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ExxonMobil To Invest $10bn In Nigeria’s Deep-Water Oil Operations

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As part of the administration’s push to improve Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima has expressed support for ExxonMobil’s plan to invest $10 billion in the country’s deep-water oil sector.

Speaking on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, during a meeting with ExxonMobil executives at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, Shettima called the investment “a clear testament to the administration’s economic reforms and investor-friendly policies.”

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This announcement follows news that international maritime company DP World intends to develop a multibillion-dollar port project in Nigeria.

Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, shared the development in a statement on Wednesday. He quoted Shettima as saying: “ExxonMobil’s potential investment aligns with the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for a more investment-friendly Nigeria.

We are committed to fostering an environment that supports such transformative projects.”Shettima also discussed the administration’s broader efforts to improve the ease of doing business, highlighting the “Renewed Hope Agenda,” which aims to simplify bureaucratic processes, enhance transparency, and offer fiscal incentives to attract global investors.

“Our administration has taken bold steps to unify the exchange rate, remove fuel subsidies, and implement tax reforms. These measures, though challenging in the short term, are intended to create a stable and predictable business environment in the long term,” he added.

On the oil and gas sector, Shettima mentioned that the government is revising the fiscal framework for deep-water operations to attract investment while ensuring fair returns for the Nigerian people.

 

Oil

FG Introduces New Incentives To Revitalize Nigeria’s Oil & Gas Industry

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In a strategic move to revitalize Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, the Federal Government has unveiled two key fiscal incentives aimed at attracting investment and enhancing energy security.

The announcement was made by Mr. Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy on Wednesday.

The first initiative, the Value Added Tax (VAT) Modification Order 2024, introduces critical exemptions for essential energy products and infrastructure, including Diesel, Feed Gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Electric Vehicles, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) infrastructure, and Clean Cooking Equipment.

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These exemptions are designed to reduce living costs for Nigerians, promote energy security, and accelerate the transition to cleaner energy alternatives.

The second initiative, the Notice of Tax Incentives for Deep Offshore Oil & Gas Production, offers new tax relief options for deep offshore exploration projects.

This measure aims to position Nigeria’s deep offshore basin as a premier destination for international oil and gas investments, boosting the country’s appeal to foreign investors.

These reforms are part of a broader set of policy initiatives, known as Policy Directives 40-42, endorsed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The directives reflect the administration’s commitment to fostering sustainable development in the energy sector and enhancing Nigeria’s competitive edge in the global oil and gas market.

 

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Business

Tinubu set to approve ExxonMobil-Seplat oil deal, expands CNG bus initiative

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By Yemie Adeoye

NIGERIA’s President Bola Tinubu has announced that the protracted ExxonMobil-Seplat upstream oil divestment will be formally approved by the Minister of petroleum within a matter of days, just as he announced his government’s intention to expand the Compress natural Gas, CNG buses initiative.

The President who stated this during his Independence day nationwide broadcast stated that the move is in line with his administration’s commitment to free enterprise, free entry and free exit in investments which is the hallmark of his administration investment policy.

“Fellow compatriots, our administration is committed to free enterprise, free entry, and free exit in investments while maintaining the sanctity and efficacy of our regulatory processes. This principle guides the divestment transactions in our upstream petroleum sector, where we are committed to changing the fortune positively. As such, the ExxonMobil Seplat divestment will receive ministerial approval in a matter of days, having been concluded by the regulator, NUPRC, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA. This was done in the same manner as other qualified divestments approved in the sector.”

The President also seized the opportunity to plead with Nigerians to be patient with his administration’s reform policies. “As your President, I assure you that we are committed to finding sustainable solutions to alleviate the suffering of our citizens. Once again, I plead for your patience as the reforms we are implementing show positive signs, and we are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel”.

“Our energy transition programme is on course. We are expanding the adoption of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas for mass transit with private sector players. The Federal Government is ready to assist the thirty-six States and FCT in acquiring CNG buses for cheaper public transportation.

Fellow Nigerians, while we are working to stabilise the economy and secure the country, we also seek to foster national unity and build social harmony and cohesion. Our economy can only thrive when there is peace”. he enthused.

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Dangote not truthful on petrol prices in Saudi Arabia- Findings

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Fresh findings have revealed that the Founder of Dangote Refinery, Alhaji Aliko Dangote may have lied on live bloomberg interview while  asserting that petrol pump price was 40 percent higher in Saudi Arabia than in it is in Nigeria.
The billionaire, who said this in an interview with Bloomberg, claimed that the product is 40% cheaper in Nigeria than in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, known as the second largest producer of crude in the world, with about 9 refineries.
The imbalance of this statement prompted several checks by multiple platforms and organisations, including Biztellers.com.ng, which launched a review of the billionaire’s statement during his recent bloomberg live interview.
Biztellers.com.ng findings reveals that a gallon of petrol currently sells for US$2.48 which when divided into 4 liters accordingly, comes down to US$0.62, and when converted to naira at the open market rate of N1,670 comes down to N1,036 a liter, this is against the current average pump price in Nigeria is about N1100 especially in the far north.
Lagos based online publication, Platform Africa, using data from Saudi Arabia and other reputable global statistic websites and online platforms showed that the claim by the Nigerian oil mogul is wrong.
For instance price tracking sites like statista, and tradingeconomics showed that petrol was actually more expensive in Nigeria than in Saudi Arabia as of today, Wednesday, September 25, and the day the billionaire made the statement.
PMS in Saudi is sold for 2. 33 Saudi Riyal equivalent to 62 cents / litre according to tradingeconimics while the PMS Average price in Nigeria is N1100/litre that is about 67 cents/litre, using the present exchange rate of Naira to dollar.
In Russia, the price per litre of petrol is 64 cent while it goes for 65 cent in Indonesia.
How 63 cent per litre in Saudi is 40% cheaper compared to 67 cent per litre in Nigeria will be left for Africa’s richest man to explain.
However, based on the verifiable figures by the petrol product price tracking institutions, Mr. Dangote is not correct.
PMS is more expensive in Nigeria than in Saudi as of today, Wednesday, September 25, 2024.
Beyond this, an earlier report by Bloomberg showed that contrary to claim by the billionaire on need for Nigeria to totally end petrol subsidy, Saudi Arabia spends $7,000 per person on energy subsidies, highest in G-20 economies.
The kingdom’s total spending on fuel subsidies soared over the past two years, hitting the highest among the Group of 20 economies on a per capita basis, the Bloomberg report has shown.
This, which came amid the harsh impact of petrol subsidy removal by the Bola Tinubu administration, which has cited the unsustainable nature of the decades-long payments, also punctured the claims by Alhaji Dangote that the Nigerian government has to hand over totally from subsidising petrol for its citizens
In 2022, Nigeria spent about $10 billion for the purpose.
The report published in 2023 indicated that Saudi Arabia spent almost $7,000 per person, equivalent to about 27 per cent of economic output, across both explicit and implicit energy subsidies, according to a paper published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Fossil fuel subsidies soared globally since 2020 to $7 trillion last year as governments took measures to protect consumers and businesses from a spike in prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the IMF paper.
It estimated that cutting fossil fuel subsidies could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, deaths from air pollution, and boost government revenues.
“Fossil fuels in most countries are priced incorrectly,” Simon Black, Antung Liu, Ian Parry and Nate Vernon wrote in the IMF working paper. “Unfortunately, current prices are routinely set at levels that do not adequately reflect environmental damages and, in some cases, not even supply costs,” they added.
China-which spent $2.2 trillion – was the biggest provider of subsidies in absolute terms, followed by the US and Russia, according to the IMF. Saudi Arabia spent a total of $253 billion on subsidies last year, it added.
The IMF has been urging Saudi Arabia to push ahead with measures to cut the government subsidy bill and take steps to protect the welfare of low-income households through increased and targeted social spending. The spending has made Saudi fuel one of the cheapest in the world.
In 2021, the government set a cap for the domestic cost of gasoline to soften the impact of higher living costs on citizens, just months before prices soared to over $100 a barrel.
In its Article IV Consultation, the IMF said that the kingdom’s work on subsidy reforms is “continuing unabated through planned step price increases that will lead to their elimination by 2030.”
Implicit subsidies, which the IMF defined as undercharging for the environmental cost of fossil fuel burning and lost tax revenue, made up the bulk of the global total. Explicit subsidies, or selling fuels as below supply costs, had a share of just 18 per cent.
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