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 Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened by 0.22 per cent on Tuesday, April 28, with the market capitalisation down by N4.8 billion to N2.420 trillion from N2.425 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 9.01 points to 4,044.96 points from 4,053.97 points.
During the session, the price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N1.82 to N767.05 per share from N78.87 per share, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N100.00 per unit from N98.10 per unit.
According to data, the value of trades increased by 265.7 per cent to N27.1 million from N7.4 million units, and the volume of transactions surged by 305.2 per cent to 1.3 million units from 319,831 units, while the number of deals decreased by 6.9 per cent to 27 deals from 29 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.8 million units exchanged for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Pressure is beginning to mount on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market despite an oil windfall triggered by the Middle East crisis.
On Monday, April 27, the domestic currency further weakened against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by N16.47 or 1.2 per cent to N1,380.71/$1 from the previous day’s N1,364.24/$1.
It was not different against the Pound Sterling in the same market window, as it lost N16.04 to trade at N1,863.76/£1 versus Monday’s closing rate of N1,847.72/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N12.72 to close at N1,615.01/€1 versus N1,602.29/€1.
The Naira also depreciated against the Dollar at the black market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1 compared with the previous price of N1,385, and at the GTBank forex counter, it further crashed by N9 to settle at N1,379/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,370/$1.
The continued decline of the Naira comes as traders increasingly seek other safe-haven currencies amid continued global disruptions.
The benefit awash in the global market is making foreign portfolio investors stay short in Nigerian markets. Despite this, the daily FX publication released showed that interbank turnover rose to $98.829 million across 78 deals, up from $76.65 million.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained cautious, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $77,216.66 despite surging oil prices and geopolitical tensions over a potential extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Analysts say the supply overhang has finally dried up, and the sellers who were spooked by macro shifts or quantum fears have already exited, leaving the market much thinner on the sell-side.
Investors will await decisions made by central banks this week. The US Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision later on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank (ECB) follows on Thursday.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.5 per cent to trade at $2,324.59, Dogecoin (DOGE) chalked up 1.4 per cent to sell for $0.1016, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $84.85, Cardano (ADA) grew by 0.5 per cent to $0.2483, and Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 0.2 per cent to $627.15.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3224, and Ripple (XRP) lost 0.03 per cent to sell at $1.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil was up by nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday as persistent worries about supply constraints from the closed Strait of Hormuz continued, with Brent futures for June rising by $3.03 or 2.8 per cent to $111.26 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures growing by $3.56 or 3.7 per cent to $99.93 a barrel.
An earlier round of negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed last week after face-to-face talks failed.
Ship-tracking data showed significant disruptions in the region, with six Iranian oil tankers forced to turn back due to the US blockade, but some traffic is still moving.
Prices trimmed some of the advances after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the fourth-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Tuesday it would exit the group on this Friday, May 1, 2026.
This dealt a blow to the oil-exporting group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.
The UAE could quickly add between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day of output. However, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, analysts said that there’s nowhere for that supply to go.
The UAE joined OPEC in 1967, but tension with Saudi Arabia over production quotas has been building for years.
Under the OPEC+ deal, the country has been held to roughly 3 million barrels per day while sitting on capacity above 4 million. It has been pushing toward 5 million barrels per day by 2027, and that target is hard to achieve with quotas built around someone else’s view of the market.
The war in Yemen broke whatever was left of diplomatic patience.
President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal to end the war. The proposal would avoid addressing the nuclear programme until hostilities cease and Gulf shipping disputes are resolved.
The Idemitsu Maru, a Panama-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, and an LNG tanker managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) crossed the Strait on Tuesday, shipping data showed.
Vortexa data showed that the amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose to 153.11 million barrels as of April 24.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.
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