Economy

Oil Prices Rise as Earthquakes Hit Turkey, Syria

Published

2 years ago

07/02/2023

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices rose on Monday, buoyed by supply concerns following earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Brent crude futures rose 46 cents or 0.6 per cent to $80.40 a barrel, as the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures jumped by 20 cents or 0.3 per cent to $73.59 a barrel.

Massive earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday halted operations at Turkey’s major oil export hub in Ceyhan and stopped key crude oil flows from Iraq and Azerbaijan, officials said.

It has been regarded as the worst tremor to strike Turkey this century and was followed in the early afternoon by another large quake of magnitude 7.7.

The Tribeca shipping agency said in a notice that the BTC terminal at Ceyhan that exports Azeri crude oil will be closed through Wednesday pending damage assessments. Azerbaijan uses the Turkish port of Ceyhan as its main crude export hub, with a flow of about 650,000 barrels per day.

According to Reuters, following Monday’s earthquake, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) also halted flows through the pipeline it operates that runs from Iraq’s northern Kirkuk fields to Ceyhan, the region’s ministry of natural resources (MNR) said.

The KRG had been pumping 400,000 barrels per day, and Iraq’s federal government was pumping 75,000 barrels per day through the pipeline.

It was also reported that oil exports would resume after a “careful inspection of the pipelines is finalised,” the MNR said in a statement.

Also supporting prices was the prospect for China’s recovery after the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions continued to drive the value of the commodity.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects half of this year’s global oil demand growth to come from China. The agency’s chief, Mr Fatih Birol, disclosed this on Sunday, adding that jet fuel demand was surging.

“If demand goes up very strongly, if the Chinese economy rebounds, then there will be a need, in my view, for the OPEC+ countries to look at their (output) policies,” Mr Birol said, referring to a call of action for the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, OPEC+.

The 23-man group decided to cut output by 2 million barrels a day from November through 2023 instead of pumping more to cut fuel prices and help the global economy, as the US advised.

Also, price caps on Russian products took effect on Sunday, with Group of Seven (G7) nations, the European Union and Australia agreeing on price limits of $100 a barrel on diesel and other products that trade at a premium to crude and $45 a barrel for products that trade at a discount, such as fuel oil.

The price ceilings, together with an EU ban on Russian oil product imports, are part of a broader agreement among the Group of Seven (G7) countries. It follows a $60 per barrel cap on Russian crude that G7 countries imposed on December 5 as the G7, the EU and Australia seek to limit the country’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine.

Both caps prohibit Western insurance, shipping and other companies from financing, insuring, trading, brokering or carrying cargoes of Russian crude and oil products unless they were bought at or below the set price caps.

Economy

Local Stock Market Depletes by N141bn

Published

8 hours ago

12/04/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited came under pressure on Friday, staggering by 0.21 per cent at the close of trading activities.

Investors embarked on profit-taking yesterday, particularly in the energy and industrial goods sectors, which closed lower by 0.43 per cent and 0.06 per cent, respectively.

The gains reported by the others could not extend the stay of Customs Street in the positive territory yesterday.

Data showed that the insurance counter closed higher by 2.07 per cent, and the banking space improved by 0.55 per cent, while the consumer goods and commodity indices closed flat.

When the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 224.91 points to 104,563.34 points from 104,788.25 points and the market capitalisation contracted by N141 billion to N65.707 trillion from N65.848 trillion.

Deap Capital lost 9.71 per cent to trade at 93 Kobo, Royal Exchange crumbled by 9.09 per cent to 80 Kobo, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 7.61 per cent to 85 Kobo, Guinea Insurance depreciated by 7.35 per cent to 63 Kobo, and Oando dwindled by 5.57 per cent to N39.00.

Conversely, Caverton jumped by 9.96 per cent to N2.54, VFD Group surged by 9.90 per cent to N87.70, Abbey Mortgage Bank gained 9.86 per cent to close at N6.13, FTN Cocoa advanced by 9.83 per cent to N1.90, and Regency Alliance rose by 9.43 per cent to 58 Kobo.

On Friday, investors traded 380.0 million equities worth N10.1 billion in 10,791 deals versus the 432.6 million equities valued at N9.7 billion transacted in 12,027 deals in the previous trading session, indicating an uptick in the value of transactions by 4.12 per cent and contractions in the volume of trades and the number of deals by 12.16 per cent and 10.28 per cent apiece.

Access Holdings retained its position as the most active equity with 73.2 million units sold for N1.5 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 33.4 million units worth N1.7 billion, Cutix transacted 29.7 million units valued at N63.0 million, GTCO traded 25.7 million units worth N1.7 billion, and Fidelity Bank transacted 19.7 million units valued at N374.2 million.

Economy

NASD Index Closes Lower by 0.31%

Published

9 hours ago

12/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange went down by 0.31 per cent on Friday, April 10, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) depreciating by 1038 points to 3,277.57 points from the previous session’s 3,287.85 points.

Similarly, the market capitalisation of the bourse depleted by N6.02 billion to close at N1.919 trillion from the N1.925 trillion it ended on Thursday.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gave away N2.95 to close at N35.55 per unit versus the previous day’s N38.50 per unit and Acorn Petroleum Plc lost 13 Kobo to end at N1.17 per share from the previous closing value of N1.30 per share.

During the session, there was a 750.8 per cent surge in the volume of securities transacted to 152.3 million units from the 18.1 million units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions grew by 2,268.9 per cent to N4.6 billion from N192.9 million, and the number of deals went down by 20 per cent to 16 deals from 20 deals.

Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 71.2 million units valued at N24.2 million.

However, Okitipupa Plc became the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 14.6 million units worth N562.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.

Economy

Naira Appreciates to N1,611.08 Per Dollar at Official Market

Published

9 hours ago

12/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira closed the last trading session of the week in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on a positive note on Friday, April 11 with a gain of 1.2 per cent or N18.86 against the United States Dollar.

During the trading day, it was exchanged at the official forex market at N1,611.08/$1, in contrast to the N1,629.94/1 it was traded a day earlier.

The local currency strengthened yesterday at the currency market after the Dollar weakened in the international scene, making currencies like the Naira have a sigh of relief.

Also supporting this is efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to prop the market with the necessary liquidity.

However, the domestic currency depreciated against the British Pound Sterling at the spot market during the session by N5.57 to settle at N2,090.58/£1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N2,085.01/£1 and lost N10.18 against the Euro to sell for N1,815.82/€1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,805.64/€1.

At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback on Friday, remaining unchanged at N1,620/$1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was bullish after the US Dollar fell to a 3-year low and Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation dropped sharply.

The drop in the greenback made it possible for investors and traders to buy more while the index came in at 2.7 per cent versus the anticipated 3.3 per cent while the core PPI print also surprised to the downside.

Solana (SOL) appreciated by 5.4 per cent to $123.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 4.3 per cent to $0.1638, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 3.2 per cent to $83,697.39, and (XRP) added 2.4 per cent to quote at $2.04, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $587.41.

In addition, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 1.2 per cent to $1,573.75, Cardano grew by 0.3 per cent to $0.6234, Litecoin (LTC) also went up by 0.3 per cent to $76.20, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.