OPEC slashes Nigeria’s oil output 20.7% to 1.38 mb/d 

By Cynthia Ezekwe 

THE Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies  (OPEC+)  has slashed Nigeria’s oil output, excluding condensate by 20.7 per cent to 1.38 million barrels per day, mb/d, from 1.74 mb/d in order to achieve stability in the global oil market.

The decision was taken at the 49th meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) and the 35th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, in Vienna, Austria, and expected to take effect from January 2024.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s expected output quotas for August, September, October, and November were 1.826 million bpd, 1.830 million bpd, 1.826 million bpd and 1.747 million bpd respectively.

However, Nigeria’s inability to meet previous quotas has shrunk dollar proceeds from oil sales. A significant amount of the country’s crude lies stranded as buyers turn to cheaper alternatives.

Recent data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) indicates that Nigeria’s crude oil production dropped to its lowest level in seven months, reaching 998,602 bpd in April this year. Analysts attribute this decline to critical export terminal outages.

At the recent meeting held at Vienna, Austria, the 13-member oil cartel agreed to adjust the level of overall crude oil production for OPEC and non-OPEC participating countries in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) to 40.46 million bpd, starting 1 January 2024 until 31 December 2024, which to be distributed as per the attached table.

According to a statement by OPEC, the required production level for Congo and Nigeria may be updated to equal the average production that can be achieved in 2024, as assessed by IHS, Wood Mackenzie, and Rystad Energy, specialised in oil upstream by the next  OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting (ONOMM) to be held by the end of 2023.

“Nigeria’s stated Production Plan in 2024 is 1,578,000 bpd subject to verification, and if verified then the number will be reflected as required production for 2024. This level was the required production level for the month of February 2023, as assessed by the average of the secondary sources, and is subject to revision by June 2023 as the country is currently working with the secondary sources to update production figures,’’ OPEC said.