Global oil benchmark, Brent crude, hit a 28-month high on Monday as Saudi Arabia’s crown prince cemented his power over the weekend with an anti-corruption crackdown.

Brent, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is priced, rose by $2 to $64.07 per barrel as of 8:03pm Nigerian time, more than $19 higher than the country’s oil price benchmark of $44.5 per barrel for this year’s budget.

The Excess Crude Account, into which the country saves the difference between the market price of oil and the budget benchmark to provide a cushion when oil prices fall or extra cash is needed for spending on infrastructure, has suffered declines since oil price slumped in 2014.

The account, which stood at about $4.11bn in October 2014, dropped to about $3.11bn in November and $2.45bn in December that year, and declined further into 2015.

The balance in the ECA stood at $2.309bn as of September 27, 2017, according to the Ministry of Finance, while the nation’s external reserves rose to $33.93bn as of November 3, 2017, latest data from the Central Bank of Nigeria showed on Monday.

“The price rise is a reaction to the uncertainty from Saudi Arabia,” the Chief Executive Officer, Sun Global Investments, Mihir Kapadi, told The Guardian.

Other factors have edged the oil price upwards. Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan met over the weekend and said they were willing to maintain restrictions on oil production, to address a glut in supply and prop up prices.

The United Arab Emirates and Iraq have also said they would back an extension to production curbs, which were due to end in March 2018.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has expressed support for an extension of a deal between the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other non-members to cut oil supply until the end of 2018 “as long as the right terms are on the table” regarding its own participation.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said there was growing agreement among other members of OPEC to extend the deal.

“There isn’t any reason to change what is a winning formula,” he told Reuters, adding, “There is a consensus to extend. The issue will be the duration.”

Nigeria itself, however, is exempt from the deal.

OPEC, along with Russia and nine other producers agreed to cut oil output by about 1.8 million barrels per day until March 2018 in an attempt to ease a global excess that weighed on prices.

http://investorsking.com/oil-price-rises-64-highest-since-mid-2015/

Good news.

Hope this government will stop mortgaging our future with debts incessantly

Buhari and his Nine tieves Will loot Without restraint

Apc will Loot All the excess

Deceptive Lia will Add this to d "I will stabilize oil price" Buharis lie

And the effect would not be seen on the economy because things will keep going worse under this Buhari government

A gov that can survive with oil at $40 should grow the economy rapidly at $65.
Let's hope the Buhari govt doesn't use the majority of it to prospect for oil in Nasarawa and Kano.

Satanic Regime

Oil prices are up but allocation to States are getting smaller.
This is the worst case of corruption

Good news for looters more looting loading.............................

izzou:
Very good news

To the general public
This is another massive achievement by the APC led liars. Please take note

Opposition is not a game of zombies just opposing like zombies

Just Imagine how much shud be In the excess crude Account

i pray it continues to increase to strengthen our naira

Lol... Buharee, hold your people make them no kill us finish with lies oh!

More money from oil more embezzlement

That's good one, with the current trend in price increase; it will be better if Apc lead government can utilize the opportunities by channeling the resources towards stabilizing the Economy, this is a plus to us because 2017 budget was benchmark at $38 per barrel. With this APC should stop the blame game and brace up to tackle current economic hardship.

Will that make this lying APC government to work and stop blaming PDP??

Hmmm, I don’t know if this is good or bad news to APC it is to Nigerians en mass possibly bad news. APC just got campaign money

Apc looting will escalate. They are all the same. What should be a source of hope to Nigeria masses has become a source of inordinate corruption for politicians.

Now we on our way to oil boom.. The oil price surpass the budget benchmark, let's see how our apc people will put it to use

Standing5:
A gov that can survive with oil at $40 should grow the economy rapidly at $65.
Let's hope the Buhari govt doesn't use the majority of it to prospect for oil in Nasarawa and Kano.

I ask,where were we when oil sold for $100/barrel?

It won't stop buhari and adeosun from borrowing

MicTayor:

I ask,where were we when oil sold for $100/barrel?

Read through my post history and see the stance I took.

Good

But Buhari has not paid salaries till now. Too bad sha

let Nigeria diversify now..
increase the country`s investment in agriculture now....