Oil prices continued their surge, sending one of Nigeria’s most valued grades, Bonny Light to $95 and Algeria’s Sahara Blend to $97.48, in an obvious push towards the $100 mark.
The increase represented a 3.70 per cent for the Nigerian grade and 4.29 per cent for the North African grade, the highest level they have attained since 2014.
Other grades of Nigeria’s oil, which experienced a significant rise were the Brass River, which was selling for $94.13, an addition of 3.53 per cent and Qua Iboe, which hit $94.13 as at 6 pm Nigerian time.
Nigeria’s most popular oil and the country’s benchmark, Brent Crude was going for $93.27, a rise of 2.87 per cent while the United States crude benchmark settled at $93.27 a barrel.
The latest rally was attributed to growing concerns that extended cold weather could hit production in the US, exacerbating the tightness in world crude markets.
The market was also watching developments between Russia and the West over the former’s aggressive posture towards Ukraine.
Crude benchmarks have been pointing upward for weeks on expectations that supply would tighten further even after the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers (OPEC+) stuck to planned moderate output increases.
