Business News

Saturday, 27 March 2021 05:29

Oil jumps 4 percent on fears Suez Canal blockage may last weeks

Oil prices rose more than 4% on Friday on worries global supplies of crude and refined products could be disrupted for weeks as workers try to dislodge a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal. It was a rebound from a sharp decline the previous session on concerns that fresh coronavirus lockdowns in Europe would hurt demand. Brent crude rose $2.62, or 4.2%, to settle at $64.57 a barrel, after dropping 3.8% on Thursday. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $2.41, or 4.1%, to settle at $60.97 a barrel, having tumbled 4.3% a day earlier. Brent rose 0.1% over…

Friday, 26 March 2021 05:30

Fuel price hike imminent as NNPC says subsidy no longer sustainable

Nigeria’s state oil firm is spending up to $315 million a month on fuel subsidies for consumers, a burden that is becoming untenable, its head said on Thursday. Nigeria deregulated its downstream oil sector a year ago, after the Covid-19 pandemic triggered a collapse in the global price of oil, its main export. That ended a system of fuel subsidies that had helped keep the lid on simmering social unrest for decades. But the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) picked up the tab after the government made it the country’s sole petrol importer. Its managing director, Mele Kyari, said NNPC…

Friday, 26 March 2021 05:20

Why ‘good enough’ is the great enemy of great leaders and how to do better

This simple way of reframing your work can make all the difference. Regardless of industry or field, there's one thing that distinguishes great leaders from good ones: the mindset of making something better versus just getting it done. Good leaders complete a task, great leaders improve upon it. When running a company, it can be tempting to check the box on certain projects or initiatives. After all, time isn't a luxury most leaders have. But I'd argue that doing consistently great work often comes down to your mindset, not how many hours you have in a day. It's about pushing…

Thursday, 25 March 2021 05:26

Skyscraper-sized container ship gets stuck, blocking all traffic in vital waterway of Suez Canal

A skyscraper-sized container ship has become wedged across Egypt’s Suez Canal and blocked all traffic in the vital waterway, officials said Wednesday, threatening to disrupt a global shipping system already strained by the coronavirus pandemic. The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground Tuesday in the narrow, man-made canal dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula. Images showed the ship’s bow was touching the eastern wall, while its stern looked lodged against the western wall — an extraordinary event that experts said they had never heard of happening before in the canal’s 150-year…

Thursday, 25 March 2021 05:25

Oil prices recover from previous slides after Suez Canal ship grounding

Oil prices jumped about 6% on Wednesday after a ship ran aground in the Suez Canal, and worries that the incident could tie up crude shipments gave prices a boost after a slide over the last week. The crude benchmarks, U.S. crude and London-based Brent, added to gains after U.S. inventory figures showed a further rebound in refining activity, suggesting U.S. refiners are mostly recovered from the cold snap that slammed Texas in February. Brent crude settled at $64.41 a barrel, gaining $3.62, or 6%, after tumbling 5.9% the previous day. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $61.18 a barrel,…

Thursday, 25 March 2021 05:17

This simple leadership hack will improve employee retention and productivity

Two words can make a world of difference. Working from home during the pandemic has had its upsides--and its downsides. Many have appreciated not having to commute and the flexibility that allows them to care for their children, but others have missed the buzz of the office and the sense of human connectionthey get from working in the same physical space as their colleagues. Analysts now suggest that a hybrid solution -- working from home and working from the office -- may be possible in the latter half of 2021, although skeptics think it could be further away. In the…

Wednesday, 24 March 2021 05:50

Oil extends losses on oversupply worries

Oil prices plunged about 6% on Tuesday, falling even lower in post-settlement trade, as concerns over new pandemic curbs and slow vaccine rollouts in Europe added to oversupply uneasiness. Brent crude futures settled down $3.83, or 5.9%, at $60.79 a barrel, after hitting a session low of $60.50. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) ended $3.80, or 6.2%, lower at $57.76 a barrel, after touching a low of $57.32. Both benchmarks traded near lows not seen since Feb. 9. The front-month Brent spread flipped into a small contango for the first time since January. Contango is where front-month contracts are cheaper…

Tuesday, 23 March 2021 05:35

FG devalues Naira, third time in one year

Nigeria adopted a new flexible exchange-rate policy for official transactions in a move that effectively marks the third devaluation of the naira in a year. The government will start to use the flexible rate, that has until now applied to investors and exporters, for government transactions too, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed told reporters Monday in the capital, Abuja. The Nafex, as the flexible rate is known, has averaged 410 naira to the dollar since the beginning of the year and compares with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s old fixed rate of 379 naira. “Within the government and the central bank,…

Tuesday, 23 March 2021 05:30

NNPC to hold minority equity in revamped Port Harcourt refinery - Official

Nigeria’s state-owned oil company plans to become a minority shareholder in its largest refinery after finishing refurbishments on it, according to Managing Director Mele Kyari. The West African nation has approved a budget of $1.5 billion for revamping the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.’s refinery in Port Harcourt in the southern part of the country It, along with NNPC’s three other refinery complexes, has been shut down pending repairs. When operational, they have a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels a day. NNPC will gradually step away from operating the Port Harcourt refinery after putting it back on track, Kyari said in…

Tuesday, 23 March 2021 05:29

Fuel marketers jerk up diesel price

Against the backdrop of the recent rise in global oil prices, some fuel marketers have increased the price of Automotive Gas Oil, also known as diesel, to a new high of N265 per litre. Last month, diesel price rose to a high of N250 per litre. Our correspondent observed on Sunday that some filling stations in Lagos State were selling the product for between N248 and N265 per litre while some put the price at between N220 and N245 per litre. Mobil filling station along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Nipco at Fadeyi axis of Ikorodu Road increased the pump price…

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Saturday, 20 March 2021 06:05

Investors on NSE lose N279bn on sell pressure

Nigerian stocks retreated by 1.37 per cent on Friday, obliterating the feeble gain recorded at the session before as a number of big-cap stocks like MTN, Dangote Cement and BUA Cement took a hit from profit-taking efforts. The industrial goods index was the worst hit of the five sectorial indices, dipping 4.40 per cent to 1,873.17 points. Market breadth was positive, with 26 gainers emerging against 11 losers. The all-share index closed lower by 532.45 points at 38,382.39 points while market capitalisation fell by N278.579 billion to N20.082 trillion. Year to date, the index is down by 4.69 per cent.…

Thursday, 18 March 2021 05:58

Italian court acquits Eni and Shell in Nigerian corruption case

A Milan court acquitted energy company Eni, its chief executive and Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday in the oil industry’s biggest corruption case revolving around the $1.3 billion acquisition of a Nigerian oilfield a decade ago. The sentence, read out in court by judge Marco Tremolada, came more than three years after the trial first began and after 74 hearings. Tremolada said the companies and defendants had been acquitted as there was no case to answer. The Nigerian government said it was surprised and disappointed by the verdict and would consider whether to appeal once its lawyers had read the…

Thursday, 18 March 2021 05:49

Will work from home outlast virus? Ford’s move suggests yes

It’s a question occupying the minds of millions of employees who have worked from home the past year: Will they still be allowed to work remotely — at least some days — once the pandemic has faded? On Wednesday, one of America’s corporate titans, Ford Motor Co., supplied its own answer: It told about 30,000 of its employees worldwide who have worked from home that they can continue to do so indefinitely, with flexible hours approved by their managers. Their schedules will become a work-office “hybrid”: They’ll commute to work mainly for group meetings and projects best-suited for face-to-face interaction.…

Wednesday, 17 March 2021 06:03

Stagflation hits Nigeria as food prices, unemployment soar amid worsening insecurity

Nigerian inflation hit a four-year peak in February as food prices jumped more than 20%, heaping financial pressure on households already faced with a shrinking labour market and a stagnant economy at a time of mounting insecurity. Inflation, which has been in double digits since 2016, reached 17.33%, driven higher by the impact of a coronavirus epidemic that has also induced a slump in the price of oil, Nigeria’s main export, and weakened the naira currency. Tuesday’s inflation reading was the highest since the 17.78% touched in February 2017. The economy was in a slump then and is teetering on…

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