Nigeria meets OPEC quota for third consecutive month despite July output drop

By Firdaus Jibril

Nigeria has maintained its crude oil production above its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota for the third consecutive month in July, despite a four per cent month-on-month decline in production.

Latest figures from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that Nigeria produced an average of 1.505 million barrels per day (mbpd) of crude oil in July, slightly above the country’s OPEC quota of 1.5mbpd.

The country also produced 0.17mbpd of condensate, bringing its combined average daily production of crude oil and condensate to 1.67mbpd during the month.

The July crude oil output, however, was lower than the previous month, with the NUPRC putting the month-on-month decline at about four per cent.

The regulator attributed the reduction mainly to operational challenges at the Erha and Akpo fields, which affected production volumes during the period.

According to the NUPRC, the disruptions at the two fields contributed significantly to the reduction in overall national crude oil production, although operations across most other producing assets remained relatively stable.

The Commission said operators continued to implement measures aimed at maintaining production efficiency and reducing the impact of the operational challenges.

Despite the decline, daily combined crude oil and condensate production reached a peak of 1.78mbpd in July, while the lowest daily output recorded during the month was 1.57mbpd.

The latest performance follows a steady rise in combined crude oil and condensate production earlier in the year. NUPRC data showed production increased from 1.483mbpd in February to 1.546mbpd in March, 1.663mbpd in April, 1.70mbpd in May and 1.735mbpd in June.

July marked the first monthly decline following the production increases recorded between March and June.

A breakdown of production by terminals and streams showed that Forcados Terminal recorded the highest average output in July at 322.34 thousand barrels per day. Bonny Terminal followed with 303.72 thousand barrels per day, while Qua Iboe Terminal recorded 158.02 thousand barrels per day.

Escravos Oil Terminal recorded an average of 131.41 thousand barrels per day, while Bonga recorded 100.23 thousand barrels per day.

The NUPRC said production operations across other producing assets remained relatively stable and that industry stakeholders were focused on resolving the identified operational challenges, restoring affected production capacity and improving asset reliability.

The regulator said the July figures underscored the need for proactive asset management and timely intervention to minimise disruptions and sustain production growth in Nigeria’s upstream sector.