Nigeria’s crude oil output hit a new low in the month of May, dropping to 1.25 million barrels per day, as reported by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Naija News reports that OPEC’s monthly report on the global oil market for June indicated that Nigeria’s daily average production was 1.25 million barrels per day in May, marking a 2.34% decrease from the 1.28 million barrels per day seen in April.

The OPEC noted that the data on production was gathered through direct conversations with Nigerian officials.

The organization receives information on crude oil production from two main sources: direct communication with member countries and secondary sources like energy intelligence platforms.

Further examination of the report revealed that production levels were at 1.3 million barrels per day by the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 and the beginning of this year.

Despite the drop in production, OPEC acknowledged that the fight against crude oil theft and pipeline damage by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had shown some improvement.

The decline in production was observed despite the reported efforts to curb these issues.

However, OPEC highlighted that Nigeria still maintained its status as Africa’s top oil producer, followed by Libya, which produced 901,000 barrels per day in the month under review.

OPEC also mentioned that Algeria was the third-largest oil producer, with production reaching 264,000 barrels per day in May.

On the other hand, the OPEC report pointed out that data from secondary sources suggested Nigeria’s crude oil production had increased by five percent to 1.41 million barrels per day from the previous month’s 1.35 million barrels per day.

These figures were lower than Nigeria’s quota set by the OPEC for the year 2024, which was 1.5 million barrels per day.

The OPEC report stated: “According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.63 million barrels per day in May 2024, 29 million barrels per day higher than the previous month.

“Crude oil output increased mainly in Nigeria, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, while production in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya and Congo decreased.

“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.29 mb/d in May 2024, 152 tb/d lower, m-o-m

“Crude oil output increased mainly in Mexico, while production in Russia and Kazakhstan decreased.”