Economy
Nigeria Struggles to Meet OPEC Quota by 180,000bpd
By Adedapo Adesanya
For yet another month, Nigerian crude oil production fell in January 2022 as the country produced 1.5 million barrels per day, 180,000 barrels per day lower than what it is permitted to supply to the global market, though its production last month was the highest in five months.
Nigeria’s January output marked a recovery from the fourth quarter of last year when production was hit by a number of sabotage incidents and infrastructure issues.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which Nigeria is a member, saw its crude production increase again last month but the group fell further short of its target amid dwindling spare capacity.
Under the OPEC quota, Nigeria is expected to produce 1.68 million barrels per day level.
Alongside its allies known collectively as OPEC+ raised output by 260,000 barrels per day to 37.94 million barrels per day in January.
This is 800,000 below the target for the month, according to a survey by Argus.
The group is finding it increasingly difficult to keep pace with its monthly 400,000 barrels per day hike in quotas as spare capacity tightens.
Argus estimates that the coalition’s spare capacity could drop as low as 3.8million barrels per day by the end of March.
OPEC members accounted for much of last month’s increase, with Mideast Gulf producers delivering some of the largest hikes. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) — which hold most of the group’s remaining spare capacity — raised production by 100,000 barrels per day and 60,000 barrels per day respectively.
Russia and Oman were the only non-OPEC members of the group that managed to raise production last month.
Russia, which is fast running out of spare capacity, delivered a 90,000 barrels per day increase to take its output above 10 million barrels per day for the first time since April 2020, but it was still short of its January quota.
Several of the group’s large producers saw their production decline last month, including Iraq, where crude exports were constrained by adverse weather, and Kazakhstan, where protests briefly interrupted operations at the Tengiz field.
Of the three OPEC countries that are exempt from quotas, Iran was the only one to increase output in January. Firmer exports pushed Iranian production 30,000 barrels per day higher.
Talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal and remove US sanctions on Iranian oil exports restarted this month.
After three months of consecutive gains, Venezuelan output dropped by 60,000 barrels per day in January. Venezuela has been importing Iranian condensate to dilute and upgrade extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco belt into an exportable heavy sour grade in recent months, but analysts note that the latest shipment was delayed, Argus noted.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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