Again, Angola, Algeria and Libya have pushed past Nigeria in oil production, according to the records of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries [OPEC], leaving the erstwhile regional, largest producer to the fourth position.
According to the OPEC Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for October released yesterday, while Algeria drilled 1.060 million barrels per day, and Angola produced 1.051 million bpd, Libya’s output stood at 1.163 million. Nigeria is recorded with the production output of 1.024 million bpd.
Although the Nigeria’s result in October improved at 77,000bpd, it wasn’t enough to return the country to the top of the table as Africa’s biggest producer.
Also the report indicated that despite the fact that Algeria gained a paltry 2,000 bpd, Angola lost 40,000 bpd and Libya gained 6,000bpd (secondary source).
Also Read: OPEC Lowers 2022, 2023 Oil Demand Forecast, Citing China’s Covid New Policy
Production in Angola saw the second-steepest drop in OPEC producers in October, but it wasn’t the result of a conscious reduction since the African producer has been lagging behind its quota for many months.
The OPEC figures contained in the MOMR indicated that Nigeria’s roughly 1 million bpd is also a far cry from its average of 1.493 million bpd in 2020, a Covid year, and 1.323 million in 2021.
On the economic front, OPEC appreciated the fact that Nigeria had been devastated by flood and rains that has about 31 of Nigeria’s 36 states and has resulted in a significant loss of environment, lives and livelihoods.
Meanwhile, OPEC has made another cut to its global oil demand growth forecast, trimming around 100,000 bpd from its projections for both 2022 and 2023. This year’s growth is now pegged at 2.55 million bpd, compared with a previous forecast for 2.64 million bpd, the oil cartel said.
The group said that the downgrade was underpinned by the extension of China’s zero-Covid restrictions and “some economic challenges in OECD Europe that have weighed on oil demand.”
Also Read: NUPRC Flaunts Score Card, Promises to Unlock 1.2mbpd Shut-in Capacity To Surpass OPEC Quota
The Chinese government last week again reinforced the need to stick with its zero-Covid policy, although it urged more targeted restrictions, oilprice reported.
The cartel expects global oil demand next year to be supported by the containment of Covid-19 in China and by geopolitical improvements, but it has cut its growth forecast regardless, to 2.24 million bpd from 2.34 million bpd.
It reduced its 2022 forecast for oil supply growth from non-OPEC producers by 30,000 bpd to 1.9 million bpd, with upwards revisions for Russia and Latin America.
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