Nigeria’s oil output drops as global crude prices hit multi-year low

Recent reports indicate that Nigeria's crude production fell in March, in light of the current global crude price drop.

• Nigeria's crude production fell in March due to global crude price drop.
• Nigeria was the largest oil producer in Africa for the last two months, according to OPEC reports.
• In April, global crude prices fell to their lowest levels since 2021.

Compared to the previous month when Nigeria produced an average of 1.465 million barrels per day, (mbp/d), in March, the country produced an average of 1.40 million barrels per day.

This information was released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), as seen in the Punch Newspaper.

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In the last two months, as reported by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria has been the largest oil producer in Africa.

OPEC crude production figures for Nigeria

In January, OPEC’s report showed that oil prices were considerably volatile, rising to five-month highs before falling in the second half of the month.

However, Nigeria produced an average of 1.495 mbp/d as per the DoC crude oil production based on secondary sources, which made it the highest oil producer in Africa, with Libya coming in second at 1,277 mbp/d.

Nonetheless, this was a drop from its production in December, as January’s figure was -29 compared to the end of 2024.

In February, Nigeria’s oil production using the same methodology, saw a significant increase, rising to 1,560 mbp/d.

By April, global crude prices fell to their lowest levels since 2021, owing to Trump’s import tariffs and a sudden crude supply increase by OPEC+, which knocked $10 a barrel off global benchmarks.

Despite this, ex-depot petrol prices saw an increase of N40, going from N860 to N900 per liter in Nigeria’s commercial hub, Lagos.

As per the Punch's report, the NUPRC disclosed slightly different figures, stating; “Lowest and peak production in March were 1.49 million bopd and 1.76 million bopd, respectively. The daily average production in March was 1,603,776 barrels per day, comprising both crude oil (1,400,783 bopd) and condensate (202,993 bopd). The average crude oil production was 93 percent of the OPEC quota (1.5 mbpd).”

Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), has said multiple times that he is confident Nigeria will surpass 3 mbpd this year.

The minister emphasized that Nigeria will increase output by adopting US President Donald Trump's "Drill, baby drill" model.

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