Economy
Oil Prices Fall After Court Rules on Trump’s Tariffs
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices fell by over 1 per cent on Thursday as investors weighed the potential effects of a US court ruling that blocked President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with Brent crude losing 75 cents or 1.2 per cent to finish at $64.15 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declining by 90 cents or 1.5 per cent to $60.94 a barrel.
A US trade court blocked most of President Donald Trump’s tariffs in a sweeping ruling on Wednesday that found the president overstepped his authority by imposing across-the-board duties on imports from US trading partners.
The Court of International Trade said the US Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority to regulate commerce with other countries that is not overridden by the president’s emergency powers to safeguard the US economy.
However, the court was not asked to address some industry-specific tariffs President Trump has issued on automobiles, steel and aluminium using a different statute.
Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol explained that demand for oil was considerably weak in China.
He added that developments in Russia and Iran were “question marks” for oil prices.
The US and Iran are holding talks meant to halt Iranian nuclear activities that have rapidly accelerated since President Trump removed the US out of a 2015 deal between Iran and major powers that strictly limited those activities.
On the oil supply front, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together called OPEC+, could agree on Saturday, May 31, to accelerate oil production hikes in July.
Market analysts say the group may likely agree on another large supply increase of 411,000 barrels per day.
“We expect similar increases through until the end of the third quarter, as the group increases its focus on defending market share,” Reuters cited ING analysts.
However, there are also concerns about potential new sanctions on Russian crude.
Adding to supply risks, US oil giant, Chevron has terminated its oil production and a number of other activities in Venezuela, after its key license was revoked by the Trump administration in March.
Last month, the South American OPEC producer cancelled cargoes scheduled to Chevron, citing payment uncertainties related to US sanctions.
This may impact the 290,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil, or over a third of the country’s total that Chevron was exporting before that.
The Energy Information Administration (EIA)data showed U.S. crude inventories posted a surprise draw in the latest week, falling by 2.8 million barrels to 440.4 million barrels. Analysts had expected a 118,000-barrel rise.
In Canada, a wildfire in the province of Alberta has forced residents of a small town to evacuate and prompted a temporary shutdown of some oil and gas production, which could reduce supply.
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.
