Crude oil production from Nigeria fell by 250,000 barrels per day last month, making the country lose its status as Africa’s top oil producer to Angola, latest data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries have shown.
Nigeria recorded the biggest drop in output in November among its peers in OPEC, followed by Saudi Arabia, the group’s biggest producer.
OPEC, in its latest monthly oil market report, put crude oil production from Nigeria at 1.607 million bpd in November based on direct communication, down from 1.812 million bpd in October.
Angola saw its oil output dropped to 1.722 million bpd last month from 1.762 million bpd in October.
Saudi Arabia’s output declined to 10.186 million bpd from 10.276 million bpd in October, while Venezuela produced 2.587 million bpd in November, down from 2.601 million bpd a month earlier.
According to secondary sources, the total OPEC crude oil production in November increased by 230,000 bpd over the previous month to average 31.70 million bpd. Crude oil output increased mostly in Iraq, by around 248,000 bpd, to average 4.3 million bpd.
November’s OPEC crude oil production, not including Iraq, stood at 27.39 million bpd, a decrease of 17,000 bpd over the previous month, said OPEC.
Africa’s oil supply is projected to decline by 30,000 bpd to average 2.31 million bpd in 2016 year-on-year, unchanged from last month’s prediction, according to the report.
