Posted by By Everest Amaefule, Abuja on
Nigeria earned about $4billion from the export of 57.04 million barrels of crude oil in May, the Central Bank of Nigeria.....
Nigeria earned about $4billion from the export of 57.04 million barrels of crude oil in May, the Central Bank of Nigeria said in its monthly report released in Abuja on Tuesday.
However, future earnings from crude oil may be significantly affected as Shell was forced on Friday to shut in additional 180,000 barrels of crude oil due to a leak in its pipeline.
The CBN report added that currency in circulation declined to N608.6billion in the month from N608.6billion in April, while total inflow of currency into the country rose by 12 per cent to US$4.46billion.
At $1.51billion, aggregate foreign exchange outflow from the economy fell by 75 per cent from the preceding month's level, following the decline in debt service payment during the review month, the apex bank added.
The rate of inflation rose to 10.5 per cent, compared with 12.6 per cent in April.
Against the budget benchmark of $30 per barrel of crude oil, the nation earned an excess revenue of $2.34billion from the export of crude oil in May.
Out of a total 70.99 million barrels of crude oil produced during the month, 13.95million barrels were delivered to refineries for domestic consumption.
Compared with the month of April, the total crude oil production rose by 5.49 barrels in May while total exports rose by 6.04 million barrels. Domestic consumption, however, remained static.
CBN reported that at an estimated average of $71.18 per barrel, the price of Nigeria's reference crude, the Bonny Light, fell by 0.9 per cent from the level in the preceding month.
The apex bank attributed the fall in the inflation rate to the harvest of maize, and some fruits, which had dampening effect on food prices, as well as the decline in the composite indices of some items, including health, communication, clothing and footwear.
Meanwhile, the Royal Dutch Shell said that a leak in an oil pipeline in Krakrama community in Rivers State had cut its output there by 180,000 barrels per day.
A spokesman for Shell in Nigeria, Precious Okoloko, confirmed the leak to the Agence France Presse but declined to comment on the actual quantity of oil shut in following the incident.
'The spill occurred on Friday along our pipeline in Krakrama community, in Rivers State. We quickly mobilised containment and investigation teams to the scene," he said.
'Unfortunately, the community has not granted our teams access to the scene of the spill. We still do not know the exact extent of the spill. We are still trying to determine what we have shut in," he added.
The news has pushed crude futures above $75 per barrel in London and New York tradings on Tuesday. World oil prices were also supported by violence in the Middle East and concerns over refinery shut-downs in the United States, dealers said.
The Shell leak came as Nigeria was already experiencing a cut of about 20 per cent or 500,000 barrels per day in its oil production, owing to unrest in the Niger Delta.
The latest disruption has cut the country's oil production by more than 26 per cent. Under normal circumstances, Nigeria's daily output totals 2.6 million barrels per day.