Contrary to earlier reports making the rounds, new reports have emerged indicating that Nigeria is earning increasing revenue from oil despite COVID-19 pandemic pressures.
The country’s revenue from oil rose by over 100 per cent between May and June, data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) showed.
The figures showed that total crude oil and gas export earnings reached $378.42m in June, more than the $133.16m it posted for May 2020.
The NNPC’s Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for June, showed that the rise followed easing of the lockdown imposed to curb the coronavirus.
This 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.
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 increase in 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 led officials to start thinking in the direction of strengthening the agriculture sector in a bid to cushion the economy from usual shocks.