The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in its monthly report for February, has said Nigeria’s crude oil production dropped to 1.31 million barrels per day (bpd) in February, a 10.69% decline from 1.45 million bpd in January.

Although Nigeria still maintained its prime place as Africa’s leading oil producer, the latest figures, however, revealed that it failed to meet its 1.5 million bpd production quota, therefore falling short by about 190,000 bpd.

The OPEC usually sources its crude oil output data from two channels: direct communication from member countries and secondary sources such as energy intelligence platforms. OPEC and its allies on March 2, agreed to raise oil production by 206,000 bpd from April amid growing geopolitical unrest in the Middle East. At least 79.5 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves are located within OPEC nations with the Middle East alone accounting for 67.2 percent of OPEC’s total reserves.

According to secondary sources cited by OPEC, member nation’s “total DoC crude oil production averaged 42.72 mb/d in February 2026, which is 445 tb/d higher, m-o-m,”.

The failure by Nigeria to meet its oil production mean that it has lost out on oil windfall as the crude hit $100.

Copyright © 2026 Nigerian Tribune Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).