LAGOS – Nigeria’s daily crude oil and condensate production surged to an average of 1,735,398 barrels in June 2026, marking a 74-month high for Africa’s top petroleum producer, regulatory data released Sunday shows.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission reported that strict crude output, excluding condensates, hit 1.56 million barrels per day, meaning the nation successfully met 104% of its active OPEC production quota.
The landmark June performance represents a 2.2% month-on-month growth, extending a steady four-month upward trajectory from 1.48 million barrels per day recorded earlier in February.
Officials attributed the production boom to sustained operational stability across major upstream assets and a critical absence of major pipeline outages or disruptions, which greatly optimized national crude evacuation efficiency.
The surge marks a major operational turnaround for the West African nation, which has spent years struggling against rampant industrial-scale oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and chronic underinvestment.
During the height of these security challenges between 2022 and 2024, Nigeria’s output frequently plummeted below 1.2 million barrels per day, forcing OPEC to repeatedly slash the country’s baseline allocation.
The current recovery, bolstered by intensified military pipelines monitoring and joint surveillance contracts with host communities, suggests that Nigeria is steadily reclaiming its structural capacity to sustain higher output.
The latest NUPRC data indicates that combined daily output actually peaked at 1.89 million barrels in June, signaling strong technical momentum toward the government’s medium-term target of 2 million barrels per day.
“The statistics shows that Nigeria has maintained an upward trajectory, increasing from 1.483 mbpd in February to 1.546 mbpd in March, 1.663 mbpd in April, 1.700 mbpd in May, and 1.735 mbpd in June representing a 2.2% growth month on month.” NUPRC said in statement.
Sustaining this momentum remains critical for stabilizing public finances, as the federal government aims to defend its ambitious oil revenue target outlined in the national budget.
