KEY POINTS
- Nigeria’s crude oil output rose from 960,000 bpd in 2022 to a peak of 1.84 million bpd in 2025
- NNPCL attributes growth to integrated pipeline security measures in the Niger Delta
- Improved security has curbed oil theft, reduced sabotage, and restored investor confidence in the sector
Nigeria’s crude oil production has rebounded significantly, rising from a historic low of 960,000 barrels per day in 2022 to an average of 1.71 million barrels per day, with a peak of 1.84 million barrels per day in 2025, following intensified pipeline security measures in the Niger Delta, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) reported.
The NNPCL’s Group CEO, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, disclosed the figures at a Parliamentary Roundtable on Pipeline Security in Abuja. He highlighted that the surge in output was achieved through an “integrated energy security model” combining legislative and executive policy alignment, actionable intelligence, kinetic deployment, regulatory oversight, industry cooperation, and community-based surveillance.
Restoring investor confidence following pipeline security
Ojulari emphasized that effectively tackling oil theft and pipeline sabotage has restored investors’ confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. The production increase also comes after a brief dip to 1.4 million barrels per day in February due to turnaround maintenance.
During the roundtable, the Senate and House representatives urged continued collaboration among agencies and stakeholders to sustain production growth and ensure fairness and equity in the sector. Security agencies, including the military, police, DSS, NSCDC, and private security firms, also presented insights on pipeline protection.
