Economy

OPEC+ Agreement Lifts Brent Nears $50 Per Barrel

Published

5 years ago

05/12/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Brent crude inched closer to the $50 per barrel on Friday, December 4 after it went up by 54 cents or 1.11 per cent to settle at $49.25 per barrel.

During the trading session, the United States’ benchmark, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures, moved up by 1.36 per cent or 62 cents to trade at $46.26 per barrel.

In recent times, the price of oil has seen an upward trend as producers finally came to a compromise, agreeing to add 500,000 barrels per day to January quotas.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) after its meeting this week, instead of allowing cuts to ease by 2 million barrels per day, agreed to a monthly incremental production increases of just 500,000 barrels per day.

The increase means the group will reduce production by 7.2 million barrels per day or 7 per cent of global demand from January 2021. Currently, the group has reduced supply to the market by 7.7 million barrels per day.

During the meeting, they also agreed to meet monthly from next year to assess the health of the market. The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 makes consumption difficult to predict and this necessitated the importance of monthly OPEC+ meetings.

Although the deal was not as bullish as market analysts had expected, it was not entirely a disappointment because the reaction in oil prices suggested that OPEC+ did enough to maintain market stability.

The market is also hopeful after Britain’s approval of a COVID-19 vaccine which boosted hopes for demand recovery jumping ahead of the United States and the European Union in a possible return to normal life and recovery in oil demand.

Also strengthening the market was the news that crude inventories fell by 679,000 barrels in the week to November 27, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), defying the build the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported on Tuesday.

The market, however, faces a new level of threat as the US production recovered from the two-and-a-half-year lows touched in May mainly because shale producers have brought wells back online in response to rising prices.

The US oil rig count, an indicator of future production, rose 10 to 241 last week, the highest since May, further compounding problems in general.

Economy

Champion Breweries Lists Additional Shares on Stock Exchange

Published

1 hour ago

17/04/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Additional shares of Champion Breweries Plc have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

A circular from the NGX Regulation Limited confirmed this development on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.

The new stocks of the brewery company came from its hybrid offer comprising rights issue and offer for subscription.

Through the two exercises, Champion Breweries issued fresh 2,375,615,342 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each to subscribers, which were brought to the stock exchange for listing.

Business Post reports that 931,712,324 units arose from the rights issue of 994,221,766 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N16.00 per unit, indicating a subscription rate of 93.71 per cent; and 1,443,903,018 units from the offer for subscription of 2,625,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N16.00 per unit, reflecting a subscription rate of 55.01 per cent.

The listing of the new shares of the organisation has increased the total issued and fully paid-up shares to 11,323,611,234 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 8,947,995,892 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.

“With this listing of the additional 2,375,615,342 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Champion Breweries Plc have now increased from 8,947,995,892 to 11,323,611,234 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” a part of the circular signed by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of NGX RegCo, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, stated.

Economy

Nigeria’s Finance Minister Rules Out Seeking IMF Loan

Published

2 hours ago

17/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, says Nigeria has no immediate plans to approach the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance.

Mr Edun made this known at the African Finance Ministers’ briefing during the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings on Thursday in Washington, D.C. United States.

He said reliance on ongoing domestic economic reforms was yielding positive results.

According to him, Nigeria’s reforms over the past two years have restored policy credibility and strengthened resilience against global economic shocks affecting many African economies, adding that the country has prioritised market-based adjustments, avoiding administrative controls, particularly in foreign exchange and petroleum pricing mechanisms.

Mr Edun reaffirmed that Nigeria would continue to rely on internal policy measures rather than seeking multilateral lending support at this time.

However, he urged faster and more coordinated financial assistance for African countries amid discussions on a proposed $50 billion global support package.

The Minister said Nigeria had built buffers through reforms, but noted that several African nations remained highly exposed and required urgent external financial support.

He said Nigeria’s reliance on market mechanisms had enabled smoother economic adjustments, reduced disruptions, and sustained the country’s macroeconomic trajectory amid global uncertainties.

However, on Monday, the |Minister said Nigeria would seek stronger international financial support at this week’s IMF-World Bank ‌Spring Meetings as the Iran war lifts fuel costs at home and complicates reforms.

He said ahead of the meeting that surging crude prices had some clear benefits for the country, which is Africa’s top oil producer, boosting foreign exchange earnings.

“But the ⁠shock comes at a critical transition point, intensifying inflationary pressures and raising living costs for households,” he added.

Economy

NASD Exchange Depreciates 0.29%

Published

5 hours ago

17/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.29 per cent on Thursday, April 16, after two securities plunged at the close of business, offsetting the gains recorded by three securities.

According to data, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 11.11 points to close at 3,862.98 points compared with the previous day’s 3,874.09 points, and the market capitalisation shrank by N6.64 billion to close at N2.311 trillion compared with the previous day’s N2.317 trillion.

Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc declined by N1.36 to trade at N97.64 per share versus Wednesday’s closing price of N99.00 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc slipped by N1.16 to sell at N58.00 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N59.16 per unit.

However, NASD Plc appreciated by N1.14 to N38.50 per share from N37.36 per share, UBN Property Plc improved its share price by 20 Kobo to close at N2.18 per unit versus N1.98 per unit, and Lighthouse Financials Plc added 6 Kobo to sell at 72 Kobo per share, in contrast to the 66 Kobo per share it was traded at midweek.

Trading data showed that the value of securities surged by 124.9 per cent to N64.9 million from N28.9 million, the volume of securities increased by 18.4 per cent to 597,775 units from 505,075 units, and the number of deals rose by 2.5 per cent to 41 deals from 40 deals.

At the close of business, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 58.8 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

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