Economy

Nigeria Has $1.92b in Excess Crude Account—Minister

Published

8 years ago

29/06/2018

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday disclosed that the balance left in the nation’s Excess Crude Account (ECA) is $1.916 billion.

Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, Mrs Adeosun said with oil price at $76 per barrel in the spot market and Bonny Light at about $78, government wanted to be saving aggressively into the ECA because the window of relatively high oil price might not last.

She said while the ECA has $1.916 billion, the Stabilisation Fund has N18.892 billion, and the Natural Resources Fund, N133.715 billion.

According to her, an additional credit of $80.6 million was saved into the ECA by federal government in May 2018.

Mrs Adeosun, who spoke with newsmen at the end of the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday, said the council has appointed a committee of Kaduna, Kogi, Ebonyi and Lagos State Governors to review the administration and operation of the Stabilisation Fund Account.

On the Federation Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting which ended in deadlock on Wednesday as a result of inability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to properly reconcile its accounts, the Minister said efforts were underway to resolve the issues.

“Remember that the FAAC figures have to be formally accepted by the federation account committee and we were simply not comfortable with the quantum of some of the deductions made and, therefore, we could not approve those figures,” the Minister said.

According to her, the NNPC is run like a business and it was proper for the state-owned oil agency to give proper account of its expenditure.

She said President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo have been briefed of outcome of the inconclusive meeting, expressing confidence that another meeting should be conveyed very soon.

“In my capacity as the chairman of FAAC, I briefed governors on the deadlock that we have got currently in the Federation Account and explained what happened. There was quite an extensive debate on what to do.

“For the purpose of this briefing, we operate the NNPC as a business. We have invested public capital in that business; and we have expectations of return. And when that return falls lower than our expectations, then the owners of this business, which in this case are the Federal Government and states, need to act.

“So, that was what caused the deadlock yesterday (Wednesday) and we really felt the figures the NNPC was proposing for FAAC were unacceptable. We felt that some of the costs couldn’t be justified, and so we have decided that rather than approve the accounts, we will go back and do further work,” Mrs Adeosun said.

She told newsmen further that, “Further negotiations and interactions are going on with the NNPC as we speak. However, we did brief both Mr President and Mr Vice President on the deadlock and asked for their support and their forbearance in this, because the consequence of this is that salaries might well be delayed in many states as a result of this.

“But we feel that in order to get to the accurate figures that we need, we have asked for forbearance and the governors and the Federal Government are all in agreement that we need to get to the bottom of those figures.”

“So, even as we speak, there is an interface going on among the Commissioners of Finance Forum, Ministry of Finance, Office of the Accountant-General, the CBN and the NNPC. We hope to be able to convene FAAC within the next few days,” she noted.

She said, “Based on oil price and oil quantity, you can calculate what you are expecting to see in the Federation Account and if the figure is less, then the right question that any stakeholder must ask is why.

“So, we have been going back and forth with the NNPC to try and understand these figures before we can accept them.

Economy

NASD Exchange Falls 0.22% After Investors Lose N4.8bn

Published

34 minutes ago

29/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened by 0.22 per cent on Tuesday, April 28, with the market capitalisation down by N4.8 billion to N2.420 trillion from N2.425 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 9.01 points to 4,044.96 points from 4,053.97 points.

During the session, the price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N1.82 to N767.05 per share from N78.87 per share, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N100.00 per unit from N98.10 per unit.

According to data, the value of trades increased by 265.7 per cent to N27.1 million from N7.4 million units, and the volume of transactions surged by 305.2 per cent to 1.3 million units from 319,831 units, while the number of deals decreased by 6.9 per cent to 27 deals from 29 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.8 million units exchanged for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,380/$ at Official Market, N1,390/$1 at Black Market

Published

1 hour ago

29/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Pressure is beginning to mount on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market despite an oil windfall triggered by the Middle East crisis.

On Monday, April 27, the domestic currency further weakened against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by N16.47 or 1.2 per cent to N1,380.71/$1 from the previous day’s N1,364.24/$1.

It was not different against the Pound Sterling in the same market window, as it lost N16.04 to trade at N1,863.76/£1 versus Monday’s closing rate of N1,847.72/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N12.72 to close at N1,615.01/€1 versus N1,602.29/€1.

The Naira also depreciated against the Dollar at the black market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1 compared with the previous price of N1,385, and at the GTBank forex counter, it further crashed by N9 to settle at N1,379/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,370/$1.

The continued decline of the Naira comes as traders increasingly seek other safe-haven currencies amid continued global disruptions.

The benefit awash in the global market is making foreign portfolio investors stay short in Nigerian markets. Despite this, the daily FX publication released showed that interbank turnover rose to $98.829 million across 78 deals, up from $76.65 million.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained cautious, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $77,216.66 despite surging oil prices and geopolitical tensions over a potential extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Analysts say the supply overhang has finally dried up, and the sellers who were spooked by macro shifts or quantum fears have already exited, leaving the market much thinner on the sell-side.

Investors will await decisions made by central banks this week. The US Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision later on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank (ECB) follows on Thursday.

Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.5 per cent to trade at $2,324.59, Dogecoin (DOGE) chalked up 1.4 per cent to sell for $0.1016, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $84.85, Cardano (ADA) grew by 0.5 per cent to $0.2483, and Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 0.2 per cent to $627.15.

However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3224, and Ripple (XRP) lost 0.03 per cent to sell at $1.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were unchanged at $1.00 each.

Economy

Oil up 3% as Hormuz Disruption Outweighs UAE OPEC Exit

Published

2 hours ago

29/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil was up by nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday as persistent worries about supply constraints from the closed Strait of Hormuz continued, with Brent futures for June rising by $3.03 or 2.8 per cent to $111.26 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures growing by $3.56 or 3.7 per cent to $99.93 a barrel.

An earlier round of negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed last week after face-to-face talks failed.

Ship-tracking data showed significant disruptions in the region, with six Iranian oil tankers forced to turn back due to the US blockade, but some traffic is still moving.

Prices trimmed some of the advances after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the fourth-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Tuesday it would exit the group on this Friday, May 1, 2026.

This dealt a blow to the oil-exporting group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.

The UAE could quickly ⁠add between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day of output. However, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, analysts said that there’s nowhere for that supply to go.

The UAE joined OPEC in 1967, but tension with Saudi Arabia over production quotas has been building for years.

Under the OPEC+ deal, the country has been held to roughly 3 million barrels per day while sitting on capacity above 4 million. It has been pushing toward 5 million barrels per day by 2027, and that target is hard to achieve with quotas built around someone else’s view of the market.

The war in Yemen broke whatever was left of diplomatic patience.

President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal to end the war. The proposal would avoid addressing the nuclear programme until hostilities cease and Gulf shipping disputes are resolved.

The Idemitsu Maru, ‌a Panama-flagged ⁠tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, and an LNG tanker managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) crossed the Strait on Tuesday, shipping data showed.

Vortexa data showed that the amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose to 153.11 million barrels as of April 24.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.