VenturesNow

Nigeria cuts supply to border towns amidst oil smuggling crisis

Published

6 months ago

July 8, 2024

To curb the illegal export of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, from Nigeria to its neighbours, the Nigerian government has sealed three filling stations in border towns and detained five fuel trucks.

Additionally, the fuel supply to various border areas has decreased from 32 million litres per day to roughly 25 million litres in just two months as a result of the government’s ongoing anti-smuggling efforts through the Nigeria Customs Service.

This suggests that throughout the time, about 420 million litres of PMS, worth N294 billion (based on an average price of N700 per litre), did not reach the border states. The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited verified the approximately 21.86% reduction in PMS evacuation to border states.

The Nigerian Customs Service’s National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, informed our correspondent that the sealed filling stations and impounded petroleum tankers had been turned over to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority for additional inquiries.

Additionally, he refuted reports that 1,800 gas stations in the North had closed in opposition to the NCS’s ongoing anti-smuggling efforts.

Maiwada responded, “The NCS is still carrying out its anti-smuggling operation effectively and continuously,” when asked if the service was still fighting gasoline smuggling. On the grounds of possible product diversion that could lead to eventual smuggling out of the nation, five fuel tankers were arrested.

Chief Superintendent of Customs Maiwada refuted statements made by IPMAN that the trucks were turned over to the downstream regulator for the oil industry and that the tankers had been given to members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria.

“The detained fuel tankers were not released to IPMAN under pressure. However, the trucks were handed over to NMDPRA for continued investigation with the intervention of the Adamawa State government, as the offence committed was centred on fuel diversion,” he stated.

Regarding the sealed filling stations, he declared, “In Adamawa State, three filling stations have been sealed but not closed. However the three sealed filling stations were also turned over to the NMDPRA so they could do additional research.

“The NMDPRA is expected to transmit its findings and recommendations to the Nigeria Customs Service through the national coordinator to the headquarters.”

Following Nigeria’s elimination of petrol subsidies last year, gas prices increased last year in neighbouring West African countries, rising by more than 40% in all markets assessed.

According to Globalpetrolprices, a think tank that tracks gasoline costs and energy prices, Cameroon, Togo, Benin, and Guinea are among the nations most affected by this trend.

VenturesNow

IMF, Egypt reach agreement for fourth review of Egypt’s $1.2 billion loan request

Published

1 day ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement over the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, which might lead to a $1.2 billion payout under the program.

In March, Egypt, struggling with rising inflation and cash shortages, consented to the $8 billion, 46-month facility. Its economic problems were made worse by a precipitous drop in Suez Canal revenue over the last year due to regional tensions.

Over the next two years, Egypt’s government has committed to raising its tax-to-revenue ratio by 2% of GDP, according to the IMF, emphasising removing exemptions rather than raising taxes.

According to a statement from the IMF, this would allow it to expand social expenditure to support vulnerable populations.

“While the authorities’ plans to streamline and simplify the tax system are commendable, further reforms will be needed to enhance domestic revenue mobilization efforts,” the statement said.

According to the IMF statement, Egypt had also committed to maintaining its commitment to a flexible currency rate and to taking more urgent action to guarantee that the private sector became the primary driver of development.

The IMF’s executive board still has to accept the fourth review’s staff-level agreement.

VenturesNow

Libya’s eastern govt accepts petrol subsidy elimination

Published

1 day ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In a recent statement, the eastern government of Libya claimed it had reached a consensus on a plan to eliminate gasoline subsidies and would draft a mechanism to carry out the accord.

Additional information on the idea was not released by the administration led by Osama Hamad, a challenger to the internationally acknowledged Tripoli-based government.

However, it is uncertain if Hamad’s government would be able to carry out the plan in the divided nation.

According to the Global Petrol Prices online tracker, a litre of gasoline costs just 0.150 Libyan dinars ($0.03) in OPEC member Libya, making it the second-cheapest in the world.

Following an uprising against former ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, smuggling networks have thrived in the ensuing political unrest and armed fighting. In 2014, conflicting eastern and western governments separated the nation.

A World Bank analysis estimates that the annual value of fuel smuggling from Libya is at least $5 billion.

In a meeting with Mari Barrasi, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), located in Tripoli, and four members of the bank’s board of directors, Hamad in Benghazi supported the idea of removing subsidies.

The CBL’s Benghazi branch offices served as the venue for the conference.

The eastern parliament appointed Hamad in 2023 to succeed Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who had been put in position in 2021 under a U.N.-backed procedure that the parliament said had lost its legitimacy.

Dbeibah, who is located in Tripoli, stated in January that he will conduct a public poll on the topic of eliminating gasoline subsidies, but he hasn’t done anything about it since.

According to CBL figures, gasoline subsidies cost 12.8 billion Libyan dinars between January and November of this year. 4.8 Libyan dinars to $1 is the official exchange rate.