Economy
Oil Gains as OPEC+ Leaves Current Output Policy Unchanged
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil was up by more than 1 per cent on Wednesday on supply concerns as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) agreed to leave their output policy unchanged.
Brent crude futures gained 81 cents or 1.26 per cent to sell for $64.90 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures appreciated by 95 cents or 1.56 per cent to $61.84 a barrel.
The producers agreed to establish a mechanism for setting baselines for their 2027 oil production, from which each member will make cuts or increases over the last few years.
The 22-member group tasked OPEC headquarters with developing a mechanism to assess countries’ maximum production capacity, to be used as reference for 2027 output baselines for all countries.
Some OPEC+ members such as the United Arab Emirates and Iraq have increased their production capacity, pressing the case for higher quotas, while others such as African members like Nigeria have seen declines.
Meanwhile, a separate meeting on Saturday of eight OPEC+ countries is expected to decide on an increase in oil output for July.
This subset of the larger group may agree an output hike for July of 411,000 barrels per day, the same as in May and June.
This is a strategy by the group’s de-facto leaders, Saudi Arabia and Russia, to punish over-producing allies and to win back market share.
OPEC+ pumps about 50 per cent of the world’s oil and has agreed three layers of output cuts since 2022 to support the market.
Prices also gained support over demand for the summer driving season just as non-OPEC+ crude output may come in flat in the first half of the year, coupled with risks of Canadian wildfires hurting supply.
Analysts also said prices could respond positively if there was progress on global trade talks or resolving US-Iranian friction.
It was reported that Iran might allow the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog to send US inspectors to visit nuclear sites if the country’s talks with the US succeed.
Meanwhile, American Petroleum Institute (API) figures on Wednesday showed that US crude stocks fell by 4.24 million barrels last week.
Official data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) on US crude inventories will be released on Thursday, due to Monday’s holiday in the world’s largest oil producer.
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.
