Nigeria earns $378.42 million from crude oil, gas despite virus effects
A file picture taken on September 16, 2015 shows a worker walking past the Port Harcourt oil refinery in Nigeria, which was built in 1989, in Rivers State.
What you need to know:
- Figures from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) showed Abuja’s total crude oil and gas export earnings reached $378.42 million in June, more than the $133.16 million it posted for May 2020.
- The report indicated that petroleum receipts for the month reflected crude oil earnings of $230.65million, with gas and miscellaneous proceeds standing at $75.97million and $71.80million, respectively.
Abuja,
Nigeria’s oil revenues rose by more than a 100 per cent between May and June, despite the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Figures from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) showed Abuja’s total crude oil and gas export earnings reached $378.42 million in June, more than the $133.16 million it posted for May 2020.
The corporation’s Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for June, released in Abuja on Monday, indicated that the rise followed easing of the lockdown imposed to curb the virus, which increased the demand and prices for the black gold in the international market.
The report indicated that petroleum receipts for the month reflected crude oil earnings of $230.65million, with gas and miscellaneous proceeds standing at $75.97million and $71.80million, respectively.
It puts the total crude oil and gas export earnings for June 2019 to June 2020 at $4.60 billion.
Refined oil
The report said 1.34 billion litres of refined oil were distributed and sold across the country by NNPC’s downstream (refined petroleum) subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC).
It noted that the figure was significantly higher than the 950.67million litres of white products sold and distributed in May 2020.
“... [this was due to] an apparent reflection of the gradual ease of the lockdown in the country and the picking up of business activities,” it said.
A breakdown of the June 2020 figures indicated that over 1.3billion litres of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, 5.10 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and 1.65 million litres of dual purpose kerosene (DPK), were sold and distributed during the period.
“White products sales for June 2019 to June 2020 stood at over 19.104billion litres, with PMS accounting for over 18.9 billion litres or 99.36 per cent.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer but the Covid-19 pandemic and low prices globally have caused officials to start thinking of strengthening the agriculture sector in a bid to cushion the economy from usual shocks.
