Nigeria’s Crude Oil Production Drops In February 

Nigeria’s crude oil production dropped for the second consecutive month to 1.32 million barrels per day in February 2024 from 1.42mbpd in the previous month.

Gatekeepers News reports that this was contained in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)’s recent Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).

The figure for the month was based on direct communication from Nigeria to OPEC’s authorities.

However, based on secondary sources, Nigeria recorded a daily crude oil production of 1.47 million barrels for February, representing an increase of 47,000 barrels per day.

Despite the drop in crude oil production for the month, Nigeria still maintained its position as Africa’s biggest oil producer among continental members of OPEC.

Nigeria’s closest rival on the continent was Libya, whose oil production for the month stood at 1.17mbpd, followed by Algeria, which produced 906,000 barrels daily, OPEC figures showed.

According to global oil prices, Brent crude went up by 3.2 per cent to an average of around $81.72/barrel, while the NYMEX WTI futures contract rose by $2.75 to an average of $76.61/barrel.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s estimated daily crude oil production target is 1.78mbpd, while OPEC pegged its production at 1.5 million barrels daily.

The effect would impact the 2024 implementation of the N28.7 trillion budget and the lack of liquidity to boost the Naira in the foreign exchange market, which traded at N1603.38 per US dollar on Tuesday.