CEM REPORT | Daily crude oil production in the country fell below 1 million barrels per day (BPD) for the month of August to 972,394 BPD the lowest recorded in years.
According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s monthly oil report on Thursday, Nigeria’s monthly average was 972,394, compared to 1,03,899 for the previous month.
This indicates that Nigeria lost about 111,505 barrels of crude oil daily while it lost 3,456,666 barrels in one month producing 30,144,212 barrels in August, from total crude oil production of 33,600,878 barrels in July 2022.
An analysis of 2020, 2021 and 2022 crude oil and condensate production reports for Nigeria showed that the 972,394 BPD produced in August 2022 was the lowest ever in these years.
Further data reveals that the average price of Brent, the global benchmark for crude, was $100.5/barrel in the month of August.
This implies that Nigeria lost $364.68m or N155.87bn (at Thursday’s official exchange rate of N427.43/$) in the month under review by losing 3,456,666 barrels.
However, according to Bloomberg’s survey of monthly OPEC output, Nigeria’s output for August was 1.13 million barrels.
Meanwhile, Angola’s average daily output of 1.17 million barrels. The last time Angola topped Nigeria was in April 2017.
Bloomberg’s survey also showed that Libya produced 1.08 million barrels of crude a day in August, and could soon overtake Nigeria if it continues on its current trajectory.
Meanwhile, Shell also warned that the work on the 180,000-barrel-a-day Trans Niger Pipeline would be completed in late September, which would put a dent in Nigeria’s crude oil export capacity.
Despite high oil prices, Nigeria has benefited little due to activities of vandals and thieves of crude oil.
Several attempts by the federal government to curb the rising tide of crude oil theft have yielded little fruit.
CEM reported the disbanding of the Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) of its anti-vandalism unit over reports of its agents aiding and abetting vandalism in the country.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited went to the Federal High Court to canvass a special tribunal for the speedy trial of crude oil thieves and pipeline vandals.
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has threatened to halt the production of oil across the country if the Federal Government failed to curb the menace of oil theft and vandalism.
PENGASSAN making good on its earlier issued threat commenced rallies in various states on Thursday to protest the continued stealing of crude, as it blamed soldiers and other security agents for conniving with thieves to perpetuate the crime.
The association’s President, Festus Osifo, said the majority of Nigeria’s oil exploration activities on land were currently shut due to massive oil theft in the Niger Delta.
“We’ve had meetings with the security agencies and captains of industry on what could be done to end oil theft, but these meetings seem to be yielding no result.”
“We now think that engaging behind the four walls of the office is not enough, because our engagements with those in government have not yielded any meaningful result.”
Osifo stated that the massive oil theft had affected other sectors of the economy, stressing that manufacturers could hardly borrow money from deposit money banks because the government was currently crowding them out.
“Banks now lend money to the government at the expense of private businesses and manufacturers, because the government is the one that can pay. It can print money to settle the debts at the expense of manufacturers,”
