Nigeria's oil revenue declined further to Naira 481.3 billion ($3 billion) in August from Naira 483.5 billion in July due to disruptions to crude production and a force majeure declared by Shell, the finance ministry said late Tuesday. "The decline in revenue in August... was attributed to the force majeure declared by Shell and a series of shutdowns of trunk lines and pipelines at various terminals," the ministry said in a statement.
The July total was down 7% from the month before.
Shell on June 12 declared force majeure at its Nigerian EA field to repair damaged equipment, suspending about 40,000 b/d of production.
Oil accounts for more than 80% of Nigeria's state revenue, and the decline in oil export revenue saw the country's total revenue fall to Naira 601.6 billion in August from Naira 630.3 billion in July.
While Nigeria has struggled to produce at the 2.39 million b/d level forecast in the country's 2014 budget, oil ministry officials said production had been gradually picking up, averaging 2.1 million b/d to date in September compared with less than 2 million b/d in the first half of the year.
