Nigeria’s oil falters as Libya claims Africa’s top spot

Business a.m.

Nigeria’s crude oil output suffered a decline, as new figures from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) showed that the country’s production plunged to a second successive month of declines in the first quarter of the year. At 1.231 million barrels per day (bpd), Nigerian crude oil production dropped significantly, causing the country to cede its mantle as Africa’s top oil producer to Libya, whose oil production edged ahead to a 1.24 million bpd.

OPEC, in its monthly oil market report, revealed that Nigeria’s crude oil production in March figures dropped 6.88 per cent from the previous month. This is as the country’s oil production plunged by 91,000 bpd from February’s 1.322 million bpd to  1.231 million bpd in March. The downward slide follows an earlier decline in January, when the country’s oil production fell from 1.427 million bpd to 1.322 million bpd in February.

The oil cartel noted that while other OPEC members, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Gabon, and Kuwait, witnessed modest gains in their respective crude oil output, Nigeria’s oil production tumbled alongside Iraq’s and Venezuela’s output.

Despite the sharp decline in production in both February and March, the country’s average oil output for the first quarter of 2024 stood at 1.327 million barrels per day, a marginal improvement from the 1.313 million bpd recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023. 

OPEC stated that its reported data on Nigeria’s crude oil production was derived directly from official sources within the country, clarifying that the production data was collected through direct communication with Nigerian authorities. In addition to direct communication with member countries, OPEC also noted that it gathered data on crude oil production from various energy intelligence platforms, allowing the organisation to gather a more holistic understanding of global oil production.

According to analysts, Nigeria’s oil production has been hamstrung by the destructive forces of oil theft and pipeline vandalism, resulting in a significant drop in the country’s output and placing it well below the production quota assigned by OPEC. 

Industry players have also attributed multifaceted challenges including substandard infrastructure, security breaches in key oil-producing regions, and operational issues, as negative factors crippling Nigeria’s ability to realise its oil production potential.