- Dangote Refinery Tipped To Boost Nigeria’s Crude Production
In a historic development, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has disclosed that Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production increased significantly to 1.53 million barrels per day (bpd) in January 2025.
This means that the country for the first time met the global oil cartel’s production quota of 1.5 million bpd since it was set — for the 2024 period — at OPEC’s ministerial meeting on November 30, 2023.
This is according to OPEC, in its Monthly Oil Market Report on Thursday, February 13, 2025. It noted that the figures obtained from direct communication with Nigerian officials showed that Nigeria recorded 1.53 million bpd in January.
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Oil Output Increases From 1.477mbpd To 1.507mbpd -OPEC
According to the report, the current output figure represents a 54,000 or 3.6 percent increase from the 1.48 million bpd recorded in December 2024.
In December 2024, the quota was extended to 2026 as Nigeria produced below the quota for over a year.
The oil cartel obtains data on crude oil production from two sources: direct communication — which is from member countries — and secondary communication, such as energy intelligence platforms.
With the development, the current production figure means that Nigeria retained its position as the largest oil producer in Africa, surpassing Algeria, which produced 907,000 bpd in January.
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Oil Production Hits 1.48mbpd In November, Maintains Top Spot In Africa-OPEC
OPEC added that Congo produced 251,000 barrels of oil per day in the period under review, making the country the third-largest oil producer in Africa.
Meanwhile, OPEC has noted that Nigeria’s oil production is likely to increase with Dangote refinery nearing full capacity.
“…the oil sector remains central to the economy, and the Dangote Refinery reaching full production capacity should help stabilize the petroleum product supply and possibly lower petrol prices,” OPEC said.
On February 10, Edwin Devakumar, vice-president of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), told Reuters that the refinery could begin operating at full capacity in 30 days.
At full caOPECpacity, the plant will be processing about 650,000 barrels of crude per day — an amount experts have said is more than sufficient to handle local demand for petroleum products.
