Nigeria meets 104% of OPEC quota as crude production reaches 74-month high

Nigeria’s crude oil production exceeded the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota in June, with average daily crude output rising to 1.56 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest level recorded since April 2020.

This was disclosed in production data released by Eniola Akinkuotu, on Sunday, head, Media and Strategic Communications Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The report showed that Nigeria’s combined crude oil and condensate production averaged 1,735,398 barrels per day in June, extending production growth for the fourth consecutive month.

Of the total output, crude oil accounted for 1.56 million bpd, while condensate production stood at 180,000 bpd, enabling the country to achieve 104 per cent of its 1.5 million bpd OPEC production quota.

According to the statement, the June crude oil production represents a 74-month high, making it the country’s best performance since April 2020.

The report also revealed that combined crude oil and condensate production peaked at 1.89 million bpd during the month, while the lowest daily output recorded was 1.57 million bpd, highlighting Nigeria’s growing capacity to reach two million barrels per day.

Production has maintained an upward trend in recent months, rising from 1.483 million bpd in February to 1.546 million bpd in March, 1.663 million bpd in April, 1.700 million bpd in May, and 1.735 million bpd in June, representing a 2.2 per cent month-on-month increase.

Explaining the improvement, Akinkuotu attributed the performance to stable operations across producing assets and improved pipeline reliability.

“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.”