Angola Overtakes Nigeria As Africa’s Number One Oil Producer

Source: thewillnigeria.com

SAN FRANCISCO, April 14, (THEWILL) – Latest monthly report from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, indicates that Angola has overtaken Nigeria as the number one oil producing country in Africa, making it the second time in four months that the North African nation would overtake Nigeria's crude oil production.

This was after Nigeria's oil production fell by 67,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March. On Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari warned vandals and saboteurs blowing up oil and gas installations to immediately desist or face the same drastic action being taken against Boko Haram.

Vandals had, in February, attacked the pipeline feeding Forcados crude oil, one of Nigeria's biggest export terminals. Forcados, which has the capacity to export about 400,000 bpd, was scheduled to export some 249,000 barrels of oil per day in February and March.

While the pipeline facility was shut as a result of the attack, Reuters quoted sources who said repair work on the facility operated by Shell will not end until June.

According to the latest OPEC report, Nigeria produced 1.677 million bpd in March, down from 1.744 million barrels in February, while Angola oil output rose from 1.767 million bpd to 1.782 million.

Last November, the oil cartel's statistics showed that Nigeria's production fell by 250,000, making it produce 1.607 million bpd, down from 1.812 million bpd in October.

However, Angola produced 1.722 million bpd as against the 1.607 million bpd the previous month.