Ike Amos
29 December 2015, Sweetcrudee, Abuja – The local content initiative of the Federal Government seems to have started to yield positive results, as data released from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, revealed that the country earned N126.77 billion from the export of floating or submersible drilling or production platforms, light vessels and floating cranes in the third quarter of 2015.
Though the NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the Third Quarter of 2015, did not elaborate on the specification of the platforms and vessels, a number of oil and gas focused construction and fabrication companies, such as Nigerdock, Kaztec, Ladol, among others, have achieved major breakthroughs in the design, fabrication, repair and building of Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessels (FPSO), ships, in addition to other projects.
Giving a breakdown of the figure, the report stated that the country earned N14.406 billion from the export of floating or submersible drilling or production platforms. This appears to be the first time Nigeria would be exporting floating or submersible drilling or production platforms and light vessels.
Specifically, the item featured in Nigeria’s trade in the fourth quarter of 2014, when the country spent N85.36 billion on the import of the item, making it the second highest import in the period.
In addition to the export of the platforms, Nigeria also earned N112.36 billion from the export of other Light vessels, fire-floats, floating cranes, among others in the third quarter of 2015.
Furthermore, Nigeria also earned N412.983 billion from the export of Liquefied Natural Gas, LNG, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, also known as cooking gas and other gaseous materials in the period under review.
This, according to the NBS report, represented an increase of 9.5 per cent or N35.813 billion when compared to N377.17 billion earned by the country from similar export in the second quarter of 2015.
Giving a breakdown of the third quarter figures, the NBS stated that the country’s LNG export stood at N262.202 billion; liquefied propane export was valued at N106.803 billion, while the export of other petroleum gases, among others, in gaseous state was valued at N22.762 billion.
In addition, the country earned N10.101 billion from the export of LPG and other gaseous hydrocarbons, while it also earned N8.115 billion from the export of liquefied butanes.
In comparison, in the second quarter of 2015, the country earned N260.7 billion from the export of LNG; N66.441 billion from the export of LPG and other gaseous hydrocarbons; N43.88 billion from liquefied propane, while liquefied butane export fetched the country N6.15 billion.
Continuing, the NBS said, “The total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade at the end of third quarter 2015 was ₦4.021 trillion.
This was 7.8 per cent less than ₦4.359 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter.
“This development arose from a decrease of ₦320.6 billion or 12.1 per cent, in the value of exports combined with a marginal decline of ₦17.4 billion or 1.0 per cent, in the value of imports against the levels recorded in the preceding quarter.
“In comparison with the corresponding quarter of 2014, the value of the total merchandise trade decreased by ₦2.497 trillion or 38.3 per cent. This was as a result of a ₦132.4 billion or 7.3 per cent and ₦2.365 trillion or 50.3 per cent decline in imports and exports respectively relative to the corresponding quarter in 2014.
“Quarter on Quarter, The sharp decline in exports and slight decrease in imports contributed to continued fall in the country’s trade balance, by 32 per cent or ₦303.1 billion during the quarter.”
