Nigeria’s oil production drops as country earns $3b in February

• Deficit looms as budget benchmark widens by over 400,000bpd
• Reps unhappy over reported $12.74m oil revenue loss

Amid the struggling oil prices, which remained below Nigeria’s budget benchmark of $75 per barrel, the country’s oil production in February dropped further to 1.4 million barrels per day.

This development, reported by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), indicates that the country may fail to meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) as well as its budget benchmark of 2.06 million bpd.

However, the House of Representatives tasked the Presidency with the urgent need to rehabilitate oil and gas pipeline networks across the country to avert economic losses.

Last month, Nigeria, including private operators, produced approximately 41 million barrels of oil, which, if sold, translates to about $3 billion, based on the average oil price of $74 per barrel as of February.

The monthly production status report, released by the NUPRC, revealed that the country produced 73,691 bpd less than the 1,538,697 bpd recorded in January.

NUPRC noted that the average crude oil production was 98 per cent of the OPEC quota, adding that the peak production of 1.7 million bpd was recorded in February, with the lowest at 1.6 million bpd. These figures are in addition to condensate.

The daily average production in February was 1,671,953 barrels per day, comprising both crude oil (1,465,006 bpd) and condensate (206,948 bpd).

Nigeria produced 41 million barrels of crude oil in February, alongside 1,599,693 barrels and 4,194,849 barrels of blended and unblended condensates, respectively. This is a decline from January, when the total production of crude oil reached 47,699,593 barrels, excluding 1,910,213 barrels and 4,252,071 barrels of condensates.

The Forcados Terminal recorded the highest oil output, producing 7.75 million barrels in February, down from 8.86 million barrels in January. It was followed by the Bonny terminal, which produced 6.3 million barrels in the month under review, a decrease from 8.1 million in January. Qua Iboe produced 4.28 million barrels in February, a drop from the 4.6 million barrels it yielded in January.

The Escravos terminal produced 3.87 million barrels in February, compared to 4.48 million in January. The Obudu terminal saw output fall to 2 million barrels in February from 2.3 million barrels in January, while Tulja–Okwuibome recorded 1.89 million barrels in February, down from 2.26 million barrels in January.

THE House resolution was passed following the adoption of a motion on matters of urgent national importance sponsored by Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Muhammed Shehu, and 14 others.

In his lead debate, Shehu observed that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector remains the backbone of the national economy, contributing approximately nine per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and generating over 90 per cent of export revenues.

He said: “The effective transportation of petroleum resources is dependent on the integrity of the country’s pipeline infrastructure.

“The House further notes that between 2018 and 2023, Nigeria recorded over 7,000 incidents of pipeline vandalism, resulting in the loss of $12.74 million worth of crude oil. It is aware that in October 2024, crude oil supply to Shell’s Forcados Terminal was reduced by 50 per cent due to sabotage, leading to loading delays and the risk of force majeure declarations.”

The ad hoc committee was mandated to assess the adequacy of existing security and maintenance measures in safeguarding national petroleum infrastructure as well as examine the effectiveness of past and present government interventions aimed at protecting pipelines.