•Meets 1.5m bpd OPEC quota  •As NUPRC forecasts 2m bpd in 2025

By Udeme Akpan, Energy Editor

Nigeria’s oil output, excluding condensate, increased year-on-year (YoY) by 6.3 per cent to 1.507 million bpd in December 2024, from 1.418 million bpd recorded in the corresponding period of 2023.

However, on a month-on-month (MoM) basis, the nation’s oil output, excluding condensate, increased by 2 per cent from 1.477 million bpd in November 2024, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

In its just-released January 2024 Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), obtained by Vanguard, the organization disclosed that this was based on data obtained from secondary sources.

With the latest output, Nigeria remains the highest crude oil producer in Africa while Sudan comes last with 27,000 bpd.

The report also showed that for the first time since November 2024, the nation met OPEC quota of 1.5 million bpd.

Checks by indicated that efforts were being made to achieve the 2.06 million bpd target of the N49.7 trillion 2025 budget.

However, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, said Nigeria’s daily average oil output, including condensate rose by 7.38 per cent YoY in December 2024 to 1.667 million bpd, from 1.552 million bpd recorded over corresponding period in 2023.

In its latest oil production data, however, NUPRC indicated that on a MoM basis, daily average oil output in December 2024, declined by 1.35 per cent from 1.690 million bpd recorded in November, 2024, to 1.667 million bpd.

Data from the Commission also indicated that daily peak oil production in December 2024 was 1.79 million bpd while the lowest daily production was 1.57million bpd.

Cumulatively, oil output in December 2024, was 51.69 million barrels, a marginal increase of 1.9 percent when compared to 50.71 million barrels produced in November 2024.

Meanwhile, NUPRC has set a production target of at least 2.1 million barrels of oil per day (MBOPD) by 2025.

The Commission Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, disclosed this during his appearance before the Senate Committee on Appropriation, yesterday.

Engr. Komolafe highlighted the significant strides made by the Commission since its establishment in 2021, noting that Nigeria’s rig count, which stood at 16 as of 2021, has now doubled to 32 under the Commission’s oversight.

He said this increase reflects ongoing efforts to boost upstream activities and enhance the country’s crude oil production capacity, adding that this bold production target aims to position Nigeria as a more competitive and sustainable player in the global oil and gas industry.