Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production increased marginally to 1.307 million barrels per day in July, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said on Monday.
OPEC’s figure is contrary to claims by President Bola Tinubu and the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, that the country’s oil production had risen to 1.6mbpd.
OPEC in its Monthly Oil Market Report for August 2024 said Nigeria added an average of 30 barrels per day to increase its oil output from 1.27mbpd in June to 1.30mbpd in July
Buzz Times reports that Tinubu had during his August 4 nationwide broadcast boasted that oil production increased by over 300,000 barrels per day last month.
This, he attributed to the reforms he announced in May to address the Petroleum Industry Act.
“Our once-declining oil and gas industry is experiencing a resurgence on the back of the reforms I announced in May 2024 to address the gaps in the Petroleum Industry Act.
“Last month, we increased our oil production to 1.61 million barrels per day, and our gas assets are receiving the attention they deserve. Investors are coming back, and we have already seen two Foreign Direct Investments signed off over half a billion dollars since then,” Tinubu stated.
On July 26, 2024, NUPRC’s Komolafe disclosed that daily oil production hit 1.61mbpd in July.
Komolafe revealed this at the House of Representatives Special Committee’s two-day public/investigative hearing on oil theft/losses.
“As of July 23, 2024, Nigeria’s average daily production stands at 1.61mbpd,” he disclosed.
His words came barely two weeks after the commission announced that the average daily oil production for June was 1.27mbpd.
However, OPEC said in its report that the 1.3mbpd for July was as received from OPEC member country (Nigeria), adding that it was based on direct communication.
According to secondary sources, OPEC puts Nigeria’s daily crude production at 1.38mbpd in July, up from 1.36mbpd in the previous month.
In May, Nigeria’s daily oil production dipped to 1.25 million barrels per day despite claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that the country’s oil production was nearing 1.7mbpd.
OPEC data showed that Nigeria lost 30,000bpd as crude production dropped from 1.28mbpd in April to 1.25mpd in May.
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