Nigeria is ranked as Africa’s largest crude oil producer in May 2023, according to  the latest data released by the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC).

Nigeria reported 1.18 million barrels per day  of oil production last month from 999,000 barrels  in April.

In the ranking, Libya secured the second spot with a slight decrease in crude production to 1.15 million barrels per day in May from 1.21 million barrels in April. Angola followed closely in the third position, with a production of 1.11 million barrels per day, up from 1.06 million barrels in April.

OPEC's report highlighted that global crude oil production, citing secondary sources, reached 28.06 million barrels per day in May.

Nigeria, Iran, and Angola contributed to the increase in output, while Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait witnessed a decline. 

Consequently, global production declined from the 28.52 million barrels reported in April, the report said. 

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