Nigeria’s oil production above OPEC quota – NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority say the country’s crude oil production has risen beyond the 1.5 million barrels per day quota allocated to it by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

The Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

Soneye issued that statement to clarify that there was no discrepancy between the NNPC crude oil production figures and those supplied by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Company.

The company clarified the situation against the backdrop of reports that the 1.54 million barrels per day for September, as cited by the NUPRC, was far below the 1.8mbpd for November, as cited by the NNPC.

According to Soneye, the seeming disparity resulted from the difference in the period of the report.

“The seeming disparity is as a result of the difference in the period of coverage in the reports whereas the NNPC Ltd’s figure was the peak production for October 2024, the NUPRC’s figure was the average production for September 2024,” Soneye said.

He added that this fact was confirmed by the Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, at the recent 42nd Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists Annual International Conference & Exhibition in Lagos where he disclosed that Nigeria’s crude oil output, including condensate, increased by 16.56 per cent to 1.8mbpd million in October 2024, from 1.54 million bpd in September 2024.

“The CEO of NUPRC who was represented by the Executive Commissioner, Development & Production, Mr. Enorense Amadasu, was quoted as saying: ‘This represents an increase of 253,710, bpd to reach 1.8 million bpd in October, up from 1.54 million bpd in September 2024, representing 16.56 per cent month-on-month rise’.

“The NUPRC also confirmed at the NAPE event that the 1.8mbpd feat pushed Nigeria’s production beyond the 1.5mbpd quota of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“There is, therefore, no disparity or discrepancy in the production figures by NNPC Ltd and the regulator,” he said.

Soneye maintained that the NNPC is working closely with relevant stakeholders to boost production to 2mbpd and above by the end of 2024.

Checks by our correspondent showed that the average daily crude oil production for September was 1.324mbp without condensate, according to NUPRC data. With condensate, oil production was 1.544mbpd.

In October, crude production averaged 1.33mbpd, below the OPEC quota while crude and condensate stood at 1.538mbpd.

This indicated that total oil production (crude and condensate) dropped from 1.544mbpd in September to 1.538mbpd in October 2024.

This sharply contrasts with the claim that oil production gained an increase of 253,710, bpd to 1.8mbpd in October, up from 1.54 million bpd in September 2024, representing a 16.56 per cent month-on-month rise.

It is yet to be seen whether the output in November will meet the OPEC quota.