Economy
Crude Oil Prices Drop as Trump, Putin Arrange Meeting
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil prices dropped on Thursday for a sixth consecutive session after Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed a meeting with US President Donald Trump in the coming days, raising expectations for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine.
Brent crude futures lost 46 cents or 0.7 per cent to quote at $66.43 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by 47 cents or 0.7 per cent to settle at $63.88 a barrel.
The Russian government said on Thursday that Presidents Trump and Putin would meet in the coming days in what would be the first summit between leaders of the two countries since 2021, confirming what the US had previously said about Mr Trump meeting his Russian counterpart as soon as next week.
The US, however, continued preparations to impose secondary sanctions on major buyers of Russian energy products to try to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
Russia is the world’s second-biggest producer of oil behind the US
The US President imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods on Wednesday, citing the country’s continued imports of Russian oil. The new import tax will take effect on August 28.
This order increases the total tariff rate on Indian exports to the United States to 50 per cent, the highest level for any country under current US policy.
Bloomberg reported on Thursday that the biggest Indian state-owned refiners are pulling out of spot purchases of Russian crude for cargoes loading in October.
India is the second-biggest buyer of Russian oil after China and President Trump has also said he could announce further tariffs on China.
Market analysts noted that additional increases by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies including Russia, together known as OPEC+, remain as the overriding negative consideration while continued tariff uncertainties are still providing the main argument favouring lower price levels.
OPEC+ on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September.
The price decline came despite crude stockpile drawdown in the US and higher Saudi prices for Asia and solid Chinese crude imports in July.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said on Wednesday that US crude oil stockpiles fell by 3 million barrels to 423.7 million barrels in the week ended August 1.
In China, crude oil imports in July fell by 5.4 per cent from June but were still up 11.5 per cent year-on-year while Saudi Arabia raised its September crude oil prices for Asian buyers, the second monthly rise in a row, on tight supply and robust demand.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
