Angola overtakes Nigeria as continent’s leading oil production

For the month of April 2023, Angola has surpassed Nigeria to become the leading producer of crude oil in Africa. According on information obtained directly and included in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ April 2023 monthly oil market report.

According to the research, Angola produced 1.06 million barrels of petroleum per day in April 2023.

Algeria and Nigeria both recorded the same number of barrels per day during the highlighted timeframe, at 999,000 for the month of April 2023 and 999,000 for the whole month. Nigeria has not experienced a lower output rate than this since the year 2023.

According to Nairametrics, data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission showed that in April 2023, Nigeria produced 998,602 barrels per day of crude oil.

According to the OPEC report, total OPEC-13 crude oil production in April 2023 averaged 28.60 million barrels per day, a 191 thousand barrels per day decrease month over month. Saudi Arabia, Angola, and Iran saw the largest increases in crude oil production, while Nigeria and Iraq saw decreases.

Global tensions are still expected to increase in 2023, according to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The organization made this claim in its monthly oil market report, which was made public on May 11. According to the research, OPEC expects the global oil demand to reach 101.9 million barrels per day in 2023. This estimate, however, is subject to several risks, including persistent geopolitical tensions and developments in the global economy, the research notes in one section.

The Nigerian government was recently given tax advice from KPMG Nigeria to explore for ways to improve its oil income. However, the fact that the nation would lose its position as the top African oil producer to Angola in April 2023 does not instill new hope in the oil sector’s ability to perform well in the first half of 2023, at the very least.

The Russia-Ukraine war resulted in increased oil prices in 2022, which benefited various oil and gas businesses as well as nations that produce petroleum. Nigeria, however, was unable to benefit from the price increase because of unacceptably high levels of crude oil theft in 2022, which caused the nation to lose up to 700,000 barrels per day, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

Nigeria’s economy encountered difficulties gaining momentum in the first quarter of 2023, according to the OPEC MOMR, with company activity and consumer spending continuing modest, as well as significant input-cost inflation and lower employment levels compared to 2022.