Nigeria’s daily crude oil production reached its highest level in six years last month following a government push to improve security along pipelines, the chief regulator of oil producing companies said.
Oil receipts account for more than 90% of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. Its $50 billion budget for this year is benchmarked against production levels of 1.8 million barrels daily. But output has been constrained in recent years by vandalism of facilities. A Senate committee last year estimated Nigeria’s losses from oil theft at $300 billion. The military has stepped up surveillance of oil facilities in the southern Niger Delta region to curb damage and theft.
Together with condensates, total production of 1.7 million in June marked a fourth successive monthly increase in average production. The 1.56 million barrels-per-day output keeps Africa’s largest oil producer above its OPEC+ quota.