The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Thursday said Nigeria’s crude oil exports grew by an average of 81,000 barrels per day in January 2022.
Figures contained in the highlights of OPEC monthly oil market report for February 2022 seen in Abuja, showed that the country’s oil production moved up to 1.398 million barrels per day in January this year.
This indicated a growth of 81,000 barrels per day when compared to the 1.317 million barrels per day recorded in the preceding month of December 2021, according to data obtained from OPEC.
However, it was observed that the country’s crude oil production in November 2021 was higher than what was produced in December last year.
OPEC figures showed that 1.381 million litres of crude oil was produced in November, but this dropped to 1.317 million litres per day in December 2021.
On crude oil price movements, the organisation said crude oil spot prices rebounded in January 2022, compared to the previous month, as oil futures markets surged.
“Crude prices were supported by strong global oil market fundamentals amid dissipating fears about the impact of the COVID-19 Omicron variant and geopolitical risks, which raised concerns about near-term oil supply,” OPEC stated.
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The OPEC Reference Basket increased $11.03, or 14.8 per cent, to settle at $85.41/barrel in January, its highest monthly value since September 2014.
“Similarly, crude oil futures prices increased on both sides of the Atlantic with the ICE Brent front-month up $10.77, or 14.4 per cent, in January to average $85.57/barrel and NYMEX WTI rising by $11.29, or 15.7 per cent, to average $82.98/barrel,” the organisation stated.
OPEC stated that the market structure of all three crude benchmarks – ICE Brent, NYMEX WTI and DME Oman – strengthened significantly in January over the previous month as market perception of the outlook for the supply-demand balance improved.
It stated that hedge funds and other money managers turned more positive about oil prices, increasing net long positions to their highest level since last November.
