Business
Stock Futures Rise on U.S. Growth Figures
… ECB Rate Cut
NEW YORK—U.S. stock futures rose, putting blue chips on track for another record high, as a surprise interest rate cut by the European Central Bank and U.S. data showing stronger-than-expected economic growth helped fuel investor optimism.
About 45 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 70 points, or 0.4%, to 15753.
S&P 500 index futures rose five points, or 0.3%, to 1771 and Nasdaq 100 futures gained six points, or 0.2%, to 3382. Changes in stock futures don’t always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.The gains put the Dow and the S&P 500 on track to reach fresh record highs at the open.
The first read on third-quarter gross domestic product showed growth of 2.8%, down from 2.5% in the second quarter but well above expectations of 2%. GDP prices increased 1.9% versus forecasts of a 1.6% rise.
And initial claims for jobless benefits totaled 336,000 in the latest week, down from a revised 345,000 the week before and close to expectations of 335,000.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note slipped to 2.627% from 2.638% late Wednesday.
Earlier, the European Central Bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 0.25% from 0.5%, sending European equity markets sharply higher and knocking the euro down against the dollar. Although the consensus was for the ECB to leave rates unchanged, hopes had been increasing recently that the ECB might make a move to combat low inflation and to bolster the fledgling recovery.The Stoxx Europe 600 ran up 1.3% to the highest levels seen in over five years. Germany’s 30 index climbed 1.3%, the France’s CAC 40 index rallied 1.3% and the U.K.’s index advanced 0.4%. Earlier, the Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged, as expected.
After the ECB cut, the yield on the benchmark 10-year German Bund, which moves inversely to prices, fell 0.04 percentage point to 1.69% from 1.73% before the ECB’s rate decision. The euro slumped to a near two-month low against the dollar to just above $1.3300 and to its weakest level against the pound since Jan. 17 to £0.8311.
There were also gains for riskier Italian and Spanish bonds as investors sought higher returns. The yield on the 10-year Italian government bonds fell to 4.10% from 4.19% just before the ECB’s decision while the corresponding Spanish yield eased to 4.05% from 4.14% earlier.
Shares in the euro zone had enjoyed a strong run since last week’s anemic inflation numbers for the euro zone awakened expectations that the ECB could cut interest rates.Ahead of the U.S. GDP data, there was a growing belief the Fed could start reducing stimulus measures, by cutting back on its $85-billion-a-month bond buying program, as early as December.
Art Hogan, managing director at brokerage firm Lazard Capital Markets, said the fact that the market can continue higher despite talk the Fed might begin tapering bond purchases next month is a good sign.
“We’ve seemed to move into the zone of acceptance that the Fed will be tapering at some point in time, and that’s a positive for the market,” Mr. Hogan said.
Meanwhile, he believes it would take a much better than expected jobs number on Friday to get the Fed to taper in December.
After the open, investors will be eagerly awaiting the trading debut of Twitter’s stock on the New York Stock Exchange, under the ticker “TWTR.” Late Wednesday, Twitter priced its initial public offering at $26 a share, above the projected range of between $23 a share to $25 a share. That values the company at $14.4 billion. Twitter becomes the biggest U.S. technology IPO since Facebook last year.“We can argue all day long about the valuation, but this is exciting,” Mr. Hogan said. And the buzz Twitter’s IPO has created is a testament to the optimism investors are feeling, he said.
In other corporate news, Qualcomm fell 3.6% in premarket trading after the semiconductor maker reported late Wednesday fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings that rose slightly less than expected, according to FactSet, and provided first-quarter outlook that was below current analyst projections.
Whole Foods Market slid 9.4% after the high-end supermarket chain cut its earnings and sales growth outlook for the current fiscal year, overshadowing fiscal fourth-quarter earnings that were slightly above forecasts.
Front month December crude oil futures edged up 0.4% to $95.23 a barrel, while November gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,321.20 an ounce, reversing earlier losses after the ECB’s rate decision.
Asian markets were broadly lower, with Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average shedding 0.8%, weighed by disappointing results from Toyota Motor. China’s Shanghai Composite fell 0.5%.
– WALL STREET JOURNAL
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) claimed that it saved $3.4 billion through contract restructuring and optimisation between April 2025 and July 2026.
Group Chief Executive Officer, Bayo Ojulari, made the assertion in Abuja at the opening of the 25th Nigeria Oil & Gas (NOG) Energy Week, while highlighting the impact of ongoing reforms aimed at improving operational efficiency, reducing costs, strengthening partnerships, and enhancing value delivery to the federation.
Ojulari also stated that the national oil company had maintained full compliance with its joint venture cash call obligations.
ALSO READ: Oil, Gas Deals Push Nigeria’s FDI to $4 Billion
According to the scorecard presented by the NNPC Ltd, the $3.4 billion cost savings were realised through contract restructuring and optimisation initiatives across the company’s operations.
The reforms also contributed to an increase in government revenue, with the NNPC Ltd reporting a government take of N19.5 trillion, representing a 21.8 per cent year-on-year increase.
Besides, a major highlight of the report was NNPC’s 100 percent compliance with its joint venture cash call obligations across all its joint ventures from Financial Year 2025 to June 2026.
However, the company’s partners recorded a blended compliance rate of just 61 percent.
Of the 27 joint venture partners, only six were fully current with their obligations, while 13 recorded partial compliance with an average payment rate of 72 percent, and eight remained in significant default, paying an average of only 14 percent, prompting Joint Operating Agreement remedies.
The NNPC Ltd said it remained committed to sustaining its cash call obligations to support Nigeria’s target of achieving two million barrels of oil production per day.
Operationally, the company reported a six percent increase in crude oil production year-on-year and an 8.1 percent rise in gas production over the same period, reflecting improvements in upstream operations.
Ojulari also highlighted several strategic partnerships concluded since the last Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference, including a long term gas supply agreement with Nigeria LNG, progress on deepwater investments valued at over $20 billion, refinery related partnerships, industrial gas projects, and new gas supply arrangements.
Looking ahead, the company identified seven priority projects expected to drive production and gas infrastructure growth through 2027.
These, it said, included the UTM Floating LNG project, the OB3 East West Connector, the AKK gas pipeline, refinery technical enhancement projects, the Zabazaba deepwater development, the Owowo field, and the BSWAP project.
The state oil major added that the combination of cost optimisation, stronger operational performance, improved infrastructure reliability, and strategic partnerships would reinforce Nigeria’s energy security, boost government revenues, and support sustainable growth in oil and gas production.
Ojulari said the national oil company achieved 98 percent recovery across five crude export terminals between April 2025 and May 2026, up from one per cent at Bonny in June 2022.
He put current output at 1.71mbpd, the highest in five years, with the NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) hitting a record 365,000 bpd.
Gas production, he said, reached 7.5 billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) following the River Niger crossing on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Pipeline and inauguration of the ANOH Gas Plant.
Ojulari added that the NNPC Ltd had “zero tolerance for partners who are not able to fund their Cash-call” and had begun invoking default clauses.
He stressed collaboration over control, saying, “We have rid ourselves of any pseudo-regulation. We are not the super-regulator. Let them regulate. We want to work.”
Energia Limited and its Joint Venture partner, Oando Plc, have inaugurated the board of trustees of the Ndokwa West-1 Host Community Development Trust (HCDT).
The inauguration marked a significant milestone in strengthening sustainable development, transparency and community participation across their host communities in Delta State.
The inauguration, held in Asaba, also featured the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Energia-Oando Joint Venture and the seven host communities, in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.
The event brought together representatives of Delta State Government, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), traditional rulers, community leaders, members of the newly inaugurated board of trustees, and other key stakeholders from the oil and gas industry.
ALSO READ: Oil, Gas Deals Push Nigeria’s FDI to $4 Billion
Representing the Governor of Deputy Governor, Delta State, Sir Monday Onyeme, Deputy Chief of Staff, Hon. Christopher Osaskwe commended Energia Limited and the host communities for successfully establishing the Trust and signing the Memorandum of Understanding.
He described the initiative as a demonstration of mutual commitment to partnership and sustainable development, while urging the newly inaugurated board to discharge its responsibilities with transparency, accountability and fairness.
He also encouraged host communities to continue protecting oil and gas infrastructure and embrace dialogue as the preferred approach to resolving disputes.
Managing Director, Energia Limited, Oladimeji Bashorun, described the inauguration as the beginning of a new chapter in the relationship between Energia and its host communities.
According to him, the company remains focused on building partnership, shared responsibility and sustainable development rather than dependency.
He noted that while the PIA provides a structured framework for host community development, Energia’s commitment to its host communities predates the legislation and has remained a core part of the Company’s operating philosophy since it achieved First Oil in 2009.
“Communities that host our operations should also share meaningfully in the opportunities created by those operations. Our success has always been closely connected to the success of our host communities,” Bashorun said.
He also disclosed that Energia has invested over N15.94 billion in community development initiatives since inception, supporting roads, drainage systems, healthcare facilities, educational programmes, scholarships, youth empowerment, solar-powered street lighting, community welfare initiatives and other social investments across its operational communities. He added that the Company dedicates 3% of its gross revenue annually to support sustainable development initiatives for its host communities.
Also speaking at the event, the Asset Manager of Oando, Seyi Fawora, reaffirmed the Joint Venture’s commitment to implementing the HCDT, noting that the partnership remains focused on building stronger, mutually beneficial relationships with host communities.
The representative of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Dennis Eyitemi, described the inauguration as a significant milestone in strengthening host community participation in development. He urged members of the Board of Trustees to remain accountable, transparent and committed to promoting the long-term welfare of the communities they represent.
Providing an overview of the HCDT framework, the Delta State Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice, Omamuzo Irebe, SAN, commended Energia for contributing beyond the statutory requirement prescribed under the Petroleum Industry Act and encouraged members of the Board to place community interests above personal interests while ensuring prudent management of the Trust’s resources.
The ceremony concluded with the swearing-in of the members of the Ndokwa West-1 Host Community Development Trust Board of Trustees. In his acceptance remarks, the Chairman of the Board, Chief Godwin Edeme, pledged the Board’s commitment to working with Energia Limited, Oando Petroleum Development Company and all stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the Trust for the benefit of present and future generations.
The establishment of the Ndokwa West-1 Host Community Development Trust represents another milestone in Energia’s long-standing commitment to responsible operations, stakeholder engagement and creating shared value for its host communities through sustainable, transparent and inclusive development. About Energia Limited
Energia Limited is a leading indigenous Nigerian exploration and production company with a proven track record of responsible hydrocarbon development and sustainable value creation. Since achieving First Oil in 2009, Energia has remained committed to operational excellence, environmental stewardship, and meaningful partnerships with its host communities, delivering lasting social and economic impact alongside its business growth.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) flow into Nigeria climbed to roughly $4 billion last year, according to UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2026.
The report stated that “Inflows to Nigeria rose to about $4 billion, supported mainly by oil and gas–related IPF deals, including a major project valued at about $2 billion.”
The report indicated that Nigeria’s inflows were $1.6 billion in 2024, before increasing to roughly $4 billion (precisely $4.005 billion) in 2025 — reversing a downward trend that had seen inflows dip as low as $895 million in 2022. The figures place Nigeria among a cluster of West and East African economies that bucked a broader continental slowdown
According to the report, Nigeria’s outward investment also rose, from $408 million in 2024 to $1.19 billion in 2025, while its inward FDI stock reached nearly $93 billion by year-end.
“In Nigeria, deals included the sale of Shell’s onshore oil assets to the Nigerian consortium Renaissance Africa Energy and the acquisition of Lafarge Africa by Huaxin Cement of China, signaling both a wave of asset localization in the oil sector and continued Asian appetite for Nigerian industrial assets.
ALSO READ: Global Demand for Nigerian Crude Higher Outstrips Supply – FG
On the Greenfield side, conglomerate Dangote Group emerged as an outward investor in its own right, backing a $3 billion chemicals project in neighboring Ethiopia — one of the 10 largest Greenfield projects announced across the continent in 2025.
Policy shifts also featured prominently in the report’s account of the investment climate. It noted that the government introduced sweeping fiscal reforms during the year, including a new minimum tax regime aligned with international standards.
“Nigeria, for instance, introduced a minimum effective tax rate of 15 per cent for multinational enterprises with revenues exceeding €750 million,” the report noted.
Alongside this, the report observed that Nigeria, together with Cameroon, moved to tighten incentive structures more broadly, as the two countries “replaced broad tax exemptions with tiered tax credits and strict eligibility requirements, such as job creation, local value addition and priority sectors.” Separately, the government rolled out targeted relief for the petroleum sector, introducing “performance-based tax credits for companies in the upstream petroleum industry, linking fiscal benefits to cost efficiency.”
The report also credited Nigeria with using regulatory innovation to court investors beyond the extractive sector.
It pointed to the Federal Government ‘s technology-focused reforms, noting that Nigeria “has used regulatory frameworks to reduce uncertainty for innovative firms,” citing the Startup Act and accompanying central bank rules that let sandboxes allow start-ups to test products with real users before facing the full weight of regulation.
On trade infrastructure, the report named Nigeria as one of five countries — alongside Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana and Togo — that committed under a regional agreement to harmonising customs and border procedures along the Abidjan–Lagos corridor, part of a wider West African push to cut transit times and integrate cross-border trade.
Africa as a whole, according to the report, saw FDI inflows fall sharply from an exceptional 2024, but the report noted that in West Africa, investment “rose in several West African economies, supported mainly by investment in natural resources and energy.”
Courtesy – The Punch
Eight Escape Death as Zambian Vice President’s Campaign Helicopter Crashes
Mixed Reactions as Florida Renames Palm Beach Airport After Trump
Controversy Trails Gov Nwifuru’s Convoy Clash as PDP Calls for Probe
45% of Electricity Supplied to Plateau Lost to Theft, JED Raises Alarm
FG Unveils Plan to Make 112 Nigeria’s Only Emergency Number
282 Nigerians to Arrive in Lagos Today as FG Continues South Africa Evacuation
Trump’s Family Unveils New Cryptocurrency Platform
Senate Denies Receiving Petitions Against Tinubu’s Ambassadorial Nominees
Dangote Cement Lights Up Benue Host Communities With CSR Initiatives
Reps Recommend 3-year Jail Term For Aviation minister
Tems Sets New Record On Billboard Hot 100 Chart
