One of Nigeria’s fundamental problems is that we’re not a productive country.
Productivity explains how efficiently an economy converts inputs (land, labour, capital) to output. Without a doubt, we’re blessed with natural resources, but we haven’t quite figured out how to maximise the returns from our natural resources.
Key takeaways:
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While there’s a global refining shortage, the NNPC’s refineries are stuck in rehab, and the Dangote refinery remains a work in progress, so refinery utilisation remains at 0%.
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However, other companies like Shell, Exxon and Aramco are making record earnings from downstream refining operations.
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But, even if the NNPC’s refineries were working, their ability to record such staggering profits would still be in doubt.
This problem shows up in two ways. Despite an optimal crude oil production capacity of 1.8 million barrels per day (mmbpd), Nigeria’s 2022 OPEC average has been about 1.2 mmbpd.
But what happens after extraction? Crude
