ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Nigeria’s average daily crude oil output remains below the 1.5 million barrels per day quota allocated to it by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Data from OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report for April showed that Nigeria produced 1.38 mbpd in March.
Although this reflects an increase of 69,000 bpd from the 1.31 mbpd recorded in February, production still fell short of the quota by 117,000 bpd.
The February figures had earlier shown a month-on-month drop of 146,000 bpd, further widening the gap between actual output and the OPEC target.
This marks the eighth straight month Nigeria has failed to meet its quota since July 2025.
It would be recalled that despite a slight rebound in January, when production rose from 1.422 mbpd in December 2025 to 1.459 mbpd, the improvement was not sustained as output declined sharply in February.
Earlier statistics from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission also indicated that crude production weakened towards the end of 2025, slipping from 1.436 mbpd in November to 1.422 mbpd in December, before posting a modest recovery in January.
Overall, Nigeria underperformed its OPEC quota for nine months in 2025, meeting or slightly surpassing the target only in January, June, and July.
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The year began strongly, with output at 1.54 mbpd in January about 38,700 bpd above the quota but dropped to 1.47 mbpd in February and further to 1.40 mbpd in March, marking one of the largest deficits recorded during the year.
Although production improved slightly in April (1.49 mbpd) and May (1.45 mbpd), Nigeria remained below its quota until June, when output edged up to 1.51 mbpd, just above the target.
The country maintained this level in July at 1.51 mbpd before slipping below the benchmark again in subsequent months.
Findings show that production levels recorded in the first quarter of 2026 are also below the Federal Government’s budget benchmark.
Recently, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission stated that total oil production, including condensates, reached 1.8 mbpd in March.
However, a commission official said that the recovery only began in mid-March after assets undergoing turnaround maintenance resumed operations, expressing optimism that crude output would meet the OPEC quota in April.
Nigeria’s inability to meet its OPEC quota is affecting both export earnings and local refining, as domestic refineries struggle with inadequate crude supply.
The Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, had initiated efforts to secure crude supply for the Dangote Petroleum Refinery via third-party international traders to sustain refining activities.
“Leveraging our global crude trading network, we are sourcing third-party crude for the refinery at prices that are competitive with prevailing international market rates,” a senior NNPC official, who spoke anonymously due to lack of authorisation.
The report also showed that several major OPEC producers implemented significant output cuts. Saudi Arabia reduced production by 2.35 mbpd to 7.76 mbpd, while Iraq cut output by 2.23 mbpd to 1.9 mbpd.
The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait also recorded notable declines of 1.48 mbpd and 1.380 mbpd, respectively.
In contrast, Venezuela increased output by 75,000 bpd to 1.1 mbpd, Congo added 16,000 bpd to reach 307,000 bpd, and Libya rose by 15,000 bpd to 1.3 mbpd, while Algeria recorded a slight decline of 2,000 bpd.
The report added that total figures for OPEC were unavailable due to rounding differences and incomplete data for some member states.
It also clarified that Saudi Arabia’s market supply in March stood at 7.76 mbpd, while its actual production was 6.97 mbpd, with no data recorded for Gabon and crisis-hit Iran.