NIGERIA’s crude oil production averaged 1.352 million barrels per day in August, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

According to OPEC, the 1.352 million barrels per day(bpd) production is based on direct communication with the Nigerian authorities on crude oil production for the month.

In its monthly oil market report released on Tuesday, September 10, the OPEC stated that Nigeria’s crude oil production slightly increased by 45,000 barrels.

The figure falls below the 1.5 million barrels per day OPEC quota and even far below the country’s budgetary benchmark of 1.7 million barrels per day production.

This represents just a 3.4 per cent increase in the August production figure from the 1.307 million barrels production in  July despite the state-owned oil firm’s declaration of a state of emergency on the oil and gas industry to increase production and grow reserves.

The group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, had at the opening ceremony of the 23rd edition of the Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG Energy Week) in Abuja, on Tuesday, July 2 declared a state of emergency of crude oil production.

According to Kyari, Nigeria can conveniently produce two million barrels of crude oil per day without deploying new rigs but the major impediment has remained the inability of players to act promptly.

Many Nigerians have been worried about the output level of the country’s crude oil production as the proceeds contribute significantly to its revenue.

An energy expert, Joe Nwakwue, had told The ICIR that it was a shame that Nigeria has been unable to take advantage of an extended period of global high oil prices seen, since the global oil market.

“We are not meeting up with our OPEC quota. The issue of insecurity in the oil-rich region is still a concern.

“Declaring a state of emergency doesn’t change anything. We must ask what are the deliverables for respective agencies and task them on the achievement. We need to expand investments at the upstream level and the relevant agencies create the enabling environment for that,” Nwakwue said.

While Nigeria maintained its position as Africa’s largest crude oil producer relative to other African countries, the country’s average crude oil production has remained below its 2024 budgetary benchmark target of 1.7 million barrels per day.

A check by The ICIR on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s data on crude oil prices shows that it averaged N82.88 per barrel in August.

It was highest at N84.99 per barrel on Tuesday, August 15, and lowest at N79.22 per barrel on Tuesday, August 6.

In June, The ICIR analysed that Nigeria was losing over N16 billion in revenue daily from crude oil as production dropped.