Nigeria’s crude oil production increased by two per cent to 1.53 million barrels per day (bpd) in September 2026, maintaining the country’s compliance with its production quota set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for the fifth consecutive month.
Gatekeepers News reports that OPEC disclosed this in its monthly oil market report released on Tuesday, October 13, showing that Nigeria’s output rose from 1.5 million bpd in August to 1.53 million bpd in September.
The latest figure represents 102 per cent of Nigeria’s OPEC production quota of 1.5 million bpd, excluding condensates.
According to the report, Nigeria produced 1.53 million bpd in May, 1.55 million bpd in June, 1.51 million bpd in July and 1.5 million bpd in August before recording an increase in September.
The improvement further strengthened Nigeria’s position as Africa’s leading crude oil producer, ahead of Libya, which produced 1.39 million bpd, and Algeria, with approximately 1.01 million bpd during the period.
Separately, data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that Nigeria’s combined crude oil and condensate production averaged approximately 1.72 million bpd in September.
The regulator said daily output peaked at 1.84 million barrels during the month, while the lowest daily production stood at 1.68 million barrels.
It attributed the improved performance to stable operations across most producing assets and the absence of major pipeline outages, which helped improve production uptime and crude evacuation.
The figures come amid the Federal Government’s efforts to increase oil production by addressing crude oil theft, operational challenges and other factors limiting output.
On October 10, Finance Minister Taiwo Oyedele said the government had taken steps to improve production, including renegotiating certain commitments to free up crude oil volumes.
Nigeria relies heavily on crude oil revenue to fund its budget and support foreign exchange earnings, making sustained improvements in production important to government revenue and economic stability.
