The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said on Thursday that Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production increased significantly to 1.53 million barrels per day (bpd) in January.
This means that the country for the first time met the global oil cartel’s production quota of 1.5 million bpd since it was set — for the 2024 period at OPEC’s ministerial meeting held on November 30, 2023.
In its Monthly Oil Market Report, OPEC noted that the figures obtained from direct communication with Nigerian officials showed that Nigeria recorded 1.53 million bpd in January.
According to the report, the current output figure represents a 54,000 bpd or 3.6 percent increase from the 1.48 million bpd recorded in December 2024.
In December 2024, the quota was extended to 2026 as Nigeria produced below the quota for over a year.
The oil cartel obtains data on crude oil production from two sources: direct communication — which is from member countries — and secondary communication, such as energy intelligence platforms.
With the development, Nigeria retained its position as the largest oil producer in Africa ahead of Algeria, which produced 907,000 bpd in January.
OPEC added that Congo produced 251,000 barrels of oil per day during the period, making the country the third-largest oil producer in Africa.
By: Babajide Okeowo