Economy
Oil Continues Fall as US Crude Inventories Rise
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices edged lower on Wednesday after crude inventories in the United States rose by more than anticipated, according to data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
This dragged the Brent crude downward by 0.54 per cent or 43 cents to $78.66 per barrel and battered the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) by 0.54 per cent or 41 cents to $74.88 per barrel.
According to the EIA, US crude stockpiles rose by 4.6 million barrels last week, exceeding expectations, boosted by a rebound in output as offshore facilities shut in by two Gulf hurricanes resumed activity.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) had earlier reported an unexpected inventory build of 4.13 million barrels, which took some depressed the oil price rally that pushed Brent crude over $80 a barrel—a three-year high— on Tuesday.
The rally was sparked by a gas and coal crisis that caused worry about energy supplies during the northern hemisphere winter when demand is at its highest.
In addition, traders decided to take profits on the latest bull run.
However, market analysts believe that oil prices will go higher as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) plans to maintain its deliberate approach to adding supply to the market despite strong worldwide demand.
Reports show that the 23-member alliance is likely to stick to an existing deal to add 400,000 barrels per day to its output for November when it meets next week.
In the same vein, OPEC believes that oil demand will rise strongly in the next few years but warned that the world needs to keep investing in production to avert a crunch even as it transitions to less polluting forms of energy.
A continued self-controlled approach to production by US shale drillers and production outages caused by Hurricane Ida also contributed to the upward potential in oil.
According to the US Energy Department, output rose to 11.1 million barrels per day, roughly in line with where production was before Hurricane Ida hit about a month ago but it has failed to recapture the levels seen at the end of 2019 when output rose to almost 13 million barrels per day.
Meanwhile, market analysts have warned that the weakening housing market and the growing power outages may have an effect on China, which is the world’s top oil importer and its second-biggest consumer of fuel after the United States.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited almost succumbed to profit-taking on Thursday, but for Seplat, which pulled its string to salvage the situation.
Seplat triggered a buying interest in its shares after informing the investing public of its intention to release its full-year results for 2025 on February 26, 2026.
It almost singlehandedly lifted the energy index by 4.64 per cent yesterday. This sector was the only one of the five with green at the close of business.
The others were in red, with the insurance space down by 1.47 per cent, the industrial goods segment went down by 1.09 per cent, the banking index closed lower by 0.13 per cent, and the consumer goods sector shrank 0.04 per cent.
Analysis showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) soared on Thursday by 441.28 points to 178,625.63 points from 178,184.35 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N283 billion to N114.660 trillion from N114.377 trillion.
Business Post reports that 46 equities were in green during the session and 35 equities ended in red, implying a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
The trio of Deap Capital, RT Briscoe, and Seplat gained 10.00 per cent each to settle at N8.69, N15.84, and N8,107.00 apiece, while Zichis rose by 9.97 per cent to N9.82, with ABC Transport surging by 9.91 per cent to N7.43.
On the flip side, NAHCO lost 9.98 per cent to trade at N148.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank depressed by 9.68 per cent to N11.20, Eterna gave up 9.50 per cent to close at N30.00, May and Baker depreciated by 9.19 per cent to N40.50, and Ecobank weakened by 8.72 per cent to N45.00.
Access Holdings was the most active stock yesterday with 52.1 million units sold for N1.3 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 42.5 million units worth N3.3 billion, Tantalizers transacted 42.1 million units valued at N253.9 million, GTCO traded 40.8 million units worth N4.3 billion, and Deap Capital transacted 34.4 million units valued at N298.1 million.
When the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm to signify the end of trading activity, investors had bought and sold 698.3 million shares worth N28.4 billion in 50,886 deals compared with 939.2 million shares valued at N34.0 billion exchanged in 61,279 deals a day earlier.
This showed that yesterday, the trading volume, value, and number of deals decreased by 25.65 per cent, 16.47 per cent, and 16.96 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the United States Dollar by N4.71 or 0.35 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, February 12, to N1,353.66/$1 from the N1,348.95/$1 it was traded on Wednesday.
Similarly, it weakened against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N9.53 to settle at N1,849.64/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,840.11/£1 and lost N8.55 against the Euro to close at N1,608.68/€1 compared with the N1,600.13/€1 it was exchanged at midweek.
Also, at the GTBank FX section, the Nigerian Naira suffered a N1 loss against the US Dollar yesterday to quote at N1,359/$1, in contrast to Wednesday’s price of N1,358/$1, but closed flat in the parallel market at N1,430/$1.
The pullback witnessed by the Nigerian currency at the currency market on Thursday came as the market corrected from recent gains, with a further boost coming as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said all duly licensed Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators are permitted to purchase foreign exchange from the Nigerian FX market through any authorised dealer bank of their choice at prevailing market rates.
The move follows the apex bank confirmation in September 2025 that 82 BDC operators had been fully licensed under its revised regulatory framework, with operations commencing on November 27, 2025, as part of reforms aimed at formalising retail foreign exchange supply.
According to Mr Aminu Gwadabe, president of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), there are expectations that the CBN’s move will help the Naira-US Dollar exchange value.
He noted that BDC operators have started approaching their banks to understand the operational modalities and framework for accessing dollars.
“We expect before the close of the week a comprehensive take-off of operations,” he added.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin has mostly erased its bounce from last week’s crypto crash, returning to the $66,000 area. It tumbled by 1.9 per cent to $66,161.78 yesterday.
The sell-off in digital assets tracked a broader pullback in the tech sector, particularly in the software names with which Bitcoin has been so strongly correlated.
Solana (SOL) dropped 2.4 per cent to sell for $77.68, Ripple (XRP) dipped 0.7 per cent to $1.36, and Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.6 per cent to $1,938.96.
However, Cardano (ADA) added 1.7 per cent to trade at $0.2612, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.4 per cent to $0.0923, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $52.69, and Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 1.2 per cent to $610.55, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The crude oil market dropped on Thursday due to falling demand, retreating fears of renewed Middle East conflict and expected increases in supply.
Brent crude traded at $67.52 a barrel after going down by $1.88 or 2.71 per cent, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $62.84 a barrel, down $1.79 or 2.77 per cent.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) cut its demand growth outlook, a revision that landed in a market already uneasy about how quickly supply is said to be rising.
Selling accelerated after the Paris-based agency trimmed its 2026 global demand growth forecast to 850,000 barrels per day. A month ago, it was expecting 930,000 barrels per day.
The agency still sees global supply expanding by about 2.4 million barrels per day this year. The balance between supply and demand looks heavy, especially once winter disruptions unwind.
January tightened the market for a moment. Storms shut in more than 1 million barrels per day in North America. Kazakhstan, Russia, and Venezuela were dealing with outages of their own. Global supply fell by roughly 1.2 million barrels per day, but it appears that those barrels are now starting to return.
On its part, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is projecting much stronger demand growth, above 1.4 million barrels per day.
Crude oil production from the OPEC+ alliance slumped by as much as 439,000 barrels per day in January compared to December as a major supply disruption in Kazakhstan added to lower output from Iran and Venezuela, OPEC data showed in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).
The unplanned outages and lower production could ease to some extent the fears of oversupply that have been weighing on oil prices.
On the geopolitical front, Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, said as he was departing the US, noting that President Donald Trump appeared to be framing a resolution to the conflict with Iran over nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, the American President said after talks with PM Netanyahu that they had yet to reach a definitive agreement on how to move forward with Iran, but that negotiations with Tehran would continue.
Earlier this week, President Trump said on Tuesday that he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal is not reached with Iran. The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced.
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