By Adedapo Adesanya

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has cautioned refinery operators against importing substandard crude oil, following the expiry of the Naira-for-crude deal.

In a statement signed by its National Public Relations Officer, Mr Joseph Obele, the association said imported crude must meet global standards to ensure the production of high-quality petroleum products.

The group stressed that Nigerian crude oil, classified as Sweet Crude due to its low sulfur content of less than 0.5 per cent – ranks among the best in the world, and importation possess a high risk.

“We see no reason why imported crude oil should be of lower standards. The importation of substandard crude oil will compromise the quality of petroleum products, undermine the growth of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, and ultimately harm consumers.”

PETROAN also expressed concern over speculations that petroleum product prices may rise following the expiration of the naira-for-crude arrangement and called for continued access to imported refined petroleum products to stabilize prices and ensure energy sufficiency.

“The permutations in the media that petroleum prices might increase as the Naira-for-crude deal comes to an end is a serious concern to PETROAN. In order to avoid this scenario, we advocate that the window for importing refined petroleum products should remain open.”

The group  urged regulatory agencies to conduct rigorous laboratory testing on all crude oil imports to verify their quality.

“We call on regulatory agencies to be on high alert and conduct thorough laboratory analysis on all crude oil imports to ensure they meet the required standards. We also urge the relevant authorities to ensure that refinery operators adhere to the highest operational standards.”

The association further called on the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, to conduct a comprehensive review of the Naira-for-crude initiative to determine the next steps in Nigeria’s energy sector.

“The reforms introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, encourage competition in the downstream sector. Competition is a catalyst for price reduction in any sector. We believe that as the market adjusts to the new realities, prices will stabilize and eventually decrease.”

PETROAN also announced plans to conduct independent laboratory testing on refined petroleum products.

“We will conduct laboratory testing on refined petroleum products to determine which refinery or depot our members should buy from. This is to ensure that our members and the Nigerian public are not sold substandard products.”

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange bounced back on Thursday, April 3 from its previous day’s loss, gaining 0.24 per cent at the close of business.

This increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 7.78 points to 3,316.34 points from the preceding trading day’s 3,308.46 points and raised the portfolios of unlisted securities investors by N4.55 billion as the market capitalisation ended at N1.915 trillion compared with Wednesday’s N1.910 trillion.

This growth occurred after the bourse finished with three price gainers and one price loser, IPWA Plc, which shed 5 Kobo to end at 50 Kobo per share, in contrast to midweek’s value of 55 Kobo per share.

Business Post reports that FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.16 to close at N38.66 per unit versus N36.50 per unit, First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc appreciated by 2 Kobo to 58 Kobo per unit from 56 Kobo per unit, and Food Concepts Plc rose by 1 Kobo to N1.18 per share from N1.17 per share.

Data indicated that there was a decrease of 95.9 per cent in the volume of securities bought and sold by the market participants to 372,568 units from the 9.1 million units transacted in the previous trading day.

Equally, the value of transactions slid by 43.7 per cent to N4.1 million from N7.2 million, and the number of deals went up by 81.8 per cent to 40 deals from 22 deals.

When the market ended for the session, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 70.2 million units sold for N23.8 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.2 million units valued at N89.4 million.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc finished the trading day as the active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 13.8 million units valued at N531.6 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.8 million units sold for N364.2 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira crashed to its lowest level in weeks to N1,550.74/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, April 4, as wider tariffs instituted by the United States took its toll on it.

At the currency market yesterday, the exchange rate of the Nigerian currency to its American counterpart depreciated by 1.25 per cent or N19.11. On Wednesday, the price was N1,531.63/1$.

The US President, Mr Donald Trump, unveiled sweeping reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday, announcing baseline 10 per cent duties on imports from all trading partners, and much higher rates for some nations.

Nigeria, a trading partner, was hit with a 27 per cent import tariff and a 14 per cent reciprocal tariff.

According to African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank), the move will likely affect the country’s FX earnings as it could trigger a weakness in oil demand.

At the spot market, the local currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N60.63 to sell for N2,043.29/£1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,982.66/£1 and against the Euro, it lost N65.42 to finish at N1,722.38/€1 versus N1,656.96/€1.

At the black market, the domestic currency slumped against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to sell for N1,560/$1, in contrast to midweek’s rate of N1,555/$1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it remained bearish as traders worried about the risk associated with President Donald Trump’s 10 per cent baseline levy on all imports to the country.

Solana (SOL) dropped 1.9 per cent to sell at $116.39, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 1.8 per cent to $595.28, Ethereum (ETH) dwindled by 1.2 per cent to $1,801.26, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 0.6 per cent to $0.1642, and Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 0.2 per cent to $83,069.98.

However, Cardano jumped by 0.7 per cent to $0.6531, Ripple (XRP) increased its value by 0.7 per cent to $2.05, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 0.3 per cent to $83.78, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.