Macroeconomic Report & Economic Updates
March 8, 2016
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 11)
In the crude oil market, OPECs weekly
basket price increased 1.07 percent from $29.02 per barrel in February 19 to
$29.33 per barrel in February 26. A combination of factors were
responsible for the slight price increase. First, a decrease in the number of
active oil rigs in the US2 (the lowest since 2009) may have
marginally eased the glut in the crude oil market. The ongoing efforts by OPEC
and other major oil producers such as Russia to freeze oil production have also
played a significant role in stemming the downward trend in oil prices. With
the current market conditions, the price of crude oil is expected to maintain a
fairly stable and modest upward trajectory in the near term.
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 29)
Global oil price edged upwards in the review week. International crude benchmark, Brent, rose week-on-week by 3.1 percent to $50 per barrel as at July 21, 20173 a level it had not attained since June. The remarkable gains followed demand-side progress earlier statistics from China showed increase in crude imports, indicating prospects of higher demand. This was also complimented by the huge drop in US domestic crude production (Crude reserves fell by 4.7 million barrels). If the trend is sustained, Nigeria could record further rise in its Gross Federally Collected Revenue. Nevertheless, there remains a need for Nigeria to overcome the challenge of harnessing its oil and gas resources by making strategic policy choices andensuring coordination in policy implementation to minimize macroeconomic distortions.