July 18, 2022

 The price of crude oil climbed above the $100 mark on Sunday hitting $101.16/barrel after trading around $98/barrel since Tuesday, as oil marketers in Nigeria maintained an increased pump price for premium motor spirit, popularly called petrol, higher than the approved rate.

Industry figures seen on Sunday showed that Brent, the international benchmark for crude, moved up by $2.06 or 2.08 per cent to close at $101.16/barrel as at 6.36pm Nigerian time.

Last Wednesday, reports emerged that Brent fell below $100 per barrel the preceding day.

The report showed that Brent dropped in price by $7.72 or 7.21 per cent to close at $99.38 per barrel as at 7.45pm Nigerian time last Tuesday, a development that persisted for most part of last week.

The fluctuations in oil price came as latest figures released by the organisation of petroleum exporting countries showed an increase in Nigeria’s oil production from 1.024 million barrels per day to 1.158mb/d.