Business: Nigeria Produces 2.5mbpd of Crude Oil

Despite the rampant theft of crude oil in Nigeria, the country is currently producing an average of 2.5million barrels per day, according to statistics by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).


The data also revealed that total gas production averaged 8.0 billion cubic feet per day (BCFD), with Associated Gas (AG), that is, gas produced along with crude oil amounting to 5.20BCFD, while Non-Associated Gas (NAG) is 2.80billion cubic feet per day.

With 6.6billion cubic feet gas per day utilisation, the oil and gas producing companies flare 1.4billion cubic feet per day, the data revealed.

According to the statistics, at an international market price of $3.5 per 1,000 standard cubic feet per day of gas (SCF), the 1.4billion cubic feet flared per day in the country translates to a daily loss of $4.9million in revenues.

Being major oil and gas province, petroleum accounts for 40per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), 80per cent of government revenue and 95per cent foreign exchange earnings.

With crude oil reserves stagnant at 36.2billion barrels, despite a national aspiration of 40billion target by 2010, the data revealed that for the first time in many years, the country’s oil and gas reserves were on the decline.

While petroleum geologists blame this decline on lack of exploratory activities by the oil companies, the oil and gas producing companies attributed the situation to lack of incentives from the government to encourage exploration.

The country currently has gas reserves of 182.8trillion standard cubic feet (SCF), with Associated Gas (AG) amounting to 92.6trillion SCF; while Non-Associated Gas is 90.2trillion SCF, according to DPR data.

However, even though the country is producing 2.5million barrels of crude oil per day, it is losing 400,000 barrels of oil daily to theft and production shortfalls, according to recent revelation by the National Economic Council (NEC).

The NEC comprises the 36 governors, Ministers of National Planning, Finance, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The daily loss of 400,000 barrels at an international price of $117 per barrel, converted to naira at the exchange rate of N157 to a dollar, is N7.35 billion daily.

The Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, is the head NEC’s Oil Theft Committee.

The federal government has also approved the establishment of a Legal Task Force (LTF) to be headed by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, to prosecute cases of oil theft across the country.

The LTF initiative was one of the outcomes of the most recent NEC meeting presided over by Vice-President, Namadi Sambo.