Nigeria has regained its position as the top crude oil producer in Africa for May 2023, as reported by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Nigeria’s crude oil production rose to 1.427 million per barrel per day in May, from 1.245 million bpd in the previous month, according to the latest report by the petroleum industry regulator.
In comparison, Libya produced 1.158 million barrels per day, Angola produced 1.111 million barrels per day, and Algeria produced 962,000 barrels per day.
It should be noted that in April 2023, Nigeria experienced its first decline in crude oil production, with OPEC reporting a daily output of 999,000 barrels.
In addition to declining oil production, Nigeria’s economy is facing challenges such as high inflation, import restrictions, and subdued business activity and consumer spending.
The latest data by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that crude oil contributed 1.18 million bpd, blended condensate 65,887 barrels while unblended condensate contributed 178,038 bpd to the total output.
From the NUPRC report, output grew by 14.61 percent month-on-month in May, but was far short of the OPEC quota of 1.68 million bpd for the country.
It also marks a 15.55 percent growth from the corresponding period of 2022 when Nigeria recorded 1,024,371 bpd output.
As a result of the crude oil thief, Nigeria has not been able to meet its production quota, thereby depriving the country of huge foreign exchange and denying it from benefiting from the high oil prices in the international market.
Oil prices rose on Tuesday on apparent bargain hunting, recovering some ground from the previous day’s plunge.
But gains were limited as investors remained cautious ahead of key policy decisions by central banks and on weak economic data from China.
Brent crude futures climbed $1.47, or 2.1 percent, to $73.31 a barrel by 1034 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at $68.32 a barrel, up $1.20, or 1.8 percent.
Inflation data for April 2023 showed an annual rate of 22.2 per cent, indicating an ongoing acceleration compared to 22 per cent in March 2023. These factors, along with a slowdown in the services, manufacturing, and farming industries, contribute to the economic burden faced by Nigeria.
