[BOOM] Brent Crude Drops Below Projected 2016 Budget Benchmark

Things just got a bit worse for the Buhari led government Friday as the price of the Brent Crude dropped to $37.98. The current price is now below the government’s proposed 2016 Budget benchmark of $38 per barrel.

The Government during the week had released its proposed 2016 Budget based on a revised Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2016 – 2018. The current MTEF made provisions for a crude oil price per barrel of $38 and a projected daily crude oil production of 2.2 million barrels per day.

With crude oil price dropping further and world oil production expected to surge in 2016, it is unlikely that this proposal will not be amended to reflect reality. Some analysts had suggested a price of $35 per barrel for 2016 while more conservative analysts have moved for $30.