Economy

Brent Crude Sells $6 Below Nigeria’s $57 Oil Benchmark

Published

5 years ago

28/02/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

As markets continue to face the threat of coronavirus, which has plunged the global market into a negative territory, price of the Brent Crude has now fallen $6 below the Nigerian fiscal year oil benchmark of $57 per barrel.

Oil prices continued to head down alarmingly on Thursday, affecting the ability of the Nigerian government to raise funds from oil sales for the 2020 budget. Yesterday, the Brent crude, which is the international oil benchmark, shed over $4 to trade at $51.73 per barrel.

Earlier in the day, the futures reached its lowest level since December 2018 when it circulated around the $50 mark before paring some of the losses to settle at $51 by press time.

Also, the WTI crude fell further as it registered $46.49 per barrel after shedding 60 cents equivalent to 1.27 percent.

Crude oil has been facing pressure from the COVID-19, which has spread across Asia, the Middle East and Europe, causing panic and reducing demand due to restricted travel and slowdown of sales.

Globally, more than 80,000 people in nearly 50 countries have been infected. Close to 2,800 have died, with majority in China’s Hubei province where the virus originated from.

In some affected countries, several actions have been taken and this could only stifle activity more. Japan and Iraq have ordered schools to close – a measure already taken in mainland China and Hong Kong.

On its part, Saudi Arabia is stopping foreign pilgrims from entering the country. It is not clear if the Hajj pilgrimage, which begins in July this year, will be affected.

Iran has urged citizens to avoid making unnecessary trips within the country and cancelled Friday prayers in Tehran and other cities while Australia is extending a ban on foreign visitors from mainland China.

In Europe, Italy, where 17 people have died, has quarantined 11 towns and Greece is cancelling all carnival activities.

Prices continue to weigh on supply and falling demand and renewed fears surrounding the coronavirus and its impact on the global economy and analysts say the possible deeper output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies including Russia, a group known as OPEC+ is what can help the market now.

OPEC and its non-OPEC allies will meet in Vienna, its headquarters on March 5-6 but there is uncertainty over whether the entire group will agree to cut their collective oil output further as Russia is still hasn’t committed.

Even a Donald Trump address to Americans on Thursday was not enough to help the market but many hands point towards the March meetings by the cartel, with some confident that it can help prices while others wonder whether it is too late to act now as prices are expected to further go down.

Economy

OTC Exchange Depreciates 0.34% as Investors Lose N6.78bn

Published

43 minutes ago

08/07/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange opened the first trading day of the week pointing downwards after a 0.34 per cent loss on Monday, July 7.

The OTC exchange was pulled down yesterday by three securities despite the share price of Capital Bancorp Plc went up by 11 Kobo to sell at N2.15 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N2.04 per unit.

During the trading day, Afriland Properties Plc lost N2.13 to finish at N19.17 per share versus N21.30 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N1.39 to close at N59.50 per unit compared with the previous trading session’s N60.89 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc crumbled by 25 Kobo to end at N31.09 per share, in contrast to last Friday’s N31.34 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation slid by N6.78 billion to finish at N1.983 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N1.990 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 11.58 points to close at 3,398.64 points compared with the previous session’s 3,398.64 points.

On Monday, the volume of securities traded by the market participants surged by 1,599.7 per cent to 10.8 million units from the 632,624 units traded last Friday, the value of securities transacted by investors also significantly increased by 137.9 per cent to N42.9 million from N18.1 million, and the number of deals appreciated by 20 per cent to 30 deals from 25 deals.

Okitipupa Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.8 million units sold for N4.9 billion, trailed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units valued at N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 41.8 million units worth N1.8 billion.

Impresit Bakolori Plc ended the session as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 536.9 million units valued at N524.8 million, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units sold for N4.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 268.6 million units worth N476.4 million.

Economy

Naira Sells N1,520 Per Dollar at Official Market, N1,540/$1 at Black Market

Published

60 minutes ago

08/07/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Naira sustained stability against the United States Dollar in the black market segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, remaining unchanged at N1,540/$1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the greenback during the trading day in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N8.49 or 0.56 per cent to sell for N1,520.00/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s value of N1,528.49/$1.

Equally, the Naira appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market window by N2.91 to close at N2,084.18/£1 versus N2,087.09/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N7.14 to finish at N1,793.65/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,800.79/€1.

Last week, the Naira found support via sufficient forex liquidity and could find further help based on foreign demand for short-term government debt due to high yields.

Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, profit-taking took charge as volatility signals picked up soon ahead of the June Federal Reserves minutes which are due for release on Wednesday. Further, the 90-day tariff pause for many US trading partners has reportedly been extended to August 1, although there are indications that the July 9 deadline may remain.

Yesterday, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 3.6 per cent to sell at $0.1678, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.8 per cent to finish at $86.24, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 1.6 per cent to close at $149.25, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 1.5 per cent to trade at $0.5775.

In addition, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 0.9 per cent to $2,551.30, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.9 per cent to end at $108,141.36, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.4 per cent to settle at $659.59, and Ripple (XRP) depleted by 0.3 per cent to $2.26, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat $1.00 each.

Economy

Oil Market Rises 1% on Strong Demand Amid OPEC+ Surprise Output Hike

Published

1 hour ago

08/07/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The oil market improved by 1 per cent on Monday as signs of strong demand outweighed the impact of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) hiking output more than expected for August, as well as concern about the potential impact of US tariffs.

Brent crude futures gained 91 cents or 1.3 per cent to close at $69.20 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures appreciated by 57 cents or 0.8 per cent to $67.57 a barrel.

Stronger demand was estimated to have remained above expectations as well after a record number of Americans travelled for the Fourth of July holiday by road and air.

OPEC+ agreed on Saturday to raise production by 548,000 barrels per day in August, more than the 411,000 barrels per day hikes carried out in the earlier three months.

The decision of the group will bring nearly 80 per cent of the 2.2 million barrels per day voluntary cuts from eight members back into the market.

The latest hike sends a clear message that the cartel is firmly shifting toward a market share strategy. It was also a response to Kazakhstan and Iraq, which are still overproducing their higher quotas.

Market analysts noted that these overproducers are unlikely to significantly raise their output compared with the recent heights reached during the first quarter.

Also, by approving another output hike, heavyweight OPEC+ leader, Saudi Arabia might seek to up pressure on members for not keeping to agreed quotas by slashing expected oil profits due to lower prices.

Saudi Arabia also raised the August price for its flagship Arab Light crude to a four-month high for Asia.

Amid these development, Goldman analysts expect OPEC+ to announce a final 550,000 barrels per day increase for September at the next meeting on August 3.

Meanwhile, pressure came as US officials flagged a delay regarding when tariffs would begin, but failed to provide details on changes to the rates that will be imposed. Investors are worried that higher tariffs could slow economic activity and oil demand.

The Donald Trump-led administration will make several trade announcements in the next 48 hours.

According to the US Treasury Secretary, Mr Scott Bessent, there are offers from countries to clinch a tariff deal before the July 9 deadline.

On the geopolitical front, Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said it sank a ship in the Red Sea on Monday ahead of Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to meet with President Trump.