Economy
Crude Oil Slides on US Output Rise, Weak Chinese Demand
By Adedapo Adesanya
Prices of the crude oil grades fell on Monday after United States production rose amid weaker economic data out of China, with the Brent dropping 94 cents or 0.98 per cent to sell at $94.83 a barrel and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declining by $1.37 or 1.6 per cent to $86.53 a barrel.
Oil output in the United States climbed to nearly 12 million barrels per day in August, the highest since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, monthly government data showed.
Overall US output peaked at 13 million bpd in late 2019 and has not returned to that level since the pandemic started as rigs have been shut in and as costs for equipment and labour increased rapidly.
Moves by President Joe Biden on oil and gas companies, including investing some of their record profits in lowering costs for American families, also weakened prices.
It was reported that he would call on Congress to consider requiring oil companies to pay tax penalties and face other restrictions, the official said. The President has previously pushed oil companies to raise production rather than use profits for share buybacks and dividends.
The administration has also relied on releasing supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to ease a supply crunch. About 1.9 million barrels were released from the SPR last week as part of the government’s plan to release 180 million barrels.
Meanwhile, factory activity in China, the world’s largest crude importer, fell unexpectedly in October, weighed down by softening global demand and strict COVID-19 restrictions that hit production.
Strict COVID-19 curbs in China have hit economic and business activity, curtailing oil demand. China’s crude oil imports for the first three quarters of the year fell 4.3 per cent yearly for the first annual decline since at least 2014.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Monday raised its forecast for medium and long-term oil demand and said $12.1 trillion of investment is needed to meet this demand despite the energy transition.
In its report, the group said world oil demand will reach 103 million barrels per day in 2023, up 2.7 million bpd from 2022. The 2023 total demand is up 1.4 million bpd from last year’s prediction.
OPEC also raised its demand forecasts for the medium term to 2027, saying the figure is up by almost 2 million bpd by the end of the period from last year.
Still, the cartel is upbeat about its later prospects, seeing its market share rising. US tight crude supply is seen peaking after the late 2020s, rather than around 2030 last year.
“Oil is expected to remain the number one fuel in the global primary energy mix,” the report said.
The group is expected to hold its next meeting in Vienna on December 4, one day before an agreement by the Group of Seven countries to cap Russian oil sales at an enforced low price is due to go into effect.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
