Economy
Oil Surges 4% as OPEC+ Surprisingly Retains Output
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil surged by more than 4 per cent on Thursday to the highest in more than a year after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting and its allies (OPEC+) surprised traders with its decision to keep output unchanged.
The Brent crude rose by 4.64 per cent or $2.97 to sell at $67.04 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by 4.59 per cent or $2.81 to sell at $64.09 per barrel.
At its meeting on Thursday, OPEC+ decided to keep a tight limit on oil production in April, sending prices soaring in a market that had been expecting additional supply. This signalled a tighter crude market in the months ahead.
The cartel had been debating whether to restore as much as 1.5 million barrels a day of output but Saudi Arabia was able to convince members to hold steady at current levels.
However, modest increases were granted to Russia and Kazakhstan and will be allowed to increase production by 130,000 and 20,000 barrels per day, respectively.
Now, oil prices are expected to do better as the supply squeeze, coupled with higher energy costs, the risk of inflation, and widespread vaccination, will allow economies to emerge from the COVID-19 downturn.
Before the meeting, Saudi Arabia had publicly encouraged allied partners to remain “extremely cautious” on production policy, warning the group against complacency as it sought to ensure a full oil market recovery. The outcome of yesterday’s meeting has been touted as a victory for the kingdom, which has consistently pushed to tighten the market.
In a briefing after Thursday’s meeting, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, went one step further by making the kingdom’s additional one million barrel-a-day production cut open-ended. He gave no date for phasing out the voluntary reduction and told reporters he was in no hurry to do so.
While the decision will boost economies like Nigeria and other oil-dependent economies, it also carries some risks. Crude prices in the high $60s could help revive US shale drillers.
OPEC+ initially agreed to cut oil production by a record of 9.7 million barrels per day last year, before easing cuts to 7.7 million and eventually 7.2 million from January. The cartel will meet again on April 1 to discuss production levels for May.
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.
