Nigeria has experienced a significant loss of approximately N720 billion in revenue due to consecutive monthly declines in crude oil production during the months of February and March 2024, according to areport by Opec.
The country’s failure to ramp up production during these months also resulted in it missing its crude oil production benchmark set in the 2024 budget. The budget had established a crude oil production benchmark of 1.78 million barrels per day, which includes condensate alongside crude oil.
However, data from the latest April 2024 Monthly Oil Market Report of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) revealed that Nigeria’s crude oil production, excluding condensates, experienced a second consecutive monthly decline since the beginning of the year. In March, production dropped to 1.231 million barrels per day.
OPEC reported that direct communication from Nigeria indicated a decrease in crude oil production in March compared to February. In February, Nigeria produced 1.322 million barrels per day, but this figure dropped to 1.231 million barrels per day in March, representing a decline of 91,000 barrels per day.
The report also highlighted that while Nigeria produced 1.427 million barrels per day of crude in January, this level was not sustained in February, and the downward trend in oil production continued into March.
This decline in crude oil production poses significant challenges for Nigeria’s economy, as oil revenue remains a crucial source of income for the country. The government may need to reassess its strategies to address the factors contributing to the decline and work towards stabilizing production levels to mitigate further revenue losses.
