NNPC Cuts Trade Deficit by 16.19%

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday as investors focused their attention on an upcoming OPEC+ output policy meeting and looked past a jump in crude stockpiles in the United States. Brent crude futures were up by $1.01 or 1.2 per cent to $82.69 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.5 per cent to close at $77.57 a barrel. Prices were lifted by a media report that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, was considering

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu has said the 2024 budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday was designed to achieve macroeconomic stability, a better investment environment, greater access to social security, poverty reduction and enhanced human capital development. According to him, if these goals are achieved, the standard of living of Nigerians will improve and the citizens will enjoy the dividends of democracy. While presenting the 2024 Appropriation Bills to the parliament yesterday, the President said this was why he christened the budget proposal as the Budget of Renewed Hope. Mr Tinubu told the

By Dipo Olowookere The last trading day of November 2023 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a bullish note by 0.11 per cent on Thursday. Mild bargain-hunting in industrial goods equities like Lafarge Africa, supported by Airtel Africa, GTCO and other financial stocks left the market in the green territory at the close of business. Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 81.91 points to settle at 71,365.25 points compared with the preceding day’s 71,283.34 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N44 billion to N39.052 trillion from N39.008 trillion. Business Post reports that the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The management of Access Bank Plc has finally bowed to pressure, announcing that it would refund the money removed from customers’ accounts for stamp duty charges for three months. The tier-one lender had informed its millions of customers that it would deduct from their accounts stamp duty fees for February, March and April 2020. The reason for this, according to the financial institution, was because it did not charge its customers for the months as required by law. At the weekend, the social media, especially Twitter, was virtually on fire as customers of the bank complained bitterly

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Group Principal Consultant of Adstrat BMC, Mr Charles O’Tudor, has stepped down from his position as CEO/Principal Consultant of the company and has appointed Mr Daniel Victory Momoh, a strategist and conceptual thinker that has worked closely with the brand since May 2019 as the new leader. He announced this at the Season 05 of the Charles O’Tudor Brand Masterclass held at the Marriott Hotel, GRA, Ikeja on November 27, 2021. The event was a huge success as brilliant minds and industry thought leaders were present to stimulate the minds of the audience, which was a

By Dipo Olowookere Investors in the nation’s stock market gained N3 billion on Thursday following the marginal 0.01 per cent appreciation recorded at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. As a result, the market capitalisation expanded to N21.825 trillion from N21.822 trillion as the All-Share Index (ASI) rose by 6.17 points to 41,813.27 points from 41,807.10 points. The gains were boosted by buying interest in financial equities, with the insurance sector rising by 2.24 per cent and the banking space appreciating by 0.52 per cent. Unfortunately, the energy counter lost 0.78 per cent, the consumer goods sector went down by 0.27

By Dipo Olowookere As part of the activities to commemorate this year’s International Day of Charity, leading electricity distribution company in the country, Ikeja Electric Plc (IE), recently donated essential items, including clothes and food, to the Lagos State Rehabilitation and Training Centre in the Ikorodu area of the state. According to the Head, Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric Plc, Mr Felix Ofulue, the exercise was aimed at supporting the concerted effort of government, charitable organizations, individuals and other Corporates to further alleviate the plight of the underserved in society. The International Day of Charity is observed annually on September 5.

By Dipo Olowookere Yields of treasury bills at the secondary market in Nigeria moved in different directions on Monday across the four major tenors monitored, Business Post is reporting. For example, the one-month instrument recorded a rise in yield by 0.23 percent to close at 9.22 percent, same as the three-month maturity, which appreciated by 0.47 percent to finish at 9.72 percent at the market yesterday. However, yield on the six-month tenor fell by 0.11 percent to end at 10.67 percent, while the 12-month bill depreciated by 0.29 percent to settle at 12.07 percent when activities came to an end.

By Dipo Olowookere By the year 2020, Nigeria’s crude oil and gas reserves should have reached 40 billion barrels and 200 trillion cubic feet respectively, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said. The current Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves are around 37 billion barrels and 192 trillion cubic feet (tcl) respectively. The agency promised to sustain frontier exploration in the inland basins in order to meet Federal Government’s aspiration to achieve this. Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, while speaking in a keynote address titled: ‘NNPC’s Commercial Strategy and Priorities’ at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Nigerian equities market closed for the week on Friday on a bearish note just like the two previous days. The all-share index rose by 57.43 basis points or 0.21 percent to close at 27,294.21 basis points, while the market capitalisation improved by N19.7 billion to finish at N9.4 trillion at the end trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). A total 24 stocks appreciated in value at the close of trading today and were led by Total, which chalked up N10.27k to close at N329.99k per share, while Seplat followed with a

By Modupe Gbadeyanka More than 20 primary and secondary schools in Lagos converged recently at the Nigeria Navy football pitch in Ajegunle area of the metropolis for the Fourth Eco11 Club Rugby Festival. Present at the occasion was the General Manager of Nigeria Rugby Football Federation (NRFF), Mr Michael Archer, who is also one of the coaches of Eco11 Rugby Club. The one-day championship, organised to create awareness of the game among children at the grassroots level by the owner of EcoII Rugby Club, Musa Akor Dewu, also featured rugby tutorials for the youths in the area. At the end