An Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries report has revealed that Nigeria’s crude oil production has dipped below 1 million barrels per day.
OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report for May puts the country’s oil output for May at 999, 000 barrels per day, which was below its 1.73 million barrels per day target.
According to the report, production dropped to 999, 000b/d from 1.3mb/d and 1.2mb/d recorded in February and March, respectively.
However, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, during an interview with Reuters last Saturday, said Nigeria’s production was 1.56 million barrels per day.
Nigeria had struggled to meet its OPEC quota of 1.742 million bpd due to oil theft and illegal refining, forcing the cartel to further reduce its quota for the rest of 2023.
An energy law expert at Bloomfield, Ayodele Oni, said Nigeria’s low production was having an adverse impact on its budget.
“First, it makes nonsense of our budgetary plans in terms of expected revenues and means. We will need to borrow more and the government would not be able to do some of what it should do.”
In his reaction, oil and gas expert, Dr Austin Nweze, said low output would cause revenue to drop, urging the country to look for alternatives to make up for the situation.
“There will be revenue loss because there is a demand to meet. However, the country must always provide alternatives to increase production so as to meet customers’ demand, because if the contract is not meant, then, it is a bad reputation for the country and customers will find another buyer,” he said.
An independent researcher and development practitioner, Dr Dauda Garuba, also collaborated with the view that low crude oil production meant revenue loss for the country.
