Nigeria’s Oil Production Improved in September, Still Far from OPEC’s Quota

•Output is highest since January 2022

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Nigeria’s crude oil production improved in September, rising by a volume of roughly 165,429 Barrels Per Day (BPD) during the month under consideration.

However, analysis of the data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) yesterday, showed that the country is still far from meeting its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota despite the increase in output.

But while the current production allocation given to Nigeria by the international producers’ group is 1.74 million barrels per day, the information from the petroleum industry regulator showed that Nigeria was only able to drill 1.34 million bpd last month.

It would be the country’s highest self-reported crude oil output since January 2022 when Nigeria managed to produce 1.39 million bpd. The lowest production for that year was just above 900,000 bpd.

A THISDAY review of the data however indicated that the country under-produced by as much as 400,000 bpd in September, despite the jump in output.

As expected, much of Nigeria’s increase came from Forcados terminal which resumed production  recently after loadings of the medium sweet grade were suspended because of a potential leak at the export terminal.

The terminal which has the capacity to produce between 250,000 bpd and 400,000 bpd is operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited  (SPDC). Production on the terminal rose from 3.7 million bpd in August to 7.4 million bpd in September, according to the NUPRC data.

The volume of crude oil drilled from Yoho also rose marginally from 901,163 bpd to 926,264 bpd during the month. However, production on other terminals remained basically stagnant or reduced marginally.

However, when condensates which are outside OPEC’s computation are added, the country produced 1.57 million bpd during the month under review.

In all, last month, Nigeria produced 40.3 million barrels of oil as against the about 52 million barrels that was projected for the period.

Despite several promises, the country has been unable to fulfil its pledge to Nigerians and to OPEC, which recently slashed Nigeria’s quota for next year to 1.38 million barrels as a result of its lack of capacity to produce the quota already given it.

Authorities in the country blame oil theft, pipeline vandalism as well as waning investment in the oil and gas sector for the inability to ramp up production and meet the OPEC quota.

The inability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its partners to produce enough crude oil, has further worsened the crisis in the foreign exchange market where a dollar currently exchanges for over $1,000 at the unofficial window.

Nigeria, which gets about 90 per cent of its dollar earnings from the export of crude oil, recently approached the African Export-Import Bank (AfreximBank) for a $3 billion debt-for-crude deal. The deal remains pending due to unresolved issues.

The challenge continues despite the government’s handing over of multi-billion naira contracts to some entities in the Niger Delta to secure the pipelines, including a former warlord from the region, Mr Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo.