The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)has said that Nigeria’s oil production increased by 161,000 barrels per day in February compared to the previous month.
OPEC, in the March edition of its Monthly Oil Market Report,stated that while in December last year, Nigeria produced 1.375 million barrels, in January 2021, it drilled 1.328 million barrels of oil per day and produced 1.488 million barrels per day in February.
Nigeria is expected to record modest growth with the rising oil prices,the cartel said,adding that the country’s real Gross Domestic Products(GDP)grew by 0.1 per cent y-o-y in the last quarter of 2020, after a 3.6 per cent contraction in 3Q20.
It added that the development marked the first positive quarterly growth in 2020 amid the gradual return of economic activity following the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions and oil price improvements.
The cartel also announced that it has cut the demand outlook for crude oil in two quarters, in line with it plans to tighten supply of the commodity.
OPEC cut its projection for the amount of crude its members will need to pump in the second quarter by 690,000 barrels a day, citing ongoing lockdown measures and other pandemic-related developments.
The cartel explained why demand was revised down, saying: “Ongoing lockdown measures, voluntary social distancing and other pandemic-related developments” continue to weigh on economic activities.” It, however, added that conditions should improve in the second half of 2020.
The cartel reduced its overall forecasts for the volume of crude it will need to provide this year by 250,000 barrels a day, compared to last month’s report.
It was understood that the group is pumping considerably below level, as it attempts to deplete surplus oil inventories that accumulated during the pandemic, with the de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, implementing extra cutbacks to speed up the market’s rebalancing.
OPEC expects the demand outlook to brighten in the second half of 2021, boosting projections for global oil demand in the fourth quarter by 970,000 barrels a day and requirements for its crude in that period by 400,000 a day.
“By the end of the first half, economic activity is expected to accelerate as the impact of the pandemic is expected to taper off. This momentum will be supported by pent-up demand, especially in contact-intensive service sectors such as tourism and travel,” OPEC added
