PETROLEUM CONTRIBUTES N1.94TRN TO NIGERIA’S GDP

The oil and gas sector contributed N1.942 trillion to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, in the third quarter, Q3 of 2015, according to a data by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS. Giving a breakdown, the NBS in its GDP Q3 2015 report, said the Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas sub-sector accounted for N1.845 trillion, rising from N1.614 trillion in Q2 2015, and also an improvement when compared to N1.826 trillion recorded in 2014. On the other hand, the Oil Refining sub-sector, under the Manufacturing sector, accounted for N81.93 billion, compared to N28.545 billion and N92.55 billion recorded Q2 2015 and Q3 2014 respectively.

The contribution of the Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas sub-sector, according to the NBS, represented 10.27 per cent of the country’s total real GDP, and is an improvement on the N1.614 trillion recorded in Q2 2014. The NBS attributed the improved contribution of the sector to a significant rise in crude oil production in the period under review, compared to oil output in Q2 2015. According to the report, in the period under review, preliminary data on oOil production reflects output of 2.17 million barrels per day (mbpd) up from production in Q2 2015 by 0.17 mbpd. “Oil production was also marginally higher in the corresponding quarter in 2014 by 0.02 mbpd when output was recorded at 2.15 mbpd,” the report said.

The NBS further said that the contribution of the oil and gas sector to Nigeria’s GDP in Q3 2015, reflected an increase by 1.06, year-on-year, higher by 4.65 per cent points from the corresponding quarter of 2014, and higher than the Q2 when growth declined by 6.79 per cent. The report continued: “Quarter-on-Quarter, growth also increased by 14.35 per cent. As a share of the economy, the oil sector represented 10.27% of total real GDP, down from the shares recorded in the corresponding period of 2014 by 0.18 per cent points and up from the share in the Second Quarter of 2015 by 0.46 per cent points.” Generally, the NBS said that Nigeria’s GDP in Q3 2015, grew by 2.84 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms, higher by 0.49 per cent points from growth recorded in the preceding quarter, yet lower by 3.38 percentage points from growth recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2014.