Rises to more than 1.6m bpd — Reports

•But price remains a challenge

By Udeme Akpan, Energy Editor

THERE are indications that Nigeria is now close to meeting its 1.7 million barrels per day, bpd, 2024 budget target, as oil output rose month-on-month, MoM, to 1.4 million barrels per day, bpd, excluding condensate, in August 2024, from 1.3 million bpd in July 2024, indicating an increase of 3.4 per cent.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, disclosed this in its latest September 2024 Monthly Oil Market Report, MOMR, obtained by Vanguard, adding that the data was based on information from direct communication.

This was even as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, said the nation recently produced 227,000 bpd of Condensate, indicating the nation’s total output would be more than 1.6 million bpd.

On a year-on-year, YoY basis, the August output indicates a huge 16.7 percent rise against the 1.2 million bpd recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

The report showed that Nigeria’s output consistently rose from 1. 276 million bpd in June 2024 to 1.307 million bpd and 1.4 million bpd in July and August 2024, respectively.

According to OPEC, Nigeria remains Africa’s highest oil producer while Congo emerged the least with 270,000 bpd.

However, when data obtained from secondary communication were considered, OPEC maintained that Nigeria’s oil output was slightly higher at 1.44 million bpd during the period, thus enhancing the total production from OPEC-member nations.

It stated: “According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.59 mb/d in August 2024, 197 tb/d lower, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Nigeria, Congo, and Venezuela, while production in Libya, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia decreased.

“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.07 mb/d in August 2024, 108 tb/d lower, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Mexico and Bahrain, while production in Kazakhstan and Russia decreased.”

However, not much revenue should be expected immediately as the price of Nigeria’s Bonny Light, yesterday, hovered at $71 per barrel, indicating 8.9 per cent below the 2024 budget target of $77.96 per barrel.

Meanwhile, in a telephone interview with Vanguard, the National President, Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria, OGSPAN, Mazi Colman, attributed the development to increased battle against oil theft in the Niger Delta.