Nigeria’s oil production fell below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in April, its lowest level in seven months, data from the petroleum regulator showed on Thursday, after a strike at Exxon Mobil’s local units hit the country’s output.

Oil production fell to 998,602 bpd after averaging 1.28 million bpd in the first three months of the year, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s latest figures for April showed.

Nigeria, which has capacity to produce 2.2 million bpd of oil, has struggled to fulfil its OPEC quota of 1.8 million due to crude theft, vandalism of pipelines and a lack of new investment in the sector.

Total oil and condensate production for April was also down at 1.25 million bpd from 1.52 million bpd in March.

The government has assumed oil production of 1.69 million bpd in this year’s budget.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)