Michael Eboh
Dublin, Ireland — Nigeria’s earnings from the oil and gas industry grew by 16.07 percent to N6.574 trillion in 2024, compared with N5.664 trillion earned from the sector in 2023, according to latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
The CBN, in its Economic Reports for the four quarters of 2024, revealed that revenue from the oil and gas industry was buoyed by significant earnings in the second and fourth quarters, despite significant decline recorded in the first and third quarters.
Specifically, the CBN disclosed that in the first quarter of 2024, oil and gas earnings stood at N1.531 trillion, rising to N1.734 trillion in the second quarter; and dropping to N1.305 trillion in the third quarter, before rising to N2.004 trillion in the fourth quarter.
Giving a breakdown of earnings from the petroleum industry in 2024, the CBN reported that royalties accounted for 48.14 percent of total earnings, with N3.165 trillion, while Petroleum Profit Tax, PPT, accounted for 26.26 percent of total oil and gas earnings, with N1.726 trillion.
According to the CBN report, no revenue was recorded from domestic crude oil sales; but, earnings from crude oil and gas exports stood at N261.62 billion, accounting for 3.98 percent of total earnings, while ‘other’ oil earnings stood at N1.421 trillion, accounting for 21.62 percent of total oil earnings.
On a quarterly basis, the country earned N592.68 billion, N800.86 billion, N632.49 billion and N1.139 trillion in the first, second, third and fourth quarter of 2024, respectively, from royalties, while revenue from PPT in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2024 stood at N366.93 billion, N445.34 billion, N335.52 billion and N578.46 billion, respectively.
Revenue from crude oil and gas exports was N182.65 billion, N9.49 billion, N27.07 billion and N42.41 billion in the first, second, third and fourth quarters, respectively; while earnings from other oil sources stood at N388.65 billion, N477.81 billion, N309.88 billion and N244.7 billion, in the first, second, third and fourth quarters, respectively.
In its analysis of the fourth quarter economic statistics, the CBN stated that the Nigerian economy maintained its growth momentum, as the country’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, expanded by 3.84 percent.
The growth in the economy, according to the CBN, was, reinforced by the robust performance of the non-oil sector, particularly the financial and insurance subsectors, supported by modest outturn in the oil sector.
The CBN noted that: “domestic crude oil production significantly improved due to enhanced security measures at key production terminals. Average crude oil output increased by 7.52 per cent to 1.43 million barrels per day (mbpd) from 1.33 mbpd in the third quarter of 2024. Amid these gains, inflation pressures remained, as both food and non-food components of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose.”
The CBN further stated that the country’s fiscal operations improved during the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by increased revenue from oil sources, as federally collected revenue rose by 5.31 percent compared to the previous quarter, though it remained 19.67 percent below the benchmark.
