BREAKING: GLOBAL OIL PRICES JUMP OVER 5% AS BRENT CLIMBS TO $92.43 PER BARREL
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By ‘Sefiu Ajape
Global oil prices rebounded sharply on Wednesday, rising by five percent after falling to $88 per barrel on Tuesday, according to market data.
Brent crude climbed to $92.43 per barrel as of 10:56 AM WAT, signaling a 5.27 percent increase. The benchmark had earlier surpassed $100 per barrel on Monday as the crisis in the Middle East continued unabated.
The main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, also surged by 5.9 percent to $88.38 per barrel.
The development came after the Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced a reduction in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, on Tuesday.
Dangote Group’s Chief Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, told Channels Television by phone on Tuesday that petrol at the gantry will now sell at ₦1,075 per litre, down from ₦1,175 per litre last week, representing a ₦100 reduction.
Petrol supplied through coastal distribution will now be sold at ₦1,050 per liter.
The refinery explained that the decision reflects movements in global oil prices.
“As responsible corporate citizens operating in a high-governance code and ethical environment, we believe it is imperative to reduce the price of our products as a reflection of the decline in global crude oil prices,” it said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
“All our crudes are priced on the global benchmark price plus a $3 to $6 additional premium. Our forex is paid at the prevailing market rate of the day, with no subsidy in both crude and forex.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the crude supplied under the Naira-for-Crude arrangement is priced according to the global benchmark price plus a premium which is then converted to naira using the prevailing market exchange rate.”
The refinery reiterated its commitment to strengthening national energy security in line with Nigeria’s current economic realities.
The reduction marked the first price cut after three successive increases that had pushed the cost of petrol significantly higher in recent weeks.
On March 9, the refinery’s Chief Executive Officer, David Bird, said the Dangote refinery was not insulated from global oil shocks because it sources its crude based on international benchmarks.
The price reduction also came as crude oil prices dropped to around $90 per barrel on Tuesday, the first decline since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East.
The conflict involving the United States, Iran, and Israel has driven up global oil prices, leading to increases in petrol prices in Nigeria.
As the crisis in the oil-rich Middle East entered its second week with no immediate resolution in sight, Donald Trump said the military campaign was progressing faster than initially expected.
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, and they’ve got no air force,” Trump told CBS News in a phone interview.
“If you look, they have nothing left. There’s nothing left in a military sense,” he added.
Trump said the United States was “very far” ahead of his initially stated wartime timeframe of four to five weeks.
Speaking later at a news conference in Florida, he added that “it’s going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again, they’ll be hit even harder”.
Asked whether the war could end in days or weeks, he replied, “I think soon. Very soon.”
Meanwhile, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the deployment of about 100,000 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion kits nationwide to cushion the impact of rising transportation costs.
The Executive Chairman of the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas (Pi-CNG), Ismaeel Ahmed, disclosed this after a meeting with the president at the State House in Abuja.
Ahmed said the president was closely monitoring global developments and their impact on Nigeria’s energy costs, particularly the effect of the Middle East conflict on fuel prices and transportation.
According to him, Tinubu has directed the Pi-CNG initiative to accelerate the rollout of CNG infrastructure and alternative mobility solutions across the country.
He added that the kits would enable vehicle owners and tricycle operators to convert their engines from petrol to CNG, with deployment expected to begin within the next two to three weeks.
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