IN AUGUST 2022, ANGOLA OVERTOOK NIGERIA AS AFRICA’S BIGGEST OIL PRODUCER

Nigeria lost the first position to Angola in August 2022 as the largest producer of crude oil in Africa. As reported by Bloomberg News, this is coming for the first time in more than five years. And going by the statistics published by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, showing daily average output of 972,000 barrels per day, this is a far cry from expectation. In the survey  of Bloomberg News Angola posted average daily output of 1.17 million barrels in August 2022 as against  Nigeria’s 1.13 million barrels. And on the move for serious contention with Nigeria is Libya with average output of 1.08 million barrels of crude a day in August; Libya may overtake Nigeria except the country takes measures to address the decline. The declining production in crude oil in Nigeria has been attributed to unchecked massive theft on pipeline that run through the oil-rich Niger Delta and other states where oil production is taking place. And illegal refineries the government claim that exist in some states in the country are serving as bunkering incentives to oil theft.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission [NUPRC], Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, had recently stressed the need for the declaration of emergency on the country’s oil industry following the alarming rate of oil theft that has led to underproduction and increasing rise in production cost.