Nigeria is estimated to have lost about $2.7
billion or N426 billion from decline in crude oil production in the last quarter of 2012 – October to December, even as it earned $16.075 billion or N2.54 trillion from crude oil export in the same period.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Fourth
Quarter Economic Report, attributed the
decline in crude oil production and export to
natural disaster, oil theft and sabotage to oil
infrastructure during the period under review.
As a result, Nigeria’s oil revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012 dipped by N112.6 billion, as gross oil receipts in the Federation Account stood at N1.824 trillion, dropping by 5.8 per cent from N1.936 trillion recorded in the third quarter of 2012.
The CBN data put Nigeria’s crude oil
production, including condensates and natural gas liquids at 2.00 million barrels per day (mbd) or 184.00 million barrels during the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to the 2.26 mbpd or 207.92 million barrels recorded in the third quarter, representing a decrease of 0.26 mbd or 11.5 per cent in production level.
The report pegged the average price of
Nigeria’s reference crude, the Bonny Light at $112.73 (N17,811.34) per barrel, with crude oil export at 1.55 mbd or 142.60 million barrels in the fourth quarter, compared with 1.81 mbd or 166.52 million barrels in the preceding quarter, representing a decline of 14.4 per
cent.
Crude allocated for domestic consumption in
the review period was valued at $4.667 billion or N737.386 billion, while actual allocation of crude oil for domestic consumption was put at 0.45 mbd or 41.40 million barrels.
However, the report indicated that it was not all woes for Nigeria, as, “At N1.824 trillion gross oil receipts, which constituted 75.6 per cent of the total federally collected revenue, exceeded the proportionate budget estimate and the receipts in the corresponding period of 2011 by 9.9 and 151.2 per cent, respectively, but declined by 5.8 per cent below the receipts in the preceding quarter.
