A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
By Akinola Ajibade
Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said that Nigeria's spiralling inflationary rates portend a great danger to her economy.
The country's inflationary rates, which stood at 16.82 per cent in April 2021 was 18.42 in May 2022. This may increase further, unless the nation's economy, which is characterized by problems such as corruption, liquidity, low productivity among other variables improves.
According to OPEC, the rising rates of inflation in Nigeria has dwarfed her economic outlook, despite the recent improvement in the international prices of crude oil.
The development, OPEC said, has reduced private sector optimism and weakened consumer spending, the global oil body, said in its Oil Market Report for July 2022.
The report said Nigeria’s crude oil production increased to an average of 1.238 million barrels per day (bpd) in June 2022, adding that the figure showed an increase of 5,000 barrels per day when compared to the 1.233 million bpd produced averagely in the month of May 2022.
“According to secondary sources, averaged 28.72 mbpd in June 2022, higher by 234,000 barrels per day month-on-month. Crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Kuwait and Angola, while production in Libya and Venezuela declined,” the report said.
But the report said in May 2022, the composite Consumer Price Index rose to 17.7 per cent year-on-year from 16.8 per cent y-o-y in the previous month.
“In response to the elevated inflationary pressures, the Central Bank of Nigeria raised its policy rate by 150 basic points to 13 per cent bringing borrowing costs to the highest since April of 2020. It was the biggest rate hike since July of 2016 amid concerns that persistent inflationary pressures could weigh on the country’s fragile recovery.
“Meanwhile, the Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Purchasing Manger’s Index fell to 50.9 in June of 2022 from 53.9 in the prior month, pointing to the weakest improvement in business conditions in Nigeria’s private sector since January of 2021. Overall, the above-average fossil fuel prices support a firmly positive outlook for the rest of the year, but concerns over soaring inflation would increase uncertainty next year,” the report added.
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