Economy
Oil Drops as OPEC+ Maintains Gradual Output Increases
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices went south on Wednesday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) agreed to stick to their existing policy of gradual output increases.
At the market yesterday, the Brent crude fell 28 cents or 0.42 per cent to settle at $71.29 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude slid 36 cents or 0.52 per cent to settle at $68.23 a barrel.
OPEC+ at its monthly meeting agreed to stick to a policy from July of phasing out record output cuts by adding 400,000 barrels per day a month to the market.
This decision means the alliance ignored calls by American President Joe Biden, who called on OPEC to boost production by more than the agreed 400,000 barrels per day monthly to mitigate the effect of rebounding fuel demand on prices at the pump.
The market also had its hoped dashed after the oil minister of Kuwait, Mr Mohammad Abdulatif al-Fares, assumed that the group might curb supply again amid a slowing market, blaming the potential curbs on the fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.
However, Wednesday’s meeting did not yield any noteworthy surprises as the group, after a very quick meeting, decided to go ahead with the already planned increase.
Sources also suggested that most OPEC+ members were happy with Brent crude prices of around $70 per barrel.
Still, the 23-member group revised the 2022 oil demand growth forecast to 4.2 million barrels per day, up from a previous 3.28 million barrels per day, potentially building the case for higher output in future.
The 2022 outlook looks optimistic based on 2021 data. OPEC+ expects demand to grow by 5.95 million barrels per day after a record drop of about 9 million barrels per day in 2020 due to the pandemic, but demand only rose by some 3 million barrels per day in the first half of 2021.
These overlooked the expected outcome as US crude inventories fell by 7.2 million barrels last week to 425.4 million barrels according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Analysts had expected a 3.1 million-barrel drop.
Meanwhile, offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico gradually recovers after Sunday’s storm took down a percentage of US production.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
