Nigeria reclaimed her top position as Africa’s highest crude oil producer in November 2022, latest production data has shown.
This is according to data in the recently released Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The data showed that Nigeria produced higher volumes of crude oil than its closest rivals, Angola and Algeria for the month under review.
Secondary sources: According to the OPEC data, Nigeria produced 1,158 million barrels per day (mb/d) of crude oil, taking the top spot among African crude oil producers. Angola emerged second, producing 1,102 mb/d and Algeria took third place producing 1,022 mb/d during the month under review.
Direct communication: Meanwhile, according to direct communication from the OPEC data, Nigeria produced 1,186 mb/d of crude oil. Angola took second place producing 1,088 mb/d and Algeria emerged in third place, producing 1,021 mb/d for the month under review.
Insights from OPEC: According to the OPEC report, secondary sources indicate that total crude oil production from OPEC member countries averaged 28.83 mb/d in November 2022, lower by 744 thousand barrels per day (tb/d) month-on-month.
The report stated that crude oil production output increased mainly in Nigeria and Angola, while production in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Iraq declined.
Insights on Nigeria: Since Q2/2022, Nigeria has battled crude oil theft in its Niger Delta region hosting the country’s major oil and gas assets. However, since the clampdown on the challenges, with the aid of security agencies as well as third-party security outfits, the Federal Government has been able to keep crude oil theft at a low.
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In December 2022, Bala Wunti, the Chief Upstream Investment Officer at the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS) said that the real loss caused by crude oil theft in Nigeria is 700,000 barrels per day, which translates to 21 million barrels per month.
Wunti also said that crude oil theft is being tackled by the development of a better security architecture. According to him, the NNPC was working to address the lack of coordination among the oil sector players – regulators, security agencies, host communities, and private security outfits.
Wunti also disclosed that Nigeria’s oil production as of December 6 is 1.59 million barrels per day.
In case you missed it: Bala Wunti had earlier stated that three types of losses occur during crude oil production. They are:
Engineering losses which nobody accounts for as it is a part of the engineering process
Actual losses where hydrocarbons are produced but get stolen
Opportunity losses arise because operators are unable to produce what was initially planned.
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