By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices went up on Tuesday, driven by concerns over limited supply from Russia and Iran because of Western sanctions and expected higher Chinese demand, with Brent crude futures increasing by 75 cents or 0.98 per cent to $77.05 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures grew by 69 cents or 0.94 per cent to $74.25 a barrel.

The US on Tuesday ramped up sanctions on Iran, targeting 35 entities and vessels it said carried illicit Iranian petroleum to foreign markets as part of what the US Treasury Department called Tehran’s “shadow fleet.”

The sanctions build on those imposed on October 11 and come in response to Iran’s October 1 attack on Israel and to its announced nuclear escalations, the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The move generally prohibits US individuals or entities from doing business with the targets and freezes US-held assets.

Meanwhile, cold weather in the US and Europe boosted heating oil demand, though oil price gains were capped by global economic data.

Eurozone inflation accelerated in December, an expected blip that is unlikely to derail further interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank.

Market analysts noted that the higher inflation in Germany raised suggestions the European Central Bank (ECB) may not be able to cut rates as fast as hoped across the bloc.

Market participants await more economic data, including the US December non-farm payrolls report on Friday.

On the supply end, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, South Sudan, will resume oil production on Wednesday after Sudan lifted the force majeure on the pipeline route through Sudan and onto Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

Earlier this month, Sudan lifted the 10-month-long force majeure on the oil flows from landlocked South Sudan through its neighbor to the north, Sudan, following new security arrangements and improved security conditions.

In March 2024, Sudan declared force majeure on crude oil exports from its South Sudan, following a major rupture in the pipeline carrying crude from South Sudan to the port in Sudan in an area with active military activity.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United fell by 4.022 million barrels for the week ending January 3. For the week prior, the API reported a draw of 1.442-million-barrel in US crude oil inventories in the midst of build season.

In 2024, crude oil inventories dropped by more than 12 million barrels, according to the API’s inventory data.

By Dipo Olowookere

Customs Street came under massive sell-offs on Tuesday, triggered by the rebalancing of portfolios by investors, leading to a 0.24 per cent decline at the close of business.

None of the five major market segments ended in the green territory during the trading session as the closest, the industrial goods space, closed flat.

The insurance counter depreciated by 7.68 per cent, the banking index shrank by 0.64 per cent, the consumer goods sector tumbled by 0.38 per cent, and the energy counter declined by 0.10 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) plunged by 249.42 points to 103,398.82 points from 103,648.24 points and the market capitalisation tumbled by N153 billion to close at N63.051 trillion compared with the previous day’s N63.204 trillion.

Business Post reports that investor sentiment turned bearish yesterday as a result of profit-taking, resulting in a negative market breadth index after the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited recorded 19 price gainers and 51 price losers.

FTN Cocoa, RT Briscoe, and Veritas Kapital lost 10.00 per cent each to trade at N1.80, N2.70, and N1.53, respectively, as Sunu Assurances shed 9.98 per cent to quote at N10.01, and Cornerstone Insurance also waned by 9.98 per cent to N4.15.

The duo of PZ Cussons and Abbey Mortgage Bank gained 10.00 per cent each to settle at N27.50, and N3.63, Learn Africa improved by 9.90 per cent to N5.44, NCR Nigeria jumped by 9.77 per cent to N7.30, and NGX Group soared by 9.72 per cent to N29.90.

Yesterday, investors bought and sold 1.1 billion shares worth N14.6 billion in 16,617 deals versus the 856.0 million shares valued at N13.3 billion traded in 16,505 deals on Monday, representing a rise in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 29.94 per cent, 9.77 per cent, and 0.68 per cent, respectively.

The activity chart was led by FBN Holdings with 161.5 million equities worth N4.7 billion, AIICO Insurance exchange 120.7 million shares valued at N225.4 million, Tantalizers traded 104.8 million stocks for N267.4 million, Universal Insurance transacted 93.8 million shares valued at N78.1 million, and Regency Alliance sold 47.3 million equities worth N44.6 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

About 395,000 barrels per day of crude oil were delivered to the Dangote Refinery in December under the crude-for-Naira deal with the federal government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

The volume of black gold supplied to the Lagos-based facility was 40 per cent higher than the 280,000 barrels per day delivered in November.

According to a report from Argus, the crude receipts at the 650,000 barrels per day capacity Dangote refinery rose to a new high in December.

It gathered the data from its tracking systems as well as from Kpler and Vortexa data.

The report said that this was the fourth consecutive month that crude deliveries were all Nigerian and did not include any US WTI.

Deliveries of WTI had been anticipated in December, but did not materialise.

The Dangote Group said it is aiming for 350,000 barrels per day throughput in a first phase of operations.

It had achieved this mark in June as receipts hit 350,000 barrels per day but fell back after that. Since March, when crude delivery began to increase, estimated receipts have averaged a little under 275,000 barrels per day.

Recall that Dangote Refinery had bought some foreign cargoes when NNPC could not adequately supply it with the needed resources.

In July, President Bola Tinubu directed the NNPC to commence sales of crude oil in Naira to local private refiners as part of efforts to boost domestic capacity and reduce foreign exchange pressure on the economy.

Last month’s receipts included cargoes of Nigerian grades Escravos, Bonny Light, CJ Blend, Qua Iboe, and Erha.

Bonny Light was the largest single grade at 140,000 barrels per day.

It was disclosed that three deliveries on very large crude carriers (VLCC) helped boost receipts in the review month.

Argus added that no cargoes of Forcados or Amenam were delivered to Dangote last month, having previously been regular grades at the refinery.

Dangote Group is also maintaining a very consistent slate in terms of gravity and especially sulphur content.

Argus assessed Dangote’s December slate at a weighted average gravity of 36.3°API and under 0.2 per cent sulphur content, compared with 36.4°API and under 0.2 per cent sulphur in November. In March-December, the slate averaged 36.3°API and again, under 0.2 per cent sulphur.