CSL Nigeria Daily - 04 April 2025

CSL Nigeria Daily - 04 April 2025
(Source: CSL RESEARCH, Date: 04-Apr-2025)

Dear Esteemed Client,

President Tinubu reshuffles leadership at state-oil company

President Bola Tinubu has initiated a major restructuring of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), appointing Bashir Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) to replace Mele Kyari and overhauling the company's board. This move follows persistent calls for reform after years of underperformance. Industry stakeholders have criticised Kyari's tenure, citing declining oil production, fuel subsidy mismanagement, and rampant fuel smuggling to neighbouring countries. During Kyari's leadership, which began in mid-2019, Nigeria's oil output dropped from approximately 2.0 million barrels per day (mbpd) to a low of 937 kbpd in September 2022, while fuel subsidy costs surged from less than 1% of GDP in 2019 to nearly 3.3% of GDP in 2024.

Click here to download full report: "‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹"‹CSL-Nigeria-Daily-04-April-2025-Oil-&-Gas.pdf"‹

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Media Highlights:

Trump's tariff threatens $10bn US-Nigeria trade

The newly imposed 14 per cent tariff by US President Donald Trump on exports by Nigerian businesses presents a significant risk to the $10bn annual exports to the United States, potentially disrupting key sectors such as oil export and agricultural trade, experts and trade associations concerned about a potential global trade war stated on Thursday. The economic experts, in separate interviews with The PUNCH, noted that the policy, which would raise the prices of goods and services for consumers, would weaken the standard of living, slow down manufacturing activities, hinder international trade and consequently weaken demand for Nigerian oil in the US, one of its key markets. The experts also predicted that Nigeria's oil earnings were poised for a significant decline following the announcement of the new tariff regime. Read more here"‹

FG seeks fresh $10.50m W'Bank loan

Nigeria has approached the World Bank for a fresh $10.50m loan to enhance the Central Bank of Nigeria's technical capacity and modernise the country's domestic payment infrastructure. According to information exclusively obtained from the World Bank website on Thursday by The PUNCH, the proposed CBN Technical Assistance Facility seeks to support integrating innovative technologies and data science into the CBN's supervisory processes. This is expected to help the apex bank tackle long-standing and emerging challenges in Nigeria's rapidly evolving financial landscape while improving the domestic payment infrastructure for remittances. The project, currently at the concept review stage, will focus on three key areas. Read more here"‹

Naira falls sharply after Trump's trade tariff

The naira on Thursday fell sharply against the dollar in the official foreign exchange (FX), a day after Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, increased the global trade tariff by 10 percent. After trading on Thursday, the naira lost N20.75 or 1.3 percent of its value as the dollar was quoted at N1,552.53 compared to N1,531.25 quoted on Wednesday at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The naira also depreciated against the dollar, losing N5 to close at N1,560 as against N1,555 closed on Wednesday. Nigeria's gross external reserves declined by 0.3 percent to $38.17 billion as of April 2, 2025, from $38.30 billion recorded on March 28, 2025, data from the CBN indicated. Read more here"‹

Local refineries importing substandard crude, PETROAN alleges

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria says some local refineries are importing substandard crude into Nigeria to cut costs. Speaking with our correspondent on Thursday, PETROAN National Publicity Secretary Joseph Obele said the refineries have been importing crude oil with high sulphur content into Nigeria. Asked to mention some of the refineries, Obele declined, saying the concerned refineries know themselves, hoping they will adjust. According to him, the importation of low-quality crude oil into Nigeria started following the suspension of the naira-for-crude deal by the Federal Government. Read more here"‹