Nigeria retained spot as Africa’s biggest oil producer in November, says OPEC

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) says Nigeria has retained its position as the largest oil producer in Africa.

In its latest monthly report on Wednesday, OPEC said Nigeria’s oil output increased in November to 1.48 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.33 million bpd in the previous month.

The oil alliance said the production figure was Africa’s largest in October, even as Nigeria continued to hold the top spot on the continent in the subsequent month.

In November, OPEC said Nigeria surpassed Algeria, which produced 908,000 bpd, followed by Congo, which had an output of 268,000 bpd.

OPEC said its data was based on direct communication, noting that its secondary sources reported that Nigeria’s crude production increased to 1.417 million bpd in November — up from 1.4 million bpd in October.

“According to secondary sources, total OPEC-12 crude oil production averaged 26.66 mb/d in November 2024, which is 104 tb/d higher, m-o-m,” OPEC said.

“Crude oil output increased mainly in Libya, IR Iran and Nigeria, while production in Iraq, Venezuela, and Kuwait decreased.

“At the same time, total non-OPEC DoC crude oil production averaged 14.01 mb/d in November 2024, which is 219 tb/d higher, m-o-m. Crude oil output increased mainly in Kazakhstan and Malaysia.”

On Wednesday, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said Nigeria’s crude oil production increased to 1.69 million bpd in November — from 1.53 million bpd in October.