Crude oil production in Nigeria reduced to about 0.94 million barrels per day in September 2022, the Federal Government said on Monday.
Figures released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, an agency of the Federal Government, showed that oil production in the country maintained a downward plunge last month.
The upstream regulator stated that oil production decreased again in September to 937,766 barrel per day. It was 972,394 bpd in the preceding month of August.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries had set an oil production quota of 1.8 million barrels per day for Nigeria, but the country has never met this target.
In September, The PUNCH exclusively reported that Nigeria’s crude oil production slumped below one million barrels per day in August 2022, which at that time was the lowest in at least 30 months.
The reported indicated that the country’s oil production had dropped from 1,083,899 bpd in July to 972,394 bpd in August.
An analysis of the 2020, 2021 and 2022 crude oil and condensate production reports for Nigeria had showed that the 972,394 bpd produced in August 2022 was the lowest ever in these years.
But the latest figure from NUPRC for oil production in September now shows that the 937,766 bpd recorded last month is the lowest output by the country in several years.
All the figures for oil production in 2020 and 2021 through January to July 2022 were above one million barrels per day, but this dropped below the 1mbpd mark in August 2022.
From January, February, March and April 2022, for instance, the country’s crude oil production (without condensates) were 1.39mbpd, 1.26mbpd, 1.24mbpd and 1.22mbpd respectively.
In May, June and July 2022, the figures were 1.02mbpd, 1.16mbpd and 1.08mbpd respectively. But this dropped below 1mbpd in August to 0.97mbpd.
The reason being given daily for the slump in Nigeria’s oil production is oil theft but the stealing of crude has refused to abate.
However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has been expressing confidence that oil theft will be addressed, going by measures being put in place.
