Crude oil production in Nigeria slightly rose to 1.258 million barrels per day (b/d) in January 2023, representing at least a 23,000 increase from the 1.235m b/d in December 2022, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The rig count of Nigeria which shows oil exploration activities also rose to 13 in January this year.
Analysis of the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for February 2023, obtained yesterday, showed that crude oil output increased mainly in Nigeria, Angola and Kuwait, while production in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and IR Iran declined.
In terms of crude oil production, OPEC which cited secondary sources maintained that total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 28.88m b/d in January 2023, lower by 49 trillion b/d from the figures in December.
Further analysis of the OPEC record which it obtained from direct communication from the 13 member countries shows that Nigeria’s crude oil production at 1.258m b/d is still ahead of its peers in Africa. Angola came second having produced 1.105m b/d and Algeria having 1.012m b/d in January. While Libya has not produced oil since 2021, Congo produced 275,000 b/d for the month. Equatorial Guinea produced 55,000 b/d and no record for Gabon in January but it produced 189,000 b/d in December 2022.
Leading the OPEC on oil production is Saudi Arabia with 10.453m b/d with Iraq trailing with 4.331m b/d and the United Arab Emirates with 3.038m b/d.
The OPEC basket average crude oil price rose slightly by $1.94 in January from $79.68 in December 2022 to $81.62 in January 2023. However, crude production dropped by 0.05% from 28.93bn b/d to 28.88bn b/d during the period under review.
Nigeria’s rig count which shows the level of oil production activities also grew by one in January from 12 units recorded in December 2022. Nigeria also retained the highest rig count in Africa followed by Angola with nine units.
For the 13 OPEC members, the entire rig count decreased by two in January from 400 to 398 units, signifying lower oil production. However, the global rig count increased by 72 units from 1,911 units in December 2022 to 1,982 units in January with most of the rigs for oil drilling while few were for gas drilling.
On economic growth, OPEC said Nigeria’s economy faces a sharp rise in inflation, accompanied by higher interest rates and slowing private-sector momentum, leading to a slowdown in household consumption.
The report also said the inflation rate remained almost unchanged at 21.3 per cent, after it had accelerated to its highest level in 17 years in December 2022, reaching 21.5%. This has been driven by localised food and fuel shortages. The rate showed a constantly rising trend for most of the year.
On the strength of manufacturing, the Stanbic IBTC Bank total economy PMI retracted to stand at 53.5 in January, after reaching 54.6 in December and compared with 54.3 in November 2022, OPEC noted.
The next report is scheduled to be issued on March 14, 2023, said the oil trading association.
