Nigeria reclaims top spot as Africa’s largest crude oil producer, surpasses Angola

Nigeria has reclaimed the first position as Africa’s largest crude oil producer by overtaking Angola.

This is according to data released by the Organization of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) for crude oil production for the month of May, 2023.

For the month of April, Angola produced more crude than Nigeria.

Nigeria reclaimed the top spot on Africa’s largest producers list, surpassing Libya and Angola after reporting 1.18 million barrels per day for the month of May 2023.

OPEC revealed this on Tuesday, in its Monthly Oil Market Report – June 2023, which covers crude production for May.

According to Direct Communication, Nigeria’s crude volume rose by 185,000 barrels from 999,000 barrels recorded in April to 1.18 million.

Libya fell behind Nigeria, after its crude production volume dropped by 52,000 barrels to 1.15 million barrels per day, from 1.21 million output the month before.

Angola secured the third spot with 1.11 million barrels per day during the review period, up from the previous month’s 1.06 million barrels.

Also on the list is Algeria, which occupied the fourth spot with 962,000 barrels per day. Algeria reported 37,000 barrels decline in crude output, as the country had reported 999,000 barrels in April.

Meanwhile, OPEC revealed that total global crude oil production stood at 28.06 million barrels per day in May 2023 according to secondary sources, with an increase in production recorded in Nigeria, Iran and Angola.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait reported a decline in their production output, resulting in the global production dropping from 28.52 million barrels reported in April.

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“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 28.06 mb/d in May 2023, lower by 464 tb/d m-o-m.

“Crude oil output increased mainly in Nigeria, IR Iran and Angola, while production in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait declined,” OPEC reported stated.

According to secondary sources reports, Nigeria recorded 1.26 million barrels, up from 1.09 million barrels, and Libya produced 1.169 million barrels, in contrast to the previous month’s 1.160 million barrels.

OPEC reported secondary sources put Angola’s crude output at 1.14 million barrels in May, increasing from 1.09 million barrels in April, while Algeria’s secondary sources said output fell from 1.01 million barrels to 974,000 barrels last month.

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