Economy
IEA Forecast Improved Oil Demand of 92.1mbpd in 2020
By Adedapo Adesanya
- Global oil supply falls to nine-year low in June.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has increased its 2020 oil demand forecast on Friday to 92.1 million barrels per day, up 400,000 barrels per day from its outlook in June, citing a lesser decline than expected in the second quarter of the year.
In its monthly oil report published on Friday, it noted that the appetite for oil still remain weakened by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which is suppressing overall oil demand.
It said global oil demand is forecast to average 92.1 million barrels per day in 2020 and 97.4 million barrels per day in 2021.
According to the Paris-based organisation, global oil demand will decline by 7.9 million barrels per day in 2020 but recover by 5.3 million barrels per day in 2021. However, it added, “the recent increase in COVID-19 cases and the introduction of partial lockdowns introduces more uncertainty to the forecast.”
“While the oil market has undoubtedly made progress, the large, and in some countries, accelerating the number of COVID-19 cases is a disturbing reminder that the pandemic is not under control and the risk to our market outlook is almost certainly to the downside,” the IEA said.
On the supply side of things, the agency noted that global supply had declined to its lowest level since 2011 due to massive production cuts made by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies known as OPEC+.
It noted that oil supply globally plunged to an average of 86.9 million barrels per day in June, down 2.4 million barrels per day from May.
In a breakdown, it said all participating members in the OPEC cuts supplied 27.2 million barrels per day in June, down by 1.9 million barrels per day from the previous month’s level of 29.1 million barrels in May.
Also, non-OPEC oil supply decreased to 59.7 million barrels per day in June, a fall of 0.5 million barrels daily from May’s level of 60.1 million barrels per day.
This brought down the world’s total oil supply to the lowest level in nine years, dropping by 2.39 million barrels per day from 89.3 million barrels per day in May to 86.9 million barrels per day last month.
“During June, global oil output tumbled to a nine-year low after Saudi Arabia cut an extra 1 million barrels per day below its OPEC+ target and output in both Iraq and the US fell by around 0.5 million barrels per day.
“Record OPEC+ cuts drove most of the decline in June. The group cut crude output by nearly 2 million bpd more than in May, lifting its overall cut above 10 million bpd and boosting compliance to 108% from 88% a month earlier,” the IEA said.
The easing of lockdown measures in many countries caused a strong rebound to fuel deliveries in May, June and likely also July, the IEA added.
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.
