Economy
Trump’s Reciprocal Tariffs Deadline Weakens Oil Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market shrank on Tuesday as traders braced for reciprocal tariffs that the US President, Mr Donald Trump, is due to announce.
Brent futures went down by 28 cents or 0.37 per cent to close at $74.49 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by 28 cents or 0.39 per cent to $71.20 per barrel.
The American President is set to unveil new tariffs targeting specific countries that have trade surpluses with the US on Wednesday, April 2, pledging to roll back unfair trade practices.
This could be on European Union (EU) countries or even Japan, adding volatility to this week’s trading.
According to the US government, the new duties are due to take effect immediately after President Trump announces them, while a separate 25 per cent global tariff on auto imports will take effect on April 3.
In just over 10 weeks in office, the US President has implemented new 20 per cent tariffs on all Chinese imports over fentanyl concerns and reinstated the 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum, expanding them to nearly $150 billion in downstream products.
Additionally, a month-long exemption for most Canadian and Mexican goods from his 25 per cent fentanyl-related tariffs is set to expire on Wednesday.
However, President Trump’s threats to impose secondary tariffs on Russian oil and to attack Iran fueled supply worries, limited losses.
He said on Sunday he would impose secondary tariffs of 25 per cent to 50 per cent on Russian oil buyers if Russia tried to block efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Tariffs on buyers of oil from Russia, the world’s second largest oil exporter, would disrupt global supply and hurt Russia’s biggest customers, China and India.
Mr Trump threatened Iran with similar tariffs and also with bombings if Tehran did not reach an agreement with the White House over its nuclear programme.
Also, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) began unwinding the production cuts by adding about 138,000 barrels per day from Tuesday.
Prices also found some support after Russia ordered Kazakhstan’s main oil export terminal to close two of its three moorings amid a standoff between Kazakhstan and OPEC+ over excess production.
As a result, Kazakhstan will have to start cutting oil output.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States rose by 6.037 million barrels for the week ending March 28, after a 4.6 million barrel drop in the prior week.
So far this year, crude oil inventories have climbed nearly 23 million barrels.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria slightly surpassed its quota set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in July 2026.
In the month under review, the country produced about 1.57 million barrels of crude oil per day.
It was the third consecutive month Africa’s largest oil-producing nation was meeting its monthly quota, set to stabilise the price of the commodity on the global market by the oil cartel.
Data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednesday showed that the 1.5 million barrels per day ceiling for Nigeria was surpassed last month.
The agency disclosed in a statement today that the country produced 1.505mbpd of crude oil and 0.17mbpd of condensate, bringing the combined daily production to 1.67mbpd.
In the month under review, the daily peak production of crude oil and condensate was 1.78mbpd, while the lowest daily production was 1.57mbpd.
Although Nigeria met its OPEC quota in the month of July, the statistics show that on a month-on-month basis, production fell by 4 per cent.
This was attributed to the decline in production due to operational challenges experienced at the Erha and Akpo fields, which impacted crude oil output during the period under review.
These disruptions constrained production volumes and contributed significantly to the overall reduction in national crude oil output.
Despite the challenges, production operations across most other producing assets remained relatively stable, with operators implementing measures aimed at maintaining production efficiency and minimising the impact of operational constraints, NUPRC stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The over 9 billion shares of Lasaco Assurance Plc issued to shareholders of the company via a rights issue have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The equities were brought to Customs Street on Wednesday by the organisation, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up share capital.
Lasaco Assurance, which scaled the recapitalisation hurdle of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in July 2026, raised fresh capital from the capital market to shore up its capital base.
The underwriting firm got about N18.5 billion from the rights issue, which involved the issuance of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares at a unit price of N2.00.
The exercise was on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
Confirming the listing of the additional stocks of Lasaco Assurance today, the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of NGX RegCo, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, announced in a circular that, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Lasaco Assurance Plc were today, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N2.00 per share on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
“With the listing of the additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Lasaco Assurance Plc has now increased from 11,083,585,855 to 20,319,907,401 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has said the successful recapitalisation of the insurance industry will strengthen the sector’s ability to support financial stability and economic growth.
NIA Chairman, Mrs Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, said a well-capitalised insurance industry would be better positioned to meet its obligations promptly, underwrite complex and large-scale risks and serve as a dependable pillar of the Nigerian economy.
She made the remarks while commending the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for its structured implementation of the new minimum capital requirements under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
Mrs Nwachukwu said NAICOM’s clear guidelines, systematic verification process, defined timelines and rigorous supervision had provided operators with a credible framework for navigating the recapitalisation exercise.
She described the outcome as a major milestone for the industry and congratulated the 43 insurance and reinsurance companies that have successfully met the prescribed minimum capital requirements.
According to her, the exercise represents “a major win not just for regulators and operators, but for policyholders, investors and the wider Nigerian economy.”
Mrs Nwachukwu said the association would continue to work with NAICOM and other stakeholders to consolidate the gains of the exercise, with emphasis on sustainable industry growth, stronger market conduct and improved consumer confidence.
The official also expressed solidarity with the eight companies still undergoing final verification and regulatory review, urging them to remain confident as NAICOM completes the process within the 14-day review period.
The NIA chairman assured policyholders and the wider business community that the insurance industry would emerge from the recapitalisation exercise stronger, more resilient and better positioned to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development.
