The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) says Nigeria’s average daily crude oil output increased to 1.28 million barrels per day in April 2024.
The development came after Nigeria reclaimed its position as Africa’s largest oil producer.
According to OPEC, the production data was based on direct communication with the Nigerian authorities.
The organization receives data on crude oil output from two sources: direct communication from member countries and secondary sources, such as energy intelligence platforms.
OPEC’s monthly oil market report released Tuesday, May 14, 2024, disclosed that the current output signified a 4.07% rise from the 1.23 million barrels per day recorded in March 2024.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) presented a similar report, saying that Nigeria’s crude oil output in April increased by four percent to 1.28 million barrels per day, compared to the 1.23 million barrels per day recorded in March 2024, Vanguard reports.
OPEC revealed in its Monthly Oil Market Report for May 2024 that Nigeria’s oil production, excluding condensate, was at 1.28 million barrels from official sources.
However, OPEC said secondary sources put Nigeria’s oil production for April at 1.35 million barrels of crude oil for the month under review, showing a 3.6% decline from 1.40 million barrels recorded the previous month.
Reports say the development indicated that despite the fight against oil theft in Nigeria, the country’s oil production remains low.
Nigeria recovers top spot in Africa
The OPEC report comes as Angola, one of Africa’s biggest oil producers, opted to leave the oil cartel.
Angola said it would leave OPEC over a disagreement on production quotas following the oil cartel’s last month to further slash output next year.
Mineral Resources and Petroleum Minister Diamantino Azevedo said the decision was not taken lightly, but OPEC membership no longer served the African country’s interests.
The presidency quoted Azevedo as saying in a statement, “We feel that at this moment Angola gains nothing by remaining in the organisation, and, in defence of its interests, it decided to leave.”
In March 2024, Libya emerged as Africa’s largest oil producer, displacing Nigeria due to low crude oil output.
According to data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Libya overtook Nigeria as the top African oil producer in March.
The April 2024 monthly oil report published by OPEC said the North African country recorded 1.24 million barrels per day of crude oil in March, a 5.7% increase from the 1.17mbpd recorded in February.
TimesNow.com.ng previously reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Exploration and Production Limited (NNPC E&P Ltd), a subsidiary of NNPC and Natural Limited Oilfield Services Limited (NOSL), has announced the successful commencement of oil production at Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13 in Akwa Ibom state.
The NNPC announced this in a statement signed by its chief corporate communications officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Sunday, May 12, 2024.
