A decline of more than nine million barrels in crude oil production occurred in Nigeria from March to April 2023, resulting in a total revenue loss of approximately N356 billion.

The recent strike by some oil workers, as well as crude theft by thieves, are being held responsible for the significant drop in oil production in Nigeria. Industry operators have suggested that investigations should be intensified as they suspect the involvement of certain individuals at oil export terminals in the theft and fraudulent activities.

Industry operators have suggested that the recent directive from President Muhammadu Buhari for the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission to oversee crude oil export terminals across the country may be linked to suspicions of fraud and theft at these terminals. Recent data from the NUPRC shows that Nigeria's daily oil production dropped from 1,306,304 barrels in February to 1,268,202 barrels in March and further declined to 998,602 barrels per day in April.

During the 31 days of March, Nigeria experienced a daily loss of 38,102 barrels of crude oil compared to February, resulting in a total loss of 1,181,162 barrels for the month.

Furthermore, Nigeria experienced a significant decline in oil production, with a decrease of 269,600 barrels per day between March and April. This equates to a total loss of 8,088,000 barrels over the 30-day period in April.

According to Country Economy, a global statistical firm, the average cost of Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, was $78.43 per barrel in March 2023.

Consequently, with a loss of 1,181,162 barrels in March, Nigeria incurred a total financial loss of $92.64 million (equivalent to N42.71 billion at the official exchange rate of N461 per US dollar) during the reviewed period.

In the same vein, according to data from Statistica, an international statistical firm, in April, Brent had an average cost of approximately $82 per barrel. This implies that due to the 8.1 million barrels reduction in oil production, Nigeria's loss in that month was $679.4 million (equivalent to N313.2 billion).

Combining the losses from both months, Nigeria's total crude oil loss amounted to about 9,269,162 barrels, with a value of N355.9 billion.