Boost for naira as Nigeria retains position as Africa's biggest oil producer for 3rd straight month

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has announced Nigeria is the top African oil producer for the month of September 2023.

OPEC disclosed this in its monthly oil market report released on its website and obtained by Legit.ng.

According to OPEC, Nigeria produced 1.390 million barrels per day of crude oil in September, based on secondary sources.

This represents a 141,000 barrel-per-day increase compared to the 1.249 million reported in August.

The September production level also indicates three consecutive months of increase, as only 1.163 million barrel-per-day was reported in July.

The rise in Nigeria's oil production will serve as a significant boost to the Central Bank of Nigeria's efforts to defend the naira.

Crude oil is Nigeria's major source of foreign exchange, and the more Nigeria sells, the more dollar reserves will be available for the CBN to ensure liquidity in the forex markets and keep the pressure low on the naira.

Nigeria's Production Level in Africa

OPEC also revealed how other major oil-producing nations in Africa fared in the month of September 2023.

Based on secondary sources, the closest rival to Nigeria for the month was Libya, with 1.16 million barrels per day.

Followed behind is Angola's 1.19 million barrels per day and Algeria's 957,000 barrels per day.

Other African countries listed production were:

Congo- 259,000 barrels per day

Gabon-208 barrels per day

Equatorial Guinea- 55,000 barrels per day

Oil production direct communication

For direct communication of production levels, which are figures submitted by countries directly, OPEC said that Nigeria's oil production level was slightly lower at 1.347 million barrels per day.

This is an improvement from 1.181 million barrels per day reported in August.

Other African countries' figures based on direct communication are as follows:

Libya- 1.19 million barrels per day.

Angola- 1.11 million barrels per day

Algeria-957,000 barrels per day.

Congo- 259,000 barrels per day

Gabon-208 barrels per day

Equatorial Guinea- 55,000 barrels per day