- The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Nigeria should be producing up to four million barrels of oil per day
- It said Nigeria has enough oil reserves to exceed its current production quota
- OPEC said the Board of Governors will work to increase Nigeria’s oil production quota to 2.1 million bpd
The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) says Nigeria should be producing up to four million barrels of oil per day given its huge oil reserves.
The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the OPEC, Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, stated this at the Heirs Energies’ Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse in Abuja, on Thursday, February 20.
Adeyemi-Bero said OPEC believes can produce more than its current 1.5 million bpd quota, adding that Nigeria only needs to demonstrate capacity to raise its OPEC quota.
He added that the 1.7 million bpd crude oil production recorded in January demonstrated that Nigeria can exceed its current quota.
“I think the important thing we should understand is that with Nigeria’s reserves and resources, it doesn’t have any business being below two million barrels a day.
“Nigeria should be doing two and a half, three, or four million barrels a day with its resource base. And I believe we can do it. And I do believe that even those in OPEC and around the world believe that, but we have to demonstrate that we can actually produce that.
“What happened in January is a major demonstration. The country demonstrated that it can deliver above 1.5mbpd. I think that’s the beginning of giving confidence that we can get more quotas,” he stated.
‘We’ll work to increase Nigeria’s quota to 2.1 million bpd’
The Chairman of the Board of Governors of OPEC said in his new role, he must work on how to raise Nigeria’s quota to 2.1 million bpd.
He, however, said the production quota must be genuinely achieved in line with the rules of OPEC.
Adeyemi-Bero said, “We are setting a production level of 2.1 million bpd. The job I have as the governor of OPEC working with the structure of OPEC in Nigeria, is, how do we make sure that our quota is at that level? Because we should not be producing above that quota in the wrong way.
“But, once you have to get that quota, I think the next job is to talk to my colleagues.”
What the OPEC board does
Adeyemi-Beros further noted that the OPEC secretariat “does all the magic they do, but they can’t approve them; they need the board.”
He added that his role as the Chairman of the Board of Governors is to chair the group and make sure its agenda fits into that of OPEC.
“The board is made up of all member countries who are members of OPEC, and my job is to chair that group and to make sure that the agenda for that group fits the important things for OPEC.
“And ultimately, I have to also make sure that those things that have to go to the conference are well done, but I can’t do that without talking to the home front.”
Other panellists in the session moderated by the Chief Executive Officer of Heirs Energies, Osayande Igiehon, were the Minister of Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe; the MD of Seplat, Roger Brown; and the Executive Vice President, of Upstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Udobong Ntia.
Nigeria still Africa’s largest oil producer, as OPEC reports 1.5 million bpd output in November
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Nigeria retained its spot as Africa’s largest oil producer, according to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
OPEC, in its latest Monthly Oil Market Report for November 2024, released on Wednesday, December 11, said Nigeria’s oil output increased in November to 1.48 million barrels per day (bpd), excluding condensate, from 1.33 million bpd recorded in October 2024.
