OPEC Raises Nigeria’s Production Quota As Oil Price Drops

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has reportedly raised Nigeria’s oil production quota.

The development was revealed in a document made available in the public domain on Thursday, Naija News reports.

According to the report, the organization raised Nigeria’s crude oil production quota for September 2022 to 1.83 million barrels per day, as Brent, the global benchmark for crude, dropped in price the same day.

The data showed that the oil production quota marginally increased from 1.826mbpd in August to 1.83mbpd in September.

This came as industry figures seen in Abuja indicated a drop in the cost of crude oil, as Brent fell by 2.36 per cent, shedding $2.37 to close at $98.17/barrel as of 5.10 pm Nigerian time.

It was also observed that crude oil grades in the OPEC basket dropped in price, losing $1.94 or 1.82 per cent, to close at $104.86/barrel at 5.13 pm.

Naija News understands that oil prices have stayed above $100/barrel for months due to several industry concerns such as the war in Ukraine with Russia.

However, Nigeria has not benefited much from the price increase because of its persistent inability to meet its monthly oil production quota approved by OPEC.

Figures obtained from OPEC showed that while the OPEC quota for Nigeria in June 2022, for instance, was 1.772mbpd, the country could only produce 1.158mbpd.

As of June, the country’s production was reportedly higher than its production in the preceding month of May 2022 by 134 million barrels per day.

It was gathered that Nigeria’s oil production in May 2022 was 1.024mbpd, but this moved up to 1.158mbpd in June, though far lower than the 1.772mbpd production quota by OPEC.