Nigeria stayed on top as Africa’s biggest crude oil producer in March, even though its oil output slightly dropped. This was shared in the latest monthly report from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), released on April 14.
According to the report, Nigeria produced 1.40 million barrels of oil per day in March, down from 1.46 million barrels in February. Still, this amount was higher than other African countries like Algeria and the Republic of the Congo.
OPEC’s data, based on direct communication with member countries, showed Algeria produced 909,000 barrels per day and Congo produced 263,000 barrels daily. Despite Nigeria’s decrease, it remained the leading oil producer on the continent.
OPEC also noted that overall oil production by OPEC and its partners, known as the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC), was 41.02 million barrels per day in March. This was a small drop of 37,000 barrels compared to the previous month.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) also confirmed that the country’s actual oil output for March was 1,400,783 barrels per day. This amount is 93% of Nigeria’s OPEC quota of 1.5 million barrels per day.
