Nigeria surges past Angola but still falls short of OPEC quota
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Oil output in Nigeria rose 1.9 per cent from 1.235 million barrels per day (mb/d) in December 2022 to 1.258 mb/d in January 2023, says the February 2023 Monthly Oil Market Report of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Nigeria surged past Angola (1.050 mb/d) to top African producers in January, Equatorial Guinea came last at 55,000 barrels per day (bpd).
But Nigeria still falls short of its 1.8 mb/d quota allocated by OPEC.
The report said year-on-year (YoY), January output was a 10 per cent drop from the 1.399 mb/d Nigeria produced in January 2022.
The latest Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) data shows condensate oil production in December 2022 was 178,313 bpd, which brought total oil output to 1.4135 mb/d in the month, per The PUNCH.
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Oil production shortfall costs treasury N500b in one month
Abuja lost N500 billion revenue in January as a result of low crude oil production, according to shipping data compiled by Refinitiv Eikon which tracks export flows.
The data shows Nigeria’s output is yet to fully recover, having exported 1.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) against 1.6 mb/d quota allotted to it by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Export of 1.2 mb/d brings January’s total to 37.2 million barrels, down on 49.6 million if 1.6 mb/d had been shipped.
Nigeria’s crude grade, Bonny Light, sold for $89 per barrel (pb) in January, above Brent International, which went for $88 pb.
This translated to N1.5 trillion revenue from 37.2 million barrels exported in January instead of N2 trillion if OPEC quota had been met.
It means the treasury lost about N500 billion oil revenue in January for running short of 1.6 mb/d OPEC quota.
Nigeria was not the only country that performed below the bar set by OPEC.
Refinitiv Eikon data shows Iraqi exports declined due to less output from its southern fields, Saudi Arabia was thought by some sources in the survey to have trimmed exports, but output in the United Arab Emirates rose by about 10,000 bpd.
Among Libya, Iran and Venezuela, the three producers exempt from OPEC cuts, Venezuela’s output was slightly higher and there was a small decline in Iran, which registered a surge in exports in December, according to the survey.
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