Economy
Oil Slides As IEA Warns Vaccine Won’t Help Demand Yet
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices cut their bullish run on Thursday, November 12 as the International Energy Agency (IEA) cautioned that the vaccine breakthrough won’t quickly revive markets.
The agency further stated that it has lowered its forecasts for global oil demand as a result of the new lockdown measures put in place in Europe, which it said could affect demand for the commodity.
This affected the prices of crude oil yesterday and led to the 47 cents or 1.07 per cent decline suffered by the Brent crude, which traded at $43.33 per barrel. Also, the price of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went down by 33 cents or 0.8 per cent to $41.12 per barrel.
Prices of crude had hit their best in more than two months this week following news about progress on coronavirus vaccine, but IEA said yesterday that the use of fuel won’t experience any significant boost from vaccines until the second half of next year.
The Paris-based organisation, which advises most major economies, reduced oil-demand projections for this quarter sharply, by 1.2 million barrels a day.
Global oil consumption is now on track to slump by 8.8 million barrels per day this year, averaging 91.3 million a day, according to the IEA. It also reduced estimates for 2021, lowering its first-quarter projection by 700,000 barrels a day, though demand is still set to stage a rebound of 5.8 million barrels on average next year.
Earlier, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had said it expects world oil demand to contract by around 9.8 million barrels per day in 2020, reflecting a downward revision of 300,000 barrels from October’s forecast.
The OPEC+ alliance led by Saudi Arabia and Russia had initially aimed to restore some of the supply they’re keeping offline at the start of next year, but is increasingly focused on delaying the move as the outlook for consumption, combined with rising supply in places like Libya puts pressure on the cartel and its allies as they prepare to meet in a few weeks.
The IEA in its report also noted that if OPEC+ proceeds with its scheduled supply increase of almost 2 million barrels a day in January, the producers will fail to cut global oil inventories during the first quarter.
The agency noted that world output could be 1 million barrels a day higher this month as the US recovers from hurricane disruptions and as Libya resumes exports.
Libya, one of the three OPEC nations exempt from the agreement to cut output, tripled production and is now pumping more than 1 million barrels a day, and could average just below this level in November.
Also adding to the bearish outcome was news that American’s crude inventories increased by 4.28 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria slightly surpassed its quota set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in July 2026.
In the month under review, the country produced about 1.57 million barrels of crude oil per day.
It was the third consecutive month Africa’s largest oil-producing nation was meeting its monthly quota, set to stabilise the price of the commodity on the global market by the oil cartel.
Data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on Wednesday showed that the 1.5 million barrels per day ceiling for Nigeria was surpassed last month.
The agency disclosed in a statement today that the country produced 1.505mbpd of crude oil and 0.17mbpd of condensate, bringing the combined daily production to 1.67mbpd.
In the month under review, the daily peak production of crude oil and condensate was 1.78mbpd, while the lowest daily production was 1.57mbpd.
Although Nigeria met its OPEC quota in the month of July, the statistics show that on a month-on-month basis, production fell by 4 per cent.
This was attributed to the decline in production due to operational challenges experienced at the Erha and Akpo fields, which impacted crude oil output during the period under review.
These disruptions constrained production volumes and contributed significantly to the overall reduction in national crude oil output.
Despite the challenges, production operations across most other producing assets remained relatively stable, with operators implementing measures aimed at maintaining production efficiency and minimising the impact of operational constraints, NUPRC stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The over 9 billion shares of Lasaco Assurance Plc issued to shareholders of the company via a rights issue have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The equities were brought to Customs Street on Wednesday by the organisation, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up share capital.
Lasaco Assurance, which scaled the recapitalisation hurdle of the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) in July 2026, raised fresh capital from the capital market to shore up its capital base.
The underwriting firm got about N18.5 billion from the rights issue, which involved the issuance of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares at a unit price of N2.00.
The exercise was on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
Confirming the listing of the additional stocks of Lasaco Assurance today, the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of NGX RegCo, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, announced in a circular that, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Lasaco Assurance Plc were today, Wednesday, August 12, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N2.00 per share on the basis of five new ordinary shares for every existing six ordinary shares held as of the close of business on Friday, February 20, 2026.
“With the listing of the additional 9,236,321,546 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Lasaco Assurance Plc has now increased from 11,083,585,855 to 20,319,907,401 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Insurers Association (NIA) has said the successful recapitalisation of the insurance industry will strengthen the sector’s ability to support financial stability and economic growth.
NIA Chairman, Mrs Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu, said a well-capitalised insurance industry would be better positioned to meet its obligations promptly, underwrite complex and large-scale risks and serve as a dependable pillar of the Nigerian economy.
She made the remarks while commending the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) for its structured implementation of the new minimum capital requirements under the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025.
Mrs Nwachukwu said NAICOM’s clear guidelines, systematic verification process, defined timelines and rigorous supervision had provided operators with a credible framework for navigating the recapitalisation exercise.
She described the outcome as a major milestone for the industry and congratulated the 43 insurance and reinsurance companies that have successfully met the prescribed minimum capital requirements.
According to her, the exercise represents “a major win not just for regulators and operators, but for policyholders, investors and the wider Nigerian economy.”
Mrs Nwachukwu said the association would continue to work with NAICOM and other stakeholders to consolidate the gains of the exercise, with emphasis on sustainable industry growth, stronger market conduct and improved consumer confidence.
The official also expressed solidarity with the eight companies still undergoing final verification and regulatory review, urging them to remain confident as NAICOM completes the process within the 14-day review period.
The NIA chairman assured policyholders and the wider business community that the insurance industry would emerge from the recapitalisation exercise stronger, more resilient and better positioned to contribute to Nigeria’s economic development.
