By Adedapo Adesanya

India has started snapping up Nigerian crude oil as it looks to wean itself off Russian crude oil sources, following threats from President Donald Trump of the United States.

Reuters reported that the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) recently bought one million barrels of Nigeria’s Agbami crude for September delivery in a tender awarded to global trader, Trafigura.

The purchase is part of a broader sourcing spree that has seen Indian refiners secure millions of barrels from non-Russian sources.

President Trump cited India’s imports of Russian crude when imposing an additional 25 per cent tariff on imports from India on August 6, which is due to take effect on August 28.

Reuters reported that Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum have bought a million barrels of non-Russian crude for delivery in September and October after the US pressured India to halt purchases from Russia.

Indian state refiners had been largely absent from the spot market since 2022, instead becoming one of the few purchasers of cheaper Russian crude after Russia invaded Ukraine. However, they paused Russian purchases in late July after pressure from US President Donald Trump.

Over two million barrels of crude oil were said to have been bought from Nigeria for September and October deliveries in India.

India’s second biggest state refiner BPCL bought barrels of oil through negotiations for September arrival, a source familiar with the purchases said.

That included one million barrels of Angola’s Girassol, one million barrels of US’ Mars, three million barrels of Abu Dhabi’s Murban, and two million barrels of Nigerian oil.

In a separate report, the publication reported that India imported about 1.8 million barrels per day of Russian crude in the first half of the year, or about 37 per cent of its total, citing data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler.

A breakdown showed that about 90 per cent of its Russian imports came from Russia’s European ports and was mainly Urals grade. This is a medium sour crude and it would raise challenges for Indian refiners if they sought to replace all their Urals imports with similar grades from other suppliers.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

In the first half of 2025, the total value of non-oil products exported from Nigeria stood at $3.22 billion, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has revealed.

According to a statement from the agency, this is 19.59 per cent higher than the $2.69 billion achieved between January and June 2024.

It was also disclosed that the volume of non-oil goods went up by 5.48 per cent to 4.04 million metric tonnes in the period under review from the 3.83 million metric tonnes posted in the first half of last year.

The NEPC stated that during the period, Nigeria exported 236 different products, 16.83 per cent higher than the 202 products exported in the corresponding period of last year, with the items ranging from agricultural commodities, extractive industries, and manufactured as well as semi-processed products.

Business Post reports that the three major exporters were Indorama Eleme Fertiliser and Chemical Limited, Starlink Global and Ideal Limited, and Dangote Fertiliser Limited, accounting for 11.92 per cent, 8.82 per cent, and 6.39 per cent, respectively, mainly from the sale of fertilisers and cocoa products.

The statement revealed that the improvement in the non-oil exports was due to a rise in global demand for Nigerian products, wider market access, and tariff relief provided under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.

It was stated that efforts by NEPC to educate Nigerian exporters like capacity building on quality and standards, packaging and labelling, export documentation and certifications also contributed to the increase.

The statement quoted the chief executive of NEPC, Ms Nonye Ayeni, as saying, “I am pleased to inform you that non-oil products exported in the first half of 2025 were valued at $3.225 billion. This shows an increase of 19.59 per cent as against the sum of $2.696 billion recorded for the first half of the year 2024.”

She said the country has witnessed a growth in value-added exports, as more Nigerian exporters adopted value-addition practices, as well as growing demand from emerging economies, such as India, Brazil, Vietnam, and some African countries.

“However, it is pertinent to state here that the non-oil export of Nigerian products is gradually diversifying from traditional agriculture exports to semi-processed/manufactured products,” Ms Ayeni added.

She also noted that, “Nigeria exported 488 million metric tonnes of products worth $83.538 million to 21 African countries outside ECOWAS. This is reflecting an increase of 2.59 per cent of the total export value as compared to 1.96 per cent for the same period of 2024.

“It also lends credence to the fact that the AfCFTA holds the key to intra-African trade. Indeed, Nigeria’s active participation in the AfCFTA is a testament to the significant opportunity it offers to exporting companies, also Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs).”

“A total of 10,214 Nigeria Export Proceed Forms (NXPs) were opened through these banks for non-oil exports with Zenith Bank Plc leading the pack with 31.98 per cent of the total NXPs for non-oil export.

“First Bank Nigeria Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc came second and third, with 12.44 per cent and 11.47 per cent, respectively,” she disclosed.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 1.26 per cent depreciation in Week 32, with the market capitalisation shedding N27.27 billion to settle at N2.140 trillion compared with the N2.167 trillion it ended in Week 31, and the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) declining by 46.59 points to 3,655.10 points from the 3,701.69 points it recorded in the previous week.

In the week, Okitipupa Plc topped the losers’ table after it lost 7.4 per cent to sell at N237.24 per share versus the preceding week’s N244.59 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc dropped 4.5 per cent to close at N53.5 per unit versus N58.00 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc slid by 1.5 per cent to N19.60 per share from N21.10 per share, 11 Plc fell by 1.3 per cent to N229.10 per unit from N230.42 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc slumped by 0.1 per cent to 62 Kobo per share from 63 Kobo per share.

On the other hand, Nipco Plc led the gainers’ log after it grew by 23.0 per cent to N264.00 per unit from N241.00 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc gained 0.3 per cent to quote at N5.00 per share compared with the preceding week’s N4.71 per share, NASD Plc rose by 0.2 per cent to N30.20 per unit from N29.98 per unit, Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc expanded by 0.2 per cent to N3.08 per share from N2.90 per share, Food Concepts Plc appreciated by 0.1 per cent to N3.22 per unit from N3.14 per unit, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc soared by 0.1 per cent to 43 Kobo per share from 35 Kobo per share, and UBN Property Plc increased by 0.1 per cent to N2.00 per unit from N1.90 per unit.

Last week, the value of transactions went up by 23.6 per cent to N161.9 million from N131.0 million, the total volume of transactions surged by 351.2 per cent to 27.2 million units from 6.03 million units, and the number of deals by went down by 0.55 per cent to 182 deals from 183 deals.

The most traded stock by value for the week was Okitipupa Plc with N62.9 million, Friesland Campina Wamco Nigeria Plc traded N42.5 million, CSCS Plc recorded N19.5 million, Food Concepts Plc transacted N11.0 million, and IGI Plc recorded N7.7 million.

Also, the most traded stock by volume was IGI Plc with 21.8 million units, Food Concepts Plc traded 3.4 million units, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc sold 0.6 million units, CSCS Plc quoted 0.4 million units, and Okitipupa Plc posted 0.3 million units.