Nigeria’s Crude Oil GDP Rises 9% In First Quarter 2023

The increase in oil production in the first quarter of the year has shown the improved state of Nigeria’s oil sector, as the real growth of the country’s GDP points increased by 9.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2022.

According to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the nation recorded a 21.83 percent year-over-year increase from -26.04 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2022. However, real growth in the oil sector remains in the negative territory.

“The real growth of the oil sector was –4.21 percent (year-on-year) in Q1 2023, indicating an increase of 21.83 percent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022 (-26.04 percent).

“Growth increased by 9.18 percent points when compared to Q4 2022 which was –13.38 percent. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 20.68 percent in Q1 2023,” the report showed.

According to the GDP report, the oil sector contributed 6.21 percent of total real GDP in Q1 2023, a decrease from the corresponding period in 2022 but an increase from the previous quarter, when it contributed 6.63 percent and 4.34 percent, respectively.

Nigeria produced 1.51 million barrels of oil per day (mbpd) on average in the first quarter of 2023, the NBS said in its report. This is 0.01 mbpd higher than the daily average production of 1.49 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and 0.17 mbpd higher than the production volume of 1.34 mbpd recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Meanwhile, the oil sector grew at a rate of 20.68 percent quarter on quarter in Q1 2023. The oil sector contributed 6.21 percent of total real GDP in Q1 2023, a decrease from the corresponding period in 2022 but an increase from the previous quarter, when it contributed 6.63 percent and 4.34 percent, respectively.