EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT

A Nigerian government account used to save oil revenues above a base amount derived from a defined benchmark price. The Excess Crude Account was established in 2004, and its objective is primarily to protect planned budgets against shortfalls due to volatile crude oil prices. By delinking government expenditures from oil revenues, the Excess Crude Account aims to insulate the Nigerian economy from external shocks.

Surging crude oil prices led to the Excess Crude Account increasing almost four-fold, from $5.1 billion in 2005 to over $20 billion by November 2008, accounting for more than one-third of Nigeria's external reserves at that time. By June 2010, the account had fallen to less than $4 billion due to budget deficits at all levels of government in Nigeria and the steep drop in oil prices. In 2010, Nigeria's National Economic Council approved a plan to replace the Excess Crude Account with a national sovereign wealth fund.