As of November 2023, Nigeria is the leading producer of crude oil in Africa. This is based on information from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) monthly oil market report, which was made public earlier today, December 13.
According to a recent OPEC report, the average daily production of crude oil by the thirteen members of OPEC, or OPEC-13, was 27.84 million barrels in November 2023. This quantity was somewhat lower than the previous month’s total of 57 thousand barrels per day (October 2023).
During this period, certain nations—like Venezuela, Libya, and Kuwait—produced more crude oil than others—like Iraq, Angola, and Nigeria.
However, Nigeria still managed to produce more crude oil than other African countries during the highlighted month.
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In November 2023, the portion of crude oil produced by OPEC countries compared to the total global production increased slightly to reach 27.4%, which was a 0.1 percentage point (pp) rise from the previous month.
Here are the production figures provided by OPEC, based on secondary sources, for the four biggest crude oil producers in Africa during the highlighted period:
Algeria produced 962,000 barrels of oil per day.
Angola produced 1.13 million barrels of oil per day.
Libya produced 1.17 million barrels of oil per day.
Nigeria produced 1.37 million barrels of oil per day
Meanwhile, the OPEC crude oil production data according to direct communication during the highlighted period is as follows:
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Algeria – 960,000 barrels per day
Angola – 1.08 million barrels per day
Libya – 1.20 million barrels per day
Nigeria – 1.25 million barrels per day
Note that these crude oil production figures are without the addition of condensate production. Recall that Nairametrics reported on December 12 that data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria’s overall daily oil production was 1,466,185 barrels per day, considering both crude oil and condensate production combined.
When we separate the types of production without including condensates, here’s the breakdown:
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Crude oil alone amounted to 1,250,299 barrels per day.
Blended condensate production was 49,457 barrels per day.
Unblended condensate production was 166,429 barrels per day.
The OPEC report also talked about how Nigeria’s economy did better than expected in the third quarter of 2023. It grew by a strong 3.1% compared to the same time last year, which is more than the growth of 2.6% in the second quarter and 2.4% in the first quarter.
This good performance happened because of industries in the non-oil sector like services and agriculture.
However, the OPEC report also noted the significant rise in commodity prices in the country, which continuously impacts the naira.
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The report stated further that the abrupt removal of fuel subsidies has contributed to the 27.3% inflation rate (October 2023).
The OPEC report places world oil demand growth forecast at 2.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) for an average of 104.4 mb/d, unchanged from the previous assessment.
Meanwhile, OPEC noted that oil demand is expected to be supported by resilient global (GDP) growth, amid continued improvements in economic activity in China.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri has said that the country has plans to produce up to 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil in 2024 and will keep engaging with its oil sector stakeholders to drive production. Note that the country has a production quota of 1.5 million barrels per day.
