Nigeria has steadily overtaken Angola as the top oil and gas producer in Africa, by an increased output of 91,500 barrels per day (bpd) in February 2018, The Guardian reports.

Angola, which is Nigeria’s rival in terms of crude oil production in sub-Saharan Africa, had surpassed Nigeria with over 200,000 bpd since 2016 due to the renewed militancy in the Niger Delta, which led to a drastic drop in the country’s output. According to secondary sources, the total crude oil production of OPEC’s 14 members averaged 32.19 mbpd in February, a decrease of 77 thousand barrels per day over the previous month.

While production mainly decreased in Venezuela, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Iraq, this was partially offset by higher production in Nigeria and Angola. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that the Federal Government is targeting a production output of three million barrels per day of crude oil.

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