Nigeria’s net revenue lowest among OPEC members

Nigeria’s oil receipts are currently the lowest among members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with capita net put at $132 per citizen.

According to the August 2018 data of the United States Energy Information Administration’s Short-Term Energy Outlook, Qatar ranked tops with a net of $8,320.

The EIA’s calculation covered January to July this year with 15 member-countries under assessment.

The oil cartel’s net revenues for the period under review stood at $26 billion for Nigeria while Qatar’s was $22 billion.

Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates clinched second and third positions with $8,223 and $4,182.

The U.S. agency’s projection of just over $1,400 of revenue for each person in member-countries this year is similar to what it was in 2004 (just over $1,250 in real terms). Back then, though, Brent crude averaged about $50 a barrel in real terms against a projection of almost $72 this year.

The cartel, thus, shared the spoils between an extra 140 million people — an increase of 38 per cent.

However, the World Bank has projected OPEC’s population to rise by another 129 million by 2030.

Nigeria’s per-capita income last year was just $179, the lowest in the group and a mere 1.5 per cent of Qatar’s, which led with almost $12,000 per person.

In absolute terms, Nigeria will account for more than half the expected increase in the projected population, according to the report.

The EIA estimated OPEC’s export revenue was $567 billion in 2017, up 26 per cent in real terms. That is despite the group’s average crude production dropping slightly compared with 2016. This drive, therefore, was boosted by higher prices and collective supply restrictions.

Saudi Arabia’s per-capita income last year of almost $5,100 was less than half the level of five years before. And while it is bound to be higher this year on a combination of rising production and prices, a return to the heady levels of $10,000-plus per man, woman and child is unlikely absent with a price spike.

Bloomberg in a report noted: “There are, as usual, plenty of potential spike scenarios out there, encompassing everything from the Iranian conflict to the effects of tighter regulations on marine fuel, but even today’s prices are having an impact on demand. Don’t forget, also, that higher prices encourage higher oil production in North America and other non-OPEC regions.”