Fakoyejo OlalekanNigeria increased its daily crude oil production by 21,000 barrels in June to remain Africa’s largest crude oil producer, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
While Nigeria raised its production slightly, OPEC reported in its Monthly Oil Market Report for June that other top producers like Angola, Algeria and Congo recorded a decline in output.
In the report released by OPEC on Thursday, Nigeria’s crude oil output increased from 1,277 million barrels bpd reported in May to 1,298 million barrels per day in June, according to OPEC’s Direct Communication.
However, OPEC’s Secondary Sources disclosed that the West African nation’s crude production rose to 1,249 million barrels per day last month, from 1,184 million barrels the preceding month.
Regardless, Nigeria’s Direct Communication report on crude output placed the country above Angola, as the latter’s production dropped to 1,102 million bpd in June, below the 1,148 million barrels recorded in May.
But OPEC said its Secondary Sources put the figure for June at 1,119 million bpd, up from the 1,111 million barrels reported in May.
Algeria, according to Direct Communication, declined from 973,000 bpd in May to 957,000 barrels the next month. Congo also produced lower crude of 262,000 barrels bpd in June, down from 266,000 barrels a month before.
In its summary of Nigeria’s economy, OPEC said inflation is burdening the country’s growth, “Nigeria’s economy grew by 3.3% in 2022, but is forecast to decelerate in 2023. Growth in 1Q23 stood at 2.4% y-o-y in 1Q23, after growth of 3.6% in 4Q22, an indicator for this year’s anticipated slowdown.
“The seasonally adjusted 1Q23 GDP growth rate on a quarterly basis even contracted by 0.8%. Weakening growth in the services, manufacturing, and agricultural sectors are developments to be considered in the 2023 growth trend.
“Moreover, high inflation continues to burden the economy. Inflation data for May shows an ongoing acceleration, with an annual rate of 22.4% y-o-y, compared with 22.2% in April and 22% in March. Food inflation has been a key factor in this rise, reaching 24.8% y-o-y in May, after 24.6% in April and 24.5% in March.
“Consequently, the Central Bank of Nigeria lifted the key policy rate by 50 bp to 18.5% in May, but this policy rate has remained unchanged since. Despite the challenges, May’s Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria PMI held up well, retracting only slightly to stand at 52.3 in June, after 54 in May and 53.8 in April,” OPEC said.
Disclosing the total crude oil production by its members, OPEC said 28.19 million bpd were pumped in June, based on its secondary sources, “total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 28.19 mb/d in June 2023, higher by 91 tb/d m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in IR Iran and Iraq, while production in Angola declined.”
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