The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has on Monday disclosed that the Federal Government plans to commence oil production in the Northeast. “I have said it a few times that we have found oil in the northeast and we have started drilling activities in the Lake Chad Basin,” he said. “I don’t know how the discovery of oil in the area will impact all the issues there but on our side, we believe that in a very short time, we will start production.” Speaking in an interview on Channels Television, the minister expressed dismay over the negative impact the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on the world, including the oil and gas industry.

The Central Bank has ordered banks and other financial institutions to identify persons and entities operating cryptocurrency exchanges and close all such accounts. It stated that dealing with cryptocurrencies and facilitating payments through them is illegal in the country. This was disclosed in a circular titled ‘Letter to all Deposit Money Banks, non-bank financial institutions and other financial institutions’ Friday.

Oil price in the world market had yesterday appreciated above $58.17 having all Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members accepted to cut their output. Accordingly, the price of Brent crude rose to $58.17 per barrel, making up to $2 above the previous day's price.

Member States of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have reappointed Gilbert Houngbo as President for a second term on Wednesday, at its annual Governing Council meeting. According to the United Nation, UN’s body this was a strong show of support and recognition for the leader who has successfully showcased the significance of long-term rural development as a key solution to the global problems the world is facing at present. IFAD in a statement revealed that even with a more ambitious agenda at the heart of his second mandate, and a particular focus on technological solutions, innovative financing models, and new private-sector partnerships, IFAD would continue tackling hunger and poverty and address the upsetting impacts of climate change, youth unemployment and most recently COVID-19, leading on the ground to guarantee no one is left behind.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has yesterday applauded the effort of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over its directive banning the use of cryptocurrency transactions in the country. However, the IMF warned the federal government against increasing tax in its quest to generate more revenue, saying the global economy is in distress and therefore is not the right time.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has dispelled rumours going around that the Federal Government is planning to increase the pump price of petrol. The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru, on Tuesday, clarified the report and allayed the fears of the public stressing that NNPC has not increased its ex-depot price. He said he is certain that NNPC is not likely to increase its ex-depot price in February. Speaking further he disclosed that NNPC has a stock of petrol that can last for over forty days. Obateru urged the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to clamp down on the marketers engaging in hoarding petrol.

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has yesterday record another daily record of 574 cases of the dreaded coronavirus, the lowest for the second time since the beginning of the second wave, first was on Sunday, the previous day.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has reacted to the recent Ban on cryptocurrency purchase and trading by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN which placed restrictions on chryptocurrency transactions in the country. Since the emergence of the CBN decision, which entails that any person or entity who is receiving cryptocurrency as payment in his bank account and withdraws it as cash cannot do that again, a lot of Nigerians have reacted to it on several social media platforms. Atiku while reacting to the development on his Twitter page on February 6, said “We Need To Open Up Our Economy, Not Close It.” “The number one challenge facing Nigeria is youth unemployment. In fact, it is not a challenge, it is an emergency. It affects our economy and is exacerbating insecurity in the nation.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declined to shortlist Nigeria for the limited Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines being expected to be delivered to African countries this month. This is because of the country’s failure to meet the standard requirement of being able to store the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius. According to WHO only four countries out of 13 African countries (Nigeria inclusive) that expressed interest and submitted proposals will be receiving the limited 320,000 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. The four countries are – Cape Verde, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tunisia. The United Nations Agency, while urging the other countries not shortlisted for the vaccines to fine-tune their planning for covid-19 immunization campaigns, stressed that it cannot afford to waste a single dose of these vaccines.