Total crude oil production for the month of August was about 68.06 million barrels, according to the latest report by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The production, which translated into an average of about 2.2 million barrels per day (MBPD), was about 6.8 per cent higher than the production of 63.72 million barrels or 2.06 million barrels per day in July.

From the figure, total well-head production for the month was about 58.80 million barrels, from exploration/drilling activities conducted by only three of the country’s six exploration and production (E&P) companies from four wells.

The three companies that accounted for the production included Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mobil Producing Nigeria and Addax Petroleum Exploration and Production Company.

The NNPC document revealed that the production was, however, short of actual, as wellhead production data from some of the companies was not available.

During the month, total crude oil and condensates lifting for both domestic and export was about 70.14 million barrels, with the oil companies accounting for about 41.23 million barrels (about 58.78 per cent), while the NNPC lifted about 28.91 million barrels, or 41.22 per cent.

Lifting by fiscal regimes showed that the joint venture companies (JVCs) contributed about 36.22 million barrels; production sharing contract and service contract (PSC/SC) firms (25.89 million barrels), and 8.02 million barrels from other operators.

From NNPC’s total lifting of 28.91 million barrels, 21.23 million barrels was for the Federation Account, including the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Offshore; PPMC Crude Exchange & MCA), while 7.67 million barrels was for domestic use.

From the record, indications are that four regions, namely Europe, South America, Asia and Africa remained the major destinations for Nigeria’s crude and condensate export.

Alternative Funding (AF) lifting from the document was about 26.22 million barrels, with NNPC lifting 16.58 million barrels (about 63 per cent), while ExxonMobil, Total E&P and Chevron lifted 9.64 million barrels (37 percent).

Alternative Funding liftings are part of the JVCs export, while the lifting by NNPC contributes to the Federation account lifting.

On natural gas production and utilization, a total of 620.72 million standard cubic feet (MMSCF) of natural gas was produced in the quarter, which was higher by 28.50 MMSCF than the 592.22 MMSCF produced in the third quarter of 2013.

Out of the total volume of gas produced, about 19 per cent was flared, with the balance utilized.
Further details of gas activities during the quarter showed that Mobil Producing Nigeria produced about 202,170 metric tons (MT) of natural gas liquid (NGLs) out of a total of 240,377 MT lifted during the quarter.