Nigeria’s oil, gas market value may hit $7.5b by 2019

THERE are indications that the nation’s oil and gas market would bounce back in the next four years, as a recent report by an international agency predicts a significant growth in the market value to about $7.5 billion by 2019.

  The new market research report released at the weekend stated that the market values given in the report reflects the total value of oil and natural gas product consumption within a country, calculated using annual average prices in each respective country.

  It stated that Nigeria’s Market consumption volume increased with a compound annual growth rate of 3.9 per cent between 2010-2014, to reach a total of 138.5 million barrels equivalent (BOE) in 2014.

  However, the report forecast that the performance of the market would decline, with an anticipated compound annual rate of change of 6.9 per cent for the five-year period 2014 – 2019, which is expected to drive the market to a value of $7.5billion by the end of 2019.

   This report is coming at a time the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were preparing an extraordinary meeting to resolve issues around the crude oil prices.

  The Minister of Petroleum Resources and the OPEC President, Diezani Alison-Madueke, recently said Nigeria might call an extraordinary meeting of OPEC if crude oil prices slip further.

  She said: “We’re already talking with member countries,”

 As OPEC president, she is responsible for liaising with member countries and the producer group’s secretary-general in the event of an emergency meeting.

  If the price “slips any further it is highly likely that I will have to call an extraordinary meeting of OPEC in the next six weeks or so”, she said.

 The National Bureau of Statistics had recently said that Nigeria earned N9.5 trillion from crude oil export trade and N923.5 billion from natural liquefied gas in 2014.

  The bureau said that crude oil continues to dominate export trade, contributing N3, 233.6 billion or 81.5 per cent of total export trade value in first quarter, N3,268.8 billion or 69.8 per cent and N2,931.0 billion or 65.4 per cent of the totals in quarters two and three respectively. 

  It added that other than crude exports, Natural Liquefied Gas (NLG) contributed N330.0 billion or 8.31 per cent of the total in first quarter, N309.5billion or 6.61 per cent of the second quarter total and N284.7billion or 6.4 per cent of the total export value in the third quarter.

  Classification of exports by section revealed that Mineral Products accounted for Nigeria’s largest export value, with N3,599.5 billion or 90.7 per cent of the total in quarter one, N3,956.9 billion or 84.5 per cent of the total for quarter two and N4,340.4 billion or 96.9 per cent of the total in quarter three.