OPEC April oil output falls – Report –

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ oil output edged lower in April despite a scheduled output hike taking effect, a Reuters survey found. The decline was led by a cut in Venezuelan supply on renewed United States attempts to curb the flows and smaller drops in Iraq and Libya. The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 26.60 million barrels per day last month, down 30,000 bpd from March’s total, with cuts by some producers offsetting higher Iranian supply, the Reuters survey showed on Thursday. The reduction comes despite OPEC+, which comprises OPEC and its allies, including Russia, beginning in April to unwind its most recent layer of output cuts……(Read More)

IMF confirms Nigeria’s full repayment of $3.4bn loan –

The International Monetary Fund has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4bn financial support it received under the Rapid Financing Instrument to cushion the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement sent to journalists on Thursday on behalf of Mr Christian Ebeke, the IMF Resident Representative for Nigeria, the Fund said the repayment was completed on April 30, 2025. The loan, disbursed in April 2020, was aimed at helping Nigeria address a sharp fall in oil prices, economic contraction, and fiscal pressures caused by the pandemic. “As of April 30, 2025, Nigeria has fully repaid the financial support of about $3.4bn it requested and received in April 2020 from the International Monetary Fund…….(Read More)

NGX ends day in green with N240bn boost –

The Nigerian Exchange closed in positive territory on Thursday, adding N240bn to its market capitalisation despite a slowdown in trading volume, turnover, and deal numbers. At the close of the session, the All-Share Index rose by 382.13 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 109,231.96 points. This brought the market’s one-week return to 3.24 per cent, four-week return to 4.81 per cent, and year-to-date return to 6.13 per cent. The market capitalisation increased to N68.7tn. A total of 554.1 million shares valued at N14.3bn were traded in 16,704 deals, reflecting a six per cent drop in volume, a 23 per cent drop in turnover, and a five per cent decrease in deals when compared with the previous day’s performance…….(Read More)

Despite clearing $3.4bn COVID-19 loan, Nigeria still owes IMF N190bn –

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid the $3.4 billion COVID-19 financial support it got under the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI). But despite the confirmation, the government is still indebted to the multilateral organisation to the tune of about $30m, which is the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) charges, Daily Trust can report. The $30m equivalent of N48.2bn would be paid annually over a period of four years as charges on the loan. This would amount to over N190bn. The SDRs are supplementary foreign exchange reserve assets defined and maintained by the IMF which represent a claim to currency held by IMF member countries for which they may be exchanged……(Read More)

Dangote, NNPC pledge collaboration for national growth –

 The President/Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, on Thursday paid a courtesy visit to the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, in Abuja. The high-level meeting, held at the NNPC Towers, focused on promoting mutually beneficial partnerships and fostering healthy competition between Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals and NNPC Ltd., with a shared vision of strengthening Nigeria’s energy security and accelerating economic prosperity. The national oil firm disclosed the meeting between both parties in a post on its official X handle on Thursday…….…(Read More)

Chinese exports to US plummeted in April as Trump’s tariffs kicked in –

China’s exports to the United States fell sharply in April after Donald Trump’s triple-digit tariffs took effect, in another sign of the damage the US president’s trade war is causing the world’s two largest economies as they prepare for de-escalation talks. Outbound shipments to the US stood at $33 billion last month, according to customs data released on Friday. It was a whopping 21% decline from the $41.8 billion recorded in April 2024, according to CNN’s calculation. However, China’s overall exports grew by 8.1% in US dollar terms last month, a figure that greatly exceeded the forecast from a group of economists polled by Reuters……….(Read More)