ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria’s distributable revenues to the government fell in November by 7.8 percent to 387 billion naira ($1.27 billion) as militant attacks shut down Niger Delta oil pipelines and cut earnings, the accountant general has said.
Nigeria, which has Africa’s biggest economy, is an OPEC member that relies on crude oil sales for two-thirds of government revenue. As a result, it has been hit hard by the fall in global crude prices since mid-2014.
Militants have carried out attacks on oil and gas facilities in the southern Niger Delta energy hub since January, cutting oil production – which stood at 2.1 million barrels per day at the start of 2016 – by more than a third earlier this year.
The frequency of attacks has slowed in recent few months amid talks between the government and Delta community leaders to address the grievances of militants who want the oil hub to receive a greater share of the country’s energy wealth.
Repairs on damaged facilities are underway.
“Federation revenue was low as a result of shut-in and shut-down of pipelines for repairs and maintenance due to leakage and sabotage,” said Ahmed Idris, the accountant general, late on Thursday.
“The total revenue distributable… including VAT – 75.579 billion naira – is 386.852 billion naira,” he said.
He said the impact of repairs and maintenance were the reason for the fall from 420 billion naira in October.
($1 = 304.5000 naira)
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
