As Brent crude prices tumble to $63 per barrel, Nigeria is joining fellow OPEC members in taking urgent measures to reverse the consistent crash in oil prices that threatens oil-dependent economies worldwide.
The recent market rout poses significant challenges to Nigeria’s ambitious N54.35 trillion 2025 budget, which relies on oil for 56% of government revenue and was built around a $75 per barrel benchmark with production targets of 2.06 million barrels per day.
The price collapse is similarly concerning for other major oil exporters. Saudi Arabia’s budget requires $91 per barrel to break even according to IMF estimates, while Kuwait has recently returned to debt markets after an eight-year absence as its economy remains in recession due to OPEC+ production cuts.
“The oil price drop we’ve seen over the last week has taken us into territory where for a lot of oil-dependent economies, it’s not going to be what they need to balance their budgets, nowhere close,” warned Richard Bronze, head of geopolitics at Energy Aspects.
Even Russia has expressed concern, with Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina acknowledging that escalating tariff wars could lead to declining global trade and reduced demand for energy resources, posing risks to the Russian economy.
Source: orientalnewsng.com
