CEM REPORT, ENERGY | The monthly oil market report by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Allies (OPEC+) has revealed that Nigerian oil terminal, Forcado’s oil terminal witnessed the highest reduction of 4.61m barrels in its total crude oil production to 3.29 million barrels in July 2023 from 7.90 million barrels in June 2023. A decline of 58.39 per cent month on month.
The decline however can be attributed to maintenance work on the oil terminal.
Bonny terminal also experienced a decline from its total oil output of 3.2 million barrels per day in June 2023 to 2.6 million barrels per day in July 2023, an overall reduction of 608,400 barrels.
Notably, oil ports like Escravos and Qua Iboe produced more barrels of crude oil in July 2023 as opposed to June 2023, climbing by 390,833 and 334,843 respectively to 4.87 million and 4.12 million barrels.
Small oil terminals like the Ugo Ocha (Jones Creek) oil terminal, that do not pump oil condensates, increased its output by 361,927 barrels to 624,645 barrels in July 2023 from 262,718 barrels in June 2023.
Meanwhile, OPEC+ total crude oil production (crude oil and condensates) was down 9.65 per cent month on month to 40.12 million from 44.40 million in June 2023 and down 1.52 per cent year on year to 40.74 million compared with July 2022.
According to the report, Nigeria’s daily crude oil production dropped by 185,916 barrels to a production average of 1.29mbpd in July 2023. The production rate is lower than the production output of 1.48mbpd in June 2023 and 19,912 barrels lower than the 1.31mbpd reported in July 2022.
Nigeria’s oil production has stayed low in recent years, making it challenging for the nation to completely depend on its primary source of foreign money and placing enormous pressure on her foreign exchange.
The primary drivers of the problem are currently identified as crude oil theft, extensive vandalism to pipelines in the Niger Delta, and years of underinvestment in the oil and gas industry.
Recall and earlier CEM report where Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, Permanent Secretary at Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources, told Energy Intelligence last month, that, Nigeria aims to significantly increase its oil production to up to 1.7 million bpd by November 2023, hoping to win a higher quota in the OPEC+ agreement.
That report also recalled the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited $3 billion emergency crude repayment loan from the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on August 16.
The national oil company said the crude-for-cash funding would sustain the naira and stabilise the foreign exchange market which has witnessed significant volatility in recent weeks.
