Business

FG Sets New Oil Target, Plans Three Refineries

Published

14 years ago

December 5, 2011

The Federal Government plans to produce 3 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil by 2015 and build three new refineries adding 445,000 bpd of capacity, the oil minister said on Wednesday.

Africa’s largest energy industry is struggling because a far reaching Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has been locked in dispute for four years, depriving it of billions of dollars in lost foreign investment, oil and government officials told Reuters.

“Our aspiration is to increase crude oil reserves to at least 40 billion barrels and production of 3 million barrels per day respectively by 2015,” Diezani Alison-Madueke told reporters at an investor conference in Lagos.

“Our current crude oil production is approximately 2.5 million bpd; current gas production is 8 million cubic feet per day.” Nigeria is a member of oil producing group OPEC, which sets output limits to monitor global supplies and prices.

Africa’s most populous nation has a crude oil OPEC output quota of 1.67 million bpd, which it seems happy to far exceed given a healthy oil price above $110 a barrel. Should oil prices decline, Alison-Madueke may have to explain plans to boost output to fellow OPEC countries.

She said the PIB may have to be presented back to the National Assembly through the Presidency to ensure the correct version is used. The main brake on the reforms is powerful vested interest but there are also several different versions of the proposal, which is slowing down lawmakers.

“While the stated intent to increase oil production and increase reserves is positive, market participants will justifiably question how much progress is actually likely,” said Razia Khan, Head of Africa Research at Standard Chartered.

“The fact is, the longer the regulatory uncertainty of a PIB in equally uncertain form hovers over the industry, the greater the likelihood that crucial investment – even to sustain Nigeria’s current production – is delayed,” Khan added.

Despite holding the world’s seventh-largest gas reserves and pumping over 2 million barrels per day of crude oil, Nigeria only produces enough electricity to power a medium-sized European city and has to import almost all of its refined fuel needs.

The West African nation’s four current refineries have a theoretical combined capacity of 445,000 bpd, which have been working at minimum levels for years, except for one which is at around 60 percent capacity, industry sources have said.

Dozens of maintenance contracts have been handed out to fix the refineries and several memorandums of understandings to build new ones signed in the last decade with no progress made.

Foreign investors cite corruption as the biggest barrier to investing in Nigeria and the country’s national oil company NNPC often comes in for the biggest criticism. One international watchdog said it was the world’s least transparent oil company.

“I’m afraid that any pledges about refineries, reserves or the PIB fall on deaf ears now because we have heard them over and over again through the oil minister’s years in office,” said an oil company executive in Nigeria who craved anonymity.

Business

Boat Mishap Kills Pastor, Wife And Church Members In Brass Water

Published

10 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

A boat accident in Bayelsa state has killed a serving Pastor, Wife and other church members along Brass waterways

The sad incident happened at Odioama in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State when the Pastor, wife and members of his church were in a programme.

?Tide confirmed that the lifeless body of the Pastor’s wife has been found and deposited in a mortuary while the remains of her husband ,the Pastor is yet to be recovered

as search party are still ongoing.

Although the real cause of the boat Mishap is not yet known as at the time of this report, our Correspondent gathered that the identities of the Pastor, wife and church members were not disclosed to the public.

The mishap, Tide gathered occurred on Friday morning when the church members were on a boat transit

The Bayelsa State government and the state police command are yet to issue official statement’s on the sad accident

By: CHINEDU WOSU

Business

Rivers Workers Seek Scrapping Of Contributory Pension Scheme

Published

10 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

The Rivers State Council of Nigeria Civil Service Union has called on the State Government to urgently scrap the contributory pension scheme, describing it as unfavourable to long-serving civil servants in the state.

Chairman of the union, Chukwuka Osuma, said this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, recently.

Osuma said the current pension structure has continued to worsen post-retirement hardship for workers.

He noted that the contributory pension scheme had failed to provide adequate retirement security for workers who had spent many years in service, especially those approaching retirement age.

According to him, civil servants who had served for more than 20 years were among the worst affected under the scheme, insisting that many retirees could no longer cope with prevailing economic realities.

He also informed that the Union has made moves to showcase their concerns, pleading with Governor Siminalayi Fubara to abolish the pension policy and introduce a more favourable arrangement for affected workers.

“The union was not opposed to pension reforms, the contributory scheme should only apply to newly employed workers or those with fewer years in service”, he said.

Osuma explained that workers who had already spent decades in the civil service ought to remain under a more secure pension structure capable of guaranteeing stability after retirement.

The labour leader further noted that inflation and the rising cost of living had continued to erode the value of retirement savings, thereby increasing the suffering of pensioners across the country.

He also appealed to the state government to consider extending the years of service in the civil service from 35 to 40 years and the retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

Osuma argued that such adjustment had become necessary in view of present-day economic realities and changing conditions in the workplace.

The unionist also reviewed that similar policies had already been adopted in some sectors and jurisdictions, expressing optimism that the State could also implement the reforms for the benefit of workers.

He however, commended Governor Fubara for approving an N85,000 minimum wage for workers in the state, noting that the amount was above the national benchmark of N70,000.

Osuma also acknowledged the government’s efforts in the area of workers’ promotions and bonuses, but insisted that pension reforms and extension of years of service remained critical to the long-term welfare and stability of civil servants in Rivers State.

By: King Onunwor

Business

FG Begins South-West Tour To Promote New Cooperative Bank

Published

6 days ago

May 13, 2026

The Tide

The Federal Government has launched the South-West zonal engagement and ministerial advocacy tour on the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria share capital mobilisation, sensitisation and cooperative sector digitalisation.

Reports say the initiative was launched through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

According to reports, the advocacy tour, organised by the ministry’s Federal Department of Cooperatives, began on Monday in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, said the initiative was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Abdullahi described the exercise as a strategic effort to reposition the cooperative sector as a key driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity.

“Today represents a defining moment in our collective determination to reposition the cooperative sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity,” he said.

The minister noted the modern cooperative movement in Nigeria originated in the South-West following the 1934 Strickland Report, which led to the enactment of the Cooperative Societies Ordinance of 1935.

According to him, the decision to commence the sensitisation and share capital mobilisation tour in the region is symbolic, as it marks a return to the roots of cooperative development in the country.

Abdullahi said the advocacy tour was a direct outcome of resolutions reached at the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs held in Abuja in March 2026.

He said the council approved the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme, a comprehensive framework designed to strengthen the cooperative sector and align it with the administration’s goal of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.

“The reform programme focuses on seven strategic pillars, including governance reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, digitalisation, capacity building, value chain development, inclusion of youths, women and persons with disabilities, and strategic partnerships,” he said.

He said the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and the digitalisation of the cooperative sector were the two major transformational initiatives under the programme.

“The Cooperative Bank of Nigeria is aimed at rebuilding a strong cooperative financial system capable of supporting cooperators, farmers, artisans, traders, SMEs, youths, women and persons with disabilities with accessible and affordable financial services,” he said.

Abdullahi emphasised that the proposed bank would be government-enabled but not government-funded.

“Government is not establishing the bank as an owner, nor will it rely on Treasury Single Account funds.

“The role of government through the FMAFS is to provide policy support, stakeholder coordination, regulatory facilitation and an enabling environment under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme,” he said.

Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to cooperative sector transformation.

She described cooperatives as critical tools for promoting inclusive growth, grassroots productivity, food security, financial inclusion and community wealth creation.

Ambrose-Medebem said Lagos State would continue to support reforms and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (2025–2030).

“Together, let us build a cooperative ecosystem that is modern, transparent, digitally enabled, financially inclusive and globally competitive.

“Let us build cooperatives that not only mobilise savings, but also mobilise prosperity,” she said.