Five things to know to start your Thursday

IPMAN insists on more than N165/litre for PMS

Osatuyi Mike, the Chief National Operations Controller of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), insists on selling above the official pump price of N165 for petrol.

While speaking in a live interview with Arise TV, Mike said, “For the past six months now, no single product has been given to Mosimi Depot, Ibadan Depot, Ore Depot, and the other depots.” Yes, as they said, because of the vandals, because if they pump 10 million litres, they can hardly get 6 million litres to the selling point. ”

“However, there is a way in which they have been doing it before; they give IPMAN members fuel in the depot in Aba and we go there to lift at an artificial price, but that system has been cancelled for years. But if they can go back to the drawing board again and make IPMAN member to lift the product at N114.17, we will comply with N165 per litre, but if it’s going to be the current system of selling, we guarantee you that we won’t be able to sell at that current price of N165 per litre. ” he concluded.

Read also: Anxiety as fuel scarcity lingers in Abuja

Buhari arrives Kigali, Rwanda for CHOGM 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari arrived in Kigali, Rwanda yesterday to attend the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM, which has been scheduled to take place from June 20 to 26, 2022.

The President was accompanied by the National Security Adviser, Maj-Gen Babagana Monguno (rtd), the Director-General, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufa’i Abubakar, the Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NidCOM), Abike Dabiri-Eruwa and some selected members of the private and public sectors.

Earlier yesterday, Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, had said that Buhari was expected to join other leaders to participate in discussions to advance the progress of member countries amid the several overwhelming global challenges.

The president is expected to deliver keynote speeches at the “High-Level Session of Malaria and Neglected Tropical Diseases Summit and participate in an Inter-generational Dialogue for Youth”.

The President is expected to return to the country on Sunday, June 26, 2022.

The CHOGM, which represents over 54 independent countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific, will offer member countries a great opportunity to propose alternative workable solutions to common challenges such as the current food and energy price crisis.

The theme for this year’s CHOGM is ‘Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming,’ and the leaders of the governments of member countries are expected to reaffirm their commitment to abiding by the Commonwealth Charter. A charter that focuses on human rights, the rule of law, economic growth, and sustainable development.

Crude oil falls 3% on recession fears

Fears of interest rate hikes by the Jerome Powell-led US Federal Reserve drove WTI crude futures to a three-month low of $106 per barrel, down 3% from their Wednesday position.

The price also reacted to fears of slowing demand from the US and some other major economies.

According to trading economics, during Powell’s interview with the US Senate banking committee on Wednesday, he raised interest rates, which may cause fear of a recession in the US, and that avoiding it mostly depends on factors beyond Fed control.

Meanwhile, President Biden appealed to Congress to temporarily suspend the federal gas tax to give Americans some respite from surging gasoline costs.

Senate seeks $200m refund from Shell over joint venture breach

The Nigerian Senate has constituted an ad-hoc committee to investigate Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) over an alleged non-compliance with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and breach of the Joint Venture Agreement entered into with the Federal Government.

The ad-hoc committee was on Wednesday mandated to probe the Oil Mining Lease granted to SPDC between 1959 to 1989, and 1989 to 2019 under the SPDC/NNPC Joint Venture agreement.

The committee constituted by the Senate president, Ahmad Lawan, has Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi as its chairman.

Other senators appointed as members of the panel include George Thompson Sekibo, Abdullahi Yahaya, Bassey Albert Akpan, Olamilekan Solomon Adeola, Smart Adeyemi and Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed.

The Senate consequently demanded a refund of $200 million or any amount short of what was paid by SPDC, including penalties and interests under the said lease agreements to the coffers of the Federal Government.

Click to read more:Senate seeks $200m refund from Shell over joint venture breach

Wall Street ends lower after Powell remarks

The major US stock indexes fell lower than their previous day’s close following the reaction as expected by traders to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s statement about bringing inflation down.

The indexes’ response was also a product of the trading pressure from energy stocks.

Thus, the S & P 500 futures and the Dow Jones futures fell by 0.01 percent each, while the Nasdaq Composite dipped by 0.08 percent.

Fears of how the Fed was going to handle the inflation crisis earlier dragged the indexes into a much deeper losing position. It was only after a positive statement from Powell during his Senate committee hearing that the losses were reduced.

Powell has said that the “Fed” is very much committed to bringing down inflation.

Meanwhile, the energy sector (.SPNY), which has been a strong performer this year, fell 4.2% as oil prices slid. Declines in Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), Chevron (CVX.N) and Conocophillips (COP.N) were the biggest individual drags on the S&P 500,” Reuters reported.