The latest monthly oil market report (MOMR) of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) indicates that Nigeria’s crude oil production increased from 938 thousand barrels per day (tb/d) in September to 1,014 tb/d in October 2022.1 The increase is coming a few weeks after the federal government launched full-blown combat against oil theft in the country. The government discovered some illegal oil pipelines and terminals during the combat exercise. The development indicates that sustained efforts to prevent oil theft would increase oil production. With the inauguration of the $3 billion Kolmani Integrated Development Project along the fields of Gombe and Bauchi state in the North-East during the week, oil production level is anticipated to rise slightly by 50,000 in the upcoming months. Despite the improvement recorded in October, the oil production level is much lower than the 1.63 million barrels per day benchmarked in the 2022 budget. The crude oil production recorded in the period under review indicates that the actualisation of 1.6 million barrels per day anticipated in the 2023 budget would require significant inflows of investment in replacing ageing infrastructure and modern ones, as well as tight security to curtail oil theft.
