Nigeria’s crude oil production increases by 273,600 bpd

• Brent oil price hits $52.15 per barrel

Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), continued to reduce production in April, but output from Africa’s top exporter – Nigeria, increased by 273,600 barrels per day (bpd).

Specifically, the country’s crude oil production increased from 1.210 million bpd recorded in March to1.484 million bpd in April.

Meanwhile, Brent crude oil prices surged more than 2.4 per cent to $52.15 on Monday, after Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to extend production cuts into 2018.

Nigeria’s crude oil production declined in February, when Nigeria’s subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell Plc shut down the Nembe Creek Trunk Line, which exports Bonny Light crude oil, in order to remove theft points.

This made the country’s crude oil output to drop from 1.426 million bpd it recorded in February to 1.210 million bpd in March. But Shell said that it had completed repair of the damaged pipeline, which boosted the country’s production in the month under review.

OPEC in its March oil market report released recently, raised its forecast for oil supply growth from non-members in 2017, but kept its outlook for global crude demand unchanged.

The world oil supply in 2016 averaged 95.82 mbpd, representing an increase of 0.34 mbd compared to a year ago. The relatively weaker oil prices, lower investment and cuts in International Oil Companies (IOCs’) Capex led to a decline of 0.42 mbpd in non-OPEC output, particularly the US oil production, which was partially balanced by higher OPEC crude oil output of 0.95 mbpd.

Preliminary data indicates that global oil supply decreased by 410 trillion bpd in April to average 95.81 mbpd, higher by 0.83 mbpd year on year. A decrease in non-OPEC supply (including OPEC, natural gas liquids NGLs) of 0.39 mbpd, together with a decline of 0.02 mbpd from OPEC, further reduced the overall global oil output in April.