This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
Their company's success helped build a nation.
The company is such a big part of Korea's economy.
But who are the family behind one of the world's tech giants?
Major corporate empire that we now know today.
Samsung.
Inheritance Samsung from the BBC World Service explores the real life dramas of the Lee family and their company Samsung.
There's a succession style drama underneath of all this.
Inheritance Samsung coming soon wherever you get your BBC podcasts.
If oil prices are swinging wildly, who's actually making money from it?
It's World Business Express from the BBC World Service.
I am Bissi Adibayo.
What could Nigeria's president's visit to the UK mean for trade and investment?
And Eurozone inflation ticks up just as central banks prepare their next move.
So oil prices have jumped above 109 a barrel after an Iranian petrochemical complex was hit by airstrikes.
South Pass is the world's largest natural gas field, which is shared by both Iran and Qatar.
So what's it like trying to trade oil in the middle of this conflict?
Greg Newman is a co-founder of Onyx Capital Group, which describes itself as the world's leading market maker in oil derivative contracts.
To begin with, it was absolutely manic.
We're talking about annual moves in a day and back again in the same day.
And that was the most volatile day we've ever seen.
Since it's been touch and go, moments where markets have consolidated and then gone volatile again.
And I think, in particular, last week there was a consensus, I think forming, that this is going to be a long and sustained crisis.
And the Trump administration kind of lost control of the narrative and control over the market.
So it was finally able to act with a bit of certainty.
So things have gotten a bit easier to trade.
But having said that, balances and the logistics and trade routes have been so messed with for quite a long time,
But it really did step up in December with the Trump administration's increased sanctions on Russia.
And of course, we had the Venezuela situation.
At least in the oil trading community, we're seeing as all these things is linked.
And if it's really going to end, we really need to see agreements made with Russia and Ukraine, as well as Iran and Venezuela, because they're all ultimately linked.
And so is the oil market.
We're heading now to Bangladesh, where an energy crunch is really starting to bite, and it's linked to the conflict involving Iran.
The country relies on imports for about nine to five percent of its energy, and we're now seeing long queues at fuel stations as people worry about shortages.
I have to wait here at least half an hour.
We have nothing to do, nothing to say.
We are suffering, only suffering.
We can't do anything without fuel.
For those people who want to go, And the government has even shut down universities to cut electricity use, and that's affecting everything from lecture halls to student accommodation.
Salman Syed is a journalist in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has been going through a fuel crisis.
So there wasn't chaos initially, but what happened was the pumps started closing down.
Then some of the pumps were not having enough fuel to give out to their customers.
So there was huge queues.
And then what happened was government made a rule that The prices should not be increased.
They've made a limit for motorbikes and cars.
Their transport prices have hiked up.
And all of this is really coming with Eid and independence celebrations.
So how much difference is it making there?
So, to save the power, the shopping malls and these fairs were asked to shut off the extra lights they were using to attract customers to save energies.
So the prices of these fuels have increased only in the black market.
Still, because of the limited amount of well, transportation cost has increased.
So people are suffering and the homebound passengers are struggling.
Government has also made some requests to India to supply fuel and they have also asked the US government for permission to buy fuel from Russia.
And is it just the cost of transportation this is impacting, or are we beginning to see this also trickle down to the shops or the price of goods and services going up as well?
Prices of goods have already gone up once during the month of Ramadan.
And after this war it has further gone up because there's a limited number of transportation facilities.
So the perishable goods have already gone up a bit.
There is a tension even also in the garment sector.
If they don't make their shipment on time, then they might lose a lot of their order.
Salman Saeed, journalist in Bangladesh there.
But now let's talk about inflation in the Eurozone, which has ticked up close to 2 and higher than it was last month.
Ross Mould from AJ Bell is here with me in the studio.
Ross, tell us, how's the situation with you?
Good day, BC.
So the inflation figure is below the European Central Bank's 2% target.
So that's the good news as far as they're concerned.
And they're expected to leave interest rates unchanged for the sixth time in a row tomorrow, Thursday.
But they have a difficult decision because of oil and gas prices going up.
In 2007, they raised interest rates to stop inflation.
When there was a big oil price spike, they got that wrong.
They were too slow to move in 2022 when oil and gas prices went up.
They got that wrong.
So it won't be easy this time.
But at the moment, the markets think they will raise rates twice this year at some stage.
And with the Middle East tensions pushing oil prices higher, like we've been talking about and we await the Fed decision and the ECB data tomorrow how much does all of that complicate things for central banks?
Same debate for the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the ECB.
Inflation could go up if oil and gas prices stay sustainably high.
We still don't know if they will, but it is a risk.
At the moment, they would probably like to cut interest rates rather than raise them.
But at the moment financial markets think we will get nothing from any of them.
This week maybe two Fed cuts, this year nothing from the Bank of England and again maybe two hikes from the European Central Bank.
We'll keep our eyes on that.
Always a pleasure.
Thank you.
Ross Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
The Lycra company, best known for making spandex and other stretch fabrics, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US as it looks to cut more than a billion dollars of debt.
Its lenders have agreed to provide fresh financing and wipe out most of what it owes.
And the company says it's business as usual for customers, suppliers and staff.
Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is beginning a two-day state visit to the UK, with trade and investment firmly in focus.
The UK is one of Nigeria's largest trading partners, with bilateral trade worth around 9 to 10 billion a year.
So what could this visit do to shift that relationship and unlock new business opportunities?
A question I put forward to Shion Awuwinli, a Nigerian economist.
The UK is one of Nigeria's largest trading partner.
We've had strong diplomatic and historic ties for many years.
And, as aware today, it's not just because Nigeria is currently undergoing reforms, but because we also have a world where you're seeing, should I say, a retreat in multilateralism and global cooperation.
But you're seeing more countries actually favor bilateralism.
And it's quite interesting because trade between the UK and Nigeria is worth around 10 billion a year.
But then it still tends to favour the UK.
So what would a more balanced relationship actually look like in practice?
For quite many years, Nigeria operated under a system that was guided largely by subsidies.
So now you've had reforms which, in essence, has actually liberated the foreign exchange system and, by so doing, has also devalued our currency.
Now our exports are a lot more competitive.
In some way.
It looks like Nigeria is now going to begin to take advantage of that cooperation and partnership.
And if you look at it, we've got a stronger economy now.
Inflation is slowing down, interest rates is easing, our GDP is growing, foreign reserve is improving.
Foreign exchange is a lot more stable, as it were.
So Nigeria is a lot more poised at this time to take advantage of that relationship than we have at any other time.
So where do you think the real opportunities are in Nigeria for international investors right now?
I mean, in terms of infrastructure, we'll be looking at technology, for example.
Technology is key.
Nigeria is looking to actually take off when you look at artificial intelligence here.
So there's a lot of opportunities in that, which I also think is something that the United Kingdom is very keen about.
But of course, the fiscal infrastructure, there's still a lot of opportunity in that.
We're looking at our railroad infrastructure, energy and power infrastructure as well.
So there's a lot of opportunity, especially in terms of the oil and gas, which is the energy as well.
That's it on today's World Business Express.
Please subscribe to get the latest.
I'm BC Adibayo.
