NIGERIA’s oil production increased to 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in October 2023, the highest production record since January.
The oil output is 30.8 per cent higher than what was produced in the preceding month, September, which was 1.3 million bpd.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, who gave this information at a media briefing on Friday, October 13, said the government’s agenda was to increase crude oil production, which would scale up revenue for the country.
He said, “Nigeria is very dependent on oil; even our budget is always predicated on how many barrels of oil we produce. Although the non-oil sector is thriving, for us to solve our problems, we need to earn enough forex.
“And a substantial part of our forex comes from the oil sector. So my ambition is to see how I can lead the sector to increase production and how we can get more revenue to be able to fund strategic national projects.”
The ICIR checked through the data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and learnt that the country pumped its highest volume of crude oil in October.
See the sheet below for the breakdown
| Month | Oil production (bpd) |
| January | 1.3 million |
| February | 1.3 million |
| March | 1.3 million |
| April | 1.0 million |
| May | 1.2 million |
| June | 1.3 million |
| July | 1.1 million |
| August | 1.2 million |
| September | 1.3 million |
| October | 1.7 million |
However, despite this output increase, the country is yet to meet the production threshold of 1.8 million bpd set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
In an agreement signed with OPEC, Nigeria’s expected oil output is between 1.826 million bpd to 1.747 million bpd from August to November, while from January to December 2024, it is expected to reduce its production quota to 1.380 million bpd.
Also, data from the National Bureau of Statistics Gross Domestic Product report showed that the real growth of the oil sector was 13.43 per cent (year-on-year) as of the second quarter of 2023.
By this, the oil sector contributed 5.34 per cent to the total real GDP in Q2 2023, down from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2022 and down from the preceding quarter, where it contributed 6.33 per cent and 6.21 per cent, respectively.
Despite the immense contributions the sector makes to Nigeria’s forex, it has been enmeshed in high-scale corruption.
The ICIR reported how the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) asked President Bola Tinubu to investigate the missing $15 billion and N200 billion from Nigeria’s oil revenues.
Kehinde Ogunyale tells stories by using data to hold power into account. You can send him a mail at jameskennyogunyale@gmail or Twitter: Prof_KennyJames | LinkedIn: Kehinde Ogunyale
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