The Federal Government of Nigeria’s crude oil export earnings rebounded by 116% in November.
The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting countries (OPEC), Mohammad Barkindo, disclosed this at the Virtual 19th Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference on Tuesday.
The conference themed: “Fortifying the Nigerian Oil and Gas for Economic Stability and Growth,” elected the Secretary General as its Honorary Chairman.
Commenting on the development, Barkindo said the Nigerian government should be commended for the proactive measures that facilitated the rebound of its crude oil export earnings, when compared to the April 2020 levels. He said:
- “The government should be applauded for quick and proactive actions. The Nigerian Crude oil export earnings plunged by 77% within three months between January and April 2020, but since then, they have gradually improved and rebounded by 116 per cent in November compared to April 2020 level.
- “All of us in OPEC family know the enormous debt of gratitude we owe President Buhari for the pivotal role he played in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) process between OPEC and non- OPEC producing countries; Particularly, his intervention at the highest level to secure decisions of the 10th extraordinary OPEC and non-OPEC meeting in April 2020; citing that these decisions were taken in response to the unprecedented demand slump resulting from Coronavirus pandemic.”
On the global energy mix, the Secretary-General noted:
- “The petroleum sector will remain the secure base in meeting global energy needs. We expect oil to retain the largest share of the energy mix throughout the forecast period, providing nearly 28% of global requirements in 2045.”
Barkindo concluded by echoing the importance of stimulating investment in the oil sector in the interest of future energy security and sustainable supply.
- “Our current assessments show that upstream capital expenditure could fall by more than 30% this year, beyond the losses experienced in 2015 and 2016. OPEC’s World Oil Outlook shows that $12 trillion will be needed between now and 2045 in the upstream, midstream and downstream. We are alarmed at the pull back of capital from the industry.”
- The 116% increase in Nigerian crude oil export earnings in November implies increased revenue for the government towards fulfilling its mandates.
- This is also a good time for the increase considering that the price of Crude oil has increased considerably in recent weeks. Presently, WTI Crude oil sells for $45.66 per barrel, while Brent crude sells for $48.98 per barrel; compared with the average price of $39.79 and $41.49 between January and October for WTI Crude oil and Brent Crude oil respectively.
- Thus, the increase in oil prices would also improve the monthly federal allocations to states.
- OPEC is a permanent intergovernmental organization of 13 oil-exporting developing nations that coordinates and unifies the petroleum policies of its Member Countries.
- OPEC was founded in Baghdad, Iraq, with the signing of an agreement in September 1960 by five countries namely Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. They became the founding members of the organization.
- These countries were later joined by Qatar (1961), Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).
- Ecuador withdrew its membership of OPEC effective 1 January 2020. Indonesia suspended its membership in November 2016. Qatar terminated its membership on 1 January 2019.
- This means that, currently, the Organization has a total of 13 Member Countries.
- Of the 13 members, Nigeria recorded the 5th highest crude oil production in October according to OPEC’s direct communication data.
- The OPEC Secretariat is the executive organ of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Located in Vienna, it also functions as the Headquarters of the Organization, in accordance with the provisions of the OPEC statute
