Figures released on Tuesday by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), showed that Nigeria’s crude oil production crashed by 744,000 barrels in March 2021 when compared to what the country generated in February.
In the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report for April 2022, the organisation delineated the oil production volumes of its member nations and allies, as it disclosed that the output from Nigeria dropped in March.
An analysis of the document showed that Nigeria’s oil production dropped from the 1.378 million barrels per day recorded in February 2021 to 1.354 million barrels per day in March, indicating a daily decline of 24,000 barrels of crude oil.
This implies that for the 31 days in March, the country’s oil production dropped by a total of 744,000 barrels, despite the existing financial crisis confronting the Nigerian economy.
It was observed that while the country produced 1.413 million barrels of crude oil daily in January, this dropped to 1.378 million barrels per day in February and plunged further to 1.354 million barrels per day in March.
The situation confirmed concerns by both government officials and International Oil Companies operating in Nigeria that crude oil production in the country had been on the decline since 2021.
This, they said, was due to the massive oil theft that had bedevilled the sector since January 2021 to date, though they noted that efforts were ongoing to address the issue.
