Nigeria's economy expanded by 3.1pc in the first quarter, slower than in the previous three months as oil production was curtailed, according to the country's national bureau of statistics. Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 3.98pc in the fourth quarter of last year. The bureau said the oil sector contracted by 26.0pc in the first quarter of this year, after shrinking by 8.1pc in the prior three months. Nigeria's oil production averaged 1.49mn b/d in the first quarter, 10,000 b/d below the fourth quarter and 230,000 b/d below January-March 2021, it said.
Sabotage and infrastructure problems have prevented Nigeria from capitalising on the surge in global oil prices by lifting crude production near the levels it is permitted to achieve under the Opec+ output restraint agreement. Argus estimates Nigerian crude production was 1.42mn b/d in April, around 320,000 b/d below its Opec+ quota. Output remains partially constrained by an outage on the key Bonny Light crude stream, which Shell placed under force majeure restrictions in mid-March. Argus estimates Nigerian crude production averaged 1.47mn b/d in the first quarter, compared with 1.44mn b/d over October-December. Exports were 1.27mn b/d in January-March, up from 1.22mn b/d in the fourth quarter, according to Argus tracking.