Nigeria’s crude oil export revenue declined by 17 per cent in the first two months of 2025, falling to $6.68 billion, largely due to a drop in global oil prices.
An analysis of data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) monthly economic reports for January and February 2025 reveals that the average price of Bonny Light, Nigeria’s flagship crude grade, fell by 6 per cent year-on-year to $78.93 per barrel in the period under review, compared to $84.13 per barrel in the same period of 2024.
Despite a 23 per cent year-on-year increase in average daily crude oil production—from 1.38 million barrels per day in early 2024 to 1.7 million barrels per day in 2025—export earnings still declined significantly.
The decline in revenue was driven primarily by a steep drop recorded in February 2025. While crude oil export earnings rose marginally in January 2025 by 1.8 per cent year-on-year to $3.86 billion (from $3.79 billion in January 2024), earnings fell sharply in February by 34 per cent year-on-year, dropping to $2.82 billion from $4.27 billion in the same month of 2024.
According to the CBN’s February Monthly Economic Report, the significant dip in February was attributed to both lower international crude prices and reduced domestic production levels.
The report noted: “Disaggregation indicated that crude oil exports receipts declined by 1.00 per cent to US$2.82 billion, from US$2.84 billion in the preceding month, owing to a decline in crude oil price and domestic production. Similarly, gas export earnings declined by 0.84 per cent to US$0.53 billion, from US$0.54 billion in the preceding month.”
