Economy
Crude Oil Grades Get Boost From Disrupted Flows in Kazakhstan
By Adedapo Adesanya
The prices of the major crude oil grades strengthened on Monday after an attack on an oil pipeline pumping station in the Caspian Sea slowed flows from Kazakhstan.
During the session, Brent crude futures traded at $75.22 a barrel after chalking up 48 cents as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures closed at $71.39 per barrel after gaining 65 cents.
Drones struck the Kropotkinskaya pipeline pumping station in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, reducing oil flows from Kazakhstan to world markets by Western producers.
Ukrainian drones have repeatedly targeted Russian energy infrastructure in recent months, including in the Krasnodar region, but Monday’s attack would be the first on facilities involving Western oil majors.
The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) pipeline is the main export route for Kazakhstan, which supplies about 1 per cent of the world’s oil.
The company, however, noted that there were no injuries to the personnel at the pumping station and the response team managed to prevent a possible oil spill.
Kazakhstan’s oil exports via Russian infrastructure and passing through Russian territory are not subject to Western sanctions on Russia’s oil exports.
The drone attack comes as the US and Russia prepare to hold talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, without the participation of Ukraine.
This could ease sanctions and increase global supplies.
The price boost also came as the Dollar index dropped after weaker-than-expected US retail data for January, making crude less expensive for non-US buyers.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including Russia (OPEC+) said it does not plan to delay a series of monthly oil supply increases scheduled to begin in April.
Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing delegates, that OPEC+, was examining whether to postpone the supply increases, despite calls from US President Donald Trump to lower oil prices.
However, Reuters reported that the oil market may be able to absorb extra supply from April as a result of tougher sanctions and higher Chinese demand.
OPEC+ had said earlier this month that it would not change its current plan to begin gradually unwinding the cuts from April.
At the previous ministerial gathering in December, the alliance decided to delay the start of the easing of the 2.2 million barrels per day cuts to April 2025, from January 2025. The group also extended the period in which it would unwind all these cuts into the following year, until September 2026.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed flat against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, March 13 at N1,540.68/$1, though FX pressure remained.
It was the first time in the last few sessions that the value of the local currency did not depreciate in the official market against the greenback.
However, the domestic currency weakened against the British Pound Sterling at the spot market yesterday by N4.19 to close at N1,990.13/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,985.94/£1.
It was also a similar situation for the Euro at NAFEM, where the Nigerian currency lost N60 Kobo to quote at N1,676.08/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s value of N1,675.48/€1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira crumbled against the US Dollar in the black market during the trading day by N5 to sell for N1,590/$1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,590/$1.
Recent interventions have failed to ease pressure on the market with the country’s foreign reserves losing over $2 billion in the last month and projected to lose more as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sustains US Dollar sales to banks and debt servicing payments.
Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, tokens rose despite persisting US trade war fears which are dampening risk-asset trader appetites.
Market analysts noted that concerns about a President Donald Trump triggered tariff war and a slowing economy in the US, the world’s largest economy, is not offering a clear direction.
The February print of the US Producer Price Index (PPI) came in below median expectations, copying the Consumer Price Index (CPI) results from the day prior.
On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand advanced 3.2 percent for the 12 months ended in February, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated.
Ripple (XRP) gained 3.3 per cent to finish at $2.30, Ethereum (ETH) added 1.5 per cent to sell at $1,891.13, Solana (SOL) jumped by 0.9 per cent to $124.71, Binance Coin (BNB) also appreciated by 0.9 per cent to $580.79, and Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1685.
On the flip side, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.2 per cent to $82,033.71, Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.7 per cent to $0.7154, and Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $88.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices fell by over 1 per cent on Thursday as markets weighed macroeconomic concerns from the United States as well as other countries, with Brent futures losing $1.07 or 1.5 per cent to trade at $69.88 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declining by $1.13 or 1.7 per cent to $66.55 a barrel.
The market was depressed from risk that tariff wars between the US and other countries could hurt global demand.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 200 per cent tariff on wine, cognac and other alcohol imports from Europe, in addition to previous tariffs.
According to market analysts, this has opened a new front in a global trade war and has sent jitters to investors who are worried about stiffer trade barriers around the world’s largest consumer market.
This latest move is in response to the European Union’s plan to impose tariffs on American whiskey and other products next month, which itself is a reaction to Mr Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that took effect on Wednesday.
The American president has threatened to impose an array of trade penalties since returning to the White House in January, though he has postponed action on many of them.
Also, uncertainty stemming from a US proposal for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire also affected the market after Russian President Vladimir Putin said it agreed to stop fighting but any ceasefire should lead to a lasting peace and address root causes of the conflict.
The possibility of this could boost the availability of Russian oil.
Also on the supply front, the International Energy Agency reported that global oil supply could exceed demand by around 600,000 barrels per day this year, with global demand now expected to rise by just 1.03 million barrels per day, off last month’s forecast by 70,000 barrels per day.
The report cited deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, including escalating trade tensions.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report that the wider OPEC+ group which includes OPEC plus Russia and other allies, in February raised output by 363,000 barrels per day to 41.01 million barrels per day, led by Kazakhstan.
This comes as OPEC+ plans to phases out its most recent layer of output cuts beginning in April.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rebounded by 0.12 per cent on Thursday on the back of a renewed bargain-hunting by investors.
The bourse closed higher during the session despite a 0.50 per cent loss suffered by the banking space due to profit-taking.
This was offset by the gains recorded by the others, especially the consumer goods index, which appreciated by 1.40 per cent at the close of business.
Further, the insurance counter improved by 0.62 per cent, and the energy sector gained 0.05 per cent, while the industrial goods and commodity indices closed flat.
When the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 130.56 points to 106,220.94 points from 106,090.38 points and the market capitalisation increased by N82 billion to N66.518 trillion from the N66.436 trillion reported a day earlier.
UPDC was the best-performing equity after chalking up 9.92 per cent to settle at N2.77, International Breweries gained 9.62 per cent to sell for N5.70, Royal Exchange expanded by 9.59 per cent to 80 Kobo, Multiverse rose by 8.81 per cent to N8.65, and NGX Group appreciated by 6.14 per cent to N32.85.
Conversely, University Press lost 10.00 per cent to finish at N4.32, Academy Press shed 9.66 per cent to trade at N2.62, Red Star Express weakened by 9.32 per cent to N5.35, Neimeth slumped by 8.33 per cent to N2.75, and C&I Leasing moderated by 4.75 per cent to N3.81.
Business Post reports that Customs Street ended with 36 price gainers and 20 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
A total of 341.7 million shares valued at N16.7 billion exchanged hands in 11,233 deals yesterday versus the 1.5 billion shares worth N10.3 billion transacted a day earlier in 11,748 deals, showing a 64.14 per cent rise in the trading value, a 77.20 per cent decline in the trading volume, and a 4.38 per cent fall in the number of deals.
Tantalizers was the busiest with a turnover of 29.6 million stocks valued at N98.0 million, Access Holdings transacted 29.2 million equities for N693.3 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 28.7 million shares worth N1.4 billion, GTCO traded 26.7 million equities valued at N1.6 billion, and Universal Insurance sold 21.0 million shares worth N12.2 million.
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