Economy

Tropical Storm Zeta Pushes Oil Prices Higher

Published

6 years ago

28/10/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil futures finished higher on Tuesday as another major storm cut energy output in the Gulf of Mexico even as the market continued to feel the impact on worsening demand from the ongoing rise globally in COVID-19 cases.

As a result, the price of the Brent crude oil went up by 1.78 per cent or 72 cents to $41.18 per barrel while the United States’ futures, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated by 2.39 per cent or 92 cents to $39.47 a barrel.

Tropical Storm Zeta in the United States has forced evacuations of offshore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.

This hurricane season has caused shutdowns which have put significant pressure on US oil production and pushed it to 9.9 million barrels per day.

The additional support from Tropical Storm Zeta comes at a time when the market is worried about the impact of the second wave of coronavirus.

Zeta is forecast to approach the northern Gulf Coast on Wednesday and make landfall late Wednesday or Wednesday night.

The disruption from the storm will put pressure on oil production in the country as it will keep the total production levels way below the recent 11 million barrels per day in the near term.

The storm-induced bump in prices may be short-lived, however, with demand expected to weaken anew with coronavirus cases rising.

In the latest round of development, Europe’s daily coronavirus related deaths rose by nearly 40 per cent compared with the previous week, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Russia reported a daily record of 320 deaths, pushing the tally to 26,589. There has been a sharp increase in Italy too, with 221 fatalities announced in the past 24 hours. The total number of fatalities in Austria went above 1,000 on Tuesday.

Russia has the world’s fourth-highest number of COVID-19 cases after the US, India and Brazil. It recorded another 16,550 infections on Tuesday alone and authorities have now made the wearing of face masks compulsory in all crowded places.

And in Belgium, doctors have been asked to keep working, even if they have the virus because the health system is in danger of being overwhelmed.

With the demand hit expected from this, the market is also facing fire from developments in Libya. The North African country’s production should rebound to 1 million barrels per day in the coming weeks.

This will further complicate efforts by other members and allies of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to restrict output.

Business Post had been reported that the alliance known as OPEC+, is planning to increase production by 2 million barrels a day from January after record output cuts this year. That would cut overall reductions to 5.8 million barrels per day, still an enormous amount by the standards of major oil producers, but it may not be enough to offset weak demand.

The latest weekly US oil inventory figures are due on Wednesday and are expected to show rising supplies which will further add to the bearish factors.

Economy

Naira Slips 0.03% to N1,375/$ at NAFEX, Remains N1,385/$1 at Black Market

Published

2 hours ago

27/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira recorded a loss of 49 Kobo or 0.03 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, May 26, trading at N1,375.41/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,374.92/$1.

However, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N3.47 to close at N1,852.26/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N1,855.73/£1, and gained N1.37 against the Euro to finish at N1,599.32/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,600/€1.

As for the black market, the Naira traded flat against the US Dollar yesterday at N1,385/$1, and also maintained stability at the GTBank forex counter at N1,383/$1.

Interbank FX turnover increased to $73.598 million across 110 deals, indicating a significant rise from $55.786 million that passed through local banks’ records the previous day.

Market analysts noted that the Naira outlook remains stable, citing the latest round of FX inflows, which have lifted gross external reserves to $49.259 billion.

Largely, the domestic currency will close the first half of 2026 stronger as the CBN continues to inject FX inflows into the official market, due to a significant increase in FX receipts from elevated oil prices in the global commodity market.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was down on Tuesday as global stocks hit record highs, widening a recent divergence between crypto and equities.

There were also outflows as retail traders added leverage, raising the risk of sharp liquidations despite new SEC-approved bitcoin index options aimed at institutions.

Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 1.4 per cent to $75,737.18, Ethereum (ETH) depleted by 1.2 per cent to $2,075.39, Ripple (XRP) lost 1.0 per cent to sell at $1.33, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.9 per cent to $651.75, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.8 per cent to $83.86, Cardano (ADA) dipped 0.7 per cent to $0.2402, and TRON (TRX) dropped 0.2 per cent to settle at $0.3726, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Dangote Sugar N485.9bn Rights Issue for Expansion Commences

Published

2 hours ago

27/05/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

To support its expansion drive, which aims to boost the Nigerian economy by ensuring sufficient sugar production in the country, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has opened its rights issue.

The sugar refiner hopes to raise up to N485.9 billion from the exercise, which commenced on Monday, May 25, 2026, and will close on Wednesday, June 24, 2026.

A note specifically said the net proceeds will be used to materially deleverage the company’s balance sheet, strengthen liquidity and reposition the organisation on a more sustainable capital structure.

The rights issue size is 8,097,918,827 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N60.00 per share, and would be offered to shareholders on the basis of two new ordinary shares for every three existing ordinary shares held as at the close of business on April 20, 2026.

Dangote Sugar, a subsidiary of Dangote Industries Limited, refines, distributes, and markets granulated sugar to wholesalers and major players within the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and personal care industries.

It operates the largest sugar refinery in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a combined installed refining capacity of 1.49 million metric tonnes per annum. Through its backward integration strategy, DSR is advancing plans to produce an additional 1.5 million metric tonnes of locally sourced sugar, further strengthening its position as a leading integrated sugar producer globally.

At its 20th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last month in Lagos, shareholders approved the floating of a N500 billion rights issue to fund its strategic expansion, especially for its ambitious backward integration projects.

According to the firm’s chief executive, Mr Thabo Mabe, efforts are being made to secure approximately $1.3 billion needed to fulfil the commitment to achieving a production target of at least 600,000 tonnes annually by 2030.

“We have revised our strategic development plan to meet the 2030 objectives, leveraging the combined potential of DSR Numan Operation and Nasarawa Sugar Company Limited estates.

“This integrated plan targets substantial cane production of around 6.05 million tonnes across 45,000 hectares from both sites,” he said at the meeting.

Economy

NGX Performance Indices Tumble 0.55% on Weak Investor Sentiment

Published

6 hours ago

27/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The key performance indices of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited tumbled by 0.55 per cent as a result of sell-offs across the major sectors of the market.

The bourse witnessed weak investor sentiment and low activity level during the trading day ahead of a two-day Sallah break on Wednesday and Thursday.

Analysis of the data showed that investors embarked on profit-taking yesterday, as traders liquidated their shares for holiday spending.

The banking space went down by 1.83 per cent, the insurance counter decreased by 1.41 per cent, the consumer goods index shed 0.77 per cent, the energy sector crashed by 0.14 per cent, and the industrial goods sector closed flat with an insignificant contraction.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped 1,386.18 points to settle at 249,738.84 points compared with the previous day’s 251,125.02 points, and the market capitalisation crumbled by N889 billion to N160.094 trillion from N160.983 trillion.

There were 18 price gainers and 39 price losers on Customs Street at the close of transactions, representing a negative market breadth index.

Dangote Sugar depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N78.30, Transcorp Power lost 9.97 per cent to trade at N245.50, The Initiates slipped by 9.85 per cent to N27.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank dipped by 9.49 per cent to N6.20, and Fidelity Bank gave up 9.05 per cent to close at N21.60.

On the flip side, Austin Laz and McNichols gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N4.40 and N7.92, respectively. International Energy Insurance chalked up 9.89 per cent to trade at N4.11, Learn Africa improved by 9.44 per cent to N12.75, and Haldane McCall jumped 8.06 per cent to N3.89.

The busiest stock for the day was Access Holdings with 80.6 million units worth N2.0 billion. Zenith Bank traded 33.8 million units valued at N4.5 billion, Mutual Benefits transacted 31.8 million units for N138.9 million, Neimeth exchanged 22.3 million units worth N233.0 million, and Sterling Holdings sold 22.2 million units valued at N172.4 million.

In all, market participants bought and sold 564.1 million units for N27.2 billion in 65,666 deals versus the 629.4 million units valued at N40.9 billion executed in 82,434 deals a day earlier. This showed that the trading volume, value, and number of deals went down by 10.38 per cent, 33.50 per cent, and 20.34 per cent, respectively.