Economy

Nigeria, Others Start 10% Oil Output Cut Friday

Published

6 years ago

30/04/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria and other oil producers around the world will begin to cut as much as 10 percent of the present crude oil supply from tomorrow, Friday, May 1.

Nigeria is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a cartel of oil producing nations led by Saudi Arabia, who along with allies led by Russia will trim production by roughly 9.7 million barrels per day.

The decision is being taken primarily to help ramp up oil prices, which have dropped more than 70 percent this year alone due to coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, oil revenue of economies have seriously been affected and has threatened many oil companies.

OPEC and its allies met earlier this month and decided to cut production, putting an end to an oil price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, which gave liberties to countries to push discounted oil to a market crumbling under the weight of oversupply.

Business Post analysis showed that with the new OPEC+ deal taking effect tomorrow, Nigeria reduce production by 400,000 barrels per day. This means the Africa’s largest oil producer will now produce 1.412 million barrels per day from May-June 2020. From July to December 2020, it will not be allowed to supply more than 1.495 million barrels per day and 1.579 million barrels per day from January 2021 to April 2022.

This is in addition to condensate production of 360,000 barrels per day to 460,000 barrels per day from which Nigeria is exempt from the cut.

According to OPEC’s secondary sources in its official production figures for March 2020, Nigeria pumped 1.853 million bpd of crude oil in March, up by 65,000 barrels per day compared with February 2020.

Several other countries such as the United States, Canada, and Brazil also announced that they will join the output ceiling although there was no clear cut figure that will be cut.

Nigeria’s crude Bonny Light crude grade has been recently offered at a discount of $5 a barrel to dated Brent, while it would have fetched a premium of $3 a barrel over Brent if market conditions were normal.

Also, there are April and May cargoes of Nigerian oil that have not been sold yet, and the country is yet to reach an agreement with key oil players in the country to decide the next course of action for June.

The emergence of Nigeria’s June loading programmes was severely delayed due to wrangling between producers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on how the new deal should be implemented.

And with limited spaces to store its oil, the best course would be to reduce what the country produces. But the Royal Dutch Shell, which has the largest production in Nigeria, is yet to disclose its plans.

Exxon, which operates one of Nigeria’s key grades, Qua Iboe, slashed exports in June to 95,000 barrels per day compared with an original May programme of 215,000 barrels per day.

Although without production cut, oil prices globally would still fall further. This deal will help to stifle the hard hitting effect and slow down the process and would later work out when demand that has been slashed due to the lockdown eventually lifts the market back to positive region.

Economy

NASD OTC Exchange Closes Green by 0.09%

Published

40 minutes ago

05/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rallied by 0.09 per cent on Wednesday, February 4, amid renewed appetite for unlisted stocks.

This lifted the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 3.18 points to 3,641.30 points from the previous session’s 3,641.30 points and raised the market capitalisation by N1.9 billion to N2.180 trillion from the N2.178 trillion quoted on Tuesday.

The bourse recorded three price gainers and four price losers at the midweek session.

The advancers were led by Air Liquide Plc, which went up by N2.04 rise to end at N22.53 per share versus the previous session’s N20.49 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) added 97 Kobo to sell at N44.97 per unit versus N44.00 per unit, and Acorn Petroleum Plc appreciated by 2 Kobo to N1.37 per share from N1.35 per share.

On the flip side, Geo-Fluids Plc lost 55 Kobo to sell at N6.26 per unit versus N6.81 per unit, Nipco Plc depreciated by 48 Kobo to trade at N259.00 per share versus N259.48 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc declined by 40 Kobo to N63.10 per unit from N63.50 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) depleted by 1 Kobo to 65 Kobo per share from 66 Kobo per share.

Yesterday, the volume of trades slid by 64.5 per cent to 2.5 million units from 7.0 million units, the value of transaction decreased by 53.2 per cent to N17.7 million from N37.9 million, and the number of deals went down by 47.1 per cent to 18 deals from 34 deals.

CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 16.0 million units valued at N652.6 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.7 million units exchanged for N111.2 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 11.7 million units traded for N76.1 million.

CSCS Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 16.0 million units sold for N652.6 million, trailed by Mass Telecom Innovation Plc with 13.3 million units worth N5.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 11.7 million units valued at N76.1 million.

Economy

Naira Rallies to N1,358/$1 at Official Market, N1,450/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

58 minutes ago

05/02/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira rallied at the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday as supply continues to outweigh demand, giving it an edge against the United States Dollar.

In the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira improved its value on the greenback yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,450/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,455/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it gained N3 to trade at N1,383/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s exchange rate of N1,386/$1.

In the the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), which is also the official market, the Naira firmed up against the Dollar at midweek by N14.63 or 1.1 per cent to settle at N1,358.28/$1 versus the preceding session’s N1,372.91/$1.

Against the Pound Sterling, the domestic currency appreciated on Wednesday by N14.16 to N1,863.43/£1 from the previous day’s N1,877.59/£1, and gained N13.73 on the Euro to end at N1,606.03/€1 versus the N1,619.76/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.

The strengthening of the Naira value has been driven by the injection of forex into the financial markets by foreign investors seeking attractive investments in the emerging markets, helping to boost Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with the capacity to support the local currency.

As of February 4, 2026, the reserves reached $46.59 billion.

The local currency has been able to find a solid path despite no indications of any intervention from the apex bank in recent week, strengthening the case of price discovery.

Policy moves by the CBN is also offering a backbone for the FX market as it considers some strategic reforms through a policy known as the Single Regulatory Window.

In its 2025 Fintech Report, the central bank said this scheme will significantly reduce time-to-market for new digital financial products by streamlining licensing and supervisory processes across multiple agencies.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was in red amid a broad sell-off in global technology stocks, with reports showing that liquidity was notably thin, amplifying price moves and contributing to forced liquidations. The decline followed a sharp sell-off in global technology stocks overnight, where concerns over the pace of artificial intelligence adoption and rising capital spending by major firms weighed heavily on valuations.

Bitcoin (BTC) lost 7.9 per cent to sell at $70,534.94, Ripple (XRP) declined by 11.2 per cent to $1.42, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 9.4 per cent to $689.70, Ethereum (ETH) crashed by 8.9 per cent to $2,072.46, and Solana (SOL) dipped by 8.7 per cent to $89.86.

In addition, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 6.9 per cent to $0.1008, Cardano (ADA) slipped by 6.8 per cent to $0.2792, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 5.1 per cent to trade at $57.56, and US Dollar Tether (USDT) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.9980, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00.

Economy

Selective Buying in Bellwether Stocks Further Raises NGX by 1.28%

Published

4 hours ago

05/02/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The decision of investors to cherry-pick stocks with sound fundamentals across categories further lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 1.28 per cent on Wednesday.

This selective buying of equities was inspired by the earnings season, as companies that have already released their 2025 financial statements have impressed market participants.

However, the insurance sector experienced profit-taking yesterday, causing its index to go down by 0.84 per cent at the close of business.

But this loss was offset by the 2.33 per cent growth achieved by the banking index, with the other remaining sectors also closing in green. The energy industry appreciated by 1.52 per cent, the industrial goods landscape expanded by 1.20 per cent, and the consumer goods counter improved by 1.09 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 2,128.61 points to 168,030.18 points from 165,901.57 points and the market capitalization rose by N1.366 trillion to N107.861 trillion from the previous day’s N106.495 trillion.

Yesterday, 53 equities ended on the advancers’ chart and 26 equities finished on the laggards’ table, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

DAAR Communications led the gainers’ group after it surged by 10.00 per cent to sell for N1.87, Berger Paints appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N66.00, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 10.00 per cent to 22 Kobo, RT Briscoe also jumped by 10.00 per cent to N10.45, and First Holdco improved by 9.92 per cent to N48.75.

Conversely, Red Star Express led the losers’ gang after it went down by 9.97 per cent to N17.15, Deap Capital also fell by 9.97 per cent to N6.86, Union Homes REIT slipped by 9.95 per cent to N69.25, McNichols dipped by 9.93 per cent to N6.53, and eTranzact lost 9.89 per cent to trade at N16.85.

At the midweek’s session, traders transacted 694.8 million shares worth N20.6 billion in 42,095 deals compared with the 736.4 million shares valued at N24.7 billion traded in 46,026 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 5.65 per cent, 16.60 per cent, and 8.54 per cent, respectively.

Chams ended the day as the busiest stock after trading 57.4 million units worth N256.3 million, Universal Insurance transacted 56.2 million units valued at N88.8 million, First Holdco exchanged 35.3 million units for N1.7 billion, Deap Capital traded 26.8 million units valued at N187.0 million, and Wema Bank sold 26.7 million units worth N674.6 million.