Nigeria met and exceeded the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota for the third consecutive month in July.
This was contained in the latest production data released the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) which said even though the OPEC target was met, there was a four per cent month-on-month decline in oil production.
The data showed that Nigeria produced an average of 1.505 million barrels per day of crude oil in July, slightly above its OPEC quota of 1.5 million barrels per day.
With condensate production put at 170,000 barrels per day, the country’s combined crude oil and condensate output stood at 1.67 million barrels per day during the month.
In a statement signed by its Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, the NUPRC said the July output, however, represented a decline from the 1.735 million barrels per day recorded in June, translating to a reduction of about 65,000 barrels per day, or 3.75 per cent.
The decline marked the first monthly drop after production had risen steadily between January and June. Combined crude oil and condensate output increased from 1.459 million barrels per day in January to 1.483mbpd in February, 1.564mbpd in March, 1.663mbpd in April, 1.701mbpd in May and 1.735mbpd in June.
The NUPRC attributed the July decline principally to operational challenges at the Erha and Akpo fields, saying the disruptions affected production during the period under review. “These disruptions constrained production volumes and contributed significantly to the overall reduction in national crude oil output,” the commission said.
Despite the setbacks, the regulator said production activities across other producing assets remained relatively stable, with operators implementing measures aimed at maintaining production efficiency and minimising the impact of operational constraints.
Daily combined crude oil and condensate production peaked at 1.78 million barrels per day in July, while the lowest output stood at 1.57mbpd. The production breakdown showed that Forcados Terminal recorded the highest average output at 322.34 thousand barrels per day, followed by Bonny Terminal with 303.72kbpd.
Qua Iboe Terminal produced an average of 158.02kbpd, while Escravos Oil Terminal recorded 131.41kbpd. Bonga ranked fifth, with an average production of 100.23kbpd of crude oil.
The commission said routine production and crude evacuation operations were largely sustained across the sector during the month. It also said stakeholders were focused on resolving the operational challenges, restoring affected production capacity and improving asset reliability.
“Industry stakeholders remain focused on addressing the identified operational issues, restoring affected production capacity and strengthening asset reliability to support improved performance in subsequent months,” the NUPRC said.
The regulator added that the July performance underscored the importance of proactive asset management, operational resilience and timely intervention in mitigating production disruptions.
