG/Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘D’); S.A. Yusuf (ACG, Human Resource Development); N.P. Umoh (ACG, Training and Doctrine Command); C.O. Obih (ACG/Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘C’); and S. Chiroma (ACG, Strategic Research and Policy).
The new appointments, according to the statement, were made to fill the vacancies created by some senior officers who recently retired from the Service, noting that the principles of federal character, seniority and merit guided the appointments approved by the board.
“These appointments are a testament to the officers’ exemplary services and dedication to the Nigeria Customs Service. The NCSB remains committed to providing strategic leadership to ensure effective and efficient service delivery for optimum performance”, he said.
While thanking the retired members of the management for their meritorious services, the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, congratulated the newly confirmed officers and charged them to redouble their efforts to ensure the service attains greater heights in its mandates of revenue generation, suppression of smuggling, and trade facilitation amongst others.

Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos

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