Nigeria preserved compliance with its OPEC production quota for a fourth consecutive month in August, but the country’s crude output still falls short of the assumptions in the Federal Government’s 2026 budget. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission reported an average daily production of 1,677,777 barrels of crude oil and condensates in August, a 0.4% increase from July.
When condensates are excluded, average crude oil production stood at 1,500,190 barrels per day, a level the commission says aligns with the country’s OPEC benchmark. During the review period output varied between 1.64 million and 1.71 million barrels per day, the regulator added, and recovery at a specific asset where normal production and evacuation resumed was a material contributor to the month’s uplift.
The commission linked the steady performance across most assets to targeted measures to raise operational efficiency, preserve infrastructure integrity and reduce interruptions to crude evacuation. NUPRC’s Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, issued the figures and framed August’s result as evidence of ongoing efforts to restore lost capacity.
On a regional basis, Nigeria’s recent figures compare favourably with several peers: Libya recorded 1.391 million barrels per day in July, while Algeria reported 995,000 barrels per day. Despite that relative outperformance, production remains below the levels used in the federal budget, a gap industry participants say will limit expected oil revenues unless operational constraints are addressed.
Industry stakeholders identified three priorities to close the shortfall: resolving bottlenecks at producing assets, curbing crude theft and accelerating upstream investment. The regulator emphasised that timely interventions, improved asset management and closer collaboration among stakeholders will be necessary to sustain the recovery and expand production capacity in the months ahead.
