Economy
Brent, WTI Slump on Weaker Demand in China, US
By Adedapo Adesanya
The prices of Brent crude futures and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went down by about 1 per cent on Monday after six straight weekly gains.
The decline posted by the crude oil benchmarks occurred as investors braced for weaker demand from China and the United States, the world’s two biggest economies.
Brent shed 90 cents or 1.04 per cent to trade at $85.34 a barrel and WTI depreciated by 88 cents or 1.06 per cent to quote at $81.94 a barrel.
In China, lower-than-expected demand put a lid on prices after the country’s economy had been expected to rebound due to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Asian nation has registered some lacklustre economic data in recent weeks, with factory gate prices falling at the fastest pace in more than seven years in June, according to recent figures.
Chinese economic data this week will be in focus as the market seeks to gauge the country’s appetite for more stimulus measures to support the world’s second-largest economy.
In the US, the summer driving season is winding down after optimism was running high with rising retail prices at the beginning of the summer driving season, leading to declines in inventories and higher refinery runs.
The natural end to the peak of the summer driving season is now weighing on the market, with lower demand for gasoline (petrol) set to lead to lower demand for crude oil.
Investors will also monitor the US consumer price index reading on Thursday for clues on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy path.
In June, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in its medium-term oil market report that global oil demand would rise by 6 per cent between 2022 and 2028, reaching 105.7 million barrels per day.
However, the IEA also noted that “despite this cumulative increase, annual demand growth is expected to shrivel from 2.4 mb/d this year to just 0.4 mb/d in 2028, putting a peak in demand in sight.”
A prolonged end to the oil price rally should balance out fears of tighter supply due to Saudi Arabia’s oil output restrictions and news that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production dropped by more than 1 million barrels per day in July.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, last week extended its production cut to the end of September and said more could follow.
In line with production cuts, Saudi Aramco on Saturday raised the official selling prices for most grades it sells to Asia for a third month in September.
Russia added to the supply tightness with an announcement it will cut oil exports by 300,000 barrels per day in September.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
