Nigeria again failed to meet its OPEC quota, for 9 consecutive months

Nigeria again failed to reach its crude oil production quota set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after averaging 1.49 million barrels per day in April, below the benchmark of 1.5 million barrels per day.

Figures from Nigeria’s Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission show that the country produced an average of 1,488,540 barrels of crude oil daily in April, representing about 99 percent of its OPEC quota. When condensate is added, total daily production rises to 1.66mbpd

Last month, the NUPRC said oil production was currently averaging 1.8 million barrels per day. However, the data released on Tuesday differed from the report. The latest data shows Nigeria has remained below OPEC allocation for nine consecutive months since July 2025.

NUPRC documents show that combined production of crude oil and condensate peaked at 1.85 million barrels per day during the month, while the lowest production was 1.46 million barrels per day. PUNCH reported that April’s figure was a considerable increase compared to March, when oil production reached 1.55 million barrels per day…

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Nigeria’s oil production has struggled for years due to crude theft, vandalism of pipelines, aging infrastructure and low investment in the upstream sector. Although production increased slightly in April compared to March, the amount was still not enough to meet OPEC’s target. This shows the ongoing challenges in increasing production despite the government’s efforts to increase volumes.

Previous data from NUPRC also showed that crude oil production weakened at the end of 2025. Production fell from 1,436 million barrels per day in November 2025 to 1,422 million barrels per day in December, before recovering slightly in January.

In 2025, Nigeria’s crude oil production fell below OPEC quotas in nine months of the year, only meeting or slightly exceeding targets in January, June and July.

Nigeria opened 2025 strongly, producing 1.54 million barrels per day in January, about 38,700 barrels per day above OPEC’s allocation. However, production fell below quota in February by 1.47 million barrels per day and weakened further in March to 1.40 million barrels per day, which was one of the largest declines all year.