Nigeria has recorded a significant boost in crude oil production, gaining an additional 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) since the launch of the One Million Barrels initiative by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The initiative, inaugurated in October 2024, aims to increase the country’s oil output by one million barrels annually, contributing to Nigeria’s goal of ramping up production to meet budgetary and market expectations.
The NUPRC confirmed that Nigeria’s current crude oil production stands around 1.7 million bpd, up from previous months where production hovered near 1.45 million bpd of crude alone. This rise reflects incremental gains attributed to new investments and improved operational efficiencies driven by the initiative.
Komolafe disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja at the workshop organised for journalists covering the oil and gas sector.
He noted that the rig count, a key indicator of drilling activity, reveals the level of vibrancy and activity in the industry.
According to the commission’s data, approximately 46 active rigs are currently driving Nigeria’s oil production.
Komolafe, however, attributed the steady growth in the rig count to the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021 and the commission’s commitment to increasing oil production in the country.
He said the NUPRC, through its Project One Million Barrels initiative, had scaled up Nigeria’s oil production from one million barrels per day, which had been oscillating around 1.7 million barrels.
The NUPRC boss said the initiative, which was inaugurated in October 2024, was expected to increase oil production by one million additional units per year, adding that about 300,000 barrels of oil per day have been achieved since the inauguration of the programme.
He commended President Bola Tinubu for the Executive Orders 40, 41, and 42, which encouraged tax incentives and tax remission as well as redefined the contracting circle and the threshold in the industry.
Komolafe said the 2024 Executive Orders: 40 on fiscal incentives, 41 on local content, and 42 on cost efficiency and contract timelines, had catalysed massive investment inflows.
“These have yielded positive results in terms of the Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) that have attracted huge amounts of money, billions of dollars to the country,” he said.
He urged media practitioners to report the commission’s activities professionally, in a manner that would enable Nigerians to appreciate and understand its operations.
“As a regulator, we are wrongly perceived; oftentimes, people fail to understand the difference between a regulator and an operator.
“As a regulator, our activities put us in a quasi-judicial position, in a position to mediate, it is an omnibus job,” he said.
