The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum and Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said that Nigeria has added new oil and gas reserves The chief executive of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, said that the country added about 1.087bn barrels of crude oil and 2.574 trillion cubic feet of gas Recent data showed that Nigeria ranked second to Libya in crude oil reserves in Africa and first in gas reserves on the continent.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum and Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) announced on Monday, April 15, 2024, that Nigeria’s hydrocarbon reserves have jumped by 1.087 billion barrels, and gas reserves have increased by about 2.57 trillion cubic feet. Nigeria now boasts about 37.5 billion crude oil reserves, with a total gas resource of 209.26 trillion cubic feet.
Nigeria leads in gas reserves in Africa The chief executive of NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, announced this during an event and explained that the reserves’ lives also stand at 68.01 years and 97.99 years for oil and gas, respectively. An analysis shows that crude oil and condensate reserves currently stand at 31.56 billion barrels and 5.94 barrels, respectively, and are expected to reach about 37.50 billion barrels. Also, gas and non-associated gas reserves stand at 102.59 trillion cubic feet and 106.67 trillion cubic feet, for 209.26 trillion cubic feet.
Komolafe stated that NUPRC has been working towards President Bola Tinubu’s policies to improve the performance of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector and boost the growth of the country’s oil and gas reserves to ensure stable production.
He said the event’s significance was to reveal Nigeria’s capacity regarding the proven abundance of hydrocarbons. The NUPRC boss said that most of the new additions to the reserves were from brownfields, especially recent productions from fields owned by the last marginal oil field awardees. Reports say that Komolafe disclosed that the NUPRC was committed to improving Nigeria’s oil and gas reserves and completing all strategic initiatives to enhance the sector’s productivity, including Nigeria’s Gas Flare Commercialisation Plan (NGFCP).
He said the plan would lead to Nigeria’s promise to end gas flaring within a decade and contribute to reducing global emissions, as well as the Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligations to meet domestic refineries.
In its recent oil report, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Nigeria has fallen short of its daily crude oil quota for March 2024, leading to Libya overthrowing the country as the continent’s largest producer for the month.
Libya overtakes Nigeria as Africa’s giant oil producer According to data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Libya overtook Nigeria as the top African oil producer in March. The April 2024 monthly oil report published by OPEC said the North African country recorded 1.24 million barrels per day of crude oil in March, a 5.7% increase from the 1.17mbpd recorded in February. Nigeria recorded an oil output of 1.23mbpd in March compared to the 1.32mbpd produced in February. The March figure represented the lowest rate Nigeria recorded since July 2023.
Oil producers and refineries have been at loggerheads over the failure to supply ample crude oil to the refineries.
A report on Friday, April 12, 2024, said that more than 30 of the country’s cargoes were still seeking buyers. The report quoted traders specialising in buying West African crude oil, saying that about 53 cargoes were scheduled to load in May 2024, with most consignments being about one million barrels.
