OPEC confirmed Nigeria’s crude oil production increases to 1.4mbpd

NIGERIA, Jan. 18 – Nigeria’s crude oil production increased to 1.418mbpd in December 2023, according to a report by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In OPEC’s  Monthly Oil Market Report for January 2024, it noted that  Nigeria’s crude oil production rose by 100,000b/d, from 1.319mbpd in November, following information from secondary sources.

According to the OPEC’s report released on January 17, it disclosed, following a  direct communication, that the country’s oil production in December stood at 1.335mpbd, relative to 1.250mbpd in November.

The report shows that OPEC countries like Algeria, Congo, Iran, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates suffered a reduction in the oil output in the period under review.

“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.70 mb/d in December 2023, higher by 73 tb/d, month-on-month. Crude oil output increased mainly in Nigeria and Iraq, while production in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and IR Iran decreased,” the report said.

Nigeria’s black gold production had risen notwithstanding challenges of oil theft and illegal refining locations in the oil rich Niger Delta region of the country.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in December, expressed plans to produce two million barrels of crude oil per day in 2024.

According to The PUNC, “NNPCL said this would significantly boost the 1.67 million barrels of oil and condensates it claimed to be producing at that time, saying it would enable Nigeria to meet the 2mbpd target set by OPEC.

“Chairperson of the NNPCL Board, Mr Pius Akinyelure, who made the disclosure, however, admitted that meeting such a target would require overhauling Nigeria’s “security architecture to address pipeline vandalism and other mechanisms deployed in oil theft,” the media house added.

The impact of oil theft and illegal refining has overtime degraded the oil production facilities through physical damaged and depleted revenue. These situation which experts often linked to massive unemployment in the country and poor security for oil and gas infrastructure across the country, may have more severe consequences on the country’s economic projections for 2024 is proper checks are not put in place.

OPEC in 2023 has given Nigeria production quota that was never met due to these challenges. The current challenge of FX in Nigeria will worsen if punitive measures are not taken by those in authority to address the challenges bedeviling the oil and gas sector in the country.