Nigeria was Africa’s top crude oil producer in March 2023, with a production capacity of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd).

However, the country has reported the lowest production so far this year, according to the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission.

Nigeria failed to reach its Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota of 1.8 million bpd or its 2023 budget benchmark of 1.6 million bpd due to a lack of investments, security risks and production sabotage, The Guardian newspaper reported.
   
In its latest monthly oil market report, OPEC said Nigeria produced 1.268 million bpd in March against 1.306 million bpd in February 2023.

OPEC said Nigeria had the highest crude production in the month under review, followed by Algeria and Angola, which recorded one million and 972,000 bpd, respectively.

The total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 28.80 million bpd in March, lower by 86,000 barrels per day month-on-month.

(Editing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com)