From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
Group General Manager of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Dafe Sejebor, yesterday disclosed that the agency was owing International Oil Companies (IOCs) involved in Joint Venture production about $7 billion.
Sejebor who spoke at an investigative hearing conducted by the House of Representatives Committees on Petroleum (Upstream) and Public Procurement on the alleged $260 million “illegal” contract by NAPIMS, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The contract in contention was for four single source projects in Exxonmobil’s Usan Deepwater at a total value of $260 million without any form of tendering process.
The NAPIMS representative said due to the huge debt, the agency was seeking alternative means to deal with the situation.
He said: “We’ve gone to arbitration and they’re trying to find a way of resolving them offline, and the Minister (of Petroleum) has stepped in to see how he can mitigate our exposure. “We wrote to them (partners) to go renegotiate all services, whether on-going or the ones they’re about to put in place, that they should knock them down by 30 to 40 per cent cost reduction.”
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, while declaring the hearing open, noted that it had become pertinent for the House to spearhead the move for transparency in the oil and gas sector, especially in the area of contracts and agreements the Federal Government is involved in.
He said: “Citizens have expressed concern that activities in the oil and gas sector are conducted in a way that is opaque.
It is said that only a privileged few understand the processes in that sector.
“Part of the paradigm shift we have activated – and this would have greater relevance in the proposed framework for the petroleum industry – is to open up the oil and gas sector and make it more transparent and accountable to the people.”
Nigeria’s foreign trade in Q1 dips by N793bn, says NBS
From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday, reported that the total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade in the first quarter of 2016 stood at N2,723.9 billion, N793.5 billion or 22.6 per cent less than the preceding quarter value of N3,517.4 billion.
According to report by NBS, the development was because of the decline in both imports and exports. While exports declined to N671.1 billion or 34.6 per cent, imports dipped by N122.4 billion or 7.8 per cent.
“The decline in exports brought the country’s trade balance down to N184.1 billion or N548.7 billion less than the preceding quarter. The crude oil component of total trade decreased by N716.7 billion or 46.6 per cent against the level recorded in Q4, 2015,” the report said.
Also, NBS said that Nigeria’s import trade stood at N1,454 billion at the end of Q1, 2016 and this was 7.8 per cent less than the value recorded in the preceding quarter, N1,576.4 billion.
“Further comparison with the corresponding quarter of last year showed a decrease of N273.7 billion or 15.8 per cent. The structure of Nigeria’s import trade, according to SITC, was dominated by the imports of “machinery and transport equipment”, “mineral fuel”, and “chemicals and related products”, which accounted for 34.7 per cent, 17.4 per cent, and 14.7 per cent respectively in 2016. These commodities contributed the most to the value of import trade in Q1, 2016, whereas commodities such as “crude inedible materials”, “oils, fats and waxes”, and “beverages and tobacco”, contributed the least, accounting for 1.5 per cent, 0.8 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively.
Import trade by section was dominated by the imports of “boilers, machinery and appliances”, which accounted for N378.4 billion or 26 per cent of the total value of import trade in Q1, 2016. Other commodities, which contributed noticeably to the value of import trade in the period under review were “mineral products” at N263.0 billion (18.1 per cent), and “products of the chemical and allied industries” at N137.0 billion (9.4 per cent), “vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof, vessels, etc.” at N127.8 billion (8.8 per cent) and “base metals and articles of base metals” at N105.1 billion (7.2 per cent).
At the end of the quarter, the import trade classified by broad economic category revealed that “industrial supplies not elsewhere classified” ranked first with N404.4 billion or 27.8 per cent. This was followed by “capital goods and parts” with the value of N370.1 billion or 25.5 per cent and “fuels and lubricants” with N244.2 billion or 16.8 per cent.
Nigeria’s import trade by direction showed the country imported goods mostly from China, with an import value of N345.5 billion or 23.8 per cent of total imports. This was followed by the United States at N127.1 billion or 8.7 per cent, India with N89.4 billion or 6.1 per cent, Netherlands with N73.8 billion or 5.1 per cent and United Kingdom with N61.4 billion or 4.2 per cent of total imports. Imports by economic region revealed that the country consumed goods largely from Asia with import value of N611.2 billion or 42 per cent. The country also imported goods valued at N538.2 billion or 37 per cent from Europe and N201.9 billion or 13.9 per cent from America,” the report noted.
The value of the export trade totalled N1,269.9 billion in Q1, 2016 showing a decrease of N671.1 billion or 34.6 per cent, over the value recorded in the preceding quarter, the report added, noting that year-on-year analysis shows that the country’s exports dropped by N1,395.2 billion or 52.3 per cent against the export value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015.
However, the structure of Nigeria’s export trade is still dominated by crude oil exports, with the contribution of crude oil to the value of total domestic export trade amounting to N821.9 billion or 64.7 per cent.
Similarly, exports by section revealed that the highest export product for Nigeria in Q1, 2016 was “mineral products”, which accounted for N1,054.1 billion or 83 per cent. Other products that contributed the most to Nigeria’s exports include “vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof; vessels, etc.” and “prepared foodstuffs; beverages, spirits and vinegar; tobacco” whose values stood at N72.7 billion or 5.7 per cent and N63.6 billion or 5 per cent respectively, of the total exports from Nigeria for the quarter.
“Exports by continent showed that Nigeria mainly exported goods to Europe and Asia, which accounted for N467.1 billion or 36.8 per cent and N360.6 billion or 28.4 per cent respectively, of the total export value for Q1, 2016. Furthermore, Nigeria exported goods valued at N161.3 billion or 12.7 per cent to the continent of Africa while export to the ECOWAS region totalled N50.4 billion,” NBS said.