- Oil output in Libya rose by 5.4 per cent to 1.236 million bpd in March 2024 from 1.173 million bpd in February 2024.
- OPEC stated that Nigeria retained its leadership position on the continent, producing 1.398 million bpd, while Libya produced 1.161 million bpd during the period.
Libya has emerged as Africa’s highest crude oil producer following the drop in Nigeria’s output by 6.8 per cent to 1.23 million barrels per day in March 2024, from 1.32 bpd in February 2024.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a permanent intergovernmental organisation of 12 oil-exporting developing nations, Libya’s oil output rose by 5.4 per cent to 1.236 million bpd in March 2024 from 1.173 million bpd in February 2024.
OPEC disclosed this in its April 2024 Monthly Oil Market Report, stating that it derived the output based on data obtained from official sources in Nigeria. Based on secondary sources, OPEC noted that Nigeria retained its leadership position on the continent, producing 1.398 million bpd, while Libya produced 1.161 million bpd during the period.
However, OPEC stated, “According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.60 mb/d in March 2024.
“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.60 mb/d in March 2024, 3 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in IR Iran, Saudi Arabia, Gabon, and Kuwait, while production in Nigeria, Iraq, and Venezuela decreased.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government has expressed concerns over the industry’s capacity to meet its domestic crude obligations to local refineries, insisting that supply to local refineries remain a priority.
Speaking at a meeting to review Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligation as contained under Section 109(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA 2021, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe stated that the government must give priority must to the crude supply of local refineries.
According to Komolafe, the government’s overall objective was to ensure that Nigeria became a net exporter of refined petroleum products.
Furthermore, he stressed that producers should satisfy their domestic crude oil supply to the domestic refineries so that Nigeria can seize the opportunity to develop its midstream to become a net exporter of petroleum products. Komolafe added that the only way to sustain this is to become robust in our domestic refining capacity.