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Nigeria’s oil revenue recorded further shock with Brent Crude, the international benchmark, falling below $90 per barrel for the first in seven months, yesterday.

Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the government was projecting a total revenue of N8.46 trillion in 2023 out of which N1.9 trillion is expected from oil-related sources while the balance would come from non-oil sources.

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Ahmed had explained that crude oil price is pegged at $70 per barrel at the exchange rate of N435.57 per dollar, oil production is put at 1.69 million barrel per day

As at 17.50 WAT yesterday, Brent traded at $82.55 per barrel, a development that may not augur well for Nigeria in the face of dwindling oil revenue.

Nigeria in the past months has consistently failed to meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) 1.83 million barrels per day quota due to massive oil theft, among other constraints.

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The country lost 90,000 barrels per day in August, or roughly 2.8 million barrels in the month, making last month’s production of 1.43 million bpd one of the lowest in five years.

Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, Zainab Ahmed stated that the government is projecting a total revenue of N8.46 trillion in 2023 out of which N1.9 trillion is expected to come from oil-related sources while the remaining balance is to come from non-oil sources.

Ahmed explained that crude oil price is pegged at $70 per barrel at the exchange rate of N435.57 per dollar, oil production is put at 1.69 million barrel per day

Oil demand concern and weaker than expected economic news from China have reversed the gains oil prices booked on Monday after OPEC+’s meeting, with both Brent crude and WTI opening trade on Wednesday with losses.

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Brent slipped from $92.83 per barrel at the end of Tuesday to $91.72 per barrel at the time of writing, down by more than a percentage point.

West Texas Intermediate was down from $86.88 per barrel at close on Tuesday to $85.62 per barrel in early trade on Wednesday.

“The OPEC+ news is now in the market and the focus has temporarily shifted to economic and inflationary concerns amongst which the two relevant factors are the extended COVID lockdowns in China and Thursday’s ECB rate decision,” PVM oil analyst Tamas Varga told Reuters.

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“Fundamentally we’re probably moving in the right direction in terms of calming the oil market, but all of that friction out there related to Russia seems like it’s only going in one direction,” FGE president Jeff Brown told Bloomberg following the OPEC+ meeting.

“OPEC is essentially signaling that we don’t like US$90 a barrel. They’re pretty much at production limits, so let’s defend a high price,” he also said.

(Sun)