Prices surge, WTI targets $87.50, Brent aims for $92.50. Solid support at WTI’s $85, Brent’s $90. Middle East conflict, supply concerns fuel rise.

• Crude oil markets initially pulled back just a bit during the trading session on Friday but have seen quite a bit of bullish pressure enter late in the day.
• Ultimately, there are a whole plethora of reason to think that they continue to go higher, regardless of the grade of crude oil you are talking about.

The West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil market initially pulled back during the day on Friday as we were waiting for the jobs number. The job summer came and went, and at that point in time traders started to step in and take advantage of the short-term pullback, and it looks like we have continued to see plenty of value hunters come in to try to take advantage of this.

The $85 level underneath will continue to be a massive support level, and the price action on Friday will only have reiterated how supported it will be, due to the fact that it would take quite a bit of effort to sell the market off to reach that region. At this point, I fully anticipate that the WTI Crude Oil marketers looking to the $87.50 level next, followed by the $90 level above.

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Brent markets also initially pulled back a bit during the trading session on Friday, finding a significant amount of support at the $90 level. The $90 level courses a large, round, psychologically significant figure, and in area or that would continue to cause quite a bit of market memory to come into play. We bounced enough to break above the $91 level, and therefore I think we’ve got a very real possibility of going to the $92.50 level based upon previous resistance. With this being the case, the market remains very bullish, but it is also a bit overextended. The overextension of the market could lead into exhaustion, but there are far too many reasons to think that we are going to continue to see buyers regardless.

Keep in mind that the conflict in the Middle East seems to be expanding, and therefore it could offer even more upward pressure to this market. Furthermore, we also have to understand that supply is a bit stretched, therefore it does make quite a bit of sense that we could see the fundamentals continue to come into the picture and lift this market.

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Are you interested in the latest soya bean prices in Nigeria? Look no further! This comprehensive guide provides in-depth insights into the current market trends, regional variations, and factors influencing the cost of this essential legume as of April 2024.

Current Soya Bean Prices in Nigeria

As of April 6, 2024, the average price per kilogram of soya beans in key northern states like Kano and Kaduna stands at ₦550. These regions, known for their conducive climatic conditions and soil quality, are major producers of soya beans in Nigeria.

National Price Trends

Description	Price (Naira)
Average National Price (100kg bag)	₦60,000
Wholesale Price (Per KG)	₦600
Retail Price (Per KG)	₦680
Wholesale Price (Per Ton)	₦600,000
Retail Price (Per Ton)	₦680,000

Regional Variations in Soya Bean Prices

While the northern states like Kano and Kaduna are currently reporting prices around ₦550 per kg, prices can vary across different regions of Nigeria. States like Benue, Niger, and other major soya bean-producing areas may experience fluctuations due to local supply and demand factors.

Factors Influencing Soya Bean Price Fluctuations

The price of soya beans in Nigeria is influenced by several key factors:

1. Supply and Demand Dynamics: The balance between production levels and market demand plays a crucial role in determining soya bean prices.
2. Seasonal Production Changes: Variations in seasonal harvests can impact the overall supply of soya beans, leading to price fluctuations.
3. Market Speculation: Speculation by traders and investors can contribute to price volatility in the soya bean market.
4. Economic Conditions: Broader economic factors, such as inflation, exchange rates, and market uncertainties, can affect the pricing of agricultural commodities like soya beans.

Impact on Producers and Consumers

The increasing soya bean prices in Nigeria have significant implications for both producers and consumers:

• Producers: Higher prices may lead to improved profitability for soya bean farmers, but also increased input costs, affecting overall margins.
• Consumers: Rising soya bean prices can contribute to higher costs for food products that rely on soya beans as a primary ingredient, potentially impacting household budgets and food security.

Stay informed about the dynamic soya bean market in Nigeria by monitoring trusted sources and industry reports. Timely information can help stakeholders make informed decisions regarding production, trading, and consumption of this vital agricultural commodity.

African and Western officials are concerned that the conflicts and coups in the Sahel region could spill over to the coast of West Africa, which hosts several major oil production projects and export terminals.

Since 2020, there have been military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, while violence from Islamist insurgents has spiked in recent months. Anxiety has grown over potential spillovers of extremist violence into the coastal countries in West Africa, including Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo, all west of Nigeria, Africa’s top crude oil producer.    

Cote d’Ivoire has recently seen a major new oil project start-up and a large new offshore discovery, courtesy of Italian major Eni. Benin is expected to soon begin oil exports from landlocked Niger via a new pipeline, Togo aims to introduce energy reforms to boost resource development, while Ghana has a major offshore producing field, Jubilee.

Last year, General Abdourahamane Tiani, the commander of Niger’s presidential guard, was appointed head of state by a governing council set up by military forces that ousted President Mohammed Bazoum. A group of military commanders overthrew the Niger government and the country’s army declared its support for the coup.

In Mali, the notorious Russian mercenary Wagner Group has capitalized on the absence of foreign involvement to expand its influence, according to the Center for Preventive Action (CPA) program. Related: Gold Prices Have Surged 23.3% in the Last Six Months

Extremist violence has surged across the Sahel, with at least 7,800 civilian deaths in the first seven months of 2023, a significant increase from 2022, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED).    

“Since 2020, the Sahel has experienced seven irregular transfers of power because leaders have failed to address poor governance and public grievances or adequately resourced their militaries to achieve their missions. This turmoil raises the likelihood that these crises will metastasize and spillover to neighboring countries in Coastal West Africa in 2024,” the U.S. intelligence community said in its unclassified annual threat assessment report in February.

“A spread of Sahel-type instability to the hugely more populous littoral states – 368 million people from Senegal to Nigeria – would present a new order of threat to U.S. and international security, trade routes and economies,” The United States Institute of Peace said last month.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced last year a decade-long U.S. commitment of $100 million “to help address the threats of violent extremism and instability” in the coastal countries of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, and Togo.

The EU, for its part, confirmed Europe’s commitment to the Gulf of Guinea, and pledged continued support to counter the spillover of insecurity from the Sahel. The EU handed over 105 armored vehicles to the Ghana Armed Forces, part of a larger funding package from the European Peace Facility, aimed at enhancing “the country’s capacity to respond effectively to potential threats, strengthen intelligence gathering, reinforce border surveillance, and maintain stability in the wider region.”  

Potential spillover of conflicts to the coastal West African countries could endanger some oil projects and deter foreign investment.

In the region, the Jubilee oilfield offshore Ghana saw oil production in the fourth quarter average around 92,400 boepd, one of the minority partners in the field, Kosmos Energy, said in February. Production is expected to rise through this year with additional wells coming online.

Offshore Côte d’Ivoire, Italy’s Eni started production of oil and gas from the Baleine Field in August 2023, less than two years after the field discovery in September 2021. Eni says this is the first Scope 1 and 2 emissions-free production project in Africa. With the start-up of Phase 2 by the end of 2024, field production would rise to around 50,000 bpd of oil and approximately 70 Mscf/d of associated gas.

Then this year, the President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, and Eni’s CEO Claudio Descalzi announced a major new oil discovery named Calao. The discovery is now the second largest offshore Côte d’Ivoire, following the Baleine field.

In Benin, a new pipeline from Niger, with a capacity of 110,000 bpd, has been completed, paving the way for higher oil production in Niger and exports from the Benin port of Seme. The first crude lifting from Benin is expected later in April or early May.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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While the West has worked hard to wean itself off of Russian fossil fuels in the wake of the country’s illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin is still raking in the rubles from strong nuclear sector exports. As a result, the Ukraine war grinds on as Russia has managed to sidestep much of the economic damage that sanctions were expected to deliver. However, while the Russian economy is surviving, it certainly isn’t thriving. 

In order to stay afloat, Russia needs to explore more alliances and options for exports and trade partners. With no sign of relations with the West thawing any time soon, Russia seems to be betting big on the nuclear energy sector and nuclear fuel exports. The Kremlin also seems to be scouting out new economic alliances in emerging economies, and particularly in Africa. 

In general, energy ventures in African countries have enormous growth potential as the continent faces rapid industrialization paired with massive population growth. Nuclear offers a particularly alluring option to African nations that are faced with the stark challenge of growing their economies while ‘leapfrogging’ over the development of the continent’s abundant fossil fuel resources straight to clean energy development and buildout. 

Nuclear offers reliable, baseload power without any carbon emissions, and doesn’t have the energy security issues associated with the variability of renewable energies such as solar and wind power, which produce in accordance with weather patterns rather than to meet demand. This makes the addition of nuclear energy production capacity a particularly promising way forward for Africa, which already deals with significant energy security woes. Across the continent, about 600 million people lack access to electricity today. And even in countries that do have developed energy grids, such as South Africa, rolling blackouts are a common occurrence. 

All of this is to say that the African nuclear sector is likely poised for enormous growth. Over the past year, a number of African countries including Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya have announced plans to build nuclear reactors. This push comes as part of a broader global effort to increase investment in nuclear energy expansion as the climate change doomsday clock keeps ticking ever closer to midnight. Africa’s nuclear energy sector, in particular, has nowhere to go but up as nations across the continent need all the energy addition they can get. 

And Russia wants to capitalize on that enormous investment opportunity. On a global level, Russian state-operated nuclear energy firm Rosatom is one of the primary exporters of nuclear fuel, uranium enrichment services, and funding for the construction of new nuclear facilities. This last service is particularly critical in developing economies, as building a new nuclear plant is prohibitively expensive for nearly any private company, even in locations with strong economies and currencies. As a result, nearly one in five nuclear power plants on the planet is either in Russia or is Russian-built. And any expansion in worldwide nuclear power deployment is therefore a boon to the Kremlin’s bottom line.

Already, Russia is making aggressive plays to get in on the ground floor of Africa’s nuclear energy revolution in what the Financial Times recently called a “high-profile charm offensive.” Rosatom recently publicized nuclear energy “co-operation” agreements inked with Mali, Burkina Faso and Algeria. This will build on Russia’s current construction efforts in Egypt, where Rosatom is already building a fourth reactor at the $30bn El Dabaa nuclear power plant. The plant, located outside of Cario, is one of the biggest nuclear construction projects in the world. In order to build the mega-project, Egypt has borrowed a hefty $25 billion from Russia, to be repaid over next 35 years with 3% annual interest. 

Some experts have warned that this is a dangerous dependence for emerging economies such as Egypt and other African nations. “The drawback is that the country develops a strong long-term dependence on Russia to meet one of its most basic needs: electricity provision,” says Hartmut Winkler, professor of physics at the University of Johannesburg. Leaning on a country that is currently at war, and therefore not the most reliable of trade partners, threatens “disruption and ultimate termination of projects already in place.” This is particularly troubling in the context of nuclear power plants, which take over a decade to build.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com 

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:

Are you interested in the latest soya bean prices in Nigeria? Look no further! This comprehensive guide provides in-depth insights into the current market trends, regional variations, and factors influencing the cost of this essential legume as of April 2024.

Current Soya Bean Prices in Nigeria

As of April 6, 2024, the average price per kilogram of soya beans in key northern states like Kano and Kaduna stands at ₦550. These regions, known for their conducive climatic conditions and soil quality, are major producers of soya beans in Nigeria.

National Price Trends

Description	Price (Naira)
Average National Price (100kg bag)	₦60,000
Wholesale Price (Per KG)	₦600
Retail Price (Per KG)	₦680
Wholesale Price (Per Ton)	₦600,000
Retail Price (Per Ton)	₦680,000

Regional Variations in Soya Bean Prices

While the northern states like Kano and Kaduna are currently reporting prices around ₦550 per kg, prices can vary across different regions of Nigeria. States like Benue, Niger, and other major soya bean-producing areas may experience fluctuations due to local supply and demand factors.

Factors Influencing Soya Bean Price Fluctuations

The price of soya beans in Nigeria is influenced by several key factors:

1. Supply and Demand Dynamics: The balance between production levels and market demand plays a crucial role in determining soya bean prices.
2. Seasonal Production Changes: Variations in seasonal harvests can impact the overall supply of soya beans, leading to price fluctuations.
3. Market Speculation: Speculation by traders and investors can contribute to price volatility in the soya bean market.
4. Economic Conditions: Broader economic factors, such as inflation, exchange rates, and market uncertainties, can affect the pricing of agricultural commodities like soya beans.

Impact on Producers and Consumers

The increasing soya bean prices in Nigeria have significant implications for both producers and consumers:

• Producers: Higher prices may lead to improved profitability for soya bean farmers, but also increased input costs, affecting overall margins.
• Consumers: Rising soya bean prices can contribute to higher costs for food products that rely on soya beans as a primary ingredient, potentially impacting household budgets and food security.

Stay informed about the dynamic soya bean market in Nigeria by monitoring trusted sources and industry reports. Timely information can help stakeholders make informed decisions regarding production, trading, and consumption of this vital agricultural commodity.