Business

BBC earns £300,000 from Saudi oil firm despite net-zero pledge

BBC earns £300,000 from Saudi oil firm despite net-zero pledge

The BBC received about £300,000 in advertising revenue last year from Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, Aramco, despite BBC director general Tim Davie calling on every arm of the broadcaster to “dial up the focus on sustainability” and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.

Although the BBC does not carry advertising in the UK, much of its overseas output is supported by commercials.

Big fossil fuel companies have spent approximately $660,000 (£483,000) with the BBC on US-focused digital adverts since 2018, according to projections produced by the advertising data firm MediaRadar. Most of this came from the national Saudi oil company – although BP, Exelon and Phillips 66 are among the other fossil fuel business estimated to have spent five-figure sums advertising on the BBC’s digital outlets.

The real figure for how much the BBC is making from large fossil fuel companies could be much higher when other forms of advertising are taken into account.

Last month the BBC said it would be trying to eliminate “fossil fuel usage across its operations” as part of a “deep decarbonisation” strategy to hit net zero by 2030, but the corporation has been accepting money from companies that take oil and gas out of the ground.

“We have clear guidelines around advertising which are publicly available,” said a BBC spokesperson. “We take care with all of our advertising to ensure it is not misleading.”

Davie has emphasised the need to increase the corporation’s commercial revenues, including from outside the UK, to make up for the real-terms cuts to the licence fee income imposed by the British government.

Despite continuing to accept money from big fossil fuel companies, the BBC is among the online publishers who have also benefited from the increase in advertising around environment-related material in recent weeks, as corporations rush to promote their green credentials before the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.

The BBC has struck deals with the international investment arm of the Scottish government to make a series of programmes on how to reduce carbon in the buildup to Cop26. There is also BBC material sponsored by US supermarket giant Walmart “looking at nine countries’ progress on climate since signing the Paris Agreement”, as well as episodes of a show called Follow the Food: The Carbon Challenge about food security, sponsored by Corteva Agriscience.

Using the same estimates from MediaRadar for US-focused digital advertising bought by big fossil fuel companies, the Washington Post has taken $12.8m since 2016, Politico took $9.5m, CNN took $6.6m, and the New York Times took $4.5m.

The Washington Post, Politico and CNN did not respond to a request for comment.

The New York Times repeated its commitment to journalism covering the climate crisis, but does not have a policy against accepting ad money beyond their general guidelines: “All advertising is clearly labeled, entirely separate from our newsroom and plays an important role in helping to fund our independent journalism and the continued expansion of our coverage on the biggest stories of our time, including climate change, across a breadth of analysis and formats.”

Business

Nigeria begins sales of Crude Oil in Naira

Nigeria has officially commenced the sale of crude oil and refined petroleum products in Naira.

This milestone, announced by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, marks a new chapter in the nation’s economic strategy.

Effective from October 1, 2024, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) directive to trade crude oil and petroleum products in Naira was implemented following a key meeting of the Implementation Committee.

The meeting included prominent stakeholders, such as the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), the Special Advisers to the President on Revenue and Energy, executives from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), and top representatives of the Dangote Group. The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC and its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) were also in attendance, underscoring the initiative’s national significance.

The strategic policy, championed by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration, is expected to reshape Nigeria’s economy.

By denominating oil sales in Naira, the country aims to bolster economic growth, enhance stability, and promote self-sufficiency.

The move is seen as a crucial step toward reducing dependency on foreign currencies, positioning Nigeria for long-term success amidst the ever-changing dynamics of global markets.

Business

Electricity Tariff hike: Nigeria’s discos collect N887bn as revenue

Revenue of electricity distribution companies in Nigeria increased to N887.86 billion in the first seven months of 2024 amid an electricity tariff hike.

This is according to the analysis of Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission data on Discos’ commercial performance for the seven months of 2024.

The data showed that out of N1.14 trillion electricity bill issued by Discos to customers, the companies recorded 79.7 percent collection efficiency which stood at N887.86bn in the period under review.

A breakdown of the bill collection by Discos from January to July 2024 includes N95bn, N97bn, N100.44bn, N142.92bn, N191.65bn, N150.86bn and N162.14bn which amounted to N887.86 billion.

Further analysis showed that during the corresponding period in 2023, the companies issued bills totaling N797.18 billion, while they managed to collect N604.15 billion.

This surge in revenue collection is not unconnected to the hike in electricity tariff in April from N66 per kilowatt-hour to N225.

Recall that amid the call for the electricity tariff hike reversal, it was reviewed downward to 206.68 per kilowatt-hour, but was reviewed upward to N209 per kilowatt-hour thereafter.

Though the electricity tariff hike was introduced for customers getting at least 20 hours of power supply, Nigerians have lamented the burden occasioned by the tariff.

The energy cost pain has been exacerbated as Discos migrate more consumers to Band A feeders.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, however, insisted that Nigeria’s electricity tariff is among the cheapest within African countries.

Business

FG unveils seven CNG conversion centres in Ekiti

The Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative (P-CNGi) has unveiled seven centres where commercial transporters can convert their petrol to CNG-powered vehicles in Ekiti.

The Program Director of P-CNGi, Michael Oluwagbemi who spoke during the official unveiling of the centres and handing over of 15 CNG-powered buses to government in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital at the weekend, urged commercial transporters in the state to visit the centers to convert their vehicle free of charge.

He explained that the CNG initiative is cheaper, more convenient, and safer compared to petrol, noting that the administration of President Bola Tinubu is determined to energize the economy through the initiative which he said would create jobs and enhance sustainable development.

Oluwagbemi disclosed that the administration is targeting one million vehicle conversions to CNG by 2027, saying that no fewer than 125 centres have been opened across the country.

He listed the new centres in Ekiti state to include, Femoyo centres, Beijing Universal Limited, ABJ oil and gas, Bovas Company, and NADDC training center in the state capital.

The program director said that the 15 buses donated would be deployed for inter and intra-state transportation towards achieving about 40 percent reduction in the transportation cost and ultimately reduced hike in food items.

According to him, ” the government of President Bola Tinubu through the presidential CNG initiative is committed to ensuring they(transporters) use this for their vehicles because it is cheaper, cleaner and more importantly it is safer and more reliable.

” This is a compressed natural gas, it is not the same you use in your kitchen to cook. It is lighter and stored in a bulletproof container. It is also the fact it is produced in Nigeria and what the president said is that instead of us to continue to import poverty and export jobs. He said will need to look inward and use what God has given us.

” It is about job creation, it is about reducing the cost of transportation and ensuring economic development by moving away from subsidy payment where we were making the few richer.

” This is a more sensible and reliable path for Nigeria in terms of our energy sector, and that is what the president is doing with this initiative.”

Speaking, the state governor, Biodun Oyebanji commended the federal government for the initiative, adding that the state would support the programme towards ensuring that more vehicle owners embrace the CNG conversion.

The governor who was represented by the commissioner for Infrastructure and Public Utilities, Professor Mobolaji Aluko explained that the CNG conversion initiative would help in generating employment opportunities and economic development in line with his shared prosperity agenda for the state.

The state chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers(NURTW) Joseph Falope and his counterpart in Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria(RTEAN) Sunday Adeola, expressed delight over the initiative, assuring the government that members of their respective unions would take their vehicles for conversion to CNG.

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Joseph Osanipin said the council has trained no fewer than 45 technicians across the state on how to convert petrol vehicles to CNG-powered vehicles.