Economy
Nigeria to Raise Output as OPEC+ Okays Increase in Supply
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria, a member of the oil-producing countries under the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, will increase its output for the next three months.
The country, which is Africa’s largest crude producing nation, will join the 23-nation alliance to boost supply by not more than 500,000 barrels per day in May, June and July 2021.
The decision comes amid expectations before the meeting that the bloc would err on the side of caution as fear over the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic spread across Europe.
On Thursday, April 1, members of the group had a meeting to discuss the market and how supply can be monitored.
Under its current agreement, the OPEC+ alliance is enforcing drastic cuts in production, meaning seven million barrels that could be shipped to markets every day are being left in the ground.
Market analysts had widely tipped OPEC+ to roll over the production cuts for another month, especially as more nations are experiencing an upswing in coronavirus cases.
Saudi Arabia and Russia Views
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdelaziz bin Salman stressed that the decision could still be “tweaked” in the alliance’s monthly meetings.
Before the meeting, Prince Abdelaziz said that “the reality remains that the global picture is far from even, and the recovery is far from complete”.
Prince Salman praised the OPEC+ alliance nations for more than fulfilling their commitments to restrain output.
In addition, Saudi Arabia has volunteered to cut its own output by one million barrels per day to help avoid oversupplying a market suffering from a collapse in demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The cuts were aimed at avoiding limited storage capacity and to help support prices that crossed the $60 per barrel mark last month.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Alexander Novak was more optimistic in his opening comments.
“The evolution of the vaccination campaign is making progress and allows us to look towards the future with optimism, even if, of course, we shouldn’t forget that there remain many uncertainties ahead.
“We also note that the economy continues to improve,” he added.
However, with Europe returning to lockdown and infections sweeping through India, a country that until the pandemic was an important source of demand growth, experts are now seeing a slower recovery for the crude market.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) reflected this more downbeat outlook in forecasts contained in its last report this month.
It estimated that global demand could take another two years to get back to its pre-crisis levels.
Latest OPEC+ Compliance for February 2021
Overall OPEC+ compliance stood at 113 per cent in February, up from 103 per cent in January, the highest compliance that the group has delivered since the start of the current output restraint agreement in May 2020.
The group’s 10 participating OPEC countries, including Nigeria and excluding Iran, Venezuela, and Libya, were 124 per cent compliant in February, also the highest level since the start of the agreement, up from 108 per cent in January, while the nine Non-OPEC participants were 94 per cent compliant, down from 95 per cent in the previous month.
Non-OPEC members’ collective compliance has hovered just a little below 100 per cent in each month since the start of the agreement. They got closest to full compliance in August when they delivered 99 per cent of their pledged cuts.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria slightly surpassed its quota set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in July 2026.
In the month under review, the country produced about 1.57 million barrels of crude oil per day.
It was the third consecutive month Africa’s largest oil-producing nation was meeting its monthly quota, set to stabilise the price of the commodity on the global market by the oil cartel.
Data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednesday showed that the 1.5 million barrels per day ceiling for Nigeria was surpassed last month.
The agency disclosed in a statement today that the country produced 1.505mbpd of crude oil and 0.17mbpd of condensate, bringing the combined daily production to 1.67mbpd.
In the month under review, the daily peak production of crude oil and condensate was 1.78mbpd, while the lowest daily production was 1.57mbpd.
Although Nigeria met its OPEC quota in the month of July, the statistics show that on a month-on-month basis, production fell by 4 per cent.
This was attributed to the decline in production due to operational challenges experienced at the Erha and Akpo fields, which impacted crude oil output during the period under review.
These disruptions constrained production volumes and contributed significantly to the overall reduction in national crude oil output.
Despite the challenges, production operations across most other producing assets remained relatively stable, with operators implementing measures aimed at maintaining production efficiency and minimising the impact of operational constraints, NUPRC stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The over 9 billion shares of Lasaco Assurance Plc issued to shareholders of the company via a rights issue have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The equities were brought to Customs Street on Wednesday by the organisation, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up share capital.
Lasaco Assurance, which scaled the recapitalisation hurdle of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in July 2026, raised fresh capital from the capital market to shore up its capital base.
The underwriting firm got about N18.5 billion from the rights issue, which involved the issuance of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares at a unit price of N2.00.
The exercise was on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
Confirming the listing of the additional stocks of Lasaco Assurance today, the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of NGX RegCo, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, announced in a circular that, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Lasaco Assurance Plc were today, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N2.00 per share on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
“With the listing of the additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Lasaco Assurance Plc has now increased from 11,083,585,855 to 20,319,907,401 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has said the successful recapitalisation of the insurance industry will strengthen the sector’s ability to support financial stability and economic growth.
NIA Chairman, Mrs Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, said a well-capitalised insurance industry would be better positioned to meet its obligations promptly, underwrite complex and large-scale risks and serve as a dependable pillar of the Nigerian economy.
She made the remarks while commending the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for its structured implementation of the new minimum capital requirements under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
Mrs Nwachukwu said NAICOM’s clear guidelines, systematic verification process, defined timelines and rigorous supervision had provided operators with a credible framework for navigating the recapitalisation exercise.
She described the outcome as a major milestone for the industry and congratulated the 43 insurance and reinsurance companies that have successfully met the prescribed minimum capital requirements.
According to her, the exercise represents “a major win not just for regulators and operators, but for policyholders, investors and the wider Nigerian economy.”
Mrs Nwachukwu said the association would continue to work with NAICOM and other stakeholders to consolidate the gains of the exercise, with emphasis on sustainable industry growth, stronger market conduct and improved consumer confidence.
The official also expressed solidarity with the eight companies still undergoing final verification and regulatory review, urging them to remain confident as NAICOM completes the process within the 14-day review period.
The NIA chairman assured policyholders and the wider business community that the insurance industry would emerge from the recapitalisation exercise stronger, more resilient and better positioned to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development.
