Nigeria’s oil earnings drop 60% to N308bn in one month

Ike Amos

Dublin, Ireland — Nigeria earned N308.07 billion from the petroleum industry in February 2023, according to latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria, dropping sharply by 60.21 per cent, compared with N774.15 oil and gas revenue recorded in the previous month.

However, the CBN, in its Economic Report for February 2023, stated that the oil and gas earnings for the month under review was 47.96 per cent higher than the revenue of N208.19 recorded in the sector in February 2022.

The amount published by the CBN was part of the Federation Revenue, belonging to the three tiers of government, the Federal, States and Local Governments.

Giving a breakdown of oil revenue, the CBN stated that the country recorded zero revenue from crude oil and gas exports while earnings from petroleum profit tax and royalties stood at N303.19 billion, compared with N767.69 billion and N157.64 billion recorded in January 2023 and February 2022, respectively.

The financial sector regulator further stated that the country recorded zero earnings from domestic crude oil and gas in February 2023, same as in January 2023, compared with N41.92 billion recorded in January 2022.

Earnings from other oil revenue, according to the apex bank, stood at N4.88 billion in the month under review, compared with January 2023 and February 2022’s earnings of N6.46 billion and N8.63 billion, respectively.

The CBN further disclosed that in the month under review, apart from the monies shared by the three tiers of government, oil-producing states shared N32.73 billion under the 13 per cent Derivation fund, compared with N93.52 billion and N58.96 billion recorded in January 2023 and February 2022, respectively.

The CBN explained that: “Gross Federation Account revenue decreased in February due to a slump in oil revenue. At N1.038 trillion, federation receipts were below the level in January by 32.3 per cent. Similarly, it was below the budget of N1.580 trillion by 34.3 per cent.

“The decline, relative to January, was attributed to a fall in collections from Petroleum Profit Tax and Royalties. Oil revenue, at N308.07 billion, was 60.2 per cent below receipts in the preceding month. The outcome was driven, largely, by the 60.5 per cent decrease in collections from Petroleum Profit Tax and Royalties.

“Similarly, at N730.21 billion, non-oil revenue was below the level in the preceding month and the monthly target by 3.7 per cent and 7.4 per cent, respectively. The decrease was largely attributed to the 10.5 per cent decline in collections from Corporate Tax on account of the seasonality associated with its payments.”