Africa Oil & Gas: Angola increases October oil production, fails OPEC pact

Angolan oil production reversed the declines and rose sharply in October, equivalent to 69,800 barrels per day, rejoining leading Nigeria at the top of African producers, but “sticking” the agreed limit with OPEC.

According to data from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ latest monthly report, compiled today by Lusa, Angola reached an average daily production of 1.711 million barrels of crude oil in October, with data based on secondary sources.

With this record, in volume produced, Angola continues behind Nigeria, which nevertheless saw its production decrease by 54,400 barrels per day from September to October, retreating to the average of 1.738 million barrels per day, according to the same data of OPEC.

During almost all of 2016 – and until last May – Angola led the production of oil in Africa. Production in Nigeria was conditioned between 2015 and 2016 by terrorist attacks, armed groups and internal political instability.

The agreement between the oil-producing countries to reduce production and push up the price of barrel has forced Angola to cut 78,000 barrels of crude per day with effect from January 1, 2017, to a limit of 1.673 million barrels per day.

An agreement, however, prolonged until March 2018, that Angola will have ‘failed’ in October. The OPEC report says that in terms of “direct communications” to the organization, Angola will have produced 1.601 million barrels of oil per day in October, while Nigeria reached 1.663 million barrels.

The document also adds information on China’s oil purchases, in this case in September, with Angola remaining among the top suppliers, with a share of 13%, behind Russia (17%) and ahead of Arabia Saudi (12%).

Angola has faced a deep economic, financial and foreign exchange crisis since the end of 2014 due to the sharp drop in oil revenues. In less than two years, the country saw the price of the barrel exported rise from more than 100 dollars to average sales in the first half of 2016 of 36 dollars a barrel, according to data from the Angolan Ministry of Finance.

Since the beginning of the year, sales of Angolan oil have been, as a rule, above 50 dollars a barrel in the international market, having surpassed 60 dollars in the meantime.