Nigeria’s oil output has dropped month-on-month by 5.5% to 1.249 million barrels per day in June 2023 from 1.184 million mb/d in May 2023.
In its latest July 2023 Monthly Oil Market Report, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, disclosed that this was based on data obtained from official sources.
The report did not consider Nigeria’s condensate output, currently hovering between 300,000 and 400,000 bpd, meaning that when this is considered, the nation’s total output would be much higher.
However, in its latest July 2023 report, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, has it that Nigeria’s daily oil production lagged behind the OPEC quota in June as it rose marginally by 4.9% to 1.241 million barrels compared to 1.183 million barrels recorded in May 2023.
In May, OPEC’s most influential members and biggest Gulf producers led by Saudi Arabia persuaded under-producing Nigeria and Angola to have more realistic output targets.
While the country has a benchmark oil production of 1.69 million bpd for the year, Nigeria has barely managed to produce 70 per cent of that figure between January and April. OPEC leaders therefore argued that Nigeria must face reality and agree to lower its production baseline to stabilise the oil market.
