The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says daily crude oil production has increased to 1.84 million barrels per day (bpd).
Nigeria’s crude oil production fell to 1.31 million bpd in February, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) data.
Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, chief executive officer (CEO) of NUPRC, announced the increase on Thursday during her visit to the headquarters of the ministry of finance in Abuja.
“We are doing 1.84 million barrels per day. That is a remarkable feat but I am sure we will do more,” she said.
The NUPRC CEO attributed the prior dip in production in February to some unfortunate incidents at key facilities, along with ongoing turnaround maintenance.
“But all that has been fixed and we are seeing production ramping up,” Eyesan said.
The significant increase comes at a period oil price is skyrocketing, with Brent crude price rising by 79.47 percent year-to-date, from $60.75 to $109.03 per barrel.
With regards the 2025 licensing round, the NUPRC CEO said the commission is now in the technical and financial stage.
She expressed optimism over the growth of the petroleum sector in the near future especially because of provisions like the “drill or drop” in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which empowers the commission to revoke leases of dormant acreages.
The NUPRC boss said some of the acreages that were put on offer could see production as soon as a year, adding that indigenous companies were showing an impressive capacity.
Eyesan also noted that the commission had fully complied with the executive order 9 of 2026, which directs the immediate suspension of the 30 percent frontier exploration fund (FEF) deduction from oil and gas profits, as well as other management fees, and requires that the funds be paid directly into the federation account.
