Nigeria’s crude oil export earnings grew by N337 billion in March, reaching N1.8 trillion. This happened as the country increased crude oil output to 1.6 million barrels per day in March, up from 1.3 million barrels per day in February. In January, output was 1.25mbp, while in February, it was 1.3mbp.
According to Refinitiv Eikon shipping statistics, the nation met its 1.6mb/d production target for the first quarter of 2023. The country’s increased output has contributed considerably to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ March output of 28.90 mbpd of oil.
Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, stated in December 2022, during the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update and Country Economic Memorandum in Abuja, that the country planned for crude oil production to reach 1.6 million barrels per day by the first quarter of 2023.
With a 300,000b/d increase in March, the country’s output has increased by 9.3 million barrels in the review period. The total output for the month was 49,600,000 barrels.
When the international price of Brent was $77 per barrel in March, Nigeria’s Bonny Light was sold for $78. This implies the nation earned an additional N337 billion for the month. The total income from crude oil production was around N1.8tn.
Nigeria had failed to satisfy its OPEC output limit in the last one year.
A presentation by the NNPCL at the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in September said that Nigeria lost up to 8.14 million barrels in August.
According to National Bureau of Statistics statistics, the oil sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP declined to 5.7 percent in the third quarter of this year.
According to Ahmed, the country’s Excess Crude Account has dropped by 89% in the previous eight years, from $4.1 billion in November 2014 to $472,513 in 2022.
