Nigeria retains top spot in Africa as OPEC’s oil production rises in November

Nigeria has maintained its top spot as Africa’s largest oil producer, according to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) for November, OPEC revealed that Nigeria’s oil production rose to 1.48 million barrels per day (bpd) in November, up from 1.33 million bpd the previous month.

This increase solidified Nigeria’s position as the continent’s leading oil producer, surpassing Algeria’s 908,000 bpd and Congo’s 268,000 bpd.

OPEC said it relied on primary data gotten through direct communication, noting that secondary sources reported 1.417 million bpd as Nigeria’s crude production in November — up from 1.4 million bpd in October.

The data also shows that OPEC’s total oil production among its 12 members rose by 104,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the month under review.

“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.66 mb/d in November 2024, which is 104 tb/d higher, m-o-m. 

“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, Iran, and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased”, OPEC said.

“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia,” the organisation added.

Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the two largest oil producers in OPEC, maintained their commitment to production cuts. Saudi maintained its around 9 million bpd output while Iraq’s output dropped by 45,000 bpd to 4.043 million.

What you should know 

Nigeria is short but close to meeting its OPEC quota of 1.5 million barrels per day.

• The same quota was approved for Nigeria for the year 2025, as it failed to meet this target throughout 2024.
• Nigeria has been handicapped from reaching by chronic crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, especially in the Niger Delta region.
• OPEC encouraged its members to cut production from January 2025 in order to stay in control of global oil prices, giving exemption only to Iran and Libya due to Western sanctions and political instability, respectively.
• The OPEC+ group, comprising OPEC and 12 non-OPEC oil producers led by Russia decided to delay production cuts to April 2025. This delay must have encouraged November’s production rise.

Nigeria has set a production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (inclusive of condensates.) The federal government wishes to reach this target by mid-2025.

Cover photo: From Nairametrics