The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Nigeria’s crude oil production declined to an average of 1.354 million barrels per day in March. OPEC made this known in its Oil Market Report for April. The report said the figure showed a decrease of 24, 000 barrels per day when compared to the 1.378m bpd produced averagely in the month of February. “According to secondary sources, total OPEC-13 crude oil production averaged 28.56m bpd in March, higher by 57 tb/d month-on-month. Crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates while production in Libya, Nigeria and Congo declined,” it said.
The report noted that following a contraction of 1.8 per cent year-on-year in 2020, Nigeria’s economy expanded by 3.6 per cent in 2021. It said this economic recovery was most likely to continue over the course of 2022 with support from improvements in the hydrocarbons sector and energy prices. The report said, “Recent official data suggested that the annual inflation rate edged up slightly to 15.7 per cent in February 2022 from 15.6 per cent in January, although food inflation remained elevated. “Indeed, higher food costs related to geopolitical tensions could further fuel inflation. In March, the overall business improvement softened as Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria’s Purchasing Managers’ Index suggested, indeed it dropped to 54.1 from 57.3 in February. “Yet, the overall prospects for Nigeria’s short-term economic outlook remain positive, despite concerns over inflationary pressures amid disruptions to global trade flows and supply shortages.”
