Economy
Oil Trades Mixed as OPEC Suggests Additional 600,000 bpd Cuts
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices were mixed on Thursday as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) recommended a provisional cut in oil output of 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) in response to the coronavirus which has killed more than 500 people and caused oil prices to slide.
After the OPEC and non-OPEC’s Joint Technical Committee (JTC) meeting in Vienna, the recommendation awaits Russia’s final position on the proposal, but the country is not willing to extend further cuts.
On Thursday night, the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went up by 38 cents or 0.75 percent to trade at $51.33 per barrel, while the Brent crude, on the other hand, went down by 35 cents or 0.63 percent to trade at $54.93 per barrel.
The recommendations made by technical panel is not final yet as the decision will be taken by OPEC ministers when they meet next week to discuss on the new proposed cut which would be 0.6 percent of current global supply.
As at Thursday evening, the cartel has not decided whether to bring forward their upcoming policy meeting to February from March 5-6.
Although the current cut is expected to run till the end of March, market analysts say that the new cut, which would round up cuts to 2.3 million barrels per day, will likely run till the end of June 2020.
The decision of taking deeper cuts was kicked against by Russia as it suggested an extension of current cuts rather than new cuts but Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members are worried that the continued spread of the virus could hit oil demand and prices further.
Russian Energy Minister, Mr Alexander Novak, said on the first day of the joint technical committee meeting that he was not sure whether it was time to deepen output cuts, but Saudi Arabia and Iraq, which are the largest producers in the OPEC alliance, stated that they will be willing to take any decision that helps keep prices up.
Oil prices have lost more than $10 since the beginning of the year, below benchmarks set by most oil dependent countries in their budgets, and to avoid more unforeseen circumstances, this might be a two pronged approach to reduce supply and also stabilise prices.
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.
