By Abubakar Yunus Abuja
Nigeria’s crude oil production increased in December 2022 to an average of 1.23 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.18 bpd in the previous month.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said this in its latest crude oil and condensate production data for December 2022.
The figure is 4.19 percent or 49,713 bpd higher compared to the November 2022 production figure of 1.18bpd.
Checks by Peoples Daily show that the figure represents the highest output since March 2022 when the country’s production averaged 1.24 bpd.
With the addition of condensate, oil production totalled 1.413 million bpd in December — down from 1.414 million in November.
Condensate is a mixture of light liquid hydrocarbons, similar to a light (high API) crude oil.
It is usually separated from a natural gas stream at the point of production (field separation) when the temperature and pressure of the gas are dropped to atmospheric conditions.
In 2022, the country’s January production figure 1.39 million bpd was the highest in the year.
But oil output began to declined to 1.25 million bpd, 1.24 million bpd, 1.22 million bpd, and 1.02 million bpd in February, March, April, and May, respectively.
In June, production increased to 1.15 million bpd, before falling to 1.08 million bpd in July.
Output in August hit an all-time low of 972,394 bpd, and further fell to 937,766 bpd in September, before rising to 1,014,485 in October.
Recently, Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum, attributed the improvements in production in the last quarter of 2022 to collaborative efforts between security agencies and the government.
“We were here a few months ago with a charge and mandate from President Buhari to ensure complete eradication of oil theft in the Niger Delta,” Sylva had said.
“Since then, we have seen a significant improvement, meaning that you (military and other security outfits) took the charge and mandate of the president very seriously.”
Peoples Daily had reported that due to a myriad of sectoral challenges including oil theft, Nigeria failed, throughout the year, to meet the production quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
However, Sylva said Nigeria should be able to meet the production quota set by OPEC in May 2023.
