A survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights has revealed that members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) increased crude oil production by 140,000 barrels per day to 42.71 million bpd in December 2022.
According to the survey, Nigeria led OPEC-13 countries to pump 28.98 million barrels per day in December, while 10 non-OPEC partners (including Russia) produced 13.73 million b/d. This led to a combined production output of 42.71 million barrels per day for the month under review.
The survey further highlighted that Nigeria had recoveries in its loadings of major grades – Forcados and Brass River, while maintenance at the Bonga Field was completed in mid-November.
According to recent data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Forcados had a crude oil production rate of 6,579,692, a condensate rate of 593,980, and a blended total of 7,173,672 barrels for December 2022, as opposed to a blended total of 6,856,88 recorded for November 2022.
Meanwhile, Brass had a crude oil production rate of 581,198, a condensate rate of 45,010 and a blended total of 626,208 for December 2022, as opposed to a blended total of 431,672 recorded for November 2022.
Nigeria’s oil sector challenges: Nigeria could not maximize the high oil prices opportunity presented by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war which began in 2022. Crude oil theft hampered production figures and the country lost as much as 700,000 barrels per day, which is 21 million barrels per month, according to an NNPC official. However, during a January 11 forum, Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said that the country can achieve a 2.2 million barrels per day crude oil production output in 2023. He said:
“For us, we see a trajectory of restoring production including condensates within the year. We believe we can hit a target of 2.2 mb/d but our budget target is 1.8 mb/d, but we know that it is practical to do 2.2 mb/d within 2023.”
For the record: According to the survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights, OPEC’S output still massively lags behind its production targets, with the gap at 1.80 million barrels per day in December 2022, due to technical or financial difficulties in sustaining output.
