According to a statement by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Nigeria’s excess crude account has declined by 89 per cent in the last eight years, moving from $4.1 billion in November 2014 to $472,513 in the same period of 2022.

The ECA’s balance as of November 23, 2022, stood at $472,513.64.

The ECA is the Federal Government’s fiscal account that was created to save revenues—in excess of the budgetary benchmark price—that was generated from oil sales, according to Investopedia, an investment and business dictionary.

However, the account has depleted in the last eight years due to a lack of inflows, oil market vagaries and the country’s revenue crunch, according to economists.

Brent crude sold at $88.45 per barrel at 4 pm on Wednesday.  WTI crude, on the other hand, was $81.13 per barrel at the same time.   

The oil benchmark in the 2022 budget was $57, but the current oil prices are still about $30 above the benchmark. However, the ECA has been on the decline in spite of higher oil prices since early 2022 driven by the Russia-Ukraine war.