The Nigerian naira made a notable recovery at the close of the week, firming up against the US dollar to settle at ₦1,532.34/$ on Friday, following a two-day depreciation streak. The rebound came as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stepped in with targeted forex sales to curb mounting demand and restore equilibrium in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
Earlier in the week, the official exchange rate had weakened from ₦1,518/$ to ₦1,533/$ due to heightened demand for the greenback outstripping available liquidity. To arrest the pressure, the apex bank allocated $80 million to authorized dealer banks, a move aimed at improving market supply and stabilizing the local currency.
The intervention had a positive impact, with the naira appreciating by 77 kobo or 0.05%, compared to Thursday’s close of ₦1,533.11 per dollar. The currency had previously recorded a weekly uptrend and resumed the new trading week on Monday, July 14, 2025, gaining ₦11.37 against the dollar.
In parallel with currency movements, Nigeria’s foreign reserves posted their second weekly gain, climbing by $422.16 million to reach $37.85 billion. The uptick in reserves is linked to increased crude oil output, as captured by data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Crude oil production—including condensates—rose by 2.4% month-on-month in June to a five-month high of 1.70 million barrels per day (mbpd). This improvement was attributed to higher yields from key terminals: Forcados (+9.5%), Odudu (+9.0%), Qua Iboe (+2.3%), and Bonny (+1.0%).
Meanwhile, production volumes declined at Brass (-15.0%), Agbami (-14.6%), Escravos (-8.7%), and Tulja–Okwuibome (-4.5%) terminals. On a half-year basis, average daily crude output rose 11.3% year-on-year to 1.68 mbpd, up from 1.51 mbpd in the same period of 2024.
However, investment limitations continue to affect production efficiency, despite growing momentum. Analysts at Cordros Capital project that Nigeria’s daily output will average 1.70 mbpd in 2025—short of the federal government’s 2.06 mbpd benchmark—though they expect improving security and renewed investment to support sustained growth.
