Nigeria misses OPEC oil quota for sixth straight month
Nigeria produced 1.459 million barrels per day in January 2026, falling short of its 1.5 million bpd OPEC quota for the sixth consecutive month. Output rose from 1.422 million bpd in December, representing an increase of 38,000 barrels, but remained about 50,000 bpd below target. The country last met its quota in July 2025. Persistent challenges including oil theft, pipeline sabotage, infrastructure bottlenecks and underinvestment in upstream assets continue to constrain production capacity across key oil-producing regions. Despite retaining Africa’s top producer ranking, the underperformance raises concerns about Nigeria’s ability to meet fiscal assumptions, as the country relies heavily on oil revenue for budget funding and foreign exchange stability. The new NUPRC chief executive has pledged to increase production through optimization and regulatory improvements, while the Dangote refinery announced it reached full capacity of 650,000 bpd.
Gold and silver rebound from near one-week lows
Spot gold rose 1 percent to $4,966.83 per ounce while silver staged a notable recovery after experiencing historic volatility in late January. After reaching record highs above $100 per ounce, silver plummeted more than 35 percent in just three sessions following the announcement of Donald Trump’s nomination of Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair, which strengthened the US dollar and pressured commodities. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange increased margin requirements on both metals during the peak, forcing leveraged speculators to either pour massive capital into the system or close positions instantly, turning a market correction into a historic crash. Prices have since rebounded on bargain-hunting, with silver climbing back above $80 per ounce as buyers took advantage of lower prices. UBS forecasts gold will hit $6,200 by next month before falling to $5,900 by year-end, while maintaining its long position on the metal amid continued geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainty.
Bangladesh sees historic voter turnout in first post-Hasina election
Bangladesh’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party appeared on course for a landslide victory as vote counting continued from Thursday’s landmark election, the first since student-led protests ousted longtime leader Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Nearly 127 million eligible voters cast ballots across 42,761 polling centers, with unofficial results showing the BNP securing at least 151 seats in the 300-seat parliament. Voter turnout reached 60.69 percent in what observers called the first free and fair election since 2008. Hasina’s Awami League, whose registration was suspended by the election commission, could not field candidates. The 78-year-old former leader, who has been sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, remains in hiding in India. The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus oversaw the election, which also included a constitutional referendum on the July Charter reform package.
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Trump administration revokes climate regulation foundation
The Trump administration formally repealed the endangerment finding Thursday, eliminating the scientific and legal basis for federal greenhouse gas regulations. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin described the move as the largest deregulatory action in American history, removing requirements to regulate carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases from vehicles, power plants and oil and gas facilities. The 2009 Obama-era finding classified these emissions as threats to public health and welfare under the Clean Air Act. Former President Barack Obama criticized the reversal, stating it makes the US less safe and less able to fight climate change. Environmental groups warned the action formalizes climate denialism as official government policy and will expose industries to litigation, as a 2011 Supreme Court ruling blocking public nuisance lawsuits relied on EPA regulation of greenhouse gases.
National Assembly to harmonise electoral bill Monday
Nigeria’s National Assembly joint conference committee will meet Monday, February 16, to reconcile differences between Senate and House versions of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill ahead of transmission to President Tinubu for assent. Senate President Godswill Akpabio indicated the harmonised bill would reach the president before month-end, positioning the amendments well ahead of 2027 general election preparations. The central dispute involves electronic transmission of election results. While the House approved mandatory real-time transmission to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal, the Senate’s version permits electronic transmission but allows manual collation as fallback when technology fails.
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