BUSINESS ROUNDUP: NNPC sacks Eroton as oilfield operator; Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse crashes stablecoin; other stories

Hello, and welcome to the Business Roundup this week. Here, we bring you highlights of events that happened during the week -from the capital market to the mainstream business activities, while not forgetting the tech/economy build up.

Here are the Headlines:

· Nigeria makes N21trn from crude oil sales

· NNPC sacks Eroton as operator of oilfield, OML 18

· MTN Nigeria raises N125bn credit via commercial paper

· Trouble for Seplat, as court bars Roger Brown from CEO duties

Summary:

The impact of Silicon Valley Bank’s liquidation has spread into the cryptocurrency industry as USD Coin (USDC), the second most valuable Stablecoin, hit an all-time low on Saturday.

USDC which is promoted by a United States firm, Circle, fell to $0.86 earlier on Saturday, below its usual $1 market price.

The dip also surpassed the previous all-time low of $0.97 posted in 2018.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria made N21 trillion from the sale of crude oil in 2022.

The oil sales recorded is a 46.41 percent increase when compared to N14.41 trillion in 2021.

NBS captured the sales in its fourth quarter foreign trade report. The crude oil export accounted for 78.74 percent of Nigeria’s N26.79 trillion total export in 2022.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Seplat Energy Plc, Roger Brown, has been barred by a federal high court in Lagos from performing his leadership responsibilities.

Presiding judge, Chukwuejekwu Aneke, ruled on Wednesday that Brown should be suspended from carrying out his duties, and restrained proxies, privies, and agents from acting on his behalf.

Aneke made the ruling after a motion ex parte was filed on Wednesday by applicants and petitioners; Moses Igbrude, Sarat Kudaisi, Kenneth Nnabike, Ajani Abidoye, and Robert Ibekwe.

Investors in the securities market have lent MTN Nigeria N125 billion, a corporate document has notified the company’s shareholders and the investing public.

On Tuesday, Ripples Nigeria obtained the document dated March 6 2023. It was learnt that the fund was raised through the issuance of commercial paper.

READ ALSO:BUSINESS ROUNDUP: Wema Bank targets N25bn from private investors; Lagos to take over NITEL/MTEL property; other stories

Commercial paper is an interest-bearing promissory note exchanged for capital. It is a credit instrument or a channel to obtain loans from the securities market without approaching the bank.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has taken over the oil mining lease (OML) 18 from the previous operator, Eroton Exploration and Production Limited.

NNPC Eighteen Operating Limited, a subsidiary of NNPC Limited, is now the new operator of OML 18 according to the NNPC spokesperson, Garba Muhammad, in a statement on Monday.

Prior to the takeover, both Eroton and NNPC owned stakes in OML 18 as a joint venture, with Eroton operating the oilfield. However, in the last two years, the oilfield has not been producing.

On NSE ROUNDUP: Conoil, Honeywell, others record losses, as stock market cap nosedives

Investment in the Nigerian bourse lost N14.61 billion or depreciated by -0.04 per cent on Friday, as the stock market capitalisation fell to N30.39 trillion, from N30.40 trillion.

The All-Share Index lost 27.63 basis points from the 55,822.14 ASI it closed Thursday’s trading session, to end today’s session with 55,794.51 ASI.

About 276.03 million shares were exchanged in 3,467 deals, worth N8.59 billion, on Friday.

The day before, 311.47 million shares exchanged investors’ hands in 3,627 deals, worth N3.09 billion.

NCR led the gainers’ list with a N0.26kobo rise in share price to move from N2.63kobo to N2.89kobo per share.

On the tech scene, Meta, TikTok, Andela, Google, Wattpad, Capital One, Lightspark, La Famiglia, Alerzo, Contanna, Over-C were some of the names that made the headlines in the tech ecosystem this week.

Elon Musk, during the week, apologised to a former employee of Twitter, Haraldur Thorleifsson, who was locked out of his account along with 200 others.

Also, Tabulio, a Nigerian startup, launched a social networking platform aimed at connecting African tech talent with global opportunities.

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