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By Adewale Sanyaolu
Nigeria recorded a drop of -0.16 per cent in its daily oil production in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS statistics indicated that the country recorded an average daily oil output of 1.34 million barrels per day (mbpd) in the fourth quarter, lower than the daily average of 1.50 mbpd registered in the same quarter of 2021.
This was even as it disclosed that oil theft coupled with deferred investment in Nigeria’s oil industry caused a slowdown in economic growth to 3.52 per cent in the fourth quarter from 3.98 per cent a year earlier.
The economic shrink was also linked to widespread flooding that destroyed farms and rising costs.
Double-digit inflation and a weaker naira currency exchange also affected the country barely recoveringfrom the COVID-19 pandemic.
It has now registered growth for nine consecutive quarters, after exiting a recession in 2020.
The NBS said full-year growth stood at 3.1 per cent in 2022, in line with the World Bank projection.
It added that the price of diesel, which many businesses rely on to generate electricity, has soared in Nigeria due to high global oil prices, leading to increased costs of production, while a weaker currency has made imports more expensive.
Oil production, which accounts for around two-thirds of government revenue and 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings, contracted 13.38 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter, the NBS said.
Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Mele Kyari, had last week, confirmed that the country’s oil production had risen to 1.6 million barrels per day, two hundred thousand short of the 1.8 million bpd quota allocated by the Oil Producting Countries Organisation (OPEC).
Revealing this at a meeting of stakeholders in the oil and gas industry, called to discuss the challenges of crude oil theft and losses affecting the oil and gas industry, Kyari, said the rectangular security approach, comprising NNPC and Partners, Regulators, Government Security Operators and the Communities, boosted by the adoption of technology, ensured the recovery of production from what it was in July 2022 to 1.67 million barrels per day.
Kyari, who was represented by the NNPCL Chief Upstream Investment Officer, Bala Wunti, at the event chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, said the implementation of the Detect, Deter, Destroy, and Recover (3D strategy), the establishment of the Central Command and Control Centre for effective monitoring and coordination, the launch of the Whistle-Blowers Portal and the Crude Oil Validation Portal as well as the deployment of some of the best-in-class surveillance tools and technology have been a game changer in the fight against crude oil theft and vandalism.
The NNPCL boss stated that a key element of the collaboration has been the onboarding of the Private Security Contractors from the host communities, which were hitherto isolated.
He said the security contractors’ in-depth knowledge of the terrain and modus operandi of the criminals have led to massive discoveries of illegal connections and interception of vessels ferrying stolen crude oil.
Kyari said with the current sustained efforts, facilities that have been shut down have reopened, and injection of crude oil into major trunklines for evacuation to the terminals was being ramped up.
He said the oil and gas industry was poised to reposition itself for a sustainable growth trajectory as the efforts to rid Nigeria of the menace of crude oil theft continue to gain traction.
