PUNCH
Nigeria’s crude oil output dropped by 38,102 barrels per day in March, translating to a cumulative loss of about 1,181,162 barrels in the month under review, and signalled the first plunge in oil production since the last seven months.
Industry data obtained in Abuja on Monday showed that Nigeria’s oil production had been on the rise since September 2022, following concerted efforts by the Federal Government and stakeholders to curb oil theft in the sector.
The rise in oil output was, however, not sustained in March, as latest figures from the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission indicated that while the country pumped 1,306,304 barrels of crude daily in February, the volume dropped to 1,268,202 barrels per day in March.
This indicated a decrease of 38,102 barrels daily, which implies that Nigeria lost a total of about 1,181,162 barrels of crude in March.
In monetary terms, data from Country Economy, a global statistical firm, showed that the average cost of Brent, the international benchmark for oil, in March 2023, was $78.43/barrel.
Therefore by losing 1,181,162 barrels in March, Nigeria failed to earn a total of $92,638,535.66 (N42.71bn at the official exchange rate of N461/$), during the period under review.
Nigeria recorded its lowest oil production volume of 0.937 million barrels per day in September 2022. The Federal Government and oil sector players blamed this on the massive crude theft in Nigeria’s oil rich Niger Delta.
