New Govt policy to facilitate cultivation of 2.7mln hectares of rice
According to the recently launched National Rice Development Strategy II (NRDS II) Nigeria is aiming at increasing the rice area under irrigation from less than 1 million hectares to 2.7 million hectares, particularly areas under supplementary water supply to attain 2 cropping per year. The document noted that cultivable land in the country is estimated at 4.234 million hectares, made up of rain-fed uplands at 30 percent, rain-fed lowland at 52 percent, irrigated lowlands at 17 percent and mangrove at 1 percent. The new Strategy also targets to build the capacity of 84,000 extension agents and 12 million farmers on Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) and Sustainable Rice Production (SRP).
Oman crude oil production rises 10pc
The Sultanate of Oman’s production of crude oil and condensate oil increased by 10 percent until the end of November 2022, to reach 355.47 million barrels, compared to the same period in 2021, which amounted to about 323.17 million barrels, according to the data issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). Crude oil production alone increased by 13.5 percent, amounting to 283.53 million barrels, while oil condensate production decreased by 2 percent until the end of last November compared to the same period in 2021. According to the data, the average price of Omani crude oil increased by 52.7 percent until the end of November 2022, to reach $95.8 per barrel, compared to $62.77 per barrel until the end of November 2021.
Lower 48 producing more oil, natural gas from fewer wells
An Increasingly small percentage of oil and natural gas wells is supplying the majority of U.S. production, according to a new report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) based on Enverus data. The trend is because of the proliferation of horizontal wells combined with hydraulic fracturing in the Lower 48, researchers said. “Oil and natural gas wells drilled horizontally through hydrocarbon-bearing formations are among the most productive wells in the United States,” researchers said. They added, “Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have greatly increased both oil and natural gas production rates of onshore wells in the United States.” The total number of producing wells in the United States declined by about 11.1 percent from a peak of more than 1,031,183 wells in 2014 to about 916,934 wells in 2021, EIA researchers said.
Australia expecting another record wheat crop
Australia is forecast to produce yet another record wheat crop in the 2022-23 marketing year, according to a report from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES).
Wheat production is forecast to reach a record of 36.6 million tonnes, a 1 percent increase over the previous record set last year. If realized, it would be the third straight bumper crop following several years of drought when production dipped below 18 million tonnes. Barley production is forecast to reach 13.4 million tonnes, the fourth largest on record. Canola production is forecast to also reach a new record at 7.3 million tonnes, a 4 percent improvement over the previous record set last year.
Edible oil’s rocky year
One of the biggest food imports for Pakistan has historically been palm oil. Infact, Pakistan is the 4th largest importer of Palm oil and oilseeds like soyabean etc. And not just Pakistan. Palm crude is one of the cheapest oils when it comes to cooking food in most of the countries. The year 2022 was not a walk in the park for both the producers and the consumers of palm oil. The year saw historic highs and record lows in the palm oil market causing volatility and at times losses as well. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, Pakistan imported Palm and Soybean oil in excess of $3.3 billion this year. This is a 33 percent increase as opposed to the FY21. Despite import restrictions in place. Pakistan has already imported a considerably larger amount of palm and soybean oil between Jul-Nov in FY23, than it did in FY22.
Iran plans $15bn investment to boost copper production
Iran is looking to spend $15bn to grow its copper production over the next five years, reported Press TV citing Iranian Minister of Industry, Mining and Trade Reza Fatemi-Amin. The proposed investment is expected to boost the metal’s exports from the country from the existing $1.7bn to more than $10bn. Iran aims to increase its annual copper cathode production capacity from the current 280,000t to more than one million tonnes (Mt). Fatemi-Amin said was quoted by the news agency as saying: “In order to achieve this goal, the programme to increase production by 750,000t started this summer, which requires $15bn of investment, he said, adding the projects will gradually come on stream by the Iranian year of 1406.
India’s coal production rises 16pc
The Country’s coal production increased 16 percent to 607.97 million tonnes in the April-December period of the ongoing fiscal. India’s coal output was at 522.34 million tonnes in the year-ago period. “India’s coal production increased impressively by 16.39 percent to 607.97 MT during Apr-Dec’22 as compared to 522.34 MT produced during the same period of FY 22,” the Ministry of Coal said in a statement. State-run Coal India Ltd (CIL) reported coal production of 479.05 MT up to December of FY 23 as compared to 413.63 MT during the same period of FY 22, representing an increase of 15.82 percent. To augment coal production capacity, the government has put 141 new coal blocks for commercial mines auction and has been engaging regularly with various coal companies in the country and monitoring their production, the coal ministry said in a statement. The all-round efforts made to enhance the domestic coal output and despatch have shown extremely good results. India is the world’s third largest energy consuming nation and the demand for electricity grows by about 4.7 percent annually.