Oil Sales Revenue Declined by 75 Percent to $55.29 Million

Nigeria’s oil revenue plunged by 74.89 percent in July, according to the latest report from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Oil sales revenue declined to $55.29 million in the month under review, down from $219.58 million recorded in June and $120.50 million in May.

The record fall in global oil prices and demand due to COVID-19 plunged Nigeria’s crude oil sales from $336.65 million posted in January to $281.14 million in February, $184.59 million in March and $148.86 million in April.

This was after Brent Crude oil, against which Nigerian crude oil is priced, plunged to as low as $15.98 per barrel in April, down from $70 per barrel it was sold in January.

Oil and gas constitute 50 percent of the Nigerian government revenues and over 90 percent of export earnings despite accounting for just about 10 percent of the nation’s GDP.

“A total export sale of $84.63m was recorded in July 2020, decreasing by 66.95 per cent compared to last month. Crude oil export sales contributed $55.29m (65.34 per cent) of the dollar transactions compared with $219.58m contribution in the previous month,” the NNPC said in its latest monthly report.

NNPC said gas exported in the month stood at $29.33 million.

“July 2019 to July 2020 crude oil and gas transactions indicated that crude oil and gas worth $3.91bn was exported,” it added.

According to the report, the federation crude oil and gas lifting are broadly classified into equity export and domestic, and are lifted and marketed by the NNPC while the proceeds remitted into the Federation Account.

It said, “Equity export receipts, after adjusting for joint venture cash calls, are paid directly into Federation Account domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria.”