Brent crude oil, the international benchmark for Nigerian crude oil, closed the week ended January 3, 2025 in the green despite the uncertainty surrounding the global commodity market ahead of Donald Trump’s presidency.
The Brent crude oil rose by 58 cents or 0.76 percent to close the week at $76.51 per barrel, up from near $75 it was trading about a week ago.
Crude oil investors had held back on investment in the energy sector to better assess the US President-elect’s disposition towards Putin-led Russia, one of the world’s largest producers of the commodity and a person of interest to the president-elect.
Experts believed that if the President-elect called for a truce between Russia and Ukraine, the global oil market would be flooded with excess Russian crude oil, which would subsequently drag on oil prices or even disrupt the outlook of the energy sector.
In Nigeria, this could plunge the nation’s rising foreign reserves under President Tinubu and impact the country’s ability to finance its 2025 budget estimated at about N50 trillion.
With the inflation rate at a record high, new job creation at a record low and earnings still largely weak across the board, the standard of living of the Nigerian people would be affected and the presidency would be forced to borrow more to meet the shortfall.
