The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has disclosed that the country’s oil production surpassed 1.8 million barrels per day in July 2025.
The head of the agency, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this on Monday, adding that the current average output stands at 1.78 million barrels per day.
He said the output increase, largely possible due to the step-up in security operations, is part of a push to boost oil production by 1 million barrels per day to 3 million barrels per day.
The outcome is on par with an eight-month high as oil output last reached 1.8 million barrels per day in November 2024.
Mr Komolafe said the the country’s upstream regulator would continue working with stakeholders to sustain production gains and improve industry transparency.
Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest oil producer, relies on crude oil for nearly two-thirds of government revenue and over 80 per cent of foreign currency earnings, making production gains critical for stabilising its economy.
Business Post reports that the 1.8 million barrels per day is a mixture of crude and condensate, with crude mainly around 1.4 to 1.5 million barrels per day, which is around the benchmark set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+.
Last month, Nigeria announced plans to approach OPEC to raise the country’s crude oil production quota by 25 per cent.
Nigeria, an OPEC laggard, has not been able to hike output in recent years and has been limited to a quota of 1.5 million barrels per day.
However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has said that this may soon changed on the back of expectations that output will be raised soon.
The national oil company is also targeting 2 million barrels per day from 2027, with plans to be included in the upcoming talks over updated country capacities, the chief executive of NNPC, Mr Bashir Bayo Ojulari said.
NNPC is targeting a capacity of around 2.4 million barrels per day, and production of 2 million barrels per day in the next two years. This will constitute around 1.7 million barrels per day of crude and the 300,000 barrels per day balance of condensate.
And within three years, the company is aiming for production of 3 million barrels per day, comprising crude output of 2.5 million barrels per day and condensate production of 500,000 barrels per day. NNPC also said capacity will be around 3.5 million barrels per day.