The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has disclosed that its Project One Million Barrels, launched in October 2024, has led to an increase of 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Nigeria’s oil production.
The Commission Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe who disclosed this in Abuja during a workshop for journalists, said Nigeria’s oil rig count has also grown to 46 from 44 at the end of June, 2025.
Recall that Project One Million Barrels was launched in October, 2024 as part of activities to mark NUPRC’s third year’s anniversary with a target of increasing oil production by one million barrels between 12 to 24 months period.
Komolafe noted that reforms and regulatory measures implemented under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) have contributed to a steady rise in production, which now stands at about 1.7 million barrels per day.
He said: “With our determination, commitment, and resourcefulness of the team we have in the NUPRC, we have been able to proudly attain a number of high-impact achievements that, as reporters of our activities, you are all aware of, that I believe that we are collectively proud of what we have done. We are proud of it.
“You know, we took off at a time when the production was declining from one million barrels. Today, we are not where we were. We are oscillating around 1.7 million barrels of oil a day. As at then, you all know that the rig count was at 11. You know that rig count is a very key metric for measuring vibrancy and performance in the industry, because that is a key equipment on which you drill the oil. The rig count today is 46”.
While expressing optimism that the country’s oil production would increase more in the coming months, he explained that the feedback from operators has been positive.
“The operators keep conveying to us that they are witnessing very positive reports indeed by all the metrics. You agree with me that the industry is a fact-based industry, very scientific. It is very cost-sensitive, extremely cost and time sensitive.
“It is the aspiration of the country that the unit cost of production should be driven down, it should go down south. There are two ways by which we could optimize federation revenue. We could do it in a do-nothing scenario or in a do-something scenario. Do-nothing scenario means by not embarking on incremental production, by merely driving down the unit cost of production, you can equally, correspondingly, drive up the rate of return on investment. You can drive it up. That is a do-nothing scenario.
“Or do-something scenario, which is exactly what we are doing now. By making sure, in line with the statutory mandate, that the Commission should promote investment in the industry. So, stakeholders, a business enabler is standing before you this morning. And we have been doing that and the signs are positive”, he added.
He explained that the project “one million barrels additional production was an initiative to leverage the power of collaboration to get all the other operators in the industry to collaborate, to leverage their capacity to drive up production. The initiative came as a result of our observation that the potentials are there but the operators were operating in silos”.
He said by getting the operators to collaborate more, the industry was able to boost oil production.
