Economy

Crude Prices Bearish Despite Drop in Crude Inventories

Published

5 years ago

14/01/2021

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices went into the bearish zone on Wednesday, losing some gains even as an industry report showed a further drop in crude inventories.

Yesterday, the Brent dropped 51 cents or 0.9 per cent to sell at $56.09 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slumped by 0.49 per cent or 28 cents to trade at $52.93 per barrel.

Crude inventories in the US dropped by 5.8 million barrels last week to around 484.5 million barrels, data from the American Petroleum Institute showed.

As at press time, the government-backed Energy Information Administration (EIA) had not released its result but there are expectations for a 2.1 million barrels drop.

Both benchmarks have reached their highest since February before the coronavirus outbreak in China began spreading across the world and billions of people went into lockdowns to prevent a pandemic that is now in a deadlier second wave.

However, there is still the focus on rollouts of vaccines, which has not been smooth running so far with much of the world yet to receive.

Falling inventories and rising oil prices are likely to see US drillers come back into the market, especially as Saudi Arabia and other major producers cut their output.

The latest developments in Europe and the United States where death tolls and new infections keep rising also dampened prices yesterday because they affected demand recovery.

On that end, global oil demand is expected to grow by 5.6 million barrels per day in 2021 compared to the 2020 low of 92.2 million barrels per day, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its latest estimate, with the growth forecast now around 200,000 barrels per day lower compared to last month’s outlook.

In its January Short-Term Energy Outlook (STEO), the EIA expects global consumption of petroleum and liquid fuels to average 97.77 million barrels per day this year, down from the December STEO estimate of 98 million barrels per day.

For 2020, global oil demand averaged 92.2 million barrels per day, down by 9.0 million barrels per day from 2019. The 2020 estimate is also lower compared to EIA’s December forecast of 92.38 million barrels per day.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) will publish their first monthly reports for this year with their latest oil demand and production forecasts on January 14 and January 19, respectively.

Economy

TotalEnergies Sells 10% Stake in Renaissance JV to Vaaris

Published

2 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the divestment of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.

The Renaissance JV, formerly known as the SPDC JV, is an unincorporated joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55 per cent), Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (30 per cent, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10 per cent) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Nigeria (5 per cent), which holds 18 licences in the Niger Delta.

In a statement by TotalEnergies on Wednesday, it was stated that under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil.

Production from these licences, it was said, represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in company’s share in 2025.

The agreement also stated that TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the three other licences of Renaissance JV which are producing mainly gas, namely OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licences, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply.

Business Post reports that the conclusion of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.

“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the sale of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.

“Under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil. Production from these licences represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in the company’s share in 2025.

“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the 3 other licenses of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly gas (OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77), while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licenses, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals,” the statement reads in part.

The development is part of TotalEnergies’ strategies to dump more assets to lighten its books and debt.

Economy

NGX RegCo Revokes Trading Licence of Monument Securities

Published

11 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.

Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.

The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.

“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.

Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.

However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.

Economy

NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months

Published

12 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.

In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.

According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.

The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.

The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.

“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.

“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.

NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.

It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.

This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.