Oil Falls Again As Traders Remain Concerned About U.S. Banks

Hamilton Nwosa
Writer
Oil Falls Below $90 As Markets Shuffle Back From Supply Jitters

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How Nigeria raked in N7.46 trillion trade surplus in Q2 2025, NBS reveals

By Abiola Olawale The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that Nigeria achieved a trade surplus of N7.46 trillion in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2 2025). NBS explained that this figure underscores the country's growing export prowess, particularly in key sectors such as mineral fuels and machinery. The latest NBS report, titled Foreign…

Nigeria Records 15.92 % Inflation In March — NBS

Alleged N23bn fraud: Coalition Blast Ibas as Emergency Rule ends soon

Says Ibas dragged Rivers towards bankruptcy By Abiola Olawale With barely a week remaining until the expiration of the six-month state of emergency in Rivers State, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (retd.), the state's sole administrator, is currently embroiled in an explosive accusation of allegedly orchestrating a massive financial heist amounting to about ₦23 billion. The…

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On Monday at 3:36 p.m. EST, Brent crude was trading down 2.96% at $80.33, for a loss of $2.45 on the day. WTI was trading down 2.99% at $74.39, for a loss of $2.29 on the day.

SVB, the go-to lender for tech startups backed by venture capitalists, failed dramatically on Friday, with shares plunging 60% before the SEC halted trading. Investors were spooked last Wednesday, when the bank announced a massive capital raise to stabilize its balance sheet. Investor fears led to a panic and a run on the bank.

On Sunday, Washington launched emergency measures to avoid the contagion spreading into a wider financial crisis. The Biden administration pledged that banks will bear the losses, not taxpayers.

The failure of SVB and Signature Bank, which led to a takeover by the authorities on Friday, has sparked fears that the contagion, blamed on the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hikes, could spread to other banks.

At the same time, the failures–the second and third largest in U.S. history–have prompted speculation that the Fed could slow the pace of rate hikes going forward, as a result.

U.S. stocks overall have been experiencing choppy trade, with lots of movement on safe-haven assets and shying away from oil and gas, but the impact of the SVB failure clearly caught traders unprepared.

“Energy traders were not expecting the collapse of the 16th-largest lender in America to trigger a major risk-aversion wave that would send Brent crude below the $80 a barrel level,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, said in a note cited by Morningstar.

Speaking to Reuters on Monday, Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn said it was “kind of surprising” to see oil prices plunging “considering the fact that the Fed more than likely will have a harder time raising interest rates aggressively, and that should cause weakness in the dollar”. NB: Charles Kennedy wrote this article for Oilprice.com

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Unlocking Opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea during UNGA80
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