A Reuters survey has revealed that oil production output from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased in September 2023 due to rises from Nigeria and Iran.
According to the survey’s findings, OPEC’s oil output increased for the second consecutive month in September 2023, despite key members like Saudi Arabia, Russia, and other members of the larger OPEC+ coalition continuing to restrict production.
In particular, the study showed that OPEC produced an astounding 27.73 million barrels per day in September 2023, representing a notable rise of 120,000 bpd compared to the production levels in August 2023. This change follows a notable rise in production in August, marking the first upturn since February.
According to Reuters, despite the nation’s aggressive efforts to resolve concerns related to crude oil theft and the insecurity that is pervasive in the Niger Delta’s oil-producing regions, Nigeria had a significant part in this spike throughout September. Iran increased its supply during this upsurge despite U.S. sanctions, which also helped to add to the rise.
The report said, “According to shipping statistics and sources in the survey, Nigeria was able to increase exports in September without significantly disrupting shipments, raising output by 110,000 bpd. By the next year, the country hopes to continue its comeback.
Iran saw the second-largest gain, according to the survey, pushing output to 3.15 million bpd. According to Reuters polls and other OPEC data, this is the highest level since 2018, the year that Washington re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
The greater Iranian exports, according to analysts, “appear to be the outcome of Iran’s success in evading U.S. sanctions and Washington’s latitude in enforcing them as the two countries seek to improve relations.
“According to the study, production from the 10 OPEC countries who are subject to OPEC+ supply cut agreements increased by 80,000 bpd. Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states remained very compliant with the agreed-upon reductions and further optional reductions.
Take note that Nigeria’s crude oil production from January to August 2023 varied between 1 million and 1.2 million barrels per day based on data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the monthly crude oil production output (aside from condensate production) for the year so far has been:
January 2023 – 1,266,659 bpd
February 2023 – 1,292,240 bpd
March 2023 – 1,266,737 bpd
April 2023 – 1,004,392 bpd
May 2023 – 1,189,332 bpd
June 2023 – 1,260,928 bpd
July 2023 – 1,089,089 bpd
August 2023 – 1,181,133 bpd.
The current crude oil theft issues plaguing the industry and aggressively undermining the planned 1.69 million barrels per day benchmark mentioned in the 2023 budget are mostly to blame for the poor output. At the same time, Brent crude’s global price has risen to $97 a barrel as of last week.
