Remarks on US-China Trade Deal Status Disrupt Oil Prices

By Adedapo Adesanya Equinor and Chappal Energies have entered into an agreement for the sale of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), which holds a 53.85 per cent ownership in oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitized 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron. Speaking on the deal, Equinor’s senior vice president for Africa Operations, Ms Nina Koch, said Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, noting that, “This transaction realizes value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas

By Adedapo Adesanya The return of the bears was averted at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which helped the alternative bourse close marginally higher by 0.03 per cent. This slight growth increased the value of the OTC exchange by N380 million, closing relatively flat at N1.165 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased by 0.27 points to end the day at 859.58 points compared with the previous day’s 859.31 points. During the trading day, the value of CSCS Plc went up by 8 Kobo to settle at N17.08

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday as investors focused their attention on an upcoming OPEC+ output policy meeting and looked past a jump in crude stockpiles in the United States. Brent crude futures were up by $1.01 or 1.2 per cent to $82.69 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.5 per cent to close at $77.57 a barrel. Prices were lifted by a media report that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, was considering

By Adedapo Adesanya The performance of the Naira at the foreign exchange market was mixed on Tuesday. For example, the local currency traded flat at the interbank segment of the market, closing at N306.95/$1 yesterday. It was a similar situation at the parallel market during the trading session to exchange at N360 to a Dollar, the same rate it has been transacted in the past days. The Naira also did not record any movement against the Euro on Tuesday as the local currency remained fixed at N398/€1 as it closed on Monday. However, the local currency depreciated against the British

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria’s debt profile has been a source of worry to many and recently, with the current reality in the global economy as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, which coincided with President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for an additional $22.7 billion external loan, there have fresh reservations on the capability of the country to incur more debts. Recently, the Debt Management Office (DMO) warned that the country could not hold its own especially with the impact that the virus is having on the country’s economy, making it impossible to service the debts on ground. According to analysts, the

By Adedapo Adesanya As COVID-19 cases nears 900 in Nigeria, Governors of the 36 states of the federation have agreed to restrict inter-state movement for two weeks. This is part of efforts to curtail the spread of the contagion. This decision was reached at a virtual meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) held on Wednesday, April 22. The Governor of Ekiti State and NGF Chairman, Mr Kayode Fayemi, said the decision had been taken due to the increasing evidence of community transmission of the virus. In a communique issued at the end of the meeting, it was stated that,

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has remained a strong force with supporting the operations of the Naira-settled OTC FX Futures market from inception, consistently offering quotes for the contracts over the past twenty-one (21) maturities to ensure sustainability of a market that has contributed phenomenally to the stability of the Nigerian FX market. With the maturity of the NGUS APR 25 2018 contract (notional amount, $660.49), the total value of contracts so far matured and settled on FMDQ, stands at $9.13bn. A total of c. $12.03bn worth of OTC FX Futures contracts have been traded so

By Dipo Olowookere As children prepare and get excited to resume of the 2019/2020 academic session this month, some parents are running helter skelter looking for how they can pay school fees. But Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, a member of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, has come to the rescue with the introduction of a suite of educational payment products that will ease the burden of school fees which parents and guardians have to bear. Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, being a Nigerian bank, specifically developed the educational products, taking cognisance of the country’s cultural nuances. The first of the solutions is

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A report released by FBN Quest, the research arm of FBN Holdings Plc, revealed that its manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), the first in Nigeria, eased in November to 60.1 index points from 64.8 index points. This figure is in contrast to the manufacturing PMI of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released last week, stating that an eighth consecutive growth to 55.9 points in November. In its daily Good Morning Nigeria report, FBN Quest noted that its partner, NOI Polls, gathered and compiled the data and the index was found in developed markets (such as the

By Adedapo Adesanya   The federal government in collaboration with states is considering an Operation Feed Yourself initiative to encourage the establishment of urban farms and small home gardens. The Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, confirmed this at a High-Level Meeting on Nutrition attended by United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Mrs Amina Mohammed, State Governors, representatives of development partners including UNICEF, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Aliko Dangote Foundation, and convener of the UN Food System Dialogue, Mrs Olusola Idowu who is also the Permanent Secretary, Budget and National Planning Ministry. The Operation Feed Yourself scheme is one of

By Dipo Olowookere Morgan Capital Securities maintained its position as one of the favourite brokerage firms operating in the nation’s stock market last week. The company ended the week as the most active stockbroker by volume as investors bought and sold a total of 203.2 million units of securities through the organisation, accounting for 11.45 per cent of the total trading volume of 887.0 million shares recorded in the week. Of this total number of stocks traded last week, 10 brokers contributed 855.9 million units. Data obtained by Business Post from the exchange showed that Meristem Stockbrokers helped investors to