Angola, in August, took over from Nigeria as Africa’s largest crude oil producer.
Nigeria lost the position to the Southern African country for the first time in more than five years.
Bloomberg reported that Angola’s average daily output in August of 1.17 million barrels was more than Nigeria’s at 1.13 million barrels.
Bloomberg’s survey of monthly OPEC output showed that the last time Nigeria lost its crown to Angola was in April 2017 when both nations were pumping about 500,000 barrels a day more.
Nigeria’s production has declined steadily since 2020 and has reached multi-decade lows this year.
The government has blamed massive levels of theft on the pipelines that crisscross the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
Crude theft in the region has been blamed for the country’s inability to meet OPEC production quota.
The illegal activity is carried out by persons who have to politicians, officials in the public service and even the military.
The crisis reached a head between January and March when Nigeria lost $1 billion to crude theft. That is about the sum the country needs to fight malnutrition among 4.1 million people needing urgent humanitarian aid in the country’s north-east this year according to the United Nations.
Statistics published by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission paint a bleaker picture, with output at only 972,000 barrels a day last month.
That figure rose to 1.18 million barrels when condensate – a light hydrocarbon that is exempt from OPEC quotas – is included.
Libya produced 1.08 million barrels of crude a day in August, according to the survey, and could soon overtake Nigeria if it (Nigeria) continues on its current trajectory.
