Nigeria’s oil production rose by 3.5 percent in February 2023 to 1.54 million barrels per day from 1.494 million barrels per day recorded in January, latest data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC has shown.
January production had risen by 5.6 percent compared to 1.41 million barrels per day recorded in December 2023.
The Commission in the oil production data released yesterday indicated that crude oil production which the country reports to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, was 1.306 million per day. Condensate oil accounted for 241,415 barrels per day during the month.
It means the country continued to lag significantly from the OPEC approved quota of 1.8 million barrels per day.
Nigeria’s oil production has stagnated in the past two years due to the activities of oil thieves and pipeline vandals, making it impossible for the country to profit from high oil prices at the international market.
But the upstream regulator has also explained that a large part of oil losses attributed to pipeline vandalism was as a result of poor measurement systems in the oil and gas sector.
According to the commission, inaccurate measurement is responsible for about 40 percent of crude oil losses attributed to oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
It stated that a forensic audit conducted by the Commission covering the period January 2020 to November 2022 on crude theft numbers showed a poor measurement system.
The Commission said it “is committed to dealing with the issue of metering errors by ensuring that Original Equipment Manufacturers licensed directly as agents of the Commission will be responsible for deployment and maintenance of metering facilities across Nigeria’s oil and gas facilities, for transparency in hydrocarbon accounting”.
Vanguard