• Spends N296 billion to import petrol
• Oil production decreases by 51,000bpd

Despite calls for diversification of Nigeria’s revenue base to other sectors like manufacturing and agriculture, oil and gas accounted for 92.9 per Cent of the country’s export earnings during the second quarter of 2016.

Specifically, out of the N1.872 trillion of export earnings by the Federal Government during the second quarter of 2016, oil and gas accounted for N1.735 trillion or 92.9 per cent of the total export value.

The National Bureau of Statistics, which made this known in its second quarter foreign trade statistics released last week, disclosed that natural liquefied gas recorded ₦198 billion of the total export value during the period under review.
Besides Nigeria’s crude oil production decreased by 51,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the 1.520 million barrels per day it recorded in July to 1.468 mbpd in August, according to the August report of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The Bureau disclosed that Nigeria imported N296.1 billion worth of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also called petrol, during the quarter under review.For example, out of the total N402 billion export earnings from India in the quarter under review, crude oil accounted for N362 billion while non-oil was N39.727 billion.

Also, Nigeria recorded N10.928 billion from non-oil export to the United States, while crude oil accounted for larger sum of N224.081 billion.Nigeria’s crude oil export to Spain was N181,663 billion while it earned N33.505 billion from non-oil products.

Based on export by continent, the report showed that Nigeria mainly exported goods to Europe and Asia, which accounted for ₦611.7 billion or 32.7 per cent and ₦606.4 billion or 32.4 per cent respectively, of the total export value during the period under review.

It added that Nigeria exported goods valued at ₦265.9 billion or 14.2 per cent to Africa while, export to the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) region totaled ₦86.9 billion.

The agency stated: “Nigeria’s import trade stood at ₦2.069.2 trillion at the end of second quarter showing an increase of 38.1 per cent from the value ₦1.498.4 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter.

“As with exports. The increase in import value can be traced to a decline in the value of the naira. The structure of Nigeria’s import trade by section was dominated by the imports of “Boilers, machinery and appliances; parts thereof” which accounted for 34.9 per cent of the total value of import trade in second quarter. Other commodities which contributed noticeably to the value of import trade during the review period were Mineral products” (15.8 per cent), Vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof; vessels etc.”(14.7 per cent), Products of the chemical and allied industries (7.6 per cent), and “Base metals and articles of base metals (5.1 per cent).”

“The import trade classified by broad economic category revealed that “capital goods and parts ranked first with ₦663.6 billion or 32.1 per cent. This was followed by Industrial supplies with the value of ₦421.2 billion or 20.4 per cent, and Transport Equipment and Parts with ₦356.1 billion or 17.2 per cent. The value of motor spirit stood at ₦296.1 billion. Nigeria’s import trade by direction showed that the Country imported goods mostly from China,

“Netherlands, United States, India and the United Kingdom, which respectively, accounted for ₦493.5 billion or 23.9 per cent, ₦285.7 billion or 13.8 per cent, ₦199.0 billion or 9.6 per cent, ₦124.9 billion or six per cent, and ₦119.3 billion or 5.8 per cent of the total value of goods imported during the quarter. Further analysis of Nigeria’s imports by Continent revealed that the country consumed goods largely from Asia with import value of ₦886.1 billion or 42.8 per cent,”.

According to the OPEC report released on Monday, Nigeria’s drop in oil production also contributed to the decrease in the OPEC total crude oil production, which stood at 33.24 mbpd in August, a decrease of 23 kbpd over the previous month.OPEC said that crude oil output increased mainly from Saudi Arabia and Iran, while Nigeria and Libya showed the largest drop

In its latest September report, the 14-member oil-producing cartel said the trend of “moderate” global growth is likely to continue in 2016 and 2017, and that imminent central bank’s decisions and political developments were likely “to be influential”.

“There are several key dynamics across the globe that are significant (to global growth) in the short-term, OPEC said before commenting on the effectiveness of central bank stimulus programms.
“Interest rates are already low in major economies and the effectiveness of further monetary stimulus has diminished, despite remaining crucial for some economies. Here, any decision from main central banks on monetary policies, particularly the U.S. Fed, will continue to be influential. Moreover, in most key economies the space for fiscal stimulus seems to be limited given high debt levels.” it said.
OPEC said the trend of moderating global growth is likely to continue this year, but that the energy sector, despite being harmed by lower investment as a result, could help buoy global growth.

“There are several key dynamics across the globe that are significant (to global growth prospects) in the short-term,” OPEC noted. “There is a considerable negative impact on global growth from the energy sector due to the sharp decline in investments, mainly in the oil and gas sector as well as lower output values.”
“So far this has not been entirely compensated by positive effects from consumption. Any stabilisation in the crude oil market in coming months could provide positive support to overall economic activity”, OPEC said.