By Odunewu Segun
Angola has again overtook Nigeria as Africa’s top oil producer following Nigeria’s oil production decline by 156,000 March, 2017, National Daily has gathered.
Nigeria’s crude oil production fell by 156,900 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.269 million bpd in March, from 1.426mbpd recorded in February. Consequently, the country lost its status as Africa’s top oil producer to Angola, according to latest data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Angola, which has been working hard to remain Africa’s top producer, climbed to the top again for being able to maintain a daily production of 1.652 million barrels since January, even though it is a drop from last quarter of 2016 levels of 1.736mbpd.
The southern African country became the top producer at the onset of renewed militancy in the Niger Delta, but Nigeria was able to recover lost grounds between December and January when the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, put the country’s production at 2mbpd.
Nigeria recorded the biggest drop in output in March among its peers in OPEC, followed by Saudi Arabia, the group’s biggest producer. The 13-member cartel, in its latest monthly oil market report for April, said Nigeria recorded the biggest decline of about 157,000bpd in the period under review.
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According to OPEC, its members pumped a combined 31.93 million barrels daily last month, down by 153,000 bpd from February. Saudi Arabia was said to have produced 9.9 million bpd in March, more than 100,000 bpd below its monthly quota under the production cut deal.
OPEC said crude oil supply from non-members this year would average 57.89 million bpd due to growing output in the U.S. and modest declines in Colombia and China.
The figure is 176,000bpd higher than what OPEC projected in February for the non-members.In the U.S. alone, the cartel predicted that production would grow at an average rate of 540,000 bpd, up from last month’s forecast of a 340,000 bpd growth rate.
On the demand front, OPEC expects the world to need about 96.32 million barrels daily, a growth rate of 1.27 million bpd. India and the “Other Asia” group of countries, excluding China as designated by OPEC, are to lead this growth crusade, while China will be second, and followed by the Americas.