Economy
Crude Oil Rises to $82 Amid Kazakhstan Unrest, Libyan Outages
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil prices climbed to $82 per barrel on Thursday, extending a rally from the previous session, on escalating unrest in oil producer Kazakhstan and supply outages in Libya.
Yesterday, the Brent rose by 1.68 per cent or $1.36 to sell at $82.16 per barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) moved up by 2.36 per cent or $1.84 to trade at $79.69 per barrel.
Protests against soaring energy prices taking place in Kazakhstan continued after initially erupting during the weekend in the oil-rich country sparked by the lifting of price caps on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Kazakhstan, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies known as OPEC+, is facing increasing political uproar as the protests have evolved into anti-government riots, feeding off resentment of more than three decades of rule by ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Russia sent paratroopers into Kazakhstan on Thursday to help quell the countrywide uprising after deadly violence spread across the tightly controlled former Soviet state.
The Central Asian country produces 1.6 million barrels of oil per day but information has not been released if production has been affected so far.
Also supporting prices on Thursday was the continuous production concerns in Libya.
Currently, oil output in the North African country is at 729,000 barrels per day, the National Oil Corp said, down from a high of more than 1.3 million barrels per day last year, owing to maintenance and oilfield shutdowns.
Last year, Libya’s oil production and exports had enjoyed relative stability, and the country planned to raise crude output, a crucial source of state income but also the bone of contention in the allocation of said oil revenues.
However, before the now-postponed December 24 presidential election approached, chaos and clashes returned, and armed factions stopped production at oilfields again.
On December 20, Libya declared force majeure on its oil exports after crude oil production had been shut in from four of Libya’s oilfields, including the largest 300,000-barrel per day El Sharara field and El Feel, Wafa, and Hamada.
The oilfields were shut in by members of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), which is tasked with protecting the oilfields, according to Libya’s NOC.
The market is also still holding its ground as the OPEC+ alliance confirmed it would stick to its current output policy to add another 400,000 barrels per day of supply in February, as it has done each month since August as demand for petroleum products rebounds across the world.
With signs of demand resisting the impact of the Omicron variant, low stocks and increasing market vulnerability to supply disruptions, investment bank JP Morgan forecast Brent prices to average at $88 a barrel in 2022, up from $70 last year.
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.
