AFP
Nigeria's 2013 budget will be based on a world oil price of $75 per barrel and projected national output of 2.53 million barrels per day, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said Wednesday.
Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, derives more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from oil.
"We are working on the basis of projection of crude oil production of 2.53 million barrels a day. This is compared to 2.48 million barrels a day in 2012... and a benchmark price of $75 a barrel," Okonjo-Iweala said.
"This compares to $72 a barrel last year," she told journalists after a weekly cabinet meeting chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Nigerian oil production hit its highest level ever last week, 2.7 million barrels per day, the state oil firm said on Friday, though hurdles remain to a sustained boost in production.
The west African nation has seen crude production rebound since a 2009 amnesty deal for militants in the Niger Delta region which led to a sharp decline in unrest there.
It has been producing between 2.0 million and 2.4 million barrels per day in recent months, according to International Energy Agency figures.
But sabotage and oil theft continues to feed a lucrative black market.
Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell, historically Nigeria's largest producer, said in April that there were estimates of 150,000 barrels per day of oil and condensate being stolen in the country.
"The projected revenue for 2013 is 3.891 trillion naira ($24.3 billion, 19.7 billion euros) and the projected expenditure is 4.929 trillion naira ($30.7 billion, 25 billion euros)," the minister said.
The 2013 budget predicts a fiscal deficit of 2.17 percent of gross domestic product, down from 2.85 percent in 2012, Okonjo-Iweala said.
The budget proposal will be presented to parliament by September.
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