Nigeria oil output hits six-year high, above OPEC target

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Nigeria’s crude production reached a 74-month high last month, authorities said over the weekend, hitting an average of 1.56 million barrels per day, or 104 percent of its OPEC quota.

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Africa’s largest oil producer has increased production in recent years in part by cracking down on theft while also hiring former militants who sabotaged pipelines to act as security.

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As foreign oil majors — dogged by pollution scandals in the Niger Delta — have left many onshore projects to focus on offshore extraction, local firms have stepped in.

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“The improved performance was primarily driven by stable production operations across most producing assets and the absence of any major pipeline outages during the period under review,” the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission said late Sunday.

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Including condensates, oil production averaged 1.74 million barrels per day in June, the NUPRC said.

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The government maintains a goal of two million barrels per day.

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Though the west African country’s oil production has historically been hampered by pipeline theft and allegations of state corruption and mismanagement, the June numbers mark the highest recorded crude production since April 2020.

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