The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data on revenues from oil exports have shown that the Federal Government has lost no less than N1.45 trillion from exportation of crude oil to the international market in the last nine months. The data on external trade for the second quarter of 2013 shows a drop of N2.7 trillion in the second quarter of 2013 to the international market compared to the N4.16 trillion realised from the sale of crude oil in the third quarter, 2012.
The estimated revenues from the sale of crude oil have continued to fall in recent times due to issues of oil theft and pipeline vandalism, despite improvement in oil prices in the international market. According to the data, crude oil export figures fell from the two-year high of N4.6 trillion in the third quarter of 2011 to N4.16 trillion one year later and has remained consistently on the decline since then. As at fourth quarter of 2012, revenues from crude oil stood at N4.10 trillion, then fell to N3.03 trillion in the first quarter of 2013 before hitting the lowest figure of N2.7 trillion in the second quarter.
The data also showed that total value of Nigeria’s external merchandise trade amounted to N5, 341.1 billion in the second quarter 2013, an increase of N242.3 billion or 4.8 per cent from N5.09 trillion recorded in the previous quarter.
This change resulted from an increase in the value of exports from N3.45 trillion in the first quarter of 2013 to N3.7 trillion in the second quarter (an increase of N290.8billion or 8.4 per cent), and a 2.9 per cent decline in the value of imports from N1.6 trillion in the first quarter of 2013 to N1.59 trillion in the second quarter. Furthermore, the increase in exports and decrease in imports resulted in a favourable trade balance of N2, 144.7 billion in the second quarter, an increase of N339.3billion or 18.8 per cent from levels recorded in the first quarter of 2013. Further analysis with the second quarter of the preceding year indicates that the value of the nation’s total merchandise trade decreased by N1,742.8billion or 24.6 per cent, while the trade balance also declined by 49.7 per cent as imports increased by 13.5 per cent while exports decreased by 34.1 per cent year on year. –
