Shipping information from the company Refinitiv Eikon, which monitors export flows, said that the country’s production has not fully recovered as it only exported 1.2 million barrels per day (mb/d) instead of the quota of 1.6 million b/d provided. by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
This report is based on the findings of Punch NG, a news agency in Nigeria. According to this report, the export of 1.2mb/d brought the January export total to 37.2 million barrels, against the 49.6 million expected if it had exported 1.6mb/d.
Nigeria is not the only country to fall short of its OPEC production quota, but the figures are troubling for what has long been Africa’s top oil producer.
In the period under review, Nigeria became prime to rake in N1.5tn from the production of 37. 2 million barrels exported, as against the projected revenue of N2tn if OPEC’s quota has been met. Due to this situation, Nigeria lost about N500 billion for not reaching the 1.6 million barrels per day OPEC limit.
This decline in Nigeria’s oil production has been a consistent problem since 2022, due to the destruction of oil infrastructure and theft. This is according to the Group Chief Executive of the state oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, who has been publicizing this issue since last year.
The Head of Upstream Investment Officer, NNPCL Upstream Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti, also mentioned the same problem, especially that the complications caused by the theft have a ripple effect on the Nigerian economy in general, because oil export is Nigeria’s main source of income.
“Cruel theft affects all the architecture that finances the country. When oil theft reaches its peak, everything including gas production is affected,” said.
This is also a problem, because there is a global market gap in the oil market that Africa can take advantage of. This is proven by the fact that some of the biggest oil cooperatives have started to set up shop in different parts of the continent.
If Nigeria can solve the problem of oil theft soon, it will become a key player in filling the global market gap in the oil sector.