Nigeria Loses N500.6bn Over Crude Oil Sale

Findings from various oil and gas and statistical reports have indicated that Nigeria lost about N500.6 billion from the sale of crude oil between January and May, 2022.
The Tide’s source gathered that the crash in revenue was due to the slump in the country’s oil production, which slided by 11.63 million barrels during the period under review.
The source stated that data obtained from different reports of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) showed that Nigeria produced 1.399 million barrels of crude oil daily in January, which translates to 43.369 million barrels in the entire month.
Production, however, slumped to 1.024 million barrels per day in May, according to crude oil production figures, based on direct communication, indicating a total production of 31.744 million barrels in May 2022, according to OPEC’s reports.
The difference between January and May figures implies that Nigeria’s oil production crashed by 11.63 million barrels within the five-month period.
Data from Statistica, a globally renowned statistical firm, on the monetary value of the lost oil volumes, also showed that Nigeria had been losing billions of naira monthly due to the persistent plunge in its oil production.
Also, industry figures obtained from Statistica showed that in January, February, March, April and May 2022, the average prices of Brent, the global benchmark for crude, were $86.51/barrel, $97.13/barrel, $117.25/barrel, $104.58/barrel and $113.34/barrel respectively.
This gives an overall average of $103.76/barrel for crude oil during the five-month period.
With an overall average of $103.76/barrel and 11.63 million barrels of crude lost between January and May, it implies that Nigeria’s oil revenue crashed by $1.21bn (N500.6bn at the official exchange rate of N415/$) during the period under review.
The source further revealed an indication that Nigeria’s oil production kept moving southwards since January, 2022.
This is  according to figures from OPEC reports, which showed that while the country produced 1.399 million barrels per day in January, production crashed to 1.258 million barrels per day in February.
The oil production plunge continued in March, as it dropped 1.238 million barrels per day and further went down to 1.219 million barrels per day in April, with the worst plunge being recorded in May, as the country’s oil production slumped to 1.024 million barrels per day, based on crude oil production figures obtained through direct communication by OPEC.