Nigeria earned a total of N4.733 trillion from the oil and gas sector in 2020, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), dropping by 14.57 per cent, compared to N5.536 trillion recorded in the 2019.
According to data obtained from the CBN’s Quarterly Economic Reports, oil earnings accounted for 50.82 per cent of total federally-collected revenue of N9.314 trillion recorded in 2020.
Giving a breakdown of revenue from the petroleum industry in 2020, the CBN stated that in the first, second, third and fourth quarter, the country earned N1.523 trillion, N1.271 trillion, N953.09 billion and N985.57 billion, respectively, compared to oil and gas earnings of N1.414 trillion, N1.219 trillion, N1.34 trillion and N1.564 trillion recorded in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2019, respectively.
Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)/Royalties, according to the CBN report, accounted for the bulk of the country’s earnings in 2020, with N2.804 trillion, representing 59.24 per cent of total oil and gas earnings; while it also accounted for 30.11 per cent of total federally-collected revenue recorded in the period.
Domestic oil and gas sales, the report noted, stood at N984.64 billion, representing 20.81 per cent of total oil and gas earnings in the year under review, while ‘others’ accounted for 12.4 per cent of gross oil and gas earnings in 2020, with N587.45 billion.
The CBN explained that ‘others’ included taxes and levies paid by oil firms, comprising Education Tax, Customs Special Levies (Federation Account), National Technology Development, Customs Special Levies, Solid Mineral & Other Mining revenue, and other Non-regular earnings.
Giving a further breakdown of the various earnings, the CBN disclosed the in the first, second, third and fourth quarter of 2020, PPT/Royalties stood at N838.24 billion, N790.39 billion, N660.48 billion and N514.81 billion, respectively.
In the first quarter of 2020, the CBN did not release figures for domestic crude oil and gas sales, while for the second, third and fourth quarters, the CBN stated that the country recorded N397.03 billion, N185.99 billion and N401.62 billion respectively, from the domestic sale of crude oil and gas.
Earnings from crude oil and gas exports, according to the CBN stood at N172.58 billion, N61.55 billion, N79.27 billion and N43.1 billion in the first, second, third and fourth quarter of 2020, respectively, while earnings from ‘others’ stood at N512.21 billion, N21.84 billion, N27.36 billion and 26.04 billion, respectively.
In its projections for 2021, the CBN noted that crude oil prices showed significant improvements in the fourth quarter of 2020 and could maintain an upward trajectory going forward.
According to the CBN, crude oil prices remained elevated above $40 per barrels through the fourth quarter of 2020, driven by sustained production cut by OPEC and its allies, modest recovery in consumption, following the easing of lockdown measures, as well as renewed optimism on the back of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
It said: “Going forward, crude oil price was expected to move upwards, due to the producers’ concerted effort, albeit below pre-COVID-19 levels, as the resurgence of the pandemic continued to threaten global economic activities. On the supply side, OPEC and its allies have continued to show willingness and capacity to move the market in the desired direction through production cuts and other agreements in the face of the second wave of the pandemic.”
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