Nigeria’s daily oil production reached 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in January 2025, marking significant progress toward the country’s ambitious target of 2.5 million bpd by the end of the year.
This growth comes as Nigeria enforces its ‘drill or drop’ policy, a strategic initiative designed to accelerate production and strengthen the nation’s position in the global oil market.
This was revealed by the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, at the inaugural Petroleum Industry Leadership Dialogue convened by Heirs Energies in Abuja.
In his speech at the event, Lokpobiri lauded Heirs Energies for hosting the dialogue and confirmed the country’s ambitious plans to further increase production.
“Let me express our gratitude to Heirs Energies for providing this platform for meaningful industry engagement,” reaffirming the government’s commitment to meeting an ambitious target of 2.5 million barrels per day for 2025.
Similarly, Gbenga Komolafe, the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), emphasized the dialogue’s importance in advancing the sector’s goals.
“I thank Heirs Energies for this beautiful initiative of putting together the Petroleum Industry Leadership Dialogue as a commitment to achieving our national objective in the upstream sector,” noting the increase in Nigeria’s active drilling rigs to 38, with projections to reach 50 by March 2025.
During his recent appearance before the Nigerian Senate Committee on Appropriation on February 14, 2025, Komolafe said the country was pursuing a production target of at least 2.1 million barrels of oil per day by 2025.
During his remarks, Tony Elumelu, Chairman of Heirs Energies, stressed the need for strong collaboration among indigenous companies in the sector.
“I am honoured that Heirs Energies is bringing together distinguished peers from the industry and our partners in government. As an investor not just in resources, but in Nigeria’s power production and distribution sectors, all of us need to come together to ensure Nigerians get the benefits of our resources.
“As we build Africa’s largest integrated energy business, innovation and collaboration are central to our execution”.
Recently, OPEC data reveals that Nigeria ended 2024 with a total production of 1.5 million bpd, maintaining the country’s position as Africa’s largest oil producer.
Also, a recent report by the African Energy Chamber expects Nigeria to lead crude oil production increases in West Africa to rise.
