Oil theft Lagos — The oil and gas sector, for years the main revenue generator in Africa’s largest economy, is the sole under-performer in Nigeria’s economic recovery. The monthly economic report the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released for January indicate that gross federally collected revenue increased by 20 percent year-on-year to N945 billion (US$35,15 billion). The major under-performance was from the oil sector, whose performance offset a strong revenues delivered by the non-oil sector. “This is unsurprising, given recent reports of low crude oil production due to oil theft and pipeline vandalisation,” FBN Quest Nigeria stated. The market watcher highlighted crude oil revenue amounted to a paltry N330 billion, representing a decline of 10 percent y/y and 20 percent lower than the preceding month. Furthermore, oil revenue was also 35 percent lower relative to the monthly benchmark. On a monthly basis, revenue from petroleum profit tax and royalties […]