TheCable

Nigeria’s oil production increased to 1,350,573 barrels per day (bpd) in October 2023.

The drilling performance is contained in the latest crude oil and condensate production data of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The figure represents the highest production level since the beginning of the year. It is also the biggest volume since January 2022.

According to the NUPRC data, output rose by 4,011 bpd in July — a 0.30 percent increase compared to 1,346,562 bpd produced in September 2023.

With the addition of condensate, Nigeria’s oil production dropped to 1.56 million bpd in October from 1.57 million barrels in September 2023.

Although oil production improved significantly in October, the volume is still below Nigeria’s Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota of 1.74 million bpd.

The NUPRC believes Nigeria will exceed OPEC’s oil output quota, but sectoral challenges, including oil theft and pipeline vandalism, are key issues hampering this feat.

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) had said oil theft and losses have become a national emergency in the country.

“NEITI has put in the public domain empirical data of oil theft and losses at 619.7 million barrels of crude, valued at $46.16 billion or N16.25 trillion between 2009 and 2020,” the agency said.

Meanwhile, On November 7, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited announced the introduction of the Nembe crude oil grade to the market.