OpeOuwani Akintayo
Lagos — Nigeria’s crude oil production has since August fallen below the OPEC quota of 1.7 million barrels per day.
Statistics from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC’s December Monthly Oil Market Report, MOMR says the country has been producing about 1.3 million barrels per day since August.
Since the month under review, Nigeria’s production has been in the range of 1.351mb/d in August, 1,332mb/d September, 1,347,b/d in October, and 1,329mb/d in November, according to direct sources to OPEC.
The share of OPEC crude oil in total global production was up by 0.3% in November to 27.1% compared with the previous month.
Total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 25.11 mb/d in November 2020, up by 0.71 mb/d m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya and UAE, while production decreased primarily in Iraq.
Further data showed that Nigeria’s production had fallen short of 1.7mb/d to the range of 1.5mb/d since second quarter of the year from around 1.7mb/d in the first quarter of the year.
Adverse effects of the COVID-19 had apparently affected crude oil production as most oil economies found it almost impossible to sell their crude oil at the international market.
Coronavirus: 50 cargoes of Nigerian crude stranded in market – NNPC
The global oil sector witnessed a crash as prices fell from a historical $100 per barrel to as low as $0.01 a barrel before falling to as low as negative $40 and eventually settling at negative $37.63, the lowest level recorded since the New York Mercantile Exchange began trading oil futures in 1983.
Nigeria for one, due to crash in crude oil prices had resorted to prioritizing gas over oil, launching the National Gas Expansion Programme, NGEP.
