Nigeria’s crude oil production hit a record low of less than one million barrel per day in the month of August, according to TheCable.
This comes on the back of a contract signed by the federal government with repentant militant, Government Ekpumopolo aka Tompolo, to stop crude oil theft in the country. The contract is worth N4 billion monthly, those privy to the deal said.
Over 400,000 barrels of crude oil are believed to be stolen daily from the country, a situation experts say has drastically reduced the country’s OPEC production quota drastically.
The situation has also led to huge loss of revenue to the federal government, according to those watching the oil theft trajectory in the country.
The online newspaper report that oil output averaged 972,394 barrels per day (bpd) for the month, hitting an all-time low.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC disclosed this in its latest crude oil and condensate production data for August 2022.
According to the report, the drop is more than 10 percent compared to July 2022 production at 1.08 million barrels a day and lower than the 1.8 million bpd production quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.
With condensate, production averaged 1.18 million barrels a per day for the month.
Nigeria had been struggling to meet over 1.8 million barrels per day production quota of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) occasioned by oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
It also affected the country’s earnings, resulting in a significant drop in monthly allocation to the federation account.
On Wednesday, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN said its members would withdraw services if there is no traceable progress in tackling oil theft.
Oil producers in Nigeria had also asked the federal government to tackle the menace of illegal oil bunkers, especially in the Niger Delta.
They said oil thieves are raking in ‘petrodollars’ while the country is bedevilled by low production.
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