Kehinde Fajobi
Nigeria’s oil production, including condensate, rose by 4% in January 2025 to 1.737 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 1.667 million bpd in December 2024, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The latest Crude Oil and Condensate Production report from NUPRC also showed a 5.7% year-on-year increase from 1.643 million bpd in January 2024.
“Lowest and peak production in January was 1.66 million bopd and 1.79 million bopd, respectively,” the report stated.
“The average crude oil production was 103% of OPEC quota (1.5 mbpd). The daily average production in January was 1,737,480 barrels per day, comprising both crude oil (1,538,697 bopd) and condensate (198,783 bopd).”
While Nigeria met the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota of 1.5 million bpd, it fell short of the 2.06 million bpd projection tied to the N49.7 trillion 2025 budget.
OPEC’s February 2025 Monthly Oil Market Report, indicated that Nigeria’s crude oil output—excluding condensate—increased by 6.3% month-on-month to 1.539 million bpd in January from 1.485 million bpd in December 2024. Year-on-year, crude output rose by 7.8% from 1.427 million bpd in January 2024.
Despite production challenges, Nigeria remains Africa’s top crude oil producer, with Equatorial Guinea ranking last at 62,000 bpd.
NUPRC’s Commission Chief Executive noted that Nigeria’s rig count had doubled from 16 in 2021 to 32, reflecting efforts to boost upstream activities and increase output.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, linked the sector’s progress to a directive by President Bola Tinubu to ramp up production.
“With the presidential directive to ramp up oil production to a sustainable level, the journey of transformation in our oil sector began,” Lokpobiri said.
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“This visionary directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as broad as it was, became the cornerstone of my commitment and that of my team.
“We embraced it wholeheartedly, engaging stakeholders both domestically and internationally to build synergy and foster partnerships.
“Through these efforts, we successfully attracted significant investments and strengthened institutional frameworks, driving the remarkable transformation we see today in the sector.”