Nigeria’s earnings from oil exports dropped further in October, with a
loss of about $1.3 million (about N256.1 million), as the slide in global
crude oil prices continued to negatively impact the country’s economy.
The loss was a result of drop in average crude oil price from $47.315 a
barrel in August to $46.96 in September, said the minister of finance,
Kemi Adeosun.
However, compared to September, the revenue slide was relatively smaller.
Oil receipts which stood at about N213.128 billion in September, dropped
by about N25.898 billion, to N187.23 billion in October, as the
Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, converged on Abuja on
Friday to share the statutory allocation for the month.
At the close of trading on Friday, Brent crude oil price, which opened at
$43.04 per barrel, dropped by 2.95 percent, to about $41.77, signalling
no respite for Nigeria and other major oil producers struggling to keep
their heads above the economic waters.
Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC are
already preparing for the 168th meeting of the group scheduled for
Vienna, Austria next Friday to attempt to strike a compromise on how to
stabilize the market and firm up commodity prices.
Members of the group are already jittery, amid fears that crude oil price
may be heading towards the $20 per barrel mark, down from a peak of over
$107 per barrel in June 2014, if steps were not taken to attempt to
salvage the situation.
The N187.23 billion oil revenue in October would be the worst accrual
from oil exports since the present administration took over power.
In May, FAAC reported a yield of about N225.2 billion, which increased to
about N289.4 billion in June.
Although about N213.13 billion was realized as oil revenues in September,
it was lower by about N2.85 billion than the N215.98 billion in August.
At the end of the FAAC meeting in October, the Accountant General of the
Federation, Ahmed Idris, had explained that the drop in oil revenue was
as a result of the negative impact of facility shutdowns for maintenance
and production shut-ins at different periods and terminals during the
month.
At the end of the FAAC meeting in Abuja on Friday, Minister of Finance,
Kemi Adeosun, said gross revenue received in October stood at N400.310
billion, which is higher by N78.314 billion than the N321.996 billion for
the previous month.
Mrs. Adeosun said intermittent shutdowns of operational facilities and
production shut-ins for repairs and maintenance at different terminals
continued to negatively impact on crude oil and gas revenue during the
month.
Besides, the Minister said the country lost about $1.3 million (about
N256.1 million) as a result of drop in average crude oil price from
$47.315 in August to $46.96 in September.
To make up for the drop, Mrs. Adeosun said non-oil revenue recorded a
significant improvement during the month, with about N104.212 billion
collection above the figure in September.
In addition, about N6.33 billion was received from the Nigerian National
petroleum Corporation, NNPC, as refund for the N450 billion unremitted
revenue since 2012, while another N6.995 billion came into the government
coffers as exchange gain for the month.
Apart from a total of N57.789 billion realised from value added tax, VAT,
collection, the Minister said the balance in the excess crude oil revenue
account remained ta $2.258 billion.
Details of the revenue allocations to the three tiers of government for
the month showed that the Federal Government took N200.662 billion, or
52.68 per cent; states N126.277 billion, or 26.72 per cent; local
governments N95.303 billion, while 13 per cent oil derivation to the nine
oil producing states was N24.141 billion.
On stolen funds, which President Muhammadu Buhari said recently that some
public officials have started returning to the Federal Government, the
Minister said such monies were not part of the revenues shared during the
FAAC meeting.
“Recovered loot is not shared in the FAAC meeting,” the minister said.
“We have no records of recovered loots. But, I am sure the process is
on-going. When the accounts of such returns become available, they would
be returned to wherever they were stolen from.”
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