By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has announced that Nigeria retained its position as the largest crude oil producer in Africa despite a decline in the country’s output in March.
The oil cartel said this in its latest monthly report on Monday, adding that Nigeria’s oil output decreased to 1.40 million barrels per day (bpd) in March – from 1.46 million bpd in the previous month.
According to the report, despite the decline, Nigeria’s oil output was the largest in Africa, surpassing Algeria and Congo.
OPEC said its data was based on direct communication.
Sustaining the momentum from February, Nigeria surpassed Algeria, which produced 909,000 bpd and Congo, which recorded 263,000 bpd.
However, according to data sourced from secondary sources, OPEC said Nigeria produced 1.51 million bpd in March as against 1.54 million bpd in February.
“Total DoC crude oil production averaged 41.02 mb/d in March 2025, which is 37 tb/d lower, m-o-m,” OPEC said.
Recall that on April 12, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said the country’s oil production decreased to 1,400,783 bpd in March.
Although oil output dropped in March, NUPRC said the average crude oil production is 93 percent of the 1.5 million bpd quota set for Nigeria by OPEC.
On April 4, the OPEC and its allies decided to increase oil production by 411,000 bpd in May — amid declining oil prices, which threatens the implementation of Nigeria’s 2025 budget.
