Nigeria has turned around its production doldrums from the summer, bringing terminals back online and boosting exports.
Data show production rising to just over 1.186 million barrels per day of oil in November, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). Production had been declining since June and hit a low of 938,000 bpd of oil in September, according to NUPRC.
However, production is still down from the 1.399mn bpd Nigeria produced in January.
The November production is below every month reported in 2021, according to data from OilX.
Output accelerated in the month as terminals returned.
Forcados resumed on November 17 and Bonny on November 22, OilX reported. Forcados had been out of action as a result of leaks at its single point mooring (SPM), while Bonny stopped as a result of sustained pipeline vandalism.
The Brass terminal, though, remains out of action, OilX said. This export point is also suffering as a result of pipeline problems.
Including condensates, Nigeria’s oil production reached 1.414mn bpd in November, from 1.137mn bpd in September.
The Nigerian authorities have attributed the uptick in production to improved security onshore. Bala Wunti, head of NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), told Arise News that this was getting better. Reporting that production had reached 1.59mn bpd.
The government has signed up a company owned by a former militant Government Ekpemupolo, known as Tompolo, to provide security in Delta State.
Wunti said another company, Maton Engineering, was providing security around Brass and the central areas. Meanwhile, Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) is responsible for the east, he told Arise.