Nigeria’s crude oil earnings reached approximately N50.88 trillion in 2024.
Nigeria produced 408,680,457 barrels of crude oil in 2024, according to data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), a government organisation.
According to a report released on January 9, 2025, by the international statistical company Statista Research Department, the average price of crude in 2024 was $80.53 per barrel.
When multiplied by the amount of crude produced in Nigeria last year, this comes to $32.91 billion. The total will be N50.88tn at the exchange rate of N1,546 to the dollar. 566.79 million barrels of oil were produced in 2024, including condensate.
Recall that Nigeria’s 2024 budget called for an average daily production of 1.78 million barrels of oil, or 649.7 million barrels.
With the price of crude oil at $78 and the exchange rate at N750 to the US dollar, the nation had anticipated making $50.68 billion, or N38.01 trillion, from oil last year.
Nigeria was able to produce more than it had anticipated because of changes in the price of crude oil, even though it was unable to meet the 1.78 mbpd oil target.
The increase in the naira equivalent of the money received from oil sales last year was also influenced by the naira’s decline versus the dollar.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, foreign oil companies, and their local counterparts sold crude produced in Nigeria, generating N50.88 trillion.
Among other things, some criteria influence how this fund is distributed to the three levels of government; NNPCL, IOCs, and indigenous oil producers.
In the previous year, the price of crude oil fluctuated in a zigzag pattern, rising and dropping periodically. In March, after Ukrainian fighters attacked Russian refineries, crude prices increased.
The price of Brent crude increased from $82.44 on March 11 to $86.87 in the days that followed. On March 12, WTI crude was trading at $78.13 a barrel; on March 13, it was trading at $81.77.
In a similar vein, Murban crude went up from $82.78 to $86.90.
As of Monday, Oilprice.com reports that the price of Nigeria’s Brass River and Qua Iboe was $90.07, down from $84.84 on March 11.
However, September saw the first decline in Brent crude oil futures below $70 per barrel since December 2021.
Brent reached $69.08, down 2.75 per cent. West Texas Intermediate crude fell to $65.71, a 2.99 per cent decline. As of September 3, Nigeria’s Brass River and Qua Iboe fell from $80 a barrel to $74.57.
Meanwhile, according to Statista, the average price of a barrel of Brent crude oil was $74 in December 2024.
The 2024 budget’s crude oil production and price benchmark predictions were deemed credible and achievable by Mele Kyari, the NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, before its passage.
“With what we see in the market today, and possibly in the year 2024 and even beyond the next two years, it is very unlikely to see $70 per barrel of oil in the market,” Kyari said, discussing market dynamics about the expected budget benchmark price of $77.96 per barrel.
“Overall, benchmarks are averages, and the oscillation we are witnessing occasionally shows prices dropping to $75 per barrel and occasionally rising above it. We believe that Mr. President’s proposal, which is approximately $77.96, can still be realised in 2024.
“The number we have is 1.785 mbpd,” he said about the crude oil output prediction.
“This represents the total amount of oil produced in the nation. This amount includes the entire production, including condensate and crude oil.
“Since our OPEC quota is 1.5 mbpd, according to media sources, I must clarify this. Only crude oil is relevant to the OPEC quota. Condensate production ranges from 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day. Combining the two results in a realistic and achievable 1.78 mbpd.”
