Financial task force adds Nigeria, South Africa to anti-money laundering watchlist

agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring.

“Jurisdictions under increased monitoring are actively working with the FATF to address the strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing,” FATF said.

“New jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring are South Africa and Nigeria.

Oil production slows by 13% –Report

From Abubakar Y Ojimaojo ABUJA

Crude oil production which accounts for around two-thirds of government revenue and 90 per cent of its foreign exchange reserves, contracted by 13 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics has said.

The bureau in its latest report said Nigeria recorded an average oil output of 1.3 million barrels per day in the fourth quarter, lower than the daily average of 1.5 million bpd registered in the same quarter of 2021.

“Although the agriculture sector grew … its performance was significantly hampered by severe incidences of flood experienced across the country,” the NBS said.

“The Industry sector was … challenged recording -0.94 per cent growth and contributing less to the aggregate GDP relative to the third quarter of 2022 and the fourth quarter of 2021.”

The price of diesel, which many businesses rely on to generate electricity, has soared in Nigeria due to high global oil prices, leading to increased costs of production.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, had recently blamed low crude oil production on vandalism of oil pipelines which led to theft.

The NBS report came on the heels of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Monthly Oil Market Report for January, that showed that Nigeria’s oil rig count had been on an upward trajectory in the last one year.

The country’s rig count went from nine recorded in the third quarter of last year to 13 as of this year’s January.

As of 2019, Nigeria’s rig count was 16. It dropped to 11 in 2020, and further decreased to seven as of the fourth quarter 2021. By first quarter 2022, it increased to eight, and then 10 by the second quarter 2022, and then 11 by July 2022, before dropping to nine as of Q3/2022. It had however been on a consistent rise since the fourth quarter of last year.

A check on the country’s crude oil production also showed that output was gradually increasing, going from 900, 000 barrels per day as of Q3/2022, to 1.1mb/d in Q4/2022, 1.2mb/d in December 2022, and 1.2mb/d this January, according to OPEC data quoting direct sources.

Kyari had during the official cutover ceremony for transforming NNPC to NNPCL held in Abuja last Friday, said the country was on its way to producing 1.8mb/d of crude oil as assigned by OPEC.

The country had for the past two years, failed to meet up with OPEC’s production quotas due to vandalism of the country’s pipelines and oil theft.

“As of yesterday, we had crossed 1.6 million barrels per day, this is not rocket science. We have a line of sight to recover to the quota level of 1.8 million barrels per day. I know it is not far away, probably two to three months maximum, but we will be there and that will bring back partners to invest, return the confidence of our investors and ultimately bring back growth”, Kyari said.

“The FATF and FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) continue to work with the jurisdictions below as they report on the progress achieved in addressing their strategic deficiencies.

“The FATF calls on these jurisdictions to complete their action plans expeditiously and within the agreed timeframes.

“The FATF welcomes their commitment and will closely monitor their progress. The FATF does not call for the application of enhanced due diligence measures to be applied to these jurisdictions.”

For the “illegal, unprovoked and unjustified full-scale military invasion of Ukraine”, since February 24, 2022, the FATF also suspended the membership of Russia.

“The Russian Federation’s continuing and intensifying war of aggression against Ukraine runs counter to FATF’s principles of promoting security, safety and the integrity of the global financial system and the commitment to international cooperation and mutual respect upon which FATF Members have agreed to implement and support the FATF Standards,” it said.

“As a result, the FATF Plenary has today suspended the membership of the Russian Federation.”

L-R: Former Ghananian President, John Mahama, Former Gambia Vice President, Fatoumaya Tambajang and Former Burkina Faso Prime Minister / Former ECOWAS President, Kadre Ouedraogo, during the West African Elders Forum media briefing on the Nigeria’s 2023 general election, held on Friday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

FG identifies new fields for 681,000bpd oil production

From Abubakar Y Ojimaojo ABUJA

The Federal Government has identified new oil fields capable of delivering about 681,000 barrels of crude oil per day and 1.52 billion standard cubic feet of gas daily.

It disclosed this in a new document put together by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission titled “Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Sector: Value Optimisation, Energy Transition and Regulatory Perspectives.”

In the document, obtained by our correspondent in Abuja, the Chief Executive of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, explained that incremental volumes of crude were expected from new wells and well re-entry.

He said, “We have also completed the 2020 Marginal Field Bid Round and issued 50 Petroleum Prospecting Licenses to deserving awardees. It is expected that with the existing discoveries in the awarded fields, an early Field Development Plan would be pursued by the awardees leading to incremental oil and gas production.

“The commission is facilitating timely approvals for expedited re-entry and early production. The estimated incremental production from the awarded fields is approximately 58,000bpd and 87mmscf/d.

“In the short/medium term, we expect an estimated incremental volume of 461,000bpd and 565mmscf/d from new wells and well re-entry. In the long term, we expect an estimated incremental volume of 162,000bpd and 868mmscf/d from FDPs, which have been approved and are at various stages of execution.”

Komolafe further noted that the implementation of Host Community Provisions under Section 235 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 saddled the commission with the responsibility of ensuring conducive and peaceful relationships among stakeholders within the host communities.

This, he said, would be done through the implementation of the Host Communities Development Trust.

“The commission, in collaboration with the relevant stakeholders, has developed templates and gazetted regulations, which include that of the Host Community Development Trust.

“The essence of the HCDT is to integrate oil-bearing communities into the value chain and effectively cater for the development needs of impacted communities, thus positively curbing restiveness in such communities and offering an enabling environment for operators to thrive.

“This is expected to guarantee seamless operation, boost investor confidence, and provide an enabling environment for sustainable development of the country’s hydrocarbon resources,” Komolafe stated.

He added that the NUPRC was happy to disclose that over 60 Host Community Development Trusts had been approved by the commission.

“This is indeed a milestone in the implementation of the PIA, 2021,” he stated.

The Federal Government and its agencies have been making efforts to grow the country’s crude oil output in a bid to meet the 1.8 million barrels per day quota approved for Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

On Monday, for instance, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said the country’s oil production had increased to 1.6 million barrels per day, a few million short of the 1.8mbpd quota allocated to Nigeria by OPEC.

NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive, Mele Kyari, who revealed this at a meeting of industry stakeholders in Abuja, also stated that the rectangular security approach ensured the recovery of production from what it was in July 2022 to the current 1.67 million barrels per day.

Kyari, who was represented by the Head of Upstream Investment, NNPCL, Bala Wunti, at the event, said the implementation of the Detect, Deter, Destroy and Recover policy had paid off.

Other strategies that were deployed include the establishment of the Central Command and Control Centre for effective monitoring and coordination, the launch of the Whistle-Blowers Portal and the Crude Oil Validation Portal, as well as the deployment of surveillance tools in the fight against oil theft and vandalism.