…Earns $54.5bn from export of crude oil
Nigeria’s value of petroleum products imported in 2018 was more than its exports of the same year, according to data released by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The report, titled: “Annual statistics bulletin 2019,” states that the value of exports of petroleum products by the country in 2018 amounted to $54.513 billion while imports was $54.645 billion.
According to the report, while exports grew by $16.53 billion in 2018 from $37.983 billion in 2017, no gain was made as the value of imports already over-rode exports.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said recently that the country recorded a total export sale of crude oil and gas of $490.03 million in February 2019 alone, which is 32.45 per cent higher than the previous month’s sale.
Based on the Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) released in Abuja, crude oil export sales contributed $350.29 million (71.48 per cent) of the dollar transactions compared with $240.23 million contribution in the previous month.
The report, the 43rd edition of the NNPC’s MFOR, explained that the export gas sales amounted to $139.74 million in the month under review, stating that the February 2018 to February 2019 crude oil and gas transactions indicate that crude oil and gas worth $5.94 billion was exported.
However, the country does not refine its crude oil; rather, it spends huge money on importation of petroleum products for its over 200 million inhabitants.
The country’s population grew 5.3 million within the space of one year alone from 2017-2018, according to OPEC’s annual statistics bulletin 2019.
Nigeria spent N2.582 trillion on fuel importation in nine months, from January to September 2018, rising by 12.9 per cent from N2.289 trillion recorded in the first three quarters of 2017.
According to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on foreign trade statistics for the third quarter of 2018, Nigeria’s fuel imports stood at N845.12 billion, N720.4 billion for the first and second quarters of 2018 respectively.
Other figures in the annual statistics bulletin 2019 show that Nigeria made more money from exports of petroleum products within the space of five years in 2014, which amounted to $75.196 billion.
During the crude oil price crash, which started in 2015, the country’s value of exports dropped to $41.168 billion and got worse in 2016 as the country made a meagre $27.295 billion.
However, the country did not gain as such, as its value of imports last year, which amounted to $54.645 billion was higher than its value of exports of $54.513 billion same year.
On the other hand, the country’s value of imports in 2014 was $70.778 billion, dropped to $52.525 billion in 2015, $46.552 billion in 2016, $49.508 billion in 2017 and shooting upwards to $56.645 billion in 2018.
SOURCE: DailyTimeNigeria