By Yahaya Umar
Hopes for an increase in Nigeria crude oil production was rekindled yesterday following approval by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to Nigeria, Congo and Angola to produce “maximally” This was disclosed in a statement made available to Aljazirah Nigeria.
Nigeria and other OPEC and non-OPEC members at the 35th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee Meeting of OPEC held in Vienna, Austria, on Sunday have agreed to cut production volumes in order to ensure global oil market stability just as it allowed Nigeria, Congo and Angola to continue to produce maximally to their OPEC quota of 2023.
In the statement, Nigeria, Congo and Angola have agreed that the highest production volumes of the last six months from November 2022 to April 2023 should be used as the basis for the determination of their 2024 production quota
Nigeria alongside other OPEC and Non-OPEC members at the JMMC meeting agreed to a cut production volumes in order to ensure global oil market stability.
Furthermore, the statement added that Nigeria, Congo and Angola have agreed that the highest production volumes of the last Six (6) months (November 2022 – April 2023) to be used as the basis for the determination of their 2024 production quota.
Nigeria’s highest production of crude oil only of 1.383 MBPD was achieved in February 2023.
The statement reads in part, “OPEC has also agreed to allow these countries to continue to produce maximally to their OPEC quota of 2023.
“This implies that Nigeria can ramp up its production up to its current quota of 1742KBD and subsequently be capped at 10pwr cent less as its quota for 2024 subject to verification by independent secondary sources.”
The statement stated that the Nigerian delegation is confident that the ongoing security intervention under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will enable the restoration of country’s production to the 1580KBD crude oil only. This will be complimented by condensate of about 400KBD.
This will ultimately enable Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production of about Two (2) Million Barrels per day in 2024.
Nigeria’s daily crude oil production has surged to about 1.6 million barrels per day, and it’s expected to hit 1.8 million barrels per day according to the Chief Upstream Investment Officer of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services, Bala Wunti.
Wunti had said on Saturday at the 186th meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that with the technology deployed, Nigeria’s oil production will hit 1.8 million barrels by July or early August.
He said, “It is what we are harvesting already, and the result of the security collaboration is what actually reversed the trend of our declining production.
“That we are back to about 1.6 million barrels today is a result of the collaboration. Everybody is working, the security agencies are working in synergy with the industry, the regulators are working and the communities .
“What we have done is to bring everybody together the four players: the security agencies, the regulators, industry players, as well as the communities through the private community contractors.
“And then we brought in overlaying technology. That technology created a lit of platforms, one of which is the collaborating platform, whereby all security issues are now seen in real time.