A report published by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, has revealed that Nigeria’s crude oil production will increase to 1.418 million barrels per day in December 2023.
The PUNCH reported that Nigeria’s crude oil output grew by 100mb/d from 1.319mbpd in November, according to secondary sources cited by OPEC in its Monthly Oil Market Report for January 2024.
According to direct communication, OPEC revealed in the report published on January 17 that the country’s oil production in December was 1.335 million barrels per day, down from 1.250 million barrels per day in November.
The report also revealed that OPEC countries such as Algeria, Congo, Iran, Libya, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates reduced their oil output throughout the assessment period.
“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil output averaged 26.70 mb/d in December 2023, up 73 tb/d from the previous month.
The research showed how crude oil output climbed mostly in Nigeria and Iraq, while production in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the Islamic Republic of Iran dropped.
Despite reports of oil theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s oil production has increased.
In December, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited announced plans to produce two million barrels of crude oil per day by 2024.
NNPCL said this would dramatically increase the 1.67 million barrels of oil and condensates it claimed to be producing at the time, allowing Nigeria to reach OPEC’s 2 million barrels per day objective.
The Chairman of the NNPCL Board, Mr Pius Akinyelure, who made the disclosure, also admitted that meeting this target would require overhauling Nigeria’s security architecture to address pipeline vandalism and other mechanisms deployed in oil theft.
