- Despite promises from the federal government, Nigeria failed to meet its OPEC quota for crude oil production in January
- A new OPEC monthly report shows that Nigeria recorded a 30,000-barrel-per-day production in the first month of January
- The lack of crude oil has forced Dangote Petroleum Refinery to seek supplies abroad, recently importing 12 million barrels
Legit.ng journalist Dave Ibemere has over a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has revealed that Nigeria's crude oil production fell by 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January 2025 to 1.495 million bpd.
OPEC disclosed this in its monthly report released on its website.
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The report, based on secondary sources, showed that production declined by 1.97% to 1.525 million barrels per day (bpd) in December 2024.
This marks a setback for Africa’s largest oil producer, which had only recently met its OPEC quota in December for the first time in four years and is aiming to reach 2.7 million bpd by 2027.
However, data from direct communication sources painted a slightly different picture, indicating that Nigeria’s crude oil production rose to 1.539 million bpd in January, up from 1.485 million bpd in December 2024.
Nigeria plans 2.7m production target
Recently, Olu Verheijen, the special adviser on energy to President Bola Tinubu, stated that Nigeria aims to boost daily crude and condensate by 2027.
According to Bloomberg, she said the improved security around oil production and transportation sites is the key factor that supports the increase in output.
Verheijen emphasised that the increase in oil output will be driven in part by oil condensate, a lighter more volatile hydrocarbon that allows Nigeria to remain largely within its OPEC+ crude oil quota of 1.5 million barrels per day, BusinessDay reports.
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Her words:
“The OPEC quota does not include condensate. The target we’ve set for ourselves is a combination of condensate and crude.
“The idea is to try and demonstrate the capacity for a higher quota as required."
Dangote imports crude oil
Dangote refinery recently imported 12 million barrels of crude oil from the United States.
The mega refinery resorted to crude import as local supply failed to meet its requirements.
Africa Reports that the expected 12 million barrels have already departed the US and will arrive at the Lekki-based refinery later in February.
The report said Dangote is importing more crude as supply from the state oil firm is insufficient for its production.
NNPC to cut crude oil supply to Dangote refinery
Legit.ng previously reported that the NNPC may cut crude oil supply to the mega refinery from the current 350,000 barrels per day due to demand from the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
Reports say this reduction was expected to begin as part of adjustments under the government’s naira-for-crude initiative as the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries began operations.
The NNPC supplies about 300,000 to Dangote Refinery out of the 445,000 barrels allocated to domestic refineries.
