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Oil exports declined by 11% in Q2 – NBS

By on September 19, 2013

The country’s oil exports declined at a slower pace in the second quarter compared with the previous three months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Crude shipments fell by 11 per cent to N2.7tn ($16.6bn) last quarter, after dropping 26 per cent in the first three months of the year, the NBS said in an e-mailed report to Bloomberg.

Oil theft has hampered output in a nation that depends on crude exports for 80 per cent of government revenue and more than 90 per cent of foreign currency income.

Authorities say more than 400,000 barrels of oil are stolen every day.

Crude production fell to 1.81 million barrels a day in March, the lowest since September 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Oil theft in the Niger Delta cost the country $1.23bn in the first quarter and caused production to decline to an average of 2.2 million barrels a day in the period, according to figures released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on April 17.

The government’s budget is based on an oil production forecast of 2.53 million barrels a day.

The NBS also on Tuesday night released the Consumer Price Index report for the month of August.

It said the country’s inflation rate had dropped to 8.2 per cent from the 8.7 per cent recorded in July.

The report signed by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, attributed the decline to the take off of the harvest season.

It stated, “In August, the CPI, which measures inflation, rose by 8.2 per cent year-on-year, 0.5 percentage points lower from the 8.7 per cent recorded July.

“Rates continue to hold steady in the single digit range since the beginning of the year. In August, the rate of inflation slowed as a result of declines in food prices due to the onset of the harvest season.

“This has given temporary respite from the increases exhibited in the previous month. In particular, there was a noticeable moderation of prices in the potatoes, yams and other tubers group, vis-à-vis other food groups.”

On a month-on-month basis, it said price increases had moderated for the third consecutive month.

In August, the headline index, which is made up of the Core Index and farm produce items, increased by 0.25 per cent, indicating 0.3 percentage points lower from the 0.54 per cent recorded in July.

The NBS said the composite CPI was recorded at 146.8 points in August, an 8.4 per cent increase compared with levels recorded in August 2012. This was also 0.4 percentage point lower than the 8.8 per cent recorded in July.

On a month-on-month basis, the core sub-index was recorded at 1.3 per cent in August, marginally higher from the 1.2 per cent recorded in July.

“The increase in the core sub-index was as a result of price increases across various class items, in particular, educational materials, as a result of onset of the academic year, clothing and garment prices, actual and imputed rental prices, and road transportation prices, particularly in urban areas, due to the movement of people during the Muslim holiday,” it added.

For food prices, it said these were also lower on a month-on-month basis as the food sub-index increased by 0.5 per cent in August lower than the 0.7 per cent recorded in July

The report stated that in August, the highest price increases were recorded in the bread and cereals, meats, fruits and vegetable classes.

 

 

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