Nigeria’s daily oil production fell further to 1.25 million barrels per day in May, according to a report by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
According to OPEC figures, Nigeria lost 30,000bpd in oil production, which fell from 1.28mbpd in April to 1.25mpd in May.
This, however, is contrary to the claims by the Federal Government and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that the country’s oil production has increased to 1.7 million barrels per day.
The NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari indicated recently in May that crude production was approaching 1.7 million barrels per day at the time.
Kyari in his speech at the stakeholders engagement between the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists and the NNPCL held in Lagos, said, “As of today’s data, we’re inching to 1.7mbpd. We won’t celebrate this. On 17th of April 2020, our production, without doing anything, without drilling new wells, shot to 2.2mbpd. The difference was COVID-19. The thieves, the vandals, everybody went to sleep.”
In its May Monthly Oil Market Oil Report, OPEC data from primary sources shows that Nigeria’s oil production had decreased further, though the quantity stood at 1.42 million barrels per day according to secondary sources.
Stakeholders have expressed concerns about the continuous drop in oil production and revenue.
Recently, the Chairman of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, Wole Ogunsanya, said the country was losing a lot of money every day because it is unable to address declining oil production, according to The Punch.
According to Ogunsanya, if Nigeria can keep 60-70% of its oil and gas value chain, it will have a greater chance of ranking among the world’s top 20 economies.
He stressed that the country was underproducing by at least 500,000 barrels per day, which was a significant loss for the government.
However, the Federal Government maintained the decline in Nigeria’s crude oil production was due to challenges experienced on the Trans Niger Pipeline, combined with maintenance activities carried out by various oil companies operating across the country.
The federal government, however, declared that efforts were underway to repair the pipeline, which would allow the country to produce up to 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensate.
