By Miracle Ogunde
The latest data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, an agency of the Federal Government, on Wednesday has shown that liquid crude oil production in Nigeria rose by 11.42 per cent, reaching 1.48mbpd in November compared to 1.33mbpd in October.
This shows an increase of 9.9 per cent to 1.69 million barrels per day in November 2024, up from 1.538mbpd recorded in October 2024.
However, this figure remains below the production quota allocated to Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Conversely, condensate oil production — exempt from OPEC’s quotas —declined slightly by 0.01 per cent in November, dropping to 204,828 barrels per day from 204,806 barrels per day in October.
Despite these improvements, oil production continues to fall short of the 2024 budget benchmark of 1.78mbpd.
This discrepancy persists despite claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that oil production has risen to 1.8mbpd.
The data highlights the ongoing challenges in meeting national production targets while underscoring recent efforts to boost output in the upstream sector.
Commenting on Nigeria’s quota, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, said the resolution of OPEC to extend Nigeria’s oil production quota to 1.5 million bpd is in line with the country’s output target.
Lokpobiri said the quota complements Nigeria’s 2025 oil output benchmark of 2.06 million bpd.
“For Nigeria, these resolutions align with our 2025 production target of 2.06 million barrels per day, inclusive of condensates, as outlined in the draft 2025 Appropriation Bill,” he said.
On November 26, the Port Harcourt refinery, with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, officially commenced crude oil processing.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries says Nigeria has retained its position as the largest oil producer in Africa.
In its latest monthly report on Wednesday, OPEC said Nigeria’s oil output increased in November to 1.48 million barrels per day from 1.33 million bpd in the previous month.
The oil alliance said the production figure was Africa’s largest in October, even as Nigeria continued to hold the top spot on the continent in the subsequent month.
In November, OPEC said Nigeria surpassed Algeria, which produced 908,000 bpd, followed by Congo, which had an output of 268,000 bpd.
OPEC said its data was based on direct communication, noting that its secondary sources reported that Nigeria’s crude production increased to 1.417 million bpd in November — up from 1.4 million bpd in October.
“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.66 mb/d in November 2024, which is 104 tb/d higher, m-o-m,” OPEC said.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, IR Iran and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased.
“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia.”
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