"He sacrificed his own education so that I could get mine".

"I am eternally grateful to my father for this opportunity. His selflessness knows no bounds. He sacrificed his own educational goals to ensure that I would have the chance to achieve mine. This doctorate is for you, Dad."

These are the opening words with which Ugochi Chibuzor Okoroafors (32) thanks her father in her doctoral dissertation.

And today, her father Osundo Okoroafor was able to stream his daughter’s defence at Nord Business School. There, she reached an important academic milestone with her dissertation "Beyond Financialization: Insights into Market Efficiency and Risk Dynamics in Crude Oil Commodity Markets."

Spot Market for Crude Oil

“Unfortunately, he is not well enough to travel, but he is pleased that I have reached this goal,” says Ugochi.

She speaks of a father who is very engaged in that women should be independent.

"My sisters and I were told that we had to have at least a master's degree to be allowed to marry," she laughs.

Through her doctoral work, Ugochi has examined the relationship between market efficiency, liquidity, returns, and risk management in the spot market for crude oil, especially during times of financial and geopolitical instability. She herself comes from the metropolis of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, an important industrial centre also known for its oil industry.

Equinor has had a significant presence in the area, and Ugochi mentions that her brother-in-law worked for the Norwegian company.

The Consequences of Oil

Whether it was this that opened her eyes to Norway and Nord University, we will leave unsaid. However, she is convinced that there was a higher purpose for her ending up here.

“I love Bodø. I have found good friends and a good life here,” she says.

Where her path will lead next, job opportunities will determine.

Ugochi believes that the economic similarities between Nigeria and Norway can be summarized in both countries' dependence on oil income. But here the similarity ends, because in Norway, oil income has strengthened the economy. This is not the case in Nigeria, she argues.

The Oil Market from a Portfolio Perspective

In her dissertation, she focused on the oil market from a portfolio perspective. Specifically, she has used publicly available data from Brent and WTI, which are benchmark prices in Europe and the USA, and assessed how global fluctuations affect the financial market as a whole.

In the first article of the dissertation, Ugochi analyses how market efficiency in the oil market varies over time. Market efficiency describes how much relevant information is included in pricing. Sometimes it takes a long time before relevant information is reflected in prices, meaning efficiency is low, and it is possible to make a good trade. Other times, it happens very quickly, and efficiency can be said to be high.

Trade Timing

The second article examines the relationship between price and liquidity, where liquidity describes how easy it is to complete a trade. This is a topic that is very important for developing trading strategies and trade timing.

In the third article, she critically examines the pricing of crude oil, in relation to how other financial markets have developed in parallel during financial turmoil.

Overall, this dissertation provides a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics in markets for energy, cryptocurrency, and commodities, and Ugochi believes that her findings can contribute to risk management strategies for investors and oil companies, thereby helping to improve market stability.

Main Supervisor: Professor Thomas Leirvik, Nord Business School

Co-Supervisor: Associate Professor Torun Fretheim, NMBU