How Nigeria retained position as Africa’s largest oil producer

• In the first half of 2024, Nigeria produced 236,229,281 barrels of crude oil as seen by data presented by NUP
• Between January and June of 2023, the country produced 219.5 million barrels of oil, 16.73 million fewer than in 2024
• The government of Nigeria is optimistic about a recovery following a small increase in output to 1.28 million barrels per day in June

Legit.ng journalist Zainab Iwayemi has over 3-year-experience covering the Economy, Technology, and Capital Market.

Nigeria produced 236,229,281 barrels of crude oil in the first half of 2024.

Between January and June of 2023, Nigeria produced 219.5 million barrels of oil, 16.73 million fewer than in 2024. Photo Credit: FG
Source: Getty Images

Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission confirmed that 44.2 million barrels of crude were produced in January and 38.3 million barrels in February.

The Punch reported that 38.1 million barrels were produced in March and 38.4 million barrels were produced each month in April.

Similarly, 38.8 million barrels were pumped in May, and in June, 38.3 million barrels were reached.

This means that the nation produced a total of 219.5 million barrels of oil between January and June of 2023, 16.73 million fewer than in 2024.

Nonetheless, the nation produced 302.42 million barrels of crude oil in the first half of 2020—66 million barrels more than it did in the same time of this year.

This suggests that the country's oil production has been fluctuating throughout time, dropping more than increasing.

NUPRC data revealed that the nation produced 1.43 million barrels of crude oil on average per day in the first month of the year, which was the greatest average daily production of crude oil throughout the six-month period.

Oil production fell to 1.32 million barrels per day in February and then to 1.23 million barrels per day in March.

The government's efforts to prevent the numbers from falling further may have paid off, as the daily production increased slightly to 1.28 million barrels per day in April.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited's Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, stated that the nation's daily oil production was getting close to 1.7 million barrels, but the number dropped once more to 1.25 million barrels per day in May.

The Nigerian government, whose economy is mostly dependent on crude oil, has hope for a recovery after seeing a little increase in output to 1.28 million barrels per day in June.

Recently, Kyari bemoaned the detrimental effects that oil theft and vandalism were having on the economy of the country, claiming that these actions deterred investment in the oil and gas industry.

“How do you increase oil production? Remove the security challenge we have in our onshore assets. As we all know, the security challenge is real. It is not just about theft; it is about the availability of the infrastructure to deliver the volume to the market.

Nigeria retains position as Africa’s largest oil producer

Legit.ng reported that data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has disclosed that Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production increased slightly to 1.276 million barrels daily in June.

The information is based on data from direct communication with Nigerian authorities.

This is an increase of just 25,000 barrels daily from the 1.251 barrels per day recorded the previous month.

Source: Legit.ng