Business

White Dove’s Pioneering Efforts in Alternative Crude Evacuation, A Differentiating Factor – CEO

Published

3 years ago

July 20, 2022

White Dove Shipping Company Limited has disclosed that its pioneering efforts in Alternative Crude Evacuation, which is mitigating crude theft and other losses arising from pipeline vandalism, has positioned it as the preferred local shipping operator for oil and gas companies in the country.

The company stated that despite the sector being capital intensive, it remained focused on its five-year strategic growth plan which would see it increase capacity from evacuating 50,000 bpd to 150,000 bpd.

Chiemezie Ejinima, the Chief Executive Officer of the company disclosed this in a virtual media chat with select maritime and energy reporters, where he stated that it intended to effectively cater to the crude evacuation needs of oil & gas players in the country.

He asserted that White Dove was able to create employment for Nigerians by seeing a subset of the shipping sector – crude evacuation – that wasn’t active and made it active, thus filling the gap in the value chain which was why it has over 90 percent local workers with plans to continue to grow the capacity of more local seafarers and maritime workers.

He said, “Our vessels are manned by Nigerians and we partner with the Nigeria Maritime Academy, Seafarers and other players to boost local expertise and capacity as we want to grow our local content to 100 percent in the nearest future’’.

He described the shipping sector as an important commercial sector, capable of employing thousands of Nigerians.

Ejinima explained that White Dove chose to focus on crude evacuation due to its huge economic potentials for the country, plus the need to make oil & gas companies get value for their investments, given that with the alternative crude evacuation, oil companies are assured of retaining their crude volumes from point of production to exportation.

“This will also boost the revenue accruable to the government as more royalties and taxes will be paid,” he added.

According to him, the huge capital intensive nature of the sector, characterized by high acquisition and operating costs, remains one of the major reasons why foreign shipping companies still dominate, but as supportive banks, provide access to funding, more local players can begin to thrive in the sector.

‘’White Dove came on board as a one-stop-shop due to the gap noticed in the traditional evacuation of crude oil through pipelines. The age and accessibility of pipelines for crude transportation led to breaches and vandalism, thus creating the need for an alternative evacuation system through barges tankers and other vessels.

‘’We came in to ensure proper crude evacuation from the point of production to the point of export and our various vessels and transportation mode help to ensure that oil producers can be certain about the quantity of their products end-to-end’’ he added.

Business

JUST IN: Dangote Refinery Hikes Petrol Ex-depot Price

Published

3 hours ago

June 20, 2025

Editor

Nigerians may soon pay more for petrol as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on Friday increased its ex-depot price for Premium Motor Spirit to N880 per litre, raising fresh concerns over fuel affordability and price volatility in the downstream sector.

Checks on petroleumprice.ng, a platform tracking daily product prices, and a Pro Forma Invoice seen by The PUNCH confirmed the hike, representing a N55 increase from the previous rate of N825 per litre.

The increment would ripple across the entire fuel distribution chain, likely pushing pump prices above N900/litre in some parts of the country, especially in areas far from the distribution hubs.

The hike comes despite global crude prices falling. Brent crude dipped by 3.02% to $76.47, WTI fell to $74.93, and Murban dropped to $76.97 on Friday. The decline in benchmarks offers little relief due to persistent fears of sudden supply disruptions.

The refinery has increased its reliance on imported U.S. crude and operational costs amid exchange rate instability, which adds to its pricing pressure.

On Thursday, the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said his 650,000-barrel capacity refinery is “increasingly” relying on the United States for crude oil.

This came as findings showed that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery is projected to import a total of 17.65 million barrels of crude oil between April and July 2025, beginning with about 3.65 million barrels already delivered in the past two months, amid ongoing allocations under the Federal Government’s naira-for-crude policy.

Dangote informed the Technical Committee of the One-Stop Shop for the sale of crude and refined products in naira initiative that the refinery was still battling crude shortages, which had led it to resort to imports from the United States.

On Monday, the president of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Festus Osifo, accused oil marketers of exploiting Nigerians through inflated petrol prices, insisting that the current pump price of PMS should range between N700 and N750 per litre.

He criticised the disparity between falling global crude oil prices and the stagnant retail price of petrol in Nigeria.

“If you go online and check the PLAT cost per cubic metre of PMS, convert that to litres and then to our Naira, you will see that with crude at around $60 per barrel, petrol should be retailing between N700 and N750 per litre.”

He asserted that if Nigerians bear the brunt of higher fuel costs, they should be allowed to enjoy the benefit of low pricing.

His forecast of increased costs now appears spot on, considering the latest developments.

Marketers are already adjusting. Depot owners and fuel distributors in Lagos and other cities anticipate a domino effect, with new price bands expected to follow Dangote’s lead.

Many had held back pricing decisions since Tuesday, when the refinery halted sales and withheld fresh PFIs. The delay fueled speculation, allowing opportunistic price hikes across various depots.

Business

Naira Appreciates At Official Market

Published

4 weeks ago

May 24, 2025

Editor

The Naira, which has seen steady appreciation against the Dollar all week, closed stronger on Friday, trading at ₦1,580.44 in the official forex market.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s website show the Naira gained ₦4.51k against the Dollar on Friday alone.

This marks a 0.28 per cent appreciation from Thursday’s closing rate of ₦1,584.95 in the official foreign exchange window.

The local currency maintained consistent strength throughout the week, recording gains daily.

On Monday, May 19, it traded at ₦1,598.68; on Tuesday, at ₦1,590.45; and on Wednesday, at ₦1,584.49.

These gains suggest increased investor confidence and improved forex supply, contributing to the naira’s performance.

Meanwhile, the CBN, at its 300th Monetary Policy Committee meeting held Monday and Tuesday, retained the Monetary Policy Rate at 27.5 per cent.

Business

BREAKING: Again, Dangote Refinery Cuts Petrol Price

Published

4 weeks ago

May 22, 2025

Editor

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced a nationwide reduction in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, with new prices now ranging between ₦875 and ₦905 per litre, depending on location.

The ₦15 per litre cut applies across all regions and partner fuel stations, and was confirmed via an official announcement posted on Dangote Refinery’s social media channels on Thursday.

Major marketers participating in the new pricing regime include MRS, Ardova, Heyden, Optima Energy, Techno Oil, and Hyde Energy — partners in the distribution of Dangote-refined products.

Under the previous pricing structure, Lagos residents paid ₦890 per litre, while prices reached ₦920 in the North-East and South-South regions. With the latest adjustment, Lagos now pays ₦875 per litre, while the North-East and South-South will see prices drop to ₦905.

A regional breakdown of the revised prices is as follows: Lagos: ₦875, South-West: ₦885, North-West & Central: ₦895, North-East & South-South: ₦905 and South-East: ₦905.

In its announcement, Dangote Refinery encouraged consumers to purchase fuel only from authorised partner stations and urged the public to report any cases of non-compliance via its official hotlines: +234 707 470 2099 and +234 707 470 2100.

“Our quality petrol and diesel are refined for better engine performance and are environmentally friendly,” the company said.