FG To Maintain Thirty Dollars Oil Price Benchmark Despite Drop In Crude Oil Prices

The Federal Government says it is not considering tinkering with the thirty dollar per barrel oil price benchmark for the 2020 budget despite the drop in crude oil price.

Crude oil prices had dropped from about forty-six point six-four dollar per barrel in February to less than twenty dollar per barrel.
The Federal Government had in the 2020 budget proposal revised downward the revenue projection for the 2020 fiscal year by three point three trillion naira from the initial approved amount of eight point four-one trillion naira to five point zero-eight trillion naira.

The reduction in revenue projection was due to the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic which has so far led to unprecedented drop in global crude oil prices.

The outbreak of the deadly virus in Nigeria had resulted in the lockdown of many States, a development that has paralyzed economic activities.
Based on the revenue parameters upon which the revised proposal was made, the Federal Government has reduced downwards the oil price benchmark from fifty-seven dollar per barrel to thirty dollar per barrel.
Similarly, the oil production volume was cut from the initial two point one-eight million barrels per day to one point seven million barrels per day.

Before the revision, the Federal Government had projected to generate about eight point four-two trillion naira revenue to fund the budget, while the debt service is estimated to gulp about two point four-five trillion naira.