Nigeria’s crude oil output fell to 1,294,162 barrels per day in July 2023.
This is according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Data revealed that during the highlighted month, Nigeria produced 1,081,396 barrels of crude oil daily, along with 38,258 barrels and 174,509 barrels of blended and unblended condensates, respectively. For the entire month, they added up to 1,294,162 barrels each day.
Nigeria’s oil production rate has now fallen below 1.4 m/bpd twice since the year 2023 began; the first occasion was in April 2023, when the nation produced 1,245,028 barrels.
The country’s crude production numbers at other times varied between 1.4 and 1.5 m/bpd.
Remember that the country recorded 1,480,078 barrels per day, including condensates, in June 2023.
The Forcados port, a key node in Nigeria’s oil infrastructure, experienced a production shortage that, according to NUPRC statistics, resulted in a noticeable drop in crude output.
In July 2023, the Forcados terminal produced a total of 3,286,735 barrels.
This statistic stands in contrast to the higher production of 7,898,226 barrels that was recorded in the month of June 2023 before.
It is crucial to emphasize that other than the Forcados terminal, several other significant terminals also decreased production levels.
According to the NUPRC data, the Bonny terminal produced 2,606,500 barrels in July 2023 which is less than the 3,214,900 barrels of production that were reported in June 2023.
A similar reduction from the 1,136,446 barrels produced in June 2023 was evident at the Brass terminal, which reported a production of 987,114 barrels.
A decline from the 3,109,894 barrels reported in June 2023 was seen in production at the Odudu (Amenam blend) terminal, which was recorded at 2,934,411 barrels in July 2023.
In contrast, the Qua Iboe port produced more in July than it did in June 2023—a total of 4,123,574 barrels as opposed to 3,788,731 barrels.
Additionally, the Escravos oil port increased crude production in July, producing 4,866,131 barrels overall. It exceeds the 4,475,298 barrels that were tallied in June 2023.
The theft of crude oil still poses serious challenges to Nigeria. According to data from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, between July 15 and July 21, 2023, 240 cases of crude oil theft were reported across the country’s territory.
In the meantime, 139 instances of crude oil theft occurred between July 22 and July 28.
