By Moses Patience Chat
Fears sprang up during the weekend as the price of Nigeria’s premium oil grade, Bonny Light, dropped to $73.87 per barrel, from $76.37, indicating a fall by 3 per cent.
The Federal Government had benchmarked the 2023 budget at $75 per barrel and 1.8 million barrels per day, bpd, including condensate, based on the capacity Nigeria is able to produce which is between 300,000 – 400,000 barrels per day, bpd.
The drop in price, which also affected other crude grades, was attributed to the global economic slowdown, especially with some developed economies that buy commercial oil from Nigeria and other major oil nations.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had stated in it’s Monthly Oil Market Reports ( MOMRs) for the month of March that Nigeria’s oil production rose month-on-month (MoM) by 3.8 per cent to 1.306 million bpd in February 2023, from 1.258 million bpd recorded in the preceding month of January 2023.
It also noted that there was a year-on-year ( YoY) increase in the nation’s oil production from 3.8 per cent to 1.306 million bpd in February 2023,and 1.258 million bp/d increase in the corresponding period of 2022.
However, despite the rise in oil output, the National President, Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria (OGSPAN), Colman Obasi, observed that Nigeria might face some challenges while trying to meet up with its 1.8 million bpd OPEC quota, excluding condensate, because of increased pipeline vandalism, oil theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta.
According to him, “The governments still have a long way to go in funding the budget. We should not be comfortable because of the recent increase in production.
”There are indications that the recent gains remain by far less than the huge volumes we still lost to oil thieves in the Niger Delta.”