Nigeria has again failed to meet its oil production target set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, making it the eighth consecutive month of underperformance.
According to OPEC’s April report, Nigeria produced 1.38 million barrels per day (bpd) in March 2026. Although this was slightly higher than February’s 1.31 million bpd, it still fell 117,000 bpd short of the 1.5 million bpd quota.
The country’s oil output has been unstable in recent months. After a small improvement in January, production dropped significantly in February before recovering slightly again in March.
In 2025, Nigeria also struggled to meet its quota, only hitting or exceeding the target in January, June, and July, while falling short in most other months.
This ongoing shortfall is affecting:
Government revenue from oil exports
Local refineries, which are facing crude supply shortages
To address this, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has started sourcing crude oil from international traders to supply the Dangote Refinery and keep local refining operations running.
Officials are hopeful that production will improve and possibly meet the OPEC quota in April, especially after maintenance work on oil facilities has been completed.
