NIgeria is Africa’s most populous nation and one of the largest producers of crude oil in the world. Nigeria’s dependence on oil is well documented but one question continues to permeate the oil conversation, is Nigeria oil-rich or oil-dependent?
Under the present administration crude prices have dipped and soared, fuel scarcity, like flash floods, have continued to show up in different parts of the country and the unending tussle with fuel subsidies remains.
So how has Nigeria’s oil business fared in the 7 years under President Buhari who is also the Minister of Petroleum?
We depict this in nine charts.
3.527 billion barrels Crude Oil Production
In the same period between 2015 and 2020, Nigeria produced 3.527 billion barrels of Crude Oil.
In 2015, the daily oil production stood at 1.748 million barrels, 2016 was 1.4 million barrels, 2017 1.53 million barrels, 2018 1.601 million barrels, 2019 1.73 million barrels and 2020 stood at 1.49 million barrels.
Nigeria’s total crude oil production of 3.527 billion barrels between 2015 and 2020, is what Saudi Arabia produced in 2019.
Crude Oil Exports
In all, Nigeria exported 4.192 billion barrels of Crude Oil between 2015 and 2020.
In 2015, the daily crude oil export stood at 2.11 million barrels, 2016 was 1.73 million barrels, 2017, 1.81 million barrels while in 2018 the country exported 1.97 million barrels per day, in 2019, export stood at 2 million barrels daily while in 2020, the figure was 1.87 million barrels daily.
Nigeria’s crude oil export between 2018-2020(2.141 billion barrels) is less than what Saudi Arabia exported in 2020 alone (2.430 billion barrels).
Between 2015 and 2020, Nigeria has exported petroleum to the tune of $234.195 billion according to OPEC.
Nigeria is among the top five exporters in the OPEC countries. Only Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and for some part of the period under review, Iran, exported more than Nigeria.
Excess Crude Account
The Excess Crude Account is used to save and invest the country’s excess revenues generated by the sale of oil. In 2015, the money in the country’s Excess Crude Account stood at $2.2 billion.
The amount dropped to $72 million in 2020, a 96% drop from the 2015 figure.
Petroleum Products Imports
Nigeria has imported petroleum products worth 953 million barrels between 2015 and 2021.
In 2015, the country imported 441 thousand barrels of petroleum products daily, in 2016, the figure stood at 423 thousand, 2017, 391 thousand barrels, while in 2018, a total of 442 thousand barrels were imported daily. The figure for 2019 stood at 459 thousand barrels while that of 2020 was 465 thousand barrels.
Nigeria is Africa’s leading importer of petroleum products.
Subsidy
Nigeria subsidizes the price of its refined petroleum for its citizens. The contentious subsidy payments have gulped N2.1 trillion between 2015 and 2020.
The highest amount in this period was spent in 2018, when N722 billion was expended on subsidies. The lowest was in 2020 with N102 billion spent.
Fuel Price Fluctuation
The official pump price of petroleum stood at N87 in 2015 before going up to N143.80 in July 2020. Between 2015 and 2020, the price of petroleum changed five times. Currently, pump prices are as high as N185 per litre in places like the Federal Capital Territory.
Refinery Throughput
Refinery Throughput is the total amount of crude oil fed to the crude unit of a refinery. Nigeria’s Refinery Throughput stood at 68.475 million barrels between 2015 and 2020.
Nigeria has one of the lowest refinery throughputs in Africa and around the world.
Oil Reserves
Nigeria’s Oil Reserves stood at 36.91 billion barrels as at 2020. This went down from the 37.0 billion barrels as at 2015.
Oil reserves are the available crude oil deposits in a country with the potential of being extracted.
Only Libya has higher crude oil reserves than Nigeria in Africa.