By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria bolstered its oil supplies by 50,000 barrels a day to 1.49 million per day in December 2023, a new Bloomberg survey has shown.
The country, which is Africa’s largest oil producer, was one of the major contributors as the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) maintained consistent crude oil production in December 2023, averaging 28.05 million barrels per day.
OPEC adhered to production limitations, as observed in countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Angola, which curtailed their output.
However, Nigeria offset these reductions, helping OPEC reach an average of 28.05 million barrels per day last month.
The report stated, “Supply declines from these two members were tempered by increases elsewhere. Nigeria bolstered supplies by 50,000 barrels a day to 1.49 million a day in December, in line with a revised quota that it successfully negotiated for this year.”
OPEC has provided Nigeria with a 2024 target of 1.5 million barrels per day in contrast to the 2024 Budget’s 1.78 million barrels per day.
The move follows a meeting in June where OPEC and its allies, OPEC+ agreed on a complex deal that revised production targets for several members.
OPEC had tasked three consultancies – IHS, Rystad Energy, and Wood Mackenzie – with verifying production figures for Nigeria, Angola, and Congo, and based on their recommendation, Nigeria has to produce at that level.
Nigeria’s oil output has been in decline for years but has picked up in recent months helped by more production offshore, which is less prone to security problems. According to the latest data, Nigeria averaged 1.45 million barrels per day in the third quarter of the year.
The country has unsuccessfully planned on boosting its output to 1.8 million barrels, which in addition to condensate (excluded from the OPEC numbers) will total 2 million barrels per day.
Angola announced its withdrawal from OPEC in December, citing its refusal to accept a reduced limit imposed by OPEC’s leaders. However, its output in December, consistent with the level it had rejected, reflected years of underinvestment.
OPEC+ countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, and Algeria aim to gradually increase production, contingent on the performance of the oil market.
Modupe Gbadeyanka