Nigeria maintains top position as Africa’s leading crude producer in June 2023

Nigeria is still the top African crude producer for June 2023.

This is according to data from the Monthly Oil Market report by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), released on Thursday, July 13.  

In the report, it was stated that of the top four producers in Africa, Nigeria produced 1, 249 million barrels of crude oil per day, and Libya produced 1,186 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Meanwhile, Angola produced 1,119 million barrels per day and Algeria produced 953K barrels per day in June 2023.  

The OPEC production figures were quoted as direct communication, indicating that condensate production figures were not included.

However, based on June 2023 data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria produced 1,248,960 of crude per day and 55,088 blended condensates as well as 176,030 unblended condensates, making up a total of 1,480,078 (crude production) for the highlighted period.  

Nairametrics had earlier reported that a Reuters survey found that the output of oil production from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)-13 only witnessed a minor decline in June 2023.

This was primarily due to Nigeria and Iraq mitigating the impact of production cutbacks implemented by other countries. 

Nigeria’s oil production is improving 

Nigeria’s crude oil production is improving however the production rate is yet to reach the 1.69 million barrels per day benchmark set in the country’s 2023 budget, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as well as its partners are still fighting against crude oil theft and other security challenges. 

But Gabriel Aduda, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has said that steps have been taken to ensure that the country produces 1.7 million barrels per day by the end of the year.   

But the economy is weakening 

The cited OPEC report notes that Nigeria’s economy grew by 3.3% in 2022 but is forecast to decelerate in 2023. Growth in Q1 2023 stood at 2.4% year-on-year after growth of 3.6% in Q4 2022, an indicator of this year’s anticipated slowdown.

The report also stated that the seasonally adjusted Q1 2023 GDP growth rate on a quarterly basis even contracted by 0.8%.  

A part of the report stated: 

• “Weakening growth in the services, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors are developments to be considered in the 2023 growth trend. Moreover, high inflation continues to burden the economy. Inflation data for May shows an ongoing acceleration, with an annual rate of 22.4% y-o-y, compared with 22.2% in April and 22% in March.”  

What you should know

A review of crude oil prices by Nairametrics on Wednesday, July 12 revealed that the Brent crude benchmark reached $80.41 a barrel for the first time since May 2023.

As of Friday, July 14, Brent crude was $81.43 a barrel at 5:10 am (GMT+1).