By Mary Izuaka

 

Nigeria met its Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crude oil production quota for the fifth consecutive month in September, with daily production peaking at 1.84 million barrels during the month, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Head, Media and Corporate Communications of the commission, Eniola Akinkuotu, said Nigeria produced an average of 1,717,030 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil and condensate in September 2026.

The figure represents a 2.34 per cent increase when compared to the previous month, and consolidates Nigeria’s position as Africa’s largest crude oil producer.

According to the data, the lowest single-day production in the month was 1.68 million barrels, while the peak single-day production hit 1.84 million barrels.

In strict crude oil terms, excluding condensate, the country produced an average of 1.53 million bpd in the month under review. This constitutes 102 per cent of the 1.5 million bpd quota assigned to Nigeria by OPEC.

A breakdown shows that Nigeria has consistently met its quota since May.

The commission said the crude oil data (excluding condensate) shows that Nigeria produced 1.53 million bpd in May, 1.55 million bpd in June, 1.51 million bpd in July, 1.5 million bpd in August and 1.53 million bpd in September.

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The NUPRC attributed the improved performance to stable production operations across most producing assets and the absence of major pipeline outages during the period.

“This enhanced operational stability supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.

“The sustained growth recorded in September reflects the continued commitment of operators and industry stakeholders towards improving operational efficiency, maintaining asset integrity, and enhancing production reliability across the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector,” the commission said.

A breakdown of the daily average crude oil and condensate production by terminals and streams during the month shows that Forcados Terminal accounted for the highest output at 320,320 bpd, while Bonny Terminal followed with 303,270 bpd.