Nigerian crude price increased on Wednesday as data revealed that US fuel and crude inventories decreased more than anticipated last week.
Bonny Light crude oil ended the day at $66 per barrel, a little higher than the day before.
While this is lower than its monthly peak of $75 per barrel earlier in October 2025, it represents the most recent market quotation.
This came as President Donald Trump’s upbeat remarks regarding impending negotiations with his Chinese counterpart helped allay economic concerns.
West Texas Intermediate crude futures increased 0.6% to close at $60.5%, while Brent crude futures increased 0.8 percent to settle at $65 per barrel.
According to data released on Wednesday by the US Energy Information Administration, US crude oil, gasoline, and distillate fuel stockpiles all decreased more last week than analysts had anticipated.
Crude oil stocks dropped by almost 7 million barrels, significantly more than the predicted decline of 211,000 barrels. With the OPEC+ group increasing output and US production at record levels, the significant decline compelled a reevaluation of expectations that the oil market is headed for a surplus. Together with the drop in inventories, the EIA data indicated a high implied demand for oil, making the report extremely favorable.
U.S.-South Korea trade agreement
The US and South Korea also finalized the terms of a contentious trade agreement at that summit. The positive outlook regarding US-China negotiations and the agreement with South Korea may allay some worries about a downturn in economic activity brought on by Trump’s tariffs and trade wars, which have recently affected commodity prices and raised concerns about oil demand. However, the outlook for the world economy is still beset by other issues.
A divided US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, but Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks following the central bank meeting raised concerns about the future.
Brent and WTI saw their largest weekly gains since June last week following Trump’s first imposition of sanctions on Russia related to Ukraine during his second term, which targeted major oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft. However, speculation about another OPEC+ output increase and doubts that sanctions would counteract oversupply put pressure on prices; both benchmarks dropped 1.9 percent.
OPEC+ is leaning toward a slight increase in output in December, with two sources mentioning an extra 137,000 barrels per day. Nigeria produced 1.39 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in September 2025, down from 1.434 million bpd in August. Production and export facilities were shut down because of a three-day labor strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
The total production in September was 1.581 million barrels per day, with 1.39 million barrels per day of crude oil and 191,373 barrels per day of condensates. The Federal Government has stated that it will work to raise the nation’s OPEC+ quota from the current 1.5 million barrels per day. The nation aims to produce 2.06 million barrels per day. However, if crude prices keep declining, Nigeria could see a decrease in revenue.
Dangote set to begin oil production
According to a report by S&P Global, the Dangote refinery is anticipated to begin producing crude oil shortly. Oil Mining Leases 71 and 72, Dangote’s upstream oil assets, are anticipated to begin producing oil before the year is out. The S&P report states that the assets will begin to produce roughly 40,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
“With production anticipated to begin this month and reach up to 40,000 b/d, Dangote’s upstream assets in the Niger Delta, Oil Mining Leases 71 and 72, could soon provide another supply injection,” the report stated. It also stated that Group President Alhaji Aliko Dangote is still interested in new upstream opportunities, which could contribute to an expanding asset base for the larger conglomerate.
The initial difficulties in obtaining crude oil could get worse as the refinery expands capacity. Dangote did, however, applaud a historic agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. There is currently a “crude for Naira” exchange agreement.
