Business
Naira pressure worsens as reserves fall to $40.46bn
ABUJA – The pressure on the naira heightened yesterday after reports that Bank of America suddenly downgraded naira-linked instruments on fears of further value hemorrhage in the market.
The downgrade followed the fall in Nigeria’s external reserves below the psychological resistance level of $41 billion yesterday ebbing to $40.6 billion (seven months imports) because of the frequent requirement to resort to the once healthy reserves to defend the national currency.
The external reserve level is now about 17 percent lower than 2013 peak of $48.86 billion and 6.67 percent below December’s level of $43.6 billion.
The Bank of America says whereas there might be the political will to continue to defend the naira, the running down of the reserves remained a constraining factor and then went on to recommend underweight position, forecasting a further weakening of the national currency to N170 in 2014.
The naira value fell to N172 to the dollar yesterday on the parallel market and closed N164.46 on the inter-bank market, losing 0.81 percent despite Shell selling an undisclosed sum, while ExxonMobil sold $50 million and Addax selling $8 million.
The fall in the value of the naira left some analysts saying a devaluation of the currency is now a matter of when and not if.
Leading economist, Bismarck Rewane, said last night, “Once we go below $40 billion in reserves, all bets will be off and then you have a real crisis.”
According to the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), “Whereas the short term currency stability seems likely to return, we have more serious doubts about the naira’s medium-term prospects.”
Added the EIU, “The economy and with it confidence in the currency, has been adversely affected by lower oil prices, faltering oil production and political uncertainty. We expect the oil sector to continue to under perform both this year and next.
Meanwhile, political uncertainty, having been exacerbated by the upheaval at the CBN, will continue to increase ahead of the 2015 elections. On top of this will be the effect of the US tapering of its monetary stimulus. Portfolio investment inflows surged into Nigeria during 2011-2012 and much of 2013, but will fall significantly in 2014-15, both owing to investor concern about events in Nigeria and as investment flows back towards developed markets.”
Financial markets were thrown into a spin last Thursday when it emerged that President Goodluck Jonathan had forced out CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi in a move many linked to claims of missing oil revenues although this was denied by the government.
However, the pressure on the naira which predated the ouster of Sanusi has not abated despite assurances from acting CBN Governor Sarah Alade that the apex bank will not abandon the stout defence of the national currency which had been associated with the Sanusi era.
On Friday, the CBN intervened to bolster the naira but with many betting on the likelihood that the apex bank will be forced to adjust its naira rate band, the naira continues to fall under speculative pressures.
The CBN sold $399.73 million on Monday but this has not brought the much-needed respite for the naira because negative market sentiment continues to spur dollar demand pressure as the external reserve jitters continue.
– BUSINESS DAY
Chevron Nigeria won the second-best exhibitor award at the just-concluded 2026 Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) conference and exhibition at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Biztellers reports that Olajumoke Cecilia Ajayi, FNAPE, NAPE President (2025–2026) and Managing Director/CEO of Ingentia Energies Limited, presented the award to Chevron, during the awards dinner on November 12, 2026.
The award is in recognition of Chevron’s outstanding exhibition, where visitors to its booth, particularly students, took part in Geology/Geophysics presentations and quizzes, word games, and Human Resources/Nigerian Content presentations and quizzes, with gifts for winners and participants.
Commenting on the award, the leader of the Chevron’s exhibition team, Dr. Victor Anyaegbudike, Manager Communications, Chevron companies in Nigeria and the Mid Africa Region, commended NAPE for its commitment to hosting the annual conference and exhibition. He noted that Chevron has operated in Nigeria for over 60 years, contributing to the country’s growth and development and making human investments that yield long-term, transformative returns.
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“At Chevron Nigeria, we drive innovation and investment to open up opportunities for growth, jobs, productivity and lasting value. Forums like the NAPE conference and exhibition matter because they bring government, academia, students and industry together around shared goals and a better understanding of one another,” he remarked.
Victor noted that Chevron is committed to building productive, collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships, grounded in trust, with governments, partners, customers, communities and employees. “We believe that affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy is vital to a more prosperous and sustainable world,” he said.
Attendees at the NAPE conference and exhibition included representatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria, industry regulators, industry leaders, academics, and students from tertiary institutions across the country.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) recorded a 1.36 per cent weekly gain as its market capitalisation increased to ₦163.80 trillion at the close of trading on Friday, November 13, 2026.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) rose to 252,269.16 points, pushing the market’s year-to-date return to 62.11 per cent.
The performance reflected a positive trading week for the equities market, with 43 listed companies recording price appreciation, compared with 29 in the previous week.
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According to the Exchange’s weekly market report, investors traded 8.03 billion shares valued at ₦185.36 billion in 160,836 deals during the week.
This represented a significant increase in trading volume from the 2.83 billion shares exchanged in 192,158 deals in the preceding week, although the total value of transactions declined from ₦208.41 billion.
The Financial Services Industry dominated trading activities, accounting for 4.85 billion shares worth ₦95.79 billion. This represented 60.45 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and 51.68 per cent of turnover value.
The Agriculture Industry followed with 2.24 billion shares valued at ₦22.78 billion, while the Consumer Goods Industry recorded 260.99 million shares worth ₦11.89 billion.
Further details of the market performance showed that 39 equities declined during the week, compared with 57 in the previous week, while 64 equities closed unchanged against 60 recorded in the preceding period.
On the gainers’ chart, Champion Breweries Plc emerged as the best-performing stock, appreciating by 27.27 per cent, while LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc recorded the biggest loss, declining by 18.53 per cent.
Meanwhile, trading in Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) stood at 1.21 million units valued at ₦278.97 million in 3,351 deals, compared with 1.46 million units worth ₦381.82 million in 4,085 deals in the previous week.
The fixed-income segment recorded 156,612 units valued at ₦177.88 million in 41 deals, against 21.99 million units worth ₦20.60 billion in 48 deals recorded in the preceding week.
The Exchange also recorded the listing of two commercial paper instruments issued by Thrive Agric Limited.
The instruments comprised ₦3.17 billion Series 1 (Tranche A) and ₦2.09 billion Series 1 (Tranche B) Commercial Papers, with a combined value of approximately ₦5.26 billion.
Nigeria produced a daily average of 1.687 barrels of crude oil and condensate in October 2026, and met its OPEC quota for the sixth consecutive month.
Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that in strict crude oil terms (excluding condensate), the country produced an average of 1.51mbpd in October.
This is 101 percent of the 1.5mbpd quota set by OPEC.
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The data, released on Wednesday, also shows that single-day production hit a peak of 1.79 million barrels, while the lowest for the month under review stood at 1.60 million bpd.
The crude oil data (excluding condensate) shows that Nigeria has met its assigned OPEC quota for six straight months, producing 1.53mobpd in May; 1.55mobpd in June; 1.51mobpd in July; 1.5mobpd in August, 1.53mobpd in September and 1.51mobpd in October.
On a month of month basis, however, production dipped by 1.7 percent.
The NUPRC attributed the stable performance in recent months to an enhanced operational stability, supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.
The sustained growth recorded in October reflects the continued commitment of operators and industry stakeholders towards improving operational efficiency, maintaining asset integrity, and enhancing production reliability across the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector.
A breakdown of the daily average crude oil and condensate production by terminals/streams during the review month shows that Forcados Terminal accounted for 318.49kbpd while Bonny comes second with 311.02kbpd.
Qua Iboe Terminal recorded an average production of 173.97kbpd of crude oil and condensates while Escravos Oil Terminal posted a daily average of 134.67kbpd.
Bonga ranked as the fifth highest producing terminal, recording an average of 106.65kbpd of crude oil and condensate.
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