Economy
Oil Records First Loss in 10 Days as OPEC Trims Demand
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil went the negative route on Thursday, halting a nine-day gaining streak after demand recovery was trimmed even in the face of production cuts and hopes that rollouts of vaccines will drive recovery.
At the session, the price of the Brent crude depreciated by 19 cents or 0.31 per cent to sell at $61.28 per barrel, while the United States’ West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined by 13 cents or 0.22 per cent to trade at $58.49 per barrel.
This happened as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Thursday trimmed its forecast for a rebound in global oil demand in 2021.
In its monthly report, OPEC said it expects oil demand to rise by 5.8 million barrels a day in 2021, down 100,000 barrels a day from its January forecast, to average 96.1 million barrels a day.
OPEC said that demand fell by 9.7 million barrels a day in 2020 to average 90.3 million barrels a day, slightly lowering its estimate by 30,000 barrels a day.
The cartel said its forecast for non-OPEC supply growth in 2021 was revised down by around 200,000 barrels a day to show a rise of 700,000 barrels a day, for an average of 63.3 million barrels a day.
The global crude benchmark, Brent, had risen for the previous nine sessions, its longest sustained period of gains since January 2019.
Earlier, the International Energy Agency (IEA), in its own monthly report, said that a recovery in demand will outstrip rising output in the second half of the year to prompt a rapid stock draw of the glut of crude built up since the outbreak of the coronavirus.
However, the IEA said it remains cautious about the outlook for oil demand in the first quarter, in part due to new COVID variants, and has downwardly revised its first-quarter forecast by 100,000 barrels per day, with demand now expected to decline by 110,000 barrels per day year-over-year, to 93.7 million barrels per day.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a monthly report issued Tuesday that it expects global consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels to rise by 5.4 million barrels per day in 2021. That forecast was down 200,000 barrels from the January forecast.
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.
