Nigeria’s crude oil output dropped by 38,102 barrels per day in March, translating to a cumulative loss of about 1,181,162 barrels in the month under review, and signalled the first plunge in oil production since the last seven months.
Industry data obtained in Abuja on Monday
showed that Nigeria’s oil production had been on the rise since September 2022,
following concerted efforts by the Federal Government and stakeholders to curb
oil theft in the sector.
The rise in oil output was, however, not
sustained in March, as latest figures from the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum
Regulatory Commission indicated that while the country pumped 1,306,304 barrels
of crude daily in February, the volume dropped to 1,268,202 barrels per day in
March.
This indicated a decrease of 38,102 barrels
daily, which implies that Nigeria lost a total of about 1,181,162 barrels of
crude in March.
In monetary terms, data from Country Economy,
a global statistical firm, showed that the average cost of Brent, the
international benchmark for oil, in March 2023, was $78.43/barrel.
Therefore by losing 1,181,162 barrels in
March, Nigeria failed to earn a total of $92,638,535.66 (N42.71bn at the
official exchange rate of N461/$), during the period under review.
Nigeria recorded its lowest oil production
volume of 0.937 million barrels per day in September 2022. The Federal
Government and oil sector players blamed this on the massive crude theft in
Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta.
The situation also led to humongous revenue
losses for the country, international oil companies operating in NIgeria, as
well as indigenous operators in the industry.
But the country’s oil output started
improving after September, following concerted efforts by security officials
and oil operators, as industry figures showed that crude production rose to
1.014 million barrels per day in October.
This indicated an increase of 0.077mbpd when
compared to the 0.937mbpd output in September. In November, the country pumped
1.185mbpd crude, representing an increase of 0.171mbpd when matched against
what was produced in October.
The rise in output continued in December last
year, as Nigeria produced 1.253mbpd in that month, indicating an increase of
0.05mbpd when compared to its output in November.
The 1.258mbpd oil production in January 2023
was about 23,000bpd higher than the 1.235mbpd crude oil output in December
2022.
The momentum was sustained in February, with
an output of 1.31mbpd. But the volume dropped to 1.27mbpd in March, putting an
end to the seven-month run in Nigeria’s oil output.
The country targets to meet the 1.8mbpd quota
approved for it by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Nigeria
generates bulk of its foreign exchange from crude oil and gas sales.
The Federal Government, since last year,
intensified efforts to shore-up Nigeria’s crude oil production and reduce its
theft by vandals and thieves.
“Admittedly, one major area of value erosion
in the industry is the menace of crude oil theft. Our records indicate that the
menace of oil theft has negatively impacted the oil and gas sector for about
two decades with attendant huge financial losses to our nation,” the Chief
Executive, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, stated recently.
He said the commission, in collaboration with
the various arms of the security forces, the Nigerian National Petroleum
Company Limited and the host communities, had been able to suppress the ugly
trend of hydrocarbon value decimation.
“Now, our nation has continued to record good
dividends of these collaborative efforts as production figures are
progressively increasing. The January 2023 volume is approximately 1.5 million
barrels per day of oil and condensates.
“It is expected that this number will
continue to increase as further measures are introduced and sustained to remove
all illegal connections that aid crude oil theft,” the NUPRC boss stated.
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