Nigeria Now Third Largest Oil Producer In Africa, says OPEC

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) says Nigeria’s oil production declined in July 2023, making the country the third largest oil producer in Africa.

In its latest monthly report for August, the global oil cartel said Nigeria’s oil production decreased to 1.081 million barrels per day (bpd) in July 2023.

In the same month, Libya produced 1.173 million bpd, Angola produced 1.149 million bpd, and Algeria produced 955,000 barrels bpd, respectively.

According to the report, in June 2023, Nigeria’s oil output, which stood at 1.249 million bpd, surpassed Libya and Angola — making it Africa’s largest producer.

However, the country’s production suffered a huge decline of about 168,000 barrels bdp in the following month, falling two places to the third position.

“Total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 27.31 million bpd in July 2023. Lower by 836,000 bpd month-on-month,” the report said.

“Crude oil output production declined mainly in Saudi Arabia, Libya, and Nigeria, while production in Iran, Angola and Iraq increased.”

The OPEC report further said world oil demand in 2023 was expected to grow by 2.4 million bpd, but has remained unchanged from July’s assessment.