Nigeria’s crude production dropped to 1.32m bpd in Sept, says OPEC

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production dropped by as much as 33,000 barrels to 1.32 million barrels per day (bpd) in September.

In its monthly oil market report, yesterday, OPEC said the production data was based on direct communication with Nigerian authorities.The oil alliance receives data on crude oil production from direct communication, which is from members of the group and secondary communication, such as energy intelligence platforms.

According to the international group, the current output figure represents a 2.22 per cent decrease from the 1.35 million bpd recorded in August. In its October oil market report, OPEC revealed that Nigeria’s crude oil production fell from 1.438 million barrels per day in August, according to secondary data from Nigerian authorities. Direct communication shows that Nigeria’s average crude oil production for September was 1.324 million barrels per day, a drop of 27 thousand barrels compared to 1.352 million barrels per day in the previous month.

Consequently, the country retained its position as the biggest oil producer in Africa, followed by Algeria, which produced 908,000 bpd in the month under review.

The data showed Congo was the third-largest oil producer with 270,000 bpd in the month examined. Also, OPEC’s secondary sources put Nigeria’s crude production at 1.40 million bpd — a 2.29 per cent decline from the 1.43 million bpd reported by the oil alliance in August.

“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.04 mb/d in September 2024, which is 604 tb/d lower, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in IR Iran and Kuwait, while production in Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia decreased,” the oil alliance said.

“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.06 mb/d in September 2024, which is 47 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan, while production in Russia decreased.”

Nigeria, meanwhile, has been struggling to increase oil production to meet both its OPEC quota and local refinery demands. Since the beginning of the year, the country’s output has hovered between 1.2 and 1.3 million barrels per day.

On October 10, Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, said Nigeria would increase its oil output to about 2.3 million barrels per day (bpd) by June 2025.