Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, has set a target of boosting daily production by 2.7 million barrels of crude and condensate by 2027.
This was disclosed by the special adviser on energy, Olu Verheijen in a statement reported by Bloomberg.
She noted that improved security around oil production and transportation sites is the key factor that supports the increase in output.
Verheijen emphasized that the increase will be driven in part by oil condensate, a lighter more volatile hydrocarbon which allows Nigeria to remain largely within its OPEC+ crude oil quota of 1.5 million barrels per day.
“The OPEC quota does not include condensate. The target we’ve set for ourselves is a combination of condensate and crude,” she said in an interview at an energy conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania last week, “The idea is to try and demonstrate the capacity for a higher quota as required.” she stated
The special adviser noted that Nigeria’s oil production has risen from a low of 1.1 million bpd in 2022 as the country seeks to boost revenue to address economic challenges like poverty and deteriorating infrastructure.
In December 2024, crude oil production reached 1.67 million barrels per day while 1.48 million barrels were crude.
More insights
Nigeria is projected to become a net exporter of petroleum products as Aliko Dangote’s refinery scales up production.
According to Verheijen, the removal of fuel subsidies has revitalized the downstream sector, making it commercially viable for the first time in decades.
“The removal of fuel subsidy could also foster further investment in refineries.
“What that has done is allowed the downstream, mainstream downstream of that sector to now become commercially viable for the first time in decades,” she said.
She added that investments in refineries are now viable due to improved commercial viability in the downstream sector.
What you should know
Recently, President Bola Tinubu pledged to boost Nigeria’s crude oil production from under 1.5 million barrels per day to over 2 million bpd in 2025.
- However, some experts have dismissed the target as unrealistic.
- In a recent Nairametrics spotlight feature, Petroleum Engineer and Oil & Gas Analyst, Dr Bala Zakka, stated that while Nigeria has the capacity to increase production, reaching the 2025 target is unlikely due to ongoing crude oil theft in the Niger Delta and the continued exit of International Oil Companies (IOCs) from onshore exploration.
As of November 2024, Nigeria’s crude oil production experienced a slight decline in October 2024, dropping from 1.54 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.53 million bpd.
