Nigeria oil production reaches 1.269mbpd in August 2023, with rig count at 18 – highest since March 2020

Oredola Adeola

Nigeria has maintained its position as Africa’s biggest oil producer with an increased crude oil production of 1.269 million barrels per day (mbpd) in August 2023, up by 98,000 bpd from the 1.171 mbpd recorded in July 2023, based Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) secondary sources.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OPEC) revealed this in its latest Monthly Oil Market (MOMR) Report for September 2023, obtained on Tuesday by EnergyDay.

Note that according to OPEC’s secondary data sources, Nigeria takes the lead in Africa’s oil production race, pumping out an impressive 1.269mbpd in August 2023. Libya and Angola followed closely behind with production levels of 1.154mbpd and 1.115mbpd respectively.

However, based on direct communication, Nigeria’s output in August 2023, went up to 1.181 mbpd, and therefore increased with 100,000 bpd, from 1.081 mbpd recorded in July 2023.

The data obtained from the direct sources showed that Nigeria dropped to the second place, behind Libya 1.192 mbpd which emerged as the biggest oil producers in the continent, while Angola retained the third place with 1.129 mbpd.

Nigeria therefore achieved a rig count of 18 in August, which is the highest since March 2020.

Despite the increase in output based on both direct and secondary sources in August 2023, Nigeria is still far from meeting its OPEC allocation of 1.74 million barrels per day.

The total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 27.45 mb/d in August 2023, higher by 113,000 bpd month-on-month.

Crude oil output increased mainly in IR Iran, Nigeria, and Iraq, while production in Saudi Arabia, Angola, and Venezuela decreased.

Preliminary data indicates that global liquids production in August remained broadly unchanged averaged at 100.7 mbpd compared with the previous month even as the share of OPEC crude oil in total global production in the month under review increased by 0.1 percentage points to stand at 27.2% compared with the previous month.

On the rig count which is a major index for measuring the level of activities in the country’s upstream oil sector, the rigs increased to 18 in August from 14 in July of 2023.

The MOMR report for September 2023, showed Nigeria increased its rigs with 4, consistently increasing on a quarterly basis.

Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announced on Friday, September 1, 2023, that the country’s crude oil production level, including condensate, had increased to 1.67 million barrels per day.

According to him, the significant increase in crude production was due to President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda, including tax reform, which has helped to de-bottleneck the oil and gas industry.

The increase in production and rig count is a positive development for Nigeria’s oil industry and the country’s economy as a whole.