No Plan To Increase Petrol Pump Price –NNPCL

The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said it has no plans of increasing the pump price of petrol. In a statement posted on its verified X handle, and signed by the company’s Retail Management, it urged Nigerians to ignore speculations about a possible increase. NNPC Limited GCEO, Mele Kyari, had repeatedly stressed that the company would not increase the price of petrol from its present N617 per litre. “Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPC Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated. “Please buy the best-quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPC Retail Stations nationwide,” the statement read.

Subsidy Removal Has Reduced Nigeria’s Fuel Consumption By 33% –Minister

The Minister of State for Environment, Kunle Salako, has said that the courageous decision by Bola Tinubu’s administration to remove fuel subsidy has reduced the country’s consumption rate by about 33 percent. Salako said on the sidelines of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, that the action has reduced the emission generated by petrol. “The singular action has reduced Nigeria’s consumption of petrol by 33 per cent, reduced the level of emission generated by Nigerians,” he said. “The courageous decision to remove subsidy from petroleum is furthering climate action by Nigeria. “I had highlighted this development in some of the meetings I attended or represented the President and at the meeting of Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change and at the meeting of Commonwealth Ministers of Environment and Climate. “Nigeria participated in the meeting of Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change where I represented President to pass a resolution to adopt the Nairobi Declaration for final vetting by the meeting of AU. “The first meeting of Commonwealth Ministers of Environment and Climate in which the Ministers decided to approach the 28th Conference of Parties in Dubai come late November to early December with common front of pushing for better financing for climate action. “I represented Nigeria at the meeting, and I established that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu by taking the courageous decision to remove subsidy from petroleum is furthering climate action by Nigeria. “It has also focused the attention of Nigeria at corporate and individual levels to renewable energy,’’ he said. Earlier in his statement delivered to the “High Level Event for Nature and People: from Ambition to Action”, on behalf of the President, Salako said achieving the world’s ambitious conservation targets, like 30×30, would require that we all do more to prioritise nature finance. 30×30 is a global target to protect 30 per cent of the planet for nature by 2030. “Last year, at COP15, the world agreed to fully close the nature finance gap and set a near term target of delivering at least $20 billion in international finance to the Global South by 2025. “Last month in Addis, African countries came together and issued a declaration that underscored the importance of these nature finance targets. “Nigeria would like to urge all countries to increase their efforts on this issue and to work with us to ensure that the world follow through on these crucial finance commitments. “This is our vision for the future, and we invite everyone to act and envision solutions that will preserve nature for future generations,’’ he said. According to him, as a responsible State Party to several Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), including the Convention on Biological Diversity, Nigeria is doing its utmost to promote transformation actions. The minister said that Nigeria was doing its best to promote transformations actions that are commensurate with the scale of the biodiversity crisis. “We are exerting these efforts within our own country in addition to supporting countries in our Sub-region to increase their capacity in this regard,’’ he said. In addition, Salako said that he attended Blue Leaders High Level Meeting, where in his statement, he said Nigeria was doing its best to promote transformation actions that were commensurate with the scale of the biodiversity crisis. He told the leaders that Nigeria was exerting these efforts within the country in addition to supporting countries in our Sub-region to increase their capacity in this regard. “This is an ambitious goal, a goal shared by the Blue Leaders and by ECOWAS countries, including Nigeria. “The high sea is an essential part of the marine ecosystem which plays critical role in maintaining the health of our planet and people. “Nigeria being the country with the longest coastline in West Africa understands the adverse effect of unregulated high sea and is therefore committed to the agenda of the ‘BBNJ’ Treaty. “Prompt ratification of the newly adopted high seas treaty is an essential means to reach this goal. We must urgently ensure that the treaty is ratified and implemented,’’ he said. He announced that through Nigeria’s rallying efforts, the 55 member States of the African Union have reached a consensus to support ratification of the earliest feasible date, the new international ocean treaty for the high seas, as enshrined in Addis Ababa Declaration. The declaration was adopted at the 19th ordinary session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN-19, August 2023). “Let us be bold for Oceans Conservation together and join African region to promptly ratify the new treaty,’’ he said.

Electricity consumers call for power sector overhaul

Electricity Consumers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), have asked the new Minister of Power, Mr. Adebayo Adelabu to overhaul the power sector to ensure stable power supply. The consumers, who spoke in separate interviews in Abuja, said overhauling the sector would improve power supply. The President, Nigeria Consumer Protection Network, Mr. Kunle Olubiyo, said the minister should do a surgical overhaul of the regulatory institutions and ecosystem of the power sector. According to him, the minister should do an appraisal of the performances of all agencies in the last 10 years using benchmarks of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Olubiyo also urged Adelabu to engage the best hands as advisers and working team to enable him to achieve the Federal Government’s desire to give its citizens a stable and uninterrupted power supply. He also urged the minister to review the privatization of the sector which he described as long overdue. The minister said 10 years after the privatisation, the exercise had failed to deliver the desired results. He said the review should be done across the value chain of the electricity sector from generation and transmission to distribution. “By doing so, issues relating to increased expansion of the huge metering gaps, sector liquidity challenges and poor remittances culture, load rejection will be addressed. “Other issues such as market shortfalls, tariff shortfalls, payment of generation capacity, and low generation per capita, weak transmission infrastructure resulting in a decline in transmission wheeling capacity and incessant power system collapse and load shedding will also be addressed’’, he said.  According to him, load rejection by electricity distribution licensees at the downstream sub-sector, poor quality of services, and near zero governance structure will be eliminated. Also, the President, the Association For Public Policy Analysis, Mr. Princewill Okorie, said the privatisation of the power sector was meant to break the control of electricity generation and distribution from the government. Okorie said the privatisation was to ensure an adequate, regular, and stable supply of electricity to the consumer at a reasonable cost. He said unfortunately, the implementation of privatisation policy in the sector began to exclude consumer groups whose interest, satisfaction, and willingness to pay was seen as the attraction of the policy. Okorie said tariff reviews have taken place severally since 2013 when the privatisation commenced, adding that consumer satisfaction impact evaluation and assessment was hardly carried out. “We are appealing to the minister of power to support the delivery of people-oriented and consumer-protective power policies to Nigerians in the electricity sector,” he said. On his part, an electricity consumer, Mr. Reuben Okoro, said Nigerians expect the minister to deliver stable electricity to enable them to do their businesses without relying on generators. Okoro, who is a welder resident in Lugbe, FCT, said the minister should overhaul the entire power sector starting from generation to distribution. A Fashion Designer in Area 3, Garki, FCT, Mrs Nosayaba Odigie, also wanted the minister to look into the issue of epileptic power supply. Odigie said if the country was able to address the challenges in the sector all other things would fall in place.

Fossil fuel subsidies surge to record $7trn

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that subsidies on fossil fuel surged to a record $7 trillion in 2022. The Fund in its chart of the week, which focused on climate change, said the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war as governments globally supported consumers and businesses as energy prices spiked. As the world struggles to restrict global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and parts of Asia, Europe and the United States swelter in extreme heat, subsidies for oil, coal and natural gas are costing the equivalent of 7.1 percent of global gross domestic product. The World Meteorological Organization says July was the hottest month on record. Data shows that fossil-fuel subsidies rose by $2 trillion over the past two years as explicit subsidies (undercharging for supply costs) more than doubled to $1.3 trillion. Consuming fossil fuels imposes enormous environmental costs—mostly from local air pollution and damage from global warming. The vast majority of subsidies are implicit, as environmental costs are often not reflected in prices for fossil fuels, especially for coal and diesel. “If governments removed explicit subsidies and imposed corrective taxes, fuel prices would increase. This would lead firms and households to consider environmental costs when making consumption and investment decisions. The result would be cutting global carbon-dioxide emissions significantly, cleaner air, less lung and heart disease, and more fiscal space for governments. “We estimate that scrapping explicit and implicit fossil-fuel subsidies would prevent 1.6 million premature deaths annually, raise government revenues by $4.4 trillion, and put emissions on track toward reaching global warming targets. It would also redistribute income as fuel subsidies benefit rich households more than poor ones. “Yet removing fuel subsidies can be tricky. Governments must design, communicate, and implement reforms clearly and carefully as part of a comprehensive policy package that underscores the benefits. A portion of the increased revenues should be used to compensate vulnerable households for higher energy prices. The remainder could be used to cut taxes on work and investment and fund public goods such as education, healthcare, and clean energy,” the global lender said.

FG to leverage Nigerian Electricity Act to boost power supply –Adelabu

The new Minister of Power, Mr Adebayo Adelabu has assured that the federal government will empower Nigerians through stable and accessible power. The minister, who gave the assurance when he assumed office on Monday in Abuja stressed that every home, industry, school, and business will benefit from the government’s efforts. To achieve the feat, Adelabu said the ministry will leverage the Nigerian Electricity Act of 2023 to boost the power supply in the country. The Nigerian Electricity Act, 2023 provides a comprehensive legal and institutional framework for the operation of a fully privatized, cost and service-reflective tariff contract. The Act also provides a rule-based competitive electricity market in Nigeria and repeals the following Acts: Electric Power Sector Reform Act, 2005. According to the minister, the ministry will diligently provide optimal solutions for Nigeria’s power needs across the nation. He said the task was not merely a requirement, but an expectation from both the President and the Nigerian populace who had endured years of power challenges. “This responsibility weighs heavily upon us, and it is with conviction, divine guidance, and the support of President Tinubu, the National Assembly, government agencies, and Nigerians that I pledge my commitment to achieve success in the power sector. “Recognising that there are numerous deserving and qualified Nigerians for this role, I am truly humbled that the President has entrusted me with this vital task, as we collectively envision the growth and prosperity of our nation,” he said.

Current oil output unlikely to change as OPEC meets Friday

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is not likely going to make any changes to the current oil output policy as tighter supplies and resilient demand drive an oil price rally. Ministers from the OPEC and allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, meet on August 4 and the panel, called the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee, can call for a full OPEC meeting if warranted. Oil has rallied to a three-month high this week above $85 a barrel for Brent crude, as tighter supply and rising demand outweigh concern that interest rate hikes and stubborn inflation could hit economic growth.The Six OPEC+ sources said the Committee would probably not make any changes to existing policy during Friday’s online meeting as one of them cited the rising oil price as a reason to take no action.The OPEC and the Saudi Energy Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.In the latest comments from an OPEC member about the market, the energy minister for the United Arab Emirates told Reuters on July 21 that current OPEC+ actions were sufficient for now and the group was “only a phone call away” if any further steps are needed. The UAE minister sits on the JMMC, which is chaired by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman. Still, a surprise cannot be ruled out. The Saudi minister in July said OPEC+ would “continue the effort at surprising markets”. In April, several OPEC+ members announced cuts just ahead of a JMMC meeting that was expected to take no action. At its last policy meeting in June, OPEC+ agreed on a broad deal to limit supply into 2024 and Saudi Arabia pledged a voluntary production cut for July that it has since extended to include August. Analysts told Reuters last week they expected Saudi Arabia to extend the voluntary cut for another month to include September. National Australia Bank said in a report on Tuesday that it expected the Saudis to announce an extension of their voluntary cut at the committee meeting on Friday.