Angola overtakes Nigeria as top African crude oil producer

Angola has overtaken Nigeria to emerge top African crude oil producer for the month of April 2023. This is according to direct communication data in the April 2023 monthly oil market report (MOMR) from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In the report, it is shown that Angola recorded 1.06 million barrels per day of crude production in April 2023. Meanwhile, Nigeria recorded 999,000 barrels per day for the month of April 2023 and Algeria recorded the same 999,000 barrels per day during the highlighted period. This is the lowest production rate Nigeria has recorded in the year 2023.

Nairametrics earlier reported that data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that Nigeria produced 998,602 barrels per day of crude oil in April 2023.

The OPEC report further stated that total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 28.60 million barrels per day (mb/d) in April 2023, lower by 191 thousand barrels per day (tb/d), month-on-month. Crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, Angola and Iran, while production in Iraq and Nigeria declined.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has said that world oil demand in 2023 is still dependent on rising global tensions. The group stated this in its monthly oil market report (MOMR) released on May 11. In the report, OPEC stated that total world oil demand is anticipated to reach 101.9 million barrels per day (mb/d) in 2023. But a part of the report states:

“However, this forecast is subject to many uncertainties, including global economic developments and ongoing geopolitical tensions.”

Nigeria needs higher oil revenues

Tax advisory, KPMG Nigeria recently advised the Nigerian government to look for ways to increase its oil revenues. However, Nigeria losing its top African oil producer status to Angola in April 2023, does not restore confidence that the oil sector will perform well in the second quarter of 2023, at the very least.

In 2022, several oil and gas companies as well as crude producing countries made gains from higher oil prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

But Nigeria was unable to gain from the price rally because of crude oil theft which were unreasonably high in 2022, making the country lose up to 700,000 barrels per day, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

What you should know

In the MOMR by OPEC, it was stated that Nigeria’s economy faced challenges in gaining momentum in the first quarter of 2023, with business activity and consumer spending remaining subdued, in addition to high input-cost inflation and lower employment levels compared with 2022.

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