Nigeria maintained its position as Africa’s leading crude oil producer in May, despite a slight decline in output, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its latest monthly report released on Monday.

The report shows Nigeria’s production fell to 1.45 million barrels per day in May, down from 1.48 million bpd in April.

According to the report, Nigeria’s oil output — the highest in Africa — continued to outpace that of Libya, Algeria, and Congo despite the monthly decline.

OPEC said the production figures were based on direct communication with member countries.

Sustaining its upward momentum in May, Nigeria surpassed Libya’s output of 1.36 million barrels per day (bpd), as well as Algeria’s 920,000 bpd and Congo’s 268,000 bpd.

OPEC, relying on secondary sources, reported that Nigeria’s crude production rose to 1.54 million bpd in May, up from 1.52 million bpd in April.

“Total DoC crude oil production averaged 41.23 mb/d in May 2025, which is 180 tb/d higher, m-o-m,” the report reads.

“Some minor adjustments were made mainly to actual data for 1Q25. In the OECD, oil demand is forecast to grow by about 0.2 mb/d in 2025, while non-OECD demand is forecast to grow by more than 1.1 mb/d in 2025.

“In 2026, global oil demand is forecast to grow by 1.3 mb/d y-o-y, also unchanged from last month’s assessments, with the OECD forecast to grow by around 0.1 mb/d, y-o-y, while the non-OECD is forecast to grow by 1.2 mb/d, y-o-y.”

OPEC stated that the global economy has remained on a steady growth path, driven by solid first-quarter performance in 2025 and early advancements in U.S. trade negotiations.

“The global economic growth forecasts remain unchanged at 2.9% for 2025 and 3.1% for 2026,” the report reads.

“The US economic growth forecasts remain at 1.7% for 2025 and 2.1% for 2026. Japan’s economic forecasts remain at 1.0% for 2025 and 0.9% for 2026.”

The oil cartel maintained its Eurozone economic growth projections at 1.0 percent for 2025 and 1.1 percent for 2026.