12th April, 2022
By Solomon Asowata
Nigeria’s crude oil production declined to an average of 1.354 million barrels per day in March 2022, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said.
This is about 450,000 barrels short of Nigeria’s OPEC quota of 1.8 million barrels.
OPEC made this known in its Oil Market Report for April 2022.
The report said the figure showed a decrease of 24, 000 barrels per day when compared to the 1.378mb/d produced averagely in the month of February 2022.
With reduced crude production, Nigeria has been unable to reap maximum advantage in rising oil prices.
In December 2021 Nigeria recorded 1.41mbpd, which means it is producing less this year.
The production figure also spells doom for the 2022 budget.
President Buhari in letters to both the House of Representatives and the Senate asked that oil production level be set at 1.6million, 283,000 barrels per day less than the OPEC quota of 1.883 million barrels per day.
“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 28.56 mb/d in March 2022, higher by 57 tb/d month-on-month.
“Crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates while production in Libya, Nigeria and Congo declined,” it said.
The report noted that following a contraction of 1.8 per cent year-on-year in 2020, Nigeria’s economy expanded by 3.6 per cent in 2021.
It said this economic recovery was most likely to continue over the course of 2022 with support from improvements in the hydrocarbons sector and energy prices.
The report said: “Recent official data suggested that the annual inflation rate edged up slightly to 15.7 per cent in February 2022 from 15.6 per cent in January 2022, although food inflation remained elevated.
“Indeed, higher food costs related to geopolitical tensions could further fuel inflation.
“In March 2022, the overall business improvement softened as Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria’s Purchasing Managers’ Index suggested, indeed it dropped to 54.1 from 57.3 in February.
“Yet, the overall prospects for Nigeria’s short-term economic outlook remain positive, despite concerns over inflationary pressures amid disruptions to global trade flows and supply shortages.”(