The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has clarified that there is no discrepancy between its crude oil production figures and those supplied by the regulatory agency, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Company (NUPRC).
The company gave the clarification against the backdrop of reports in a section of the media that the 1.54 million barrels per day (mbpd) for September cited by the NUPRC was far below the 1.8mbpd for November cited by the NNPC Ltd.
The NNPC clarified that its reported 1.8 million barrels per day represents October 2024’s peak production, while the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Company’s (NUPRC) figure of 1,538,129 barrels per day reflects the average production for the same month, emphasising alignment between its data and the regulator’s figures.
Chief corporate communications officer of NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, in a statement, said the clarification comes amid media reports highlighting a perceived disparity between the 1.54 million barrels per day cited by NUPRC for September and the 1.8 million barrels per day reported by NNPC Ltd. for October.
According to him, there is no discrepancy between the crude oil production figures reported by the company and those supplied by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Company (NUPRC).
Soneye explained that the apparent disparity arose from the differing periods covered in the reports.
“While the NNPC Ltd.’s 1.8 million barrels per day figure reflects the peak production for October 2024, the NUPRC’s 1.54 million barrels per day figure represents the average production for September 2024,” he said.
“There is, therefore, no disparity or discrepancy in the production figures by NNPC Ltd and the regulator,” the NNPC said in a statement.
It added that “NNPC Ltd is working closely with relevant stakeholders to boost production to 2mbpd and above by the end of 2024.”
He further noted that this clarification aligns with remarks made by NUPRC’s chief executive officer, Gbenga Komolafe, at the 42nd Annual International Conference & Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos.
According to Soneye, “At the NAPE event, NUPRC confirmed that Nigeria’s crude oil output, including condensates, rose by 16.56 per cent from 1.54 million barrels per day in September to 1.8 million barrels per day in October 2024, reflecting an increase of 253,710 barrels per day.”
Soneye added that the NUPRC also highlighted that the 1.8 million barrels per day production in October surpassed Nigeria’s 1.5 million barrels per day quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Looking ahead, Soneye reaffirmed NNPC Ltd.’s commitment to boosting crude oil production.
“We are working closely with all relevant stakeholders to achieve a production target of 2 million barrels per day or more by the end of 2024,” he stated.
