Economy
Oil Suppliers Beg FG for Three-Month Forex Subsidy
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) cried to the federal government concerning the harsh working environment its members currently operate.
In a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the National President of the organisation, Mr Benneth Korie, stated that the high Dollar exchange rate against the Naira rate was killing businesses.
The group has, therefore, asked for foreign exchange (FX) palliatives for three months, saying it would want to be guaranteed FX supply within the period at the rate of N600/$1.
The oil marketers recalled that while they recently applauded the removal of fuel subsidy, they had equally warned and advised that the right steps be taken to cushion its effects for the survival of citizens and their businesses.
NOGASA raised concerns over the growing challenges of petroleum products procurement and distribution, especially with the attendant hardships resulting from increases in pump prices of petrol and diesel across the country.
“NOGASA is seriously worried that between now and December this year, in the absence of government urgent intervention, there will be increasing losses of lives, businesses and jobs.
“This will be accentuated by mass shutdown of filling stations and packing up of petroleum tankers, all due to unattainable high cost of importation, lifting, transportation and distribution of petroleum products,” Mr Korie stated.
He said the price of diesel has hit N1,000 per litre, pointing out that suppliers were at the receiving end of the development.
Similarly, Mr Korie noted that depot owners were terribly affected by the increasing cost of the exchange rate to the extent that many depots are practically deserted as their owners are unable to secure bank loans to fund their businesses due to high interest rates.
“Banks are not willing to guarantee funds release to stakeholders as a result of the difficulty, instability and galloping rates of foreign exchange and high cost of the Dollar.
“Many depots are presently dried up or out of stock, and there is no gainsaying this as it is evidently verifiable.
“Worst hit are filling stations whose owners find it extremely difficult to secure funds to procure products for their retail outlets and both the independent and major marketers are so terribly affected that as at today, filling stations are shutting down in great numbers on a daily basis.
“Also, dealers are going out of business with many more on the verge of bankruptcy because of their inability to secure funds to facilitate orders for their stations,” he added.
The body also stressed that government must urgently come to the aid of the industry as quickly as possible to save it from an impending colossal collapse which will in turn result in a more devastating blow to the economy at large.
“Indeed, the success of this government highly depends on the survival of the oil industry, whose critical stakeholders are presently most negatively affected.
“We wish to once again and most sincerely reiterate that the only realistic option out of this dire situation for now is for government to urgently consider to expedite the provision of ‘emergency palliative measures’ for marketers.
“This will be such that fuels can be imported at the rate of at least N600 per dollar for the next three months while waiting for the promised reactivation of our refineries.
“This will go a long way in cushioning the harsh effect of the high cost of importation and equally bring about reasonable reliefs to the business and cost of living generally,” he explained.
NOGASA lamented that the state of Nigeria’s roads continues to make a very strong statement against government’s responsibility for infrastructural provision and maintenance.
The organisation noted that petroleum products distribution is, and had been severely hampered by roads that are no longer motorable.
According to the association, this development was already a waiting threat to the laudable Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative of President Bola Tinubu.
“These conscious and practical solutions are therefore suggested to engage the local workforce to speedily refurbish and/or resuscitate bad roads across the country.
“This will also create thousands of jobs for jobless youths and other restive people in our communities, which will definitely be a plus for this administration,” NOGASA added.
These suggestions, it said, were highly important as effective products distribution requires effective provision and maintenance of roads network across the nation.
“Finally, government should do everything to ensure the removal of all things that have to do with challenges in the areas of importation as well as clearing in NIMASA, NPA, DPR and other agencies that are involved with dollar transactions for marketers.
“The bottlenecks are simply killing us. Our businesses are dying and the system is not helping us at all. An urgent action is highly required to save our industry from total collapse. A stitch in time saves nine!” the oil marketers said.
Business Post reports that the Naira had depreciated further selling at N775/$1 at the official market and around N990- N1,000/$1 at unregulated markets.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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