Despite recording the biggest increase in output among its peers in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Nigeria has again lost its Africa’s top oil producer status to Angola after it regained it in November last year.
For nine months in 2016, Nigeria lagged behind its southern African counterpart in oil production on the back of the resurgence of militant attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta.
OPEC, in its Monthly Oil Market Report for February 2017, which was released on Monday, put crude oil production from Nigeria at 1.604 million barrels per day in January, up from 1.37 million bpd in the previous month, based on direct communication.
Production from Angola stood at 1.615 million bpd in January, down from the 1.639 million bpd it closed at last year.
Nigeria’s output had increased to 1.782 million bpd in November from 1.39 million bpd, compared to Angola’s 1.688 million bpd, OPEC’s December report showed.
OPEC, which uses secondary sources to monitor its oil output, but also publishes a table of figures submitted by its member countries, said the group’s total production in January averaged 32.14 million bpd, showing a decrease of 890,000 bpd over the previous month.
“Crude oil output decreased the most in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, while production in Nigeria, Libya and Iran increased,” the 13-member oil cartel said.
Nigeria had in March 2016 lost the top spot to Angola when the country’s production dropped to 1.677 million barrels per day, compared to Angola’s 1.782 million bpd.
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