25 October 2012, Sweetcrude, ABUJA – NIGERIA shipped a total 57.35 million barrels of crude to the international oil market in August, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has said.
This represented an increase of 3.9 per cent above the 55.18 million barrels recorded in the preceding month
On a daily basis, the country exported 1.85 million barrels per day, mbd, of oil during the month under review.
According to CBN, deliveries to the refineries for domestic consumption stood at 0.45 mbd or 13.95 million barrels.
“Crude oil export was estimated at 1.85 mbd or 57.35 million barrels. This represented an increase of 3.9 per cent above the 1.78 mbd or 55.18 million barrels recorded in the preceding month (July).
“Deliveries to the refineries for domestic consumption stood at 0.45 mbd or 13.95 million barrels during the month under review,” the bank reported.
The report indicated that Nigeria’s crude oil and natural gas production stood at an average of 2.3 million barrels per day during the month.
It said: “Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, was estimated at an average of 2.3 million per day or 3.1 million barrels for the month. This was 0.07 mbd or 3.1 per cent above the average of 2.23 mbd produced in the preceding month”.
It further said this development was attributable to the rise in crude oil production from the nation’s deep-water offshore and traditional on-shore fields as well as reduction in crude oil theft due to increased security surveillance of the water ways.
CBN stated that at an estimated average of $114.24 per barrel for the month, the price of Nigeria’s reference crude, the Bonny Light, rose by 9.9 per cent, compared with the level in the preceding month.
The increase in price was attributed to the rise in demand for crude oil mainly from Japan and North America as well as increased demand for fuel oil as an alternative power source during power outages in India.
According to the bank, the average prices of other competing crudes, namely the West Texas Intermediate, UK Brent and Forcados, at $92.79, $113.76 and $115.39 per barrel, respectively.