Nigeria Exceeds OPEC Oil Quota For Third Straight Month In July

Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude oil producer, exceeded its Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crude oil production quota for the third consecutive month in July, according to official data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

The NUPRC said on Wednesday that Nigeria produced an average of 1.505 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and 170,000 bpd of condensate in July.

Combined daily production stood at 1.67 million bpd, above the country’s OPEC quota of 1.5 million bpd.

The commission said peak daily production of crude oil and condensate reached 1.78 million bpd, while the lowest daily output was 1.57 million bpd.

Forcados Terminal was the largest-producing stream, accounting for 322,340 bpd. Bonny Terminal followed with average daily production of 303,720 barrels of crude oil and condensate.

Qua Iboe Terminal recorded average production of 158,020 bpd, while Escravos Oil Terminal produced 131,410 bpd. Bonga ranked fifth, with average crude oil production of 100,230 bpd.

Despite exceeding its OPEC quota, Nigeria’s overall production fell 4% month-on-month in July, the NUPRC said.

The commission attributed the decline to operational challenges at the Erha and Akpo oil fields, which constrained production and weighed on national crude oil output.

Production across other assets remained relatively stable, with operators implementing measures to sustain efficiency and mitigate the impact of the disruptions, the NUPRC said.

“Routine production activities and crude evacuation operations were largely sustained across the sector,” the commission said.

Industry stakeholders were working to resolve the operational issues and restore affected production capacity, while efforts were also focused on improving asset reliability, the NUPRC said.

The July performance underscored the importance of proactive asset management and operational resilience, the commission added, saying timely interventions were critical to mitigating disruptions and sustaining growth in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.