Economy

OPEC Crude Drops to $43.80 Per Barrel

Published

6 years ago

17/07/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) daily basket price stood at $43.80 per barrel on Thursday, according to the latest OPEC Secretariat calculations released on Friday.

The contraction showed a 0.73 per cent drop compared with $44.12 per barrel on Wednesday.

This happened as tapered cuts announced by the cartel and its allies proved combined with demand worry brought about by fear of a second wave of global lockdowns, held back rallying.

Also known as the OPEC reference basket of crude oil, the OPEC basket, a weighted average of oil prices from different OPEC members around the world, is used as an important benchmark for crude oil prices.

The OPEC Reference Basket of Crudes (ORB) is made up of the following: Saharan Blend (Algeria), Girassol (Angola), Djeno (Congo), Zafiro (Equatorial Guinea), Rabi Light (Gabon), Iran Heavy (Islamic Republic of Iran), Basra Light (Iraq), Kuwait Export (Kuwait), Es Sider (Libya), Bonny Light (Nigeria), Arab Light (Saudi Arabia), Murban (UAE) and Merey (Venezuela).

In other OPEC related news, the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) of OPEC+ on Thursday, disclosed that conformity to the production cut deal by participating OPEC and non-OPEC Countries at 107 per cent in June 2020, an achievement that found wide recognition in the market.

It reiterated its appreciation of additional voluntary contributions made by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait in the month of June 2020.

The committee noted that removing the credit for over-conformity results in a conformity level of 95 per cent from OPEC members alone, the highest since the inception in January 2017.

It requested the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) and the OPEC Secretariat to closely monitor and report to the JMMC the implementation of the required compensation by the underperforming participating countries.

It also requested underperforming participating countries to submit their plan for implementation of the required compensation for the month June 2020 to the OPEC Secretariat by the end of July 2020.

The committee welcomed the participation of Angola, Gabon, South Sudan and Congo, and noted that they had reiterated their commitment to the production adjustments and compensation plans.

It observed that there were encouraging signs of improvement as economies around the world open up. While there could be localized or partial lockdowns re-imposed in some places, the recovery signs are clear, both in physical and futures markets.

It noted that moving to the next phase of the agreement, the extra supply resulting from the scheduled easing of the production adjustment will be consumed as demand recovers.

The next meetings of the JTC and the JMMC are scheduled for August 17 and 18, 2020.

Economy

CSCS, Afriland Properties, MRS Oil Weaken NASD Exchange by 1.12%

Published

2 hours ago

09/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three stocks further weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.12 per cent on Wednesday, April 8, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 44.43 points to 3,930.91 points from the previous day’s 3,975.34 points, and the market capitalisation went down by N26.59 to N2.351 trillion from N2.378 trillion.

MRS Oil lost N11.00 during the session to close at N161.00 per share compared with Tuesday’s closing price of N172.00 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc dipped by N3.74 to N67.95 per unit from N71.69 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc fell by N1.10 to sell at N15.95 per share versus N17.05 per share.

There were two gainers at the midweek trading session, led by IPWA Plc, which appreciated by 55 Kobo to N6.61 per unit from N6.06 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc improved its value by 4 Kobo to N2.32 per share from N2.28 per share.

Yesterday, the volume of securities rose by 620.4 per cent to 5.7 million units from 797,264 units, the value of securities increased by 25.1 per cent to N32.7 million from N26.1 million, and the number of deals climbed by 12.1 per cent to 37 deals from the preceding session’s 33 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, trailed by CSCS Plc with 57.2 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.

GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Grows 1.07% to N1,371/$1 at Official Market as FX Pressure Eases

Published

2 hours ago

09/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Foreign Exchange (FX) demand pressure eased on the Naira on Wednesday, April 8, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) after gaining N14.84 or 1.07 per cent against the greenback to quote at N1,371.82/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,386.66/$1.

Also, the local currency appreciated against the Euro in the same market window at midweek by N1.54 to close at N1,604.07/€1 versus Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,605.61/€1, but lost N6.26 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,844.83/£1 versus N1,838.57/£1.

In the parallel market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the US Dollar remained unchanged yesterday at N1,410/$1, according to data sourced by Business Post.

There were indicators that the official FX market experienced a liquidity surge, which eased worries around the dominant US Dollar on Wednesday, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed interbank deals rose to 220 from 71 reported the previous day.

The domestic currency has been in strong demand from foreign portfolio investors seeking to purchase OMO bills and other fixed-income instruments.

Forecasts also show that the local currency will remain relatively stable during the second quarter of the year, trading within the N1,340 to N1,430 per Dollar band on improved FX liquidity, stronger oil earnings, and rising external reserves, which have climbed above 50 billion dollars.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it fell after an initial ceasefire-fueled rally, with markets retracing Wednesday’s “ceasefire euphoria” as cracks emerge in the US-Iran truce while the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed.

Global risk assets face renewed pressure as geopolitical uncertainty combines with what analysts call “uncoordinated tightening” by major central banks, reinforcing higher-for-longer interest-rate expectations.

The price of Cardano (ADA) fell by 4.7 per cent to $0.2500, Ripple (XRP) slumped 3.7 per cent to $1.33, Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 3.5 per cent to $0.0915, Binance Coin (BNB) slipped 2.6 per cent to $600.02, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 2.5 per cent to $2,183.82, Solana (SOL) dipped 2.5 per cent to $82.24, and Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated by 1.1 per cent to $70,995.20.

However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $0.3173, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

Customs Street Surges 0.28% Despite Persistent Weak Sentiment

Published

3 hours ago

09/04/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied by 0.28 per cent on Wednesday despite weak investor sentiment, as the bourse ended with 18 price gainers and 38 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.

The growth recorded yesterday by Customs Street was influenced by the 2.11 per cent rise posted by the energy index, and the 1.79 per cent jump achieved by the banking sector.

The other sectors experienced profit-taking, with the consumer goods losing 1.07 per cent, the insurance counter down by 0.36 per cent, and the industrial goods space down by 0.19 per cent.

Universal Insurance chalked up 10.00 per cent to sell for N1.21, Omatek improved by 9.78 per cent to N2.47, VFD Group expanded by 9.71 per cent to N11.30, CWG appreciated by 9.64 per cent to N21.05, and Livestock Feeds gained 9.56 per cent to close at N7.45.

On the flip side, UPDC REIT lost 10.00 per cent to settle at N6.75, Fortis Global Insurance shed 9.92 per cent to quote at N1.18, Deap Capital depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N5.40, Chams went down by 9.47 per cent to N3.06, and Japaul declined by 8.82 per cent to N3.10.

Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 562.43 points to 202,585.53 points from 202,023.10 points, and the market capitalisation advanced by N389 billion to N130.404 trillion from N130.015 trillion.

During the session, 1.0 billion stocks worth N40.6 billion exchanged hands in 52,723 deals compared with the 1.1 billion stocks valued at N40.3 billion executed in 78,006 deals a day earlier, indicating an uptick in the trading value by 0.74 per cent, and a shortfall in the trading volume and number of deals by 9.09 per cent and 32.41 per cent apiece.

The activity chart was led by Access Holdings, which sold 233.0 million units valued at N6.1 billion, Fidelity Bank exchanged 113.1 million units worth N2.2 billion, Wema Bank recorded a turnover of 103.3 million units valued at N2.7 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 60.6 million units for N6.5 billion, and Chams traded 47.5 million units worth N154.6 million.