Nigeria’s crude oil production slipped in December from November as Africa’s top producer continues to struggle to pump to its full OPEC+ output quota amid operational challenges in its upstream sector.
Nigeria’s crude oil production fell to 1.422 million barrels per day (bpd) in December, down from 1.436 million bpd in November, according to figures reported by the country’s authorities to OPEC and included in OPEC’s latest Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).
By Nigeria’s own admission, it failed to produce to its 1.5 million bpd quota under the OPEC+ agreements, for the fifth consecutive month.
OPEC’s secondary sources, however, have higher estimates, and according to these, Nigeria’s crude oil production rose from 1.491 million bpd in November to 1.5 million bpd in December.
Nigeria’s state-owned oil and gas company NNPC reported crude oil and condensate production of 1.6 million bpd for November 2025, up by 1.3% from October levels.
NNPC includes condensate in its output figures, but OPEC does not, and the quotas exclude condensate production.
Going forward, NNPC plans to “Intensify collaboration with our partners through year-end and into 2026 to ensure improved production performance, maximise infrastructure uptime, and maintain high facility maintenance standards across all our assets.”
NNPC is set to increase oil production to 2 million bpd over the next two years, its executive vice president for upstream, Udy Ntia, said in November 2025.
By 2030, NNPC will be pumping 3 million barrels daily, according to the official.
Nigeria has been pumping more crude and drilling more new wells than it has in years, thanks to reforms under President Bola Tinubu that are finally leading to more cash flowing into the upstream industry. Daily output of crude and condensate has climbed to between 1.7 million and 1.83 million barrels, while active rigs surged from 31 in January to 50 by July.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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