Nigeria's Rig Count Surges by 27% to Reach 14 Under Tinubu, Third Highest in Africa

• Rig count scaled upward from 11 to 14 indicating an increase in activity in the petroleum sector
• Expert says this may have been triggered by the newly enacted Petroleum Industry Act
• Nigeria appears at number 3 on the list following Algeria and Libya

Nigeria recorded a total of 14 rig counts in the upstream sector of the petroleum industry, a 27.3 percent increase, year-on-year from the previous 11 recorded.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, highlighted this in its Oil Market Report for the month of July 2023 Monthly.

Oil and gas businesses' desire to spend in the future is indicated by their rig counts, which reflect present market activity.

The federal government recently provided data on oil production, which was analyzed to determine that Nigeria raised its output last month, resulting in a gain in crude oil income of about N1.68 trillion in June 2023.

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Vanguard report showed that hike in rigging may be connected to the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA which has encouraged stakeholders, investors and financiers to inject more resources into the sector.

More on the data

Nigeria came in third place in Africa for the number of rigs, behind Algeria and Libya, which held the top two spots with 36 and 16 counts, respectively. Congo ranked last with only 2 rigs used during the time period.

The data also shows a rise in oil output month-over-month in June 2023 of 5.5% to 1.249 million barrels per day from 1.184 million barrels per day in May 2023. However, the data reveals that, compared to the same period in 2021, oil production decreased by 17.6% from 1.515 mb/d.

Colman Obasi, the National President, Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria said the improvement could be associated with the fact that the PIA is starting to make a positive impact on the Nigeria's oil and gas industry.

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He contends that the PIA's execution is crucial, thus the government should keep up its policies and incentives to attract additional investment into the sector.

Nigeria reclaims position as Africa's leading oil

In a related news, Legit.ng reported that Nigeria has reclaimed its position as Africa's top crude oil producer for the month of May 2023, after recording daily crude oil production of 1.184 million barrels, based on direct communication.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) disclosed this in its Monthly Oil Market Report – June 2023, which covers crude production for May.

Source: Legit.ng