July 05, (THEWILL) – Nigeria earns the least in terms of per capita among the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) group, recording $51 income for each of her citizens in the first five months of 2023, according to the latest industry analysis by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the United States published weekend.
In addition to being the only OPEC country to post per capita oil income of less than $100, the report stated that Nigeria is the only African member of the oil exporters group to post per capita income of less than $200 per day.
This implies that the nominal and not real distribution of oil revenue among citizens of the oil exporters’ group is lowest in Nigeria from January to May, 2023, the EIA report revealed.
According to the report, EIA projects that Nigeria’s per capita oil income for the whole year will stand at $124, still the lowest among the OPEC group.
With these projected figures, the report said Nigeria still remains on the base of the group compared with Venezuela, which is the nearest to Nigeria, estimated to post per capita oil income of $365.
“Venezuela has already recorded $115 per capita revenue in the first five months of 2023”, the report stated, adding that the EIA based its assessment on all petroleum liquids exported from the country, including crude oil, condensate and natural gas liquids”, the report stated.
The major factor plaguing Nigeria’s fortune is oil theft in which the country reportedly lost $10 billion in 2022 resulting in serious fiscal challenges that have worsened the people’s standard of living as inflation hits an all-time high of 22.42 percent in May, 2023.
About the Author
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
