According to new data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigeria surpassed its 1 million BPD quota for November and October, a welcome development from August when the commission announced the country was unable to meet its OPEC quota owing largely to oil theft and vandalism.

The report details that oil production output in Nigeria hit a daily average of 1.41 million barrels in November 2022.

The report further elaborates that crude oil volumes for November 2022 were 1,185,604, with blended condensates at 40,691 and unblended condensates at 187,799, amounting to 1,414,093.

Looking back, crude oil volumes for October 2022 were 1,014,485, blended condensates were 28,232 and unblended condensates were 187,655, amounting to 1,230,372 barrels per day. Another fairly successful month in the sector.

The performances of October and November can be attributed to the government’s efforts to combat theft and vandalism at oil wells. According to reports, the government decided to explore the option of employing private security outfits, a move that delivered some measure of success in dealing with the problem.

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, stated, “our pipelines have issues and we put security structures in place involving the communities, the security, oil companies and government and we are beginning to see some early signs of improvement. Our production for example has improved from where we were in the past”, also adding that, “we are producing over a million barrels now and we believe that when we have built confidence enough on the pipelines and all the producers begin to inject into the pipelines that have been secured, we will be able to produce quickly to meet our OPEC quota. That’s our plan and I am hoping that before the exit of this administration, we should be able to meet our OPEC quota”.

He also added,