The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that the country’s oil production, including a type of oil called condensate, saw a significant rise in November 2024. Specifically, production increased by 9.9%, reaching 1.69 million barrels of oil per day, compared to 1.538 million barrels per day in October 2024.
According to new information from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, which is a government agency responsible for overseeing oil production, the production of liquid crude oil alone went up by 11.42%. In November, this production hit 1.48 million barrels per day, up from 1.33 million barrels per day in October.
Despite this increase, Nigeria’s oil production is still below the target set for the country by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC has specific quotas for each member country to help manage global oil supply and prices.
On the other hand, the production of condensate oil, which is not subject to OPEC’s production limits, saw a slight decline of 0.01%. In November, condensate production fell to 204,828 barrels per day from 204,806 barrels per day in October.
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Even with these improvements in production numbers, Nigeria is still not meeting the target set in its 2024 budget, which aims for an oil production level of 1.78 million barrels per day. This gap continues to exist despite claims from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that production has actually risen to 1.8 million barrels per day.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, commented on Nigeria’s production quota, stating that OPEC’s decision to maintain Nigeria’s oil production quota at 1.5 million barrels per day aligns with the country’s goals. He also mentioned that this quota fits into Nigeria’s broader target of reaching an oil production level of 2.06 million barrels per day by 2025, as outlined in a draft budget for that year.
In a related development, the Port Harcourt refinery, which has the capacity to process 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day, officially started operating on November 26.
OPEC has also confirmed that Nigeria remains the largest oil producer in Africa. In its latest monthly report, OPEC noted that Nigeria’s oil output increased to 1.48 million barrels per day in November, up from 1.33 million barrels per day in October. This production level was the highest in Africa for that month, surpassing Algeria, which produced 908,000 barrels per day, and Congo, which had an output of 268,000 barrels per day.
OPEC’s data is based on direct communication with member countries, and they also reported that secondary sources indicated Nigeria’s crude production increased slightly to 1.417 million barrels per day in November, up from 1.4 million barrels per day in October.
Overall, OPEC reported that the total crude oil production from its member countries averaged 26.66 million barrels per day in November, which is an increase of 104,000 barrels per day compared to the previous month. The rise in production was primarily seen in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria, while countries like Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait experienced decreases in their output. Meanwhile, non-OPEC countries also saw an increase in production, averaging 14.01 million barrels per day in November, with notable increases in Kazakhstan and Malaysia.
