Nigeria Slips to Fourth on Africa’s Biggest Oil Producers’ List

Nigeria, the giant of Africa is no longer giant, as crude oil production drops below Angola, Libya and Algeria in the month of September 2022, according to OPEC’s latest report.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on Wednesday shows that Nigeria has now dropped to the fourth position on Africa’s biggest oil producers list.

According to the OPEC report, Angola maintains its position as Africa’s biggest oil producer. The report noted that Angola produced 1.18 million barrels per day in September 2022 while Libya followed with 1.152 million barrels per day. 

Algeria came third with a daily production of 1.04 barrels while Nigeria which held Africa’s biggest oil producer’s crown for the last five years dropped to the fourth position with less than 1 million barrels per day.

Investors King had earlier reported that Nigeria lost its status as Africa’s biggest crude oil producer to Angola. Analysts attribute the decline in production to oil theft and vandalism. Recently, a joint patrol of the navy and the civilian JTF has discovered several illegal tappings along the crude oil pipelines.

One of the illegal tapping points is a 4 kilometres long pipeline which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said might have been in existence for almost 9 years.

The massive oil thief and disruption in production which is due to vandalism has sent some major oil companies out of Nigerian operation. 

For instance, in August 2022, after TotalEnergies announced the plan to sell its stake in a Nigerian oil joint venture, the company decided to invest about $850 million in oil projects in Angola.

Meanwhile, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited has disclosed that the country’s oil production capacity will increase by almost 500,000 barrels per day once the Forcados Terminal and the Trans-Niger pipelines resume operation.

According to the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, the long-term closed Trans Niger Pipeline and the Forcados oil terminal are expected to add about 500,000 barrels per day to Nigeria’s crude oil output.