OpeOluwani Akintayo
14 August 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Nigeria’s oil rig count increased by three between June and July this year.
Statistics obtained from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC’s, Monthly Oil Market Report, MOMR, for August, showed the number of oil rigs operating in the country grew from 32 in June to 35 in July.
Before the gain, Nigeria’s oil rigs had remained static at 32 since the first quarter of the year.
In 2015, the country had recorded 30 oil rig counts. But, it decreased to 25 in 2016. It went up to 28 in early 2017, before dropping later in the third quarter of that year to 27, but up again to 28 in the fourth quarter of same year.
Among other OPEC members, Algeria currently has 45 oil rigs operating, Angola, four; Ecuador, eight; and Equatorial Guinea, two.
Gabon has four oil rigs operating; Iran, 61; Iraq, 59; Kuwait, 50; Libya, 5; and Qatar, 9. The United Arab Emirates has 55 and Venezuela, 70. Saudi Arabia has the highest number of rigs, with 148.