Nigerian Crude Oil Terminals See Huge Drop in Output

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): The data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) suggests significant decline in Q3 output at majority of oil terminals in the country.

During the recent quarter ended 30 September, 2022, thirteen out of the country’s 29 crude oil terminals recorded drastic decline in output. The huge drop in output is directly associated with the rising crude oil theft in the Niger Delta Region. Though crude oil theft has been an issue in the country for several decades now, the rate of theft incidents has seen dramatic rise in the past few months.

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According to NUPRC data, the crude oil production in the month of September this year totalled 937,766 barrels per day (bpd). This compares with the production of 1.2 million bpd in the corresponding month a year before.

The worst-hit terminal was the Forcados, which recorded 96.5% dip in production output during the quarter. The Bonny and Brass terminals too saw their output decline by 79% and 40.5% respectively year-on-year.

The production output at Forcados terminal witnessed sudden decline from over 3 million barrels in July to just over 100,000 barrels in September this year. The output from Bonny declined from 749,463 barrels in August to 167,582 barrels in September. Also, the output declined from 208,430 barrels in the prior month to 134,437 barrels in September.