There are strong indications that funding for Nigeria’s N21.8 trillion 2023 budget may receive a major boost as oil production rose 48,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February.
According to latest oil production figures from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), average crude oil production witnessed an increased output in February 2023 with the production of 1,306,304.3 million bpd.
The production output in February shows a 3.8 per cent increase when compared to the figure recorded in January 2023 which was 1,258,150 bpd.
However, combined oil production of the OPEC+ group dropped in February by 80,000 bpd as a small rise in Russia’s still resilient output failed to offset declines in Angola, Iraq, and Kazakhstan, according to the Platts survey by S&P Global Commodity Insights.
Combined production from all 13 OPEC members fell by 60,000 bpd in February compared to January, while output in the non-OPEC group, led by Russia, went down by 20,000 bpd month over month, the survey found.
While the market expects the official OPEC figures in the monthly report next week, the leaders of the OPEC+ coalition, Russia and Saudi Arabia, pledged to continue close cooperation in oil policy in the group during a visit of Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister to Moscow on Thursday.
“We have reaffirmed the mutual readiness for further coordination of efforts in OPEC+,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, as carried by Interfax , after talks with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.