Nigeria has lost about US$2.7bn in revenue due to a decline in the countrys crude oil production in Q4 2012
According to a report on Nigerian daily Vanguard, the loss in revenue has been registered, despite the country earning more than US$16bn from crude oil export for the same period.
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s 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.
The CBN data put Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids at two million barrels per day or 184mn barrels during the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to the 2.26mn bpd or 207.92mn barrels recorded in the third quarter, representing a decrease of 11.5 per cent in production level.
The report, however, indicated that it was not all woe for Nigeria as 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 per cent and 151.2 per cent, respectively, but declined by 5.8 per cent below the receipts in the preceding quarter.
“The rise in oil receipts relative to the proportionate budget estimate was attributed largely to the improvement in the receipts from Petroleum Profit Tax, royalties and domestic crude oil and gas sales during the period,” the report noted.
