Angola Overtakes Nigeria As Top African Crude Oil Producer

As Nigeria’s output level drops to a new low, Angola has now surpassed it as the continent’s largest producer of crude oil.

Angola produced 1.06 million barrels per day (mbpd) of crude oil in April 2023, according to direct communication information in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC’s) monthly oil market report (MOMR) for April 2023.

Despite early optimism, Nigeria’s oil production decreased 23% month over month (MoM), from 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) in March 2023 to 999,999 bpd in April 2023.

Additionally, Nigeria’s output level showed a decline of 16.7% YoY, from 1.2 million bpd recorded in 2022 to 999,999 bpd in April 2023.

Nigeria’s oil production began to rebound in the fourth quarter of 2022 following a public outcry, hovering at about 1.3 million bpd in the first quarter of 2023, after a gradual fall to roughly 1.1 mbpd in the second half of 2022, primarily caused by oil theft.

In 2023, Nigeria’s production rate of less than 1.0 mbpd is a record low, while Angola’s output steadily increases.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which oversees Nigeria’s petroleum industry, reports that Nigeria produced 998,602 barrels per day during the time period, which is comparable to the OPEC number.

According to the OPEC report, the average daily output of crude oil from the OPEC-13 countries in April 2023 was 28.60 million barrels, down 191,000 barrels from the previous month. Overall, the research stated that crude oil production decreased in Iraq and Nigeria while rising significantly in Saudi Arabia, Angola, and Iran.

Nigeria’s economy struggled to pick up steam in the first quarter of 2023, as observed by OPEC in the MOMR, with business activity and consumer expenditure remaining muted in addition to high input-cost inflation and lower employment levels compared to 2022.