Nigeria maintained crude oil production above its OPEC quota for the fifth consecutive month in September, with average daily output of crude oil and condensates rising by 2.34 per cent to 1.717 million barrels.
Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that combined crude oil and condensate production reached a daily peak of 1.84 million barrels in September. Output on the lowest-producing day stood at 1.68 million barrels.
However, excluding condensates, Nigeria produced an average of 1.53 million barrels of crude oil daily, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by the NUPRC’s Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu.
The figure represents 102 per cent of Nigeria’s OPEC quota of 1.5 million barrels per day, putting production 30,000 barrels above the allocation.
The September result extended Nigeria’s run of meeting or exceeding its crude oil production quota to five months. Average daily crude oil output stood at 1.53 million barrels in May, 1.55 million in June, 1.51 million in July and 1.5 million in August.
The regulator attributed the improvement to stable operations across most producing assets and the absence of major pipeline outages. These conditions helped operators maintain production and move crude oil more efficiently from producing fields.
“The improved performance was primarily driven by stable production operations across most producing assets and the absence of any major pipeline outages during the period under review. This enhanced operational stability supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency,” the commission said.
The NUPRC added that operators and other industry stakeholders had continued efforts to improve efficiency, protect oil-producing assets and strengthen production reliability across the upstream petroleum sector.
Nigeria’s oil industry has faced longstanding challenges, including crude theft, pipeline vandalism, operational disruptions and difficulties evacuating crude oil.
A breakdown of production by terminal and stream showed that Forcados Terminal recorded average output of 320,320 barrels per day in September, making it the largest contributor among the listed terminals and streams.
