* July sees lowest monthly revenues this year
* Oil theft hitting govt finances
* Excess crude account holds $5.1 bln vs $9 bln end 2012
ABUJA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Nigeria's government revenuesslumped 42 percent in July due to oil theft and productionoutages, the accountant general said on Friday, underscoring howoil theft is damaging public finances this year.
State revenues fell to 498 billion naira ($3 billion), thelowest monthly earnings this year and down from 863 billionnaira in June.
Oil theft has cut government earnings in several months thisyear, and by more than last year, and July was particularlybadly hit.
Military in the restless Niger Delta say they are renewingefforts to catch oil thieves, while the Oil Minister DiezaniAlison-Madueke says she is reaching out to foreign governmentsto help stop the buying of Nigeria's stolen oil.
"This was due to continuous theft of crude oil, leakages,pipeline breaks at various terminals, compressor failure andrepair work," Accountant General Jonah Otunla told reporters.
Shell Nigeria shut its 150,000 barrel per day TransNiger pipeline on July 11 after a leak was detected, barely aweek after the company re-opened the pipeline following therepair of some crude theft points.
Criminal gangs frequently tap into exposed pipelines in thewinding waterways and swamps in the Niger Delta, siphoning offtens of thousands of barrels a day.
Nigeria lost out on $10.9 billion in potential oil revenuesdue to production losses caused by theft and sabotage between2009-2011, an audit showed last month.
A total of 715.8 billion naira was distributed to local,state and federal governments in July, down slightly from 718.1billion in June, Otunla said.
The excess crude account, where Nigeria saves oil revenuesover a benchmark price, holds $5.1 billion currently, comparedwith $9 billion at the end of last year, data showed on Friday.
Nigeria is aiming to cut its budget deficit to 1.85 percentof gross domestic product this year, from 2.85 percent in 2012.Oil accounts for around 80 percent of government revenues andthe crude savings account is often used to fund the budgetdeficit if oil revenues fall below target.
