Nigeria’s crude oil output surpassed one million barrels per day for the first time since July of this year, according to numbers provided on Thursday by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Since last year, Nigerian oil output has been collapsing owing to rampant theft in the Niger Delta, resulting in significant financial losses for the government and the withdrawal of some major oil firms. It fell below one million barrels per day in August and September 2022, the lowest months for Nigerian oil production in years.
However, according to the upstream regulator’s most recent crude oil and condensate production figures for October 2022, the country’s oil output averaged 1,014,485 barrels per day last month.
This indicated an increase of more than 8.18 per cent when compared to what was produced in September 2022, which was 937,766 million barrels per day.
The NUPRC and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited have consistently indicated that measures are being undertaken to reduce oil theft and increase Nigeria’s crude output.
Gbenga Komolafe, the NUPRC’s Chief Executive, recently informed media in Abuja that the commission hoped to contribute roughly 500,000 barrels of crude oil to Nigeria’s output by recovering almost half of the commodity that had been shut down due to theft.
However, the recent increase in Nigeria’s oil production output was still less than the 1.8 million barrels per day quota set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries for the country.
Nigeria has frequently failed to reach its OPEC quota, owing to widespread oil theft in the oil sector.
However, the increase in output last month indicated that the reinforced fight against oil thieves by security agencies is gradually yielding results, as industry observers prayed that it be effectively sustained.
