OPEC raises Nigeria’s oil production quota as Brent closes in on $120

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)has increased Nigeria’s oil production capacity to 1.735 million barrels in April 2022, if possible.

This is according to data released on Wednesday on its website following the conclusion of the 26th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, held via video conference on March 2, 2022.

The new production capacity draws Nigeria closer to the 1.88 million bpd proposed in the 2022 budget signed by President Muhammdu Buhari.

Under the new agreement, Nigeria is expected to produce higher than the 1.72 million for March bpd and 1.70 million bpd for February.

The news is coming at a time oil is at an 11-year-high.

Data from Reuters shows that the cost of Brent, the crude against which Nigeria’s oil is priced, on Thursday morning sold at $117/barrel as at 07.00 am Nigerian time.

What this means is that should Nigeria meets its full production capacity for April and oil price stays at $120 Nigerian government can earn over N83.4 billion daily at an exchange rate of N416/$.

Nigeria had been missing its oil production quota lately.

Early last month, OPEC increased Nigeria’s crude oil production target for the month of March despite the fact that the country had been missing its approved monthly output targets.

OPEC raised Nigeria’s oil production target for March 2022 to 1.718 million barrels per day, indicating a marginal increase from the 1.701 million barrels per day target that was approved for Nigeria in February.

However, Nigeria’s production level in the last two months has hovered around 1.3 million and 1.2 million barrels per day.