Mismanagement of oil windfall: JP Morgan delists Nigeria from emerging bond index

Olubunmi Martins
 
 
JP Morgan, a globally recognized financial service provider, has expressed negative opinions concerning the Nigeria’s economy and its capacity to attract investors’ interest.  This may constrain investors from participating in the funding projects in the country’s economy, especially the oil and gas industry.

 
This was contained in  JPMorgan analysts’ recent Emerging Markets Bond Index Global Diversified (EMBIGD) index report,  released on Monday.

EnergyDay gathered that the opinion expressed in the analysts’ index report was based on the fact that Nigeria could not take advantage of the current spike in crude oil prices to shore up revenue and expand capacity for economic growth.

 
J.P Morgan particularly said the failure of the State owned oil corporation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), to remit income revenue into the federation account was also a major factor in arriving at an opinion.

The immediate fallout of JP Morgan’s decision to delist Nigeria would have a negative impact on investors interest in the country’s economy particularly the oil and gas sector.

 This is pointedly coming at a time when President Muhammadu Buhari adjusted crude oil production volume from 1.883 million barrels per day to 1.60 million barrels per day. A move that is seen as a major contradiction in response to global demand and the need for the country to gain significantly from crude oil prices.

However, the President marked-up the budgeted benchmark for crude oil price to Usd73 per barrel, creating a windfall margin in excess of Usd10 per barrel.

Meanwhile, Brent crude oil price is expected to remain at Usd109 per barrel. EnergyDay’s check reveals the JP Morgan’s position is expected to further increase Nigeria’ s revenue beyond the budgetary limit.