Michael Eboh
Dublin, Ireland — Nigeria’s oil earnings appreciated by 175.81 per cent to N6 trillion in the first half of 2024, compared with N2.176 trillion recorded in the first half of 2023, according to latest data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The CBN also reported that the amount earned from the oil and gas sector in the first six months of 2024 was 58.97 per cent higher than the N3.775 trillion earned from the sector in the second half of 2023.
The apex bank also noted that oil revenue accounted for 48.17 per cent of total revenue in the country in the first half of 2024, as against accounting for 38.38 per cent and 39.07 per cent of total revenue in the first half of 2023 and second half of 2023, respectively.
Specifically, the bank stated that the country recorded gross revenue of N12.458 trillion in the first half of 2024, rising by 119.78 per cent compared with N5.668 trillion recorded in the same period in 2023, and 28.96 per cent higher than the N9.66 trillion recorded in the second half of 2023.
Giving a breakdown of components of oil revenue in the first six months of 2024, the CBN disclosed that exchange gain, at N2.736 trillion, was the largest revenue item, rising by 10,639 per cent from N25.479 billion recorded from the same item in the comparable period in 2023.
It added that royalties from the oil and gas sector stood at N1.394 trillion, rising by 59.43 per cent compared with N874.098 billion recorded in the same period in 2023; while earnings from petroleum profit tax dipped by 33.96 per cent to N812.266 billion in the period under review, compared with N1.23 trillion recorded in the first six months of 2023.
Furthermore, the CBN stated that miscellaneous pipeline fees and other oil and gas revenue rose to N804.79 billion in the first half of 2024, from N6.659 billion recorded in the same period in 2023; penalties from gas flaring fetched the country N108.75 billion, rising by 200 per cent from N36.177 billion recorded in the same period in 2023.
The CBN also reported that the earnings from crude oil sales stood at N107.660 billion in the period under review, compared with zero earnings from the same activity in the first half of 2023; while gas sales revenue stood at N26.446 billion compared with zero in the same period in 2023.
On the other hand, the banking sector regulator disclosed that non-oil revenue, at N6.457 trillion, accounted for 51.83 per cent of total revenue in the first half of 2024; compared with N3.493 trillion, representing 61.62 per cent of total revenue in the first half of 2023, and N5.885 trillion, representing 60.93 per cent of total revenue in the second half of 2023.
