Nigeria’s daily crude oil production output increased slightly to a daily average of 1.41 million barrels in November 2022.
This is according to data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, which was released yesterday.
The data, which is available on the commission’s website, shows that crude oil volumes for November 2022 were 1,185,604, with blended condensates at 40,691 and unblended condensates at 187,799, amounting to 1,414,093.
Meanwhile, crude oil volumes for October 2022 were 1,014,485, blended condensates were 28,232 and unblended condensates were 187,655, amounting to 1,230,372 barrels per day.
The fight against crude oil theft: Although minimal, the NUPRC data shows that Nigeria is increasing its crude oil production capacity. And this could be due to efforts by the government to combat oil theft.
Earlier this week, Bala Wunti, the Chief Upstream Investment Officer at the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), told news anchors on Arise TV that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and security operatives are launching an offensive against crude oil theft perpetrators. He said some of these perpetrators are already in the law court, facing prosecution.
According to him, the NNPC and its security partners have successfully removed 638 out of 763 illegal refineries: Wunti said work is still being done to identify new illegal refineries, stating the fact that 70 per cent of illegal refineries have been incapacitated already. During the 11th Practical Nigerian Content Forum on December 6, Bala Wunti disclosed that Nigeria’s oil production as of December 6 is 1.59 million barrels per day.
