According to the most recent production figures given by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the country’s oil production declined by 13.6 percent in July 2023, to an average of 1.08 million barrels per day, down from 1.25 million barrels per day in June.
This is a significant setback for the current administration, which has set a production target of 1.69 million barrels per day in its budget for 2023.
The data also shows that Nigeria’s production is much lower than the 1.7 million barrels per day cap set by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
It also revealed that the daily production of blended and unblended condensate oil in July was 38,258 barrels and 174,509 barrels, respectively. Nigeria’s OPEC production limit does not include condensate oil production. July’s daily average oil production was 1.29 million barrels per day, a 12.8 percent decrease from June’s total average daily production of 1.48 million barrels.
This comes after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited forecasted that oil production would reach 1.8 million barrels per day (mbpd) by the fourth quarter of this year, as production-boosting initiatives began to bear fruit.
Engr. Adokiye Tombomieye, Executive Vice President, Upstream, NNPC Ltd, stated that the revised production targets will be met through asset integrity, production ramp up, well interventions, new drillings, alternate crude oil evacuation, and strengthened security architecture.
