ABUJA: According to the OPEC Revenues Fact Sheet, Nigeria’s real net oil export revenue dropped to its lowest since 2011.
It says that Nigeria earned $77bn in 2014. It should be noted that the fall in global oil prices by more than 60 per cent between June 2014 and January 2015 resulted in the decline in revenue of oil-exporting countries such as Nigeria.
Global benchmark Brent crude, against which Nigeria’s oil is priced, slumped below $50 per barrel from a peak of $115 in June last year.
According to the report from the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the United States’ Department of Energy, the country’s earnings from oil export had in 2011 reached a peak of $99bn, up from $70bn in 2010.
Nigeria’s oil export revenues for 2012 and 2013 were put at $94bn and $84bn respectively, up from $57bn in 2005.
The EIA data showed that net oil export earnings of members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, except those of Ecuador and Iraq, dropped last year, the EIA data showed.
For 2014, EIA estimated that, excluding Iran, OPEC members earned about $730bn in net oil export revenues (unadjusted for inflation). This represents an 11 per cent decline from the $824bn earned in 2013, largely because of the decline in average annual crude oil prices, and to a lesser extent from decrease in the amount of OPEC net oil exports.
The EIA said: “This was the lowest earnings for the group since 2010. These net export earnings do not include Iran’s revenues because of the difficulties associated with estimating Iran’s earnings, including the country’s inability to receive payments and possible price discounts Iran offers its existing customers”.
