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‘Femi Asu and Dennis Naku
The Rivers State Government and Shell Petroleum Development Company are on a collision course over the ownership of Oil Mining Lease 11 and the Kidney Island in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
The state government said on Wednesday that it secured the enforcement of its interest in the acquisition of 45 per cent equity stake in OML 11 and Kidney Island.
But SPDC, in a swift reaction, dismissed the purported takeover of Kidney Island asset by the Rivers State Government, describing such move as premature, saying the matter “is still the subject of ongoing appeals at the Appeal Court in Port Harcourt.”
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Femi Asu, Ife Ogunfuwa and Temiloluwa O’Peters
The inability to meet market demand for cement coupled with low production volume by major cement companies in Nigeria have driven prices up by 35 per cent.
An investigation by The Punch indicated that a 50kg bag of cement, which cost between N2,400 and N2,600 as of September this year now sells for N3,500.
Stakeholders attributed the recent hike in price which started in October this year to insufficient supply of the product that resulted in artificial scarcity.
It was gathered that though the price of cement from the factories had not changed, retailers and distributors were profiting from the poor supply by increasing prices.
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’Femi Asu and Okechukwu Nnodim
Industrial customers and other entities receiving gas through the pipeline that was ruptured in Magboro, Ogun State, on Wednesday have seen supply cut off following the isolation of the affected section of the line.
One of our correspondents gathered that the Nigerian Gas Marketing Company, a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, was the operator of the pipeline, a distribution line supplying gas majorly to industries.
An NNPC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the isolation of the ruptured part of the pipeline had disrupted supply to customers, especially manufacturing companies, in Ogun State and beyond.
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’Femi Asu and Okechukwu Nnodim
Oil marketers, on Monday, failed to adjust the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) at their filling stations to reflect the N5 reduction announced by the Federal Government last week.
After meeting with officials of labour unions in Abuja last week, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, announced that all parties resolved that the price of petrol be reduced by N5 per litre with effect from December 14.
But filling stations visited by our correspondents in Lagos, Abuja, as well as parts of Niger and Nasarawa states on Monday were still selling the petrol at between N163 and N168 per litre.
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