Market News

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) report has indicated that Nigeria retained its position as the largest crude oil producer in Africa in March.

This is despite a decline in the country's output last month.

In its latest monthly report on Monday, the OPEC said 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.

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.

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.