24 July 2009

Lagos — Nigeria's oil revenue was slashed by half in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous quarter, official statistics released yesterday show, as the industry suffered the impact of militant attacks.

The huge slump in oil income, according to AFP, dragged down total external trade by 29 per cent over the same period last year.

Sales in the first quarter of 2009 fetched Nigeria N735.4 billion ($4.9 billion /3.4 billion euros), sharply down from the previous quarter, when oil returned to N9.86 billion, the National Bureau of Statistics said in its July publication.

"Crude oil export stood at N735.4 billion ($4.9 billion /3.4 billion euros), a sharp decrease of N734.2 billion or 99.8 per cent over that of fourth quarter 2008," the Bureau said.

"Total trade figure for the first quarter of 2009 was N1,974.6 billion, thus indicating a drop of N572.5 billion or 29 per cent over that of the fourth quarter of 2008," it said.

"This sharp drop in the value of exports may be attributed to the activities of militants that reduce the quantity of crude exports."

The country's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has in recent months intensified an armed campaign against the oil majors and government installations in the Niger Delta.
MEND, which says it is fighting for a greater share of the Delta's oil wealth for local communities, declared a 60-day ceasefire on July 15 in response to a government amnesty deal.

The militant group late last Tuesday released six foreign hostages in what it said was a "dividend" of the truce.

Nigeria, a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel, and the world's eight largest producer, derives more than 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings from crude oil exports.

Petroleum Minister Rilwanu Lukman said last Wednesday that the nation's oil production had been cut to about 1.5 million barrels per day, less than half of its capacity, by rebel attacks in the main producing region as well as the global economic crisis.
allafrica