Business

Oil Price Rises To $92.79 On Output Cut, May Hit $107

Published

2 years ago

September 11, 2023

The price of Nigeria’s Bonny Light, weekend, rose to $92.79 per barrel, from $90.88 per barrel, recorded last Tuesday as the impact of extended output cuts hit the market.

Russia extended its voluntary crude oil export cut by 300,000 barrels daily until December 2023, while Saudi Arabia extended its 1 million daily supply cut into October 2023 to boost price stability.

The price, which is the highest in 2023, showed an excess of $17.79 per barrel against the 2023 budget benchmark price of $75.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Commodities Research, Saturday, predicted that oil supply cuts could lead to oil prices hitting $107 a barrel in 2024.

In an interview with Vanguard, an sector analyst, Prof. Omowumi Iledare, said Nigerians and others should expect prices to rise further, especially as oil inventories have reduced drastically in the United States.

Iledare who is the Executive Director of Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation, stated: “Certainly, rising crude price is expected even though it may not be exactly $100 per barrel in the short run for some reasons. First, it will continue to rise because demand is growing.

“Second, supply is declining because of geopolitics and inventory becoming low in the US. Interestingly too, reserves replacement is low, thus placing future supply at risk. Price, therefore will continue to inch up.”

Similarly, in another interview with Vanguard, the lead promoter, EnergyHub Nigeria, Prof. Felix Amieyeofori, said: “It is very possible that oil prices will cross the $100 per barrel level. First, the renewable sector is attracting more investment than oil globally. Some economies, including Saudi Arabia, have keyed into the global quest for a cleaner environment. Second, low investment, low production and export would continue to impact on the market in terms of price. Except, if something happens, we will likely witness a significant increase in price.”

He also pointed out that consumers would have to pay more for petrol as refiners; currently paying more for crude oil stands to transfer the cost in the form of high fuel prices.

Already, OPEC has identified Nigeria, as the least refining member with an average equivalent of 10,600 barrels per day, bpd in five years.

In its Annual Statistical Bulletin 2023, obtained by Vanguard, OPEC disclosed that the nation refined an equivalent of 33,000 bpd, 8,000 bpd, 1,000 bpd, 5,000 bpd and 6,000 bpd in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.

On the other hand, Saudi Arabia emerged as the highest refining OPEC member with an average equivalent of 2.6 million barrels per day, mb/d, during the period.

Specifically, Saudi Arabia refined 2.8 mb/d, 2.6 mb/d, 2.3 mb/d, 2.5 mb/d and 2.9 mb/d in 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Checks by Financial Vanguard indicated that major and independent marketers have abandoned fuel importation, due mainly to market uncertainties.

But the lifting of fuel was ongoing at both Ijegun and Satellite Town depots in Lagos, even though many filling stations remained shut against motorists and other users of the product.

Business

Nigerian Stock Market Hits 10th Consecutive Uptrend As investors Gain N308bn

Published

10 hours ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Stock Market recorded its 10th consecutive uptrend as investors raked in N308 billion gain on Thursday.

This comes as the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, market capitalisation, which opened at N92.490 trillion, appreciated by 0.33 per cent to close at N92.798 trillion on Thursday.

Also, the All-Share Index added 0.33 per cent, or 485.25 points, to close at 146,204.34, compared with 145,719.09 recorded on Wednesday.

Increased trading in Eunisell Interlinked, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Sunu Assurances, Industrial and Medical Gases, Mecure, and 27 other advancing stocks boosted market performance on Thursday.

To this end, the market breadth also closed positive with 32 gainers and 21 losers.

Further analysis showed that Eunisell Interlinked and Caverton Offshore Support Group led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, closing at N44 and N6.93 per share, respectively, while FTN Cocoa Processors led the losers’ table by 6.67 per cent, closing at N5.60 per share.

Market activity showed a decline in the number of deals and volume traded but an improvement in trade value.

Accordingly, a total of 346.99 million shares worth N27.43 billion were traded in 24,691 deals, compared with 525.72 million shares worth N13.61 billion exchanged in 25,597 deals on Wednesday.

Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 42.01 million shares valued at N861.54 million.

According to DAILY POST, NGX has continued its bullish run from last month’s end to date.

Business

CBN Sets POS Maximum Transactions In Fresh Guidelines

Published

2 days ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria has rolled out fresh guidelines for agent banking, known as Point of Sales, across the country.

The apex also in the guidelines pegged daily POS transactions at N1.2 million per agent and N100,000 per individual.

CBN disclosed this in a circular signed by its Director of the Payments System Management Department, Musa Jimoh.

The guidelines further mandate all financial institutions to publish the list of all their POS agents on their website and to display it in their branches.

CBN noted that the guidelines would take effect from April 1, 2026.

“The Guidelines aim to establish minimum standards for operating agent banking in Nigeria, enhancing agent banking to provide financial services and promoting financial inclusion, encouraging responsible market conduct and improving service quality in agent banking operations.

“This circular takes effect from the date of release, while the implementation of agent location and agent exclusivity shall be in effect from April 1, 2026.

“POS agents are restricted to a maximum of N1.2 million per day. Individual customers are limited to N100,000 in daily transactions.

“These limits are intended to curb misuse, enhance financial integrity, and protect consumers within the agent banking framework,” it stated.

Business

Naira Records First Appreciation Against US Dollar At Official Market

Published

2 days ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

The Naira recorded appreciation on Wednesday against the United States dollar at the official market, the first time in three days this week.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate data showed that the Naira strengthened to N 1,470.62 per dollar on Wednesday, up from N1,471.09 traded on Tuesday.

This means that the country’s currency firmed up slightly by N0.47 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis.

Monday and Tuesday, the Naira recorded negative sentiment at the official foreign exchange market.

However, at the black market, the Naira remained unchanged at N1,500 per dollar on Wednesday, the same rate exchanged on Tuesday.

The apex bank data indicated that the country’s external reserves, a determinant of the exchange rates, stood at $42.57 billion as of October 7, 2025.