If the recent threats of the Niger Delta Avengers’ (NDA) fails, the rising trend of Nigeria’s oil output may hit over 2mbpd and that will result in both gains and pains for the economy.
It will amount to gain because there will be more for the federal government in terms of earnings, and pains for Nigerians because the landing cost of petroleum products will definitely rise above current pump price of N145.
However, according to OPEC, in its Monthly Oil Market Report for January released on Friday, put Nigeria’s output at 1.861 million bpd for December, from 1.785 million bpd in the previous month, according to secondary sources.
The 14-member oil group uses secondary sources to monitor its oil output, but also publishes a table of figures submitted by its member countries.
Based on direct communication, the nation’s output stood at 1.636 million barrels in December, up from 1.547 million bpd in November, said the report.
Saudi Arabia, the largest producer in the group, recorded the biggest increase in December as it produced 9.98 million bpd, up from 9.89 million bpd in the previous month.
According to the secondary sources, the total OPEC crude oil production averaged 32.42 million bpd in December, a minor increase of 42,000 bpd over the previous month.
“Crude oil output increased in Nigeria, Angola and Algeria, while production declined by 80,000 bpd month-on-month in Venezuela,” the group said in the report.
In Africa, production growth of 50,000 bpd – primarily from Ghana and Congo – is expected for 2018, to average 1.90 million bpd, according to the report.
After a year of ceasefire, militants under the aegis of the Niger Delta Avengers on Wednesday threatened to attack some offshore oil and gas facilities in the oil-rich region in a few days’ time.
In 2016, the nation saw a resurgence of militant attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta, causing oil production to plummet to near 30-year lows of around 1.6 million bpd in August.
“This round of attacks will be the most deadly and will be targeting the deep sea operations of the multinationals,” the group said in a statement on its website.
Attacks on pipelines and other facilities in the Niger Delta in 2016 cut the nation’s crude production from a peak of 2.2 million barrels per day to near one million bpd – the lowest level in at least 30 years.
