Economy
Oil Falls Despite OPEC+ Reassurance on Market Balance
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices continued to head down alarmingly on Tuesday even as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies assured that the alliance was still working well in an effort to have options to rebalance the global crude market.
At yesterday’s session, the Brent crude futures continued to trade down at $54.02 per barrel after losing $1.75 or 2.98 percent, while the WTI crude fell below the $50 mark, selling at at $49.88 per barrel on Tuesday night after shedding $1.55 equivalent to 3.01 percent.
Prices of crude oil had been facing pressure from the COVID-19 spread across Asia and into Europe with panic reducing demand. Last week, there were reports that Saudi Arabia was planning to go ahead with a cut in its output whether Russia agrees or not with the proposal of OPEC.
Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman’s comments came due to speculation that there is tension in the OPEC+ alliance over whether to cut oil production further to 2.3 million barrels per day, a move that will help prices.
“We do communicate with each other, we use every opportunity to talk with each other,” he said in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh.
“We did not run out of ideas, we haven’t lost our phones and there are always good ways of communicating through conference calls and technology is very helpful,” he added.
Prices continue to be weighed on by supply and falling demand and renewed fears surrounding the coronavirus and its impact on the global economy with cases of the virus now more than 80,000 worldwide, with about 2,700 deaths, the vast majority in China.
OPEC founding member, Iran confirmed 15 deaths from the recently spread virus with 95 cases in Iran, making it the country with the highest deaths apart from China, with Middle East countries confirming cases of the virus.
OPEC and its allies, led by Russia, will meet in Vienna, its headquarters on March 5-6 but there is uncertainty over whether the entire group will agree to cut their collective oil output further with rumors that Russia is still undecided.
Meanwhile as it stands, the alliance has reduced its total oil output by 1.7 million barrels a day in a bid to stabilize oil prices, which now faces a new threat.
The technical committee of OPEC+ met earlier in February to debate a possible oil output cut but the meeting ended with no solid agreement to speculated recommendation of 600,000 barrels per day.
However, comments from Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s oil minister, that a cut of the recommended barrels per day, as suggested by OPEC’s joint technical committee, could be considered at next week’s OPEC meeting.
“If the market mechanism and the consensus is yes then, absolutely, yes.
“It’s the OPEC and OPEC+ mechanism thas proven very effective to balance markets and that’s what it’s there for. There is a temporary need to make some measures,” he said.
The market isn’t looking too promising going into Wednesday as United States crude inventories ended February 21, which will be released on Wednesday, are expected to rise for a fifth consecutive week.
The only possible support for prices could come from OPEC and allies Russia, whose decision to join hands to cut supply further will spur futures pointing north.
By Dipo Olowookere
Sell-offs in mid- and large-cap stocks crashed the local bourse by 0.05 per cent on Monday, with almost all the major sectors closing lower.
The insurance counter depreciated by 1.69 per cent, the consumer goods space lost 1.07 per cent, the energy segment shed 0.14 per cent, and the industrial goods index contracted by 0.06 per cent. But the banking sector gained 0.78 per cent, which was not enough to offset the losses printed by the others.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 118.66 points to 247,238.74 points from 247,357.40 points, and the market capitalisation receded by N77 billion to N159.511 trillion from N159.588 trillion.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended with 27 advancing equities and 32 declining equities, implying a negative market breadth index.
Transcorp Power collapsed by 10.00 per cent to N219.60, SUNU Assurances also fell by 10.00 per cent to N3.24, International Breweries slipped by 9.85 per cent to N12.35, Neimeth depreciated by 9.78 per cent to N8.30, and Austin Laz lost 9.64 per cent to trade at N3.28.
Conversely, Thomas Wyatt appreciated by 9.92 per cent to N3.99, Lasaco Assurance gained 9.89 per cent to quote at N2.00, CMFC surged by 9.18 per cent to N3.45, Chams jumped by 7.78 per cent to N4.85, and NGX Group flew higher by 6.96 per cent to N158.30.
The level of activity increased during the session, as market participants bought and sold 638.0 million shares for N57.2 billion in 71,240 deals versus the 565.5 million shares worth N29.9 billion transacted in 53,688 deals last Friday, indicating a rise in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 12.82 per cent, 91.30 per cent, and 32.69 per cent, respectively.
Access Holdings led the activity chart yesterday after trading 47.6 million stocks valued at N1.4 billion, FCMB exchanged 40.3 million equities for N478.3 million, First Holdco sold 34.2 million shares valued at N4.3 billion, Champion Breweries transacted 33.2 million stocks worth N372.2 million, and Zenith Bank traded 25.4 million equities valued at N3.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The major crude oil grades fell more than 7 per cent on Monday, settling at their lowest levels in over a week, after the United States abruptly suspended a campaign of air strikes against Iran.
Brent crude futures declined by $8.42 or 8.7 per cent to settle at $88.36 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures shrank by $6.70 or 7.5 per cent to close at $82.61 per barrel.
Brent futures last week surpassed $100 a barrel as the conflict, which has reduced oil shipments via the Strait of Hormuz, spilt over to the Red Sea. This hindered exports from the world’s top exporter, Saudi Arabia, via the Bab el-Mandeb strait to Asia.
However, Iran said it had halted retaliatory attacks against American allies in the Middle East as the US refrained from attacking Iran for the second night in a row.
The overnight lull in attacks came ahead of a key meeting scheduled in Washington between President Donald Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
The visit is scheduled for Tuesday, exactly five months since US and Israeli forces launched a wide campaign of air strikes on Iranian targets.
Iran has pushed back, attacking US allies in the Middle East and essentially closing the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint waterway through which a massive amount of oil and gas normally passes en route to global markets.
President Trump on Monday said the US is holding “good talks” with Iran, and that “there’s a good chance that something could happen” in regard to a potential deal. He also threatened “strong military action” if diplomacy fails.
Saudi Arabia’s air defences intercepted and destroyed drones launched from Iraq as Yemen’s Houthis claimed they had targeted sensitive crude oil supply and transport sites linking eastern Saudi Arabia to the critical Red Sea oil export hub of Yanbu.
Shipping data from Kpler showed that fewer than 10 commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz daily during the weekend.
Also, ship traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell on Sunday after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, although a third Chinese supertanker exited via the waterway.
Kazakhstan, among the world’s 10 biggest oil producers, has more than halved its daily oil output following the closure of the main exporting terminal in Russia’s Black Sea over drone attacks.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Those interested in buying or selling the shares of Aluminium Extrusion Plc on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited will not be able to do so for now.
This is because trading activities on the company’s securities on the Nigerian bourse have been suspended by the NGX Regulation Limited.
The reason for this is that the organisation has failed to submit its financial statements as required by the listing rules for the perusal of the investing community.
After being given grace periods to file the results, the board of the firm has not done the needful, necessitating the wielding of the stick on the entity.
A notice from Customs Street disclosed that the suspension became effective last Wednesday. It will be lifted when the financial results are submitted.
“In accordance with the default filing rules, the suspension of trading in the shares of the company shall be lifted upon the submission of the relevant financial statements,” a part of the notice said.
Business Post reports that Aluminium Extrusion has not filed its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2025, more than three months after it was required to submit its financial performance for the last fiscal year.
“Trading license holders and the investing public are hereby notified that pursuant to Rule 3.1, Rules for Filing of Accounts and Treatment of Default Filing, (Default Filing Rules), which provides that if an issuer fails to file the relevant accounts by the expiration of the cure period1, the exchange will: a) send to the issuer a second filing deficiency notification within two business days after the end of the cure period; b) suspend trading in the issuer’s securities; and c) notify the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the market within 24 hours of the suspension.
“Trading in the shares of Aluminium Extrusion Plc has been suspended from the facilities of Nigerian Exchange Limited effective Wednesday, July 22, 2026, for not filing its Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2025,” the disclosure stated.
Shares of Aluminium Extrusion last traded on the domestic stock exchange at N9.90 per unit.
