Oil Production Dropped in Q2 – NBS.
Nigeria’s daily oil production saw a reduction of 160,000 barrels per day in the second quarter of 2024, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). During this period, the country achieved an average daily production of 1.41 million barrels, which is a decline from the first quarter’s 1.57 million barrels per day.
Despite this drop, the current production levels are an improvement compared to the same quarter in 2023, where the average daily production was 1.22 million barrels. This marks an increase of 190,000 barrels from last year’s figures.
The NBS report highlighted that the average daily oil production for the second quarter of 2024 was 1.41 million barrels, which is lower than the first quarter’s production by 160,000 barrels, but significantly higher than the previous year’s average for the same quarter.
Since 2020, Nigeria’s oil output has been on a downward trend, falling from nearly 2 million barrels per day to about 1.6 million barrels. This decline has been evident, with quarterly averages hovering around 2 million barrels between 2018 and 2019.
Read Also: Anambra Closes School Due to Bullying of a Seven-Year-Old Student.
In the second quarter of 2020, production dropped to 1.81 million barrels per day, followed by further declines to 1.67 million barrels in the third quarter. The downward slope continued, reaching 1.2 million barrels per day in the second quarter of 2022.
Despite government efforts to boost production, challenges such as oil theft and vandalism have hindered progress. Consequently, Nigeria has struggled to meet the 1.5 million barrels per day quota set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Recently, the Federal Government announced ongoing initiatives aimed at increasing oil production to 2 million barrels per day. Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, emphasized the need for Nigeria to return to this production level to ensure sufficient feedstock for local refineries, including Dangote.
In summary, while there are efforts to enhance production, the persistent challenges facing the oil sector continue to impact Nigeria’s ability to reach its production targets.
