Nigeria (Commonwealth) _ Nigeria, the biggest oil producer in Africa, has seen the slowest rise in its oil GDP so far in 2024. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) claims this. In line with the NBS’s most recent data, the GDP growth of Nigeria’s oil sector dropped to 5.17 percent in the third quarter of 2024 from 10.15 percent in the preceding quarter.
Additional research, however, revealed that the GDP from crude petroleum rose 9.12% from 7.64 percent during the second quarter of 2023 to 14.87 percent in the third quarter of 2024.
The country’s average daily oil production in the third quarter of 2024 was 1.47 million barrels per day (mbpd), 0.02 mbpd more than the daily average production of 1.45 mbpd in the same quarter of 2023, and 0.07 mbpd more than the production volume of 1.41 mbpd in the second quarter of 2024.
The nation has not met its 2024 budget, set at 1.78 bpd and $77.96 per barrel at the beginning of the year. Nigeria produced 1.5 mbpd in October, the least amount in three months, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) most recent figures.
In its full-year outlook for 2024, Cordros Securities Limited predicted that the economy would continue to develop, supported by the oil sector’s progress in the face of the government’s continuous efforts to prevent oil theft and pipeline damage, the services sector’s resilience, and a slow recovery from the effects of policy changes made in the previous year.
One of the nation’s largest problems in recent years has been widespread oil theft from wells and pipelines, which has limited the nation’s output and exports and harmed government finances.
According to estimates from the NNPC and the Ministry of Petroleum, theft costs Nigeria between 200,000 and 400,000 barrels of crude oil every day. Mele Kyari previously revealed that 8,684 locations—referred to as “boiling points” rather than genuine refineries—had been shut down since the campaign against illegal refineries started in 2022.
Furthermore, he revealed that the authorities effectively deleted 5,913 out of the 6,610 illicit pipeline connections they found. However, Kyari highlighted the challenge of combating oil theft, given the existence of over 1,000 illicit connections and the daily reconnection of new ones.
After Angola, Nigeria is Africa’s second-largest producer of gas and oil.There are two types of crude oil from the Niger Delta basin: light and relatively heavy. The lighter variety has an API gravity of about 36, while the heavier type has an API gravity of 20–25. Both varieties have a low sulphur content and are paraffinic. Since 1960, the petroleum industry has been a major source of income and revenue for Nigeria’s budget and economy.
Data from February 2021 indicates that the Nigerian oil industry contributes approximately 9% to the country’s GDP. The Goodluck Jonathan administration introduced the Petroleum Industry Bill on July 18, 2008, in response to the need for comprehensive changes in the petroleum sector, ease of doing business, and promotion of local content in the sector.
As of 2000, more than 98% of export earnings and over 83% of federal government revenue, as well as more than 14% of the country’s GDP, came from oil and gas. Additionally, it supplies roughly 65% of government budgetary revenues and 95% of foreign exchange earnings.
The Department of Petroleum Resources reports that there are 1481 wells and 159 oil fields in Nigeria. The coastal Niger Delta Basin, often known as the “South-south” region, contains 78 of the 159 oil fields in the country and is the most productive area. Small and dispersed, the majority of Nigeria’s oil fields produced 62.1% of the country’s total oil production in 1990. In comparison, at that time, 37.9% of Nigeria’s petroleum came from the sixteen largest fields.
Nigeria and Angola were Africa’s top oil producers as of 2021.The deepwater industry in Nigeria still has a lot of room to grow. In 2005, the Agbami oilfields reached their maximum production of 250,000 barrels (40,000 m³) per day. Chevron’s Star Deep and Famfa run Agbami as just one offshore concession; they also operate Akpo, Bonga, and Erha.
