According to the most recent oil production figures, Nigeria lost almost N249 billion in crude oil income in July as a result of a decline in oil production of more than four million barrels in the same month.
According to information received from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the nation’s total oil output fell to 33.5 million barrels in July from 37.5 million barrels in June.
This demonstrates that during June and July, the nation lost nearly four million barrels of oil. The decline in Nigeria’s oil production has frequently been attributed to pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft.
According to statistics from the World Bank, the average price of Brent, the worldwide standard for crude oil, in July 2023 was $80.1 per barrel.
It is implied that Nigeria lost around $320.4 million in the review month based on the four million barrels of crude oil that were lost. The average conversion rate of the local currency in July was N777.3/$, according to data from spot exchange rates for the United States dollar to the Nigerian naira in 2023.
When the $320.4 million is multiplied by the average exchange rate in July, it is implied that Nigeria lost nearly N249 billion during the month under consideration.
According to data from the NUPRC, the nation produced 1.25 million barrels per day of crude oil in June, but that number fell to 1.08 million barrels per day in July. In May, the nation produced 1.18 mbpd, which was more than the 0.99 mbpd production number seen in the month before, April.
that crude from Nigeria dropped by 38,102 barrels per day in March, translating to a cumulative loss of about 1,181,162 barrels, and signaled the first plunge in oil production since seven months.
But the drop grew worse in April, as it plunged by 269,600 per day when compared to what was recorded in the preceding month.
Nigeria’s oil production had been on the rise since September 2022, following concerted efforts by the Federal Government and stakeholders to curb oil theft in the sector.
The rise in oil output was, however, not sustained in March, as figures from the NUPRC showed that while the country pumped 1.31mbpd of crude daily in February, the volume dropped to 1.27mbpd in March and further went down to 0.99mbpd in April.
Nigeria recorded its lowest oil production volume of 0.94mbpd in September 2022. The Federal Government and oil sector players had blamed this on the massive crude theft in Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta.
The situation also led to humongous revenue losses for the country, international oil companies operating in Nigeria, as well as indigenous operators in the industry.
But the country’s oil output started improving after September, following concerted efforts by security officials and oil operators, as industry figures showed that crude production rose to 1mbpd in October 2022.
This indicated an increase of 0.077mbpd when compared to the 0.937mbpd output in September. In November, the country pumped 1.185mbpd crude, representing an increase of 0.171mbpd when matched against what was produced in October.
The rise in output continued in December last year, as Nigeria produced 1.253mbpd in that month, indicating an increase of 0.05mbpd when compared to its output in November.
The 1.258mbpd oil production in January 2023 was about 23,000bpd higher than the 1.235mbpd crude oil output in December 2022.
The momentum was sustained in February, with an output of 1.31mbpd. But the volume dropped to 1.27mbpd in March, putting an end to the seven-month run in Nigeria’s oil output. It further went down in April to 0.998mbpd, moved up to 1.18mbpd in May, increased further to 1.25mbpd in June, but crashed to 1.08mbpd in July.
