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Nigeria bullish about oil recovery
Efforts to restructure and boost investment appear to be working, but doubts remain about the plan to almost double crude production by 2030
Power play signals change in Nigeria
With a new board appointed to lead NNPC and moves by President Tinubu to exert control in the Delta region, there is renewed hope the country will be able to turn the corner and rebuild production to former peaks
Dangote must face energy security home truths
Nigeria’s mega-refinery is traversing the world in search of crude for the majority of its needs and may well export large swathes of its products
Hydrocarbon Processing Refining Databook 2025: Middle East & Africa
The Middle East is focusing on modernisation and expansion projects, while Africa is seeking to reduce its imports of refined products
Thinking small helps African LNG prospects
While large-scale planned LNG schemes in sub-Saharan Africa have faced fresh problems, FLNG projects are stepping into that space
Africa’s new breed of buyers eye production ramp-ups
Domestic companies in Nigeria and other African jurisdictions are buying assets from existing majors they view as more likely to deliver production upside under their stewardship
Untangling Dangote’s supply
The Nigerian mega-refinery has yet to reach its full product-producing potential
Nigeria’s first FLNG project faces supply problem
The lack of a gas supply contract means the development is likely to face further delays
African divestment deals are back in the frame
After some delay, the much-heralded sale of oil and gas companies’ mature upstream assets in sub-Saharan Africa has gained fresh momentum, with a clutch of deals reaching completion
Letter on Africa: New African refineries could help break old dependencies
A profound shift is occurring in the global refining sector, one which might help redefine Africa’s place in worldwide trade networks
NNPC’s latest accounts make for grim reading
Nigeria NNPC
Ben Payton
21 September 2022
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Subsidies push Nigeria to the brink

Controversial payments have turned high oil prices into a curse

Nigeria’s status as a major oil producer means it should be enjoying a boom. Instead, 2022 has turned into a year of economic crisis. GDP growth is lagging the African average, inflation has soared to the highest level in 17 years and state-owned NNPC has not contributed a single naira to the government’s coffers. This paradoxical situation for a significant producer and exporter of oil stems from the fact that Nigeria has almost no domestic refining capacity. Imports of refined petroleum products are subsidised via NNPC—meaning consumers pay less than half the price they would be charged if subsidies were removed. The massive cost of subsidising fuel imports comes at a time when oil product

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