The contribution of crude petroleum and natural gas sector, which is a sub-sector under the mining and quarrying sector, to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product dropped from N13.45tn in 2018 to N10.2tn in 2020, signifying a N3.25tn or 24.16 per cent decrease.
This is according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics for the years under review obtained and analysed by our correspondent.
Despite being the main contributor to the mining and quarrying sector for the years under review, the contribution of the crude petroleum and natural gas sector decreased in 2019 and 2020.
In 2018, the sector was the main contributor to the mining and quarrying sector with a share of 96.39 per cent, while contributing N13.45tn to the GDP.
In 2019, the growth experienced in 2018 began to falter, with its contribution to the GDP dropping by N1.05bn per cent to N12.40tn. It, however, remained the major contributor to the mining and quarrying sector with a weight of 97.11 per cent in 2019.
The drop continued in 2020, while the sector remained the main contributor to the mining and quarrying sector with a weight of 93.95 per cent annual contribution.
In 2020, the contribution of the crude petroleum and natural gas sector further decreased byN2.2tn or 17.74 per cent.
A report by Mordor Intelligence titled ‘Nigeria Oil and Gas Market – Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 – 2026)’ said Nigeria was one of the largest and oldest oil producers in Africa.
It added that the oil and gas sector accounted for 90 per cent of the country’s exports and 80 per cent of the government’s revenue, adding that the country was the ninth largest for global gas reserves.
“Nigeria is one of the largest and oldest oil producers in Africa. The oil and gas sector is one of the most important sectors in the country’s economy, accounting for more than 90 per cent of the country’s exports and 80 per cent of the Federal Government’s revenue.
“The country is the ninth-largest in terms of global gas reserves with over 200 trillion cubic feet, but it has not started up any new gas projects recently.
“As of 2020, Nigeria had the largest oil and gas reserves in the African region, with around 37 million barrels of crude oil (36,910) and 5.5 trillion cubic meters of gas,” the report stated.
It further stated that certain factors such as attacks on oil and gas infrastructure and oil theft had negatively affected oil and gas production in Nigeria.
The report said, “Oil and gas production had been hampered in Nigeria in the past few years due to the attack on oil and gas infrastructure by militants.
“Furthermore, oil theft has been one of the major issues faced by the oil and gas market in Nigeria, which resulted in huge losses to operating companies in the country.”
It added that lack of infrastructure, uncertainties in regulations, and security issues had further led to the underutilisation of the country’s refining capacities, making Nigeria a net importer of refined petroleum products.
