Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria boosted crude oil exports in October without any major disruption to shipments by as much as 50,000 barrels per day in October, according to a survey by Reuters based on shipping data and sources.
This indicates that the country is on course to meet the target of 1.8 million barrels per day to further recover its set production level by next year.
Business Post had reported that the country produced 1.35 million barrels per day in September, with the 50,000 barrels per day addition in October, this will bring Nigeria’s numbers to 1.4 million barrels per day.
The contribution of Nigeria saw the oil output of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) rise for a third straight month in October.
OPEC pumped 27.90 million barrels per day, the survey found, up by 180,000 barrels per day from September.
Production in August had risen for the first time since February.
Output from the 10 OPEC members that are subject to OPEC+ supply cut agreements rose by 150,000 barrels per day, the survey found.
The steady rise in OPEC output is largely being driven by a small number of producers like Nigeria and Angola managing to overcome internal or external factors that have curbed supply.
Smaller increases came from Iraq and Iran, Reuters said with Iran’s output edged up to 3.17 million barrels per day. This is the highest since 2018, the year the US re-imposed sanctions on Iran.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf members maintained strong compliance with agreed cutbacks and extra voluntary reductions.
Saudi Arabia kept October and September output close to 9 million barrels per day, the survey found. The country in September extended a voluntary 1 million barrels per day output cut until the end of the year to provide extra support for the market.
OPEC’s output is still undershooting the targeted amount by about 560,000 barrels per day, mainly because Nigeria and Angola lack the capacity to pump as much as their agreed level.
