The monthly report by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on the global movement in oil prices revealed that crude oil prices increased in April 2023. Specifically, the OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) increased, on average, from $78.45/Barrel in March 2023 to $84.13/Barrel in April 2023. This represents an increase of about 7.2 percent.
May 18, 2023
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 18)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 49)
OPEC weekly basket price reduced from $61.14 to $60.73 per barrel (December 1 8, 2017). Similarly, Global oil benchmark crude sold for as low as $61.22 per barrel during the week, down week-on-week by 1.8 percent. Nigerias Bonny light declined slightly by approximately 1 percent to $63.534. The fall in crude prices came after a sharp rise in U.S. inventories of refined fuel, which suggested that actual demand may be weakening5 (the EIA data shows an increase of 8.5 million barrels of stored fuel). Given that crude oil revenue remains critical to Nigerias budget performance, investments aimed at improving growth and competitiveness of other key sectors is essential to minimize distortions on budgetary expenditure.