The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries monthly oil market report has revealed that Nigeria’s average crude oil production for April slightly rose to 1.281 million barrels a day.
Crude oil production rose by 51 thousand barrels a day from 1.231 million bt to 1.281 mbd, according to direct information provided by the federal government.
However, secondary data from the oil cartel show a decrease of 46 thousand barrels per day from 1.4 million barrels per day to 1.354 million barrels per day in average daily oil production.
The 12 members of the oil cartel produced 26.58 million barrels per day- a decline of 48 thousand barrels compared to the production in March, according to secondary sources.
Despite the marginal increase in crude oil production, it continues to fall short of the OPEC quota as well as the target of producing at least 1 million barrels per day.
Nigeria has repeatedly failed to meet the daily OPEC production quota of 1.5 million barrels per day, as well as even a higher target of 1.78 million bpd proposed in the appropriation bill for 2024.
In the first quarter of the year, average daily production stood at 1.327 million barrels- about 180 tb/d shy of the quota set by the oil cartel.
Revenue generation, foreign exchange stabilisation, total budgetary performance, and external reserve position have been negatively affected by the country’s consistent failure to meet its OPEC quota and budget proposal targets.
Nigeria’s economy had been on a downward slide attributed to the hike in food inflation, inadequate energy supply and the foreign exchange crisis.
On the budgetary front, the International Monetary Fund had projected a higher budget deficit on the back of the failure of the authorities to meet its production targets despite elevated crude oil prices.
It stated, “Staff projects a higher fiscal deficit than anticipated in the 2024 budget, but broadly unchanged from 2023. The drivers are (i) lower oil/gas revenue projections, reflecting IMF oil price forecasts but incorporating recent production gains.”
