By Moses Patience Chat
Nigeria’s crude oil production for March 2023 has increased to about 1.6 million barrels per day (mbpd), with the country recording the biggest increase for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
This was revealed by a survey from Reuters, which it conducted for the month of March.
The big increase is said to have helped the Nigeria to meet its oil production target for the first quarter of 2023.
The Nigerian Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said in December 2022 that the government had set its sight on crude oil production reaching 1.6 mbpd by the first quarter of 2023.
Ahmed hinged the government’s expectation on efforts made by stakeholders to improve oil production infrastructure and reduce oil theft.
Nigeria’s oil output as published by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) was 1.25mbpd in January and 1.3mbpd in February, but the volume produced for March came close to 1.6mbp.
The Reuters survey tracked supply to the market based on shipping data provided by external sources, information from companies that track flows such as Petro-Logistics and Kpler, and information provided by sources at oil companies, OPEC, and consultants.
The survey established that the increased output level by Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil and gas producer, was recorded despite a 70,000 bpd drop in OPEC oil output in March, which was attributed to oilfield maintenance in Angola and a halt in some of Iraq’s exports.
Further revelations showed that OPEC’s output was down more than 700,000 bpd from September, and 70,000 bpd from February 2023 output level.
The largest drop of 100,000 bpd was in Angola and was due to a small export programme and field maintenance on the Dalia stream, resulting in exports hitting a multi-month low on some estimates.
The second-biggest drop came from Iraq, where companies have reduced output in the northern Kurdistan region, following a halt to the export pipeline penultimate weekend.
Higher exports from southern Iraq limited the decline, the survey found, adding that OPEC’s output was significantly undershooting the targeted amount by 930,000 bpd because many producers – notably Nigeria and Angola – lack the capacity to pump at the agreed levels.
OPEC’s Gulf producers, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates maintained high compliance with their targets under the OPEC+ agreement, the survey revealed.