Nigeria fails to meet OPEC quota for third consecutive month

Stories by Olakunle Oke 

Nigeria has for the third consecutive month failed to meet its allotted quota set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a persistent shortfall that is constraining national revenues and raising concerns over output reliability.

According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) released on Wednesday, Nigeria’s crude oil production rose slightly to 1.401 million barrels per day (bpd) in October, up from 1.39 million bpd recorded in September.

The last time the country met its target was in July 2025, underscoring the ongoing challenges facing Africa’s largest oil producer.

Data from the report revealed that Nigeria’s oil output averaged 1.444 million bpd in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025, marking a decline from 1.481 million bpd recorded in the second quarter and 1.468 million bpd in the first quarter of the year. 

The figures highlight Nigeria’s continued struggle to sustain production recovery despite renewed investments and government interventions in the upstream sector.

On the global front, OPEC noted that world oil supply exceeded demand by 500,000 bpd in October, reversing a 400,000-bpd shortfall recorded in September. 

The Vienna-based secretariat attributed the surplus partly to a rise in non-OPEC production, which added 890,000 bpd globally more than half of which came from the United States.