Nigeria records 1.69m barrels daily oil output in October

Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production rose by 5.7 per cent year-on-year to an average of 1.69 million barrels per day in October 2026, despite a 1.7 per cent decline from the previous month.

Figures released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission on Wednesday showed that the country produced an average of 1,687,710 barrels per day in October, compared with 1,597,199 barrels per day recorded in October 2025.

The increase represents an additional 90,511 barrels per day, indicating an improvement in production compared with the corresponding period last year.

However, the October output was lower than the 1.72 million barrels per day recorded in September, reflecting a month-on-month decline of about 29,000 barrels per day.

The report read, “Nigeria produced a daily average of 1,687,710 million barrels of crude oil and condensate in the month of October 2026. Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission also shows that single day production hit a peak of 1.79 million barrels while the lowest for the month under review stood at 1.60 million bopd.”

The regulator’s data also showed that daily production fluctuated between a peak of 1.79 million barrels and a low of 1.60 million barrels during the month.

In terms of crude oil alone, excluding condensates, Nigeria produced an average of 1.51 million barrels per day, representing 101 per cent of the 1.5 million barrels per day quota assigned to the country by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

This means Nigeria exceeded its OPEC crude production allocation by approximately 10,000 barrels per day in October.

The performance extended the country’s run of meeting its OPEC quota to six consecutive months, following crude production of 1.53 million barrels per day in May, 1.55 million in June, 1.51 million in July, 1.50 million in August and 1.53 million in September.

The October figure, however, showed a slight moderation from September’s 1.53 million barrels per day, although it remained above the OPEC benchmark.

The latest performance comes after an uneven production trend in the first 10 months of 2026. Combined crude oil and condensate output stood at about 1.63 million barrels per day in January before falling to 1.48 million in February. It recovered to 1.55 million in March and rose to 1.66 million in April.

• FCCPC expects petrol prices to fall as crude oil drops
• Crude price drop: FCCPC demands lower petrol prices
• Pipeline outages delay 42.6m barrels of oil

Production improved further to 1.70 million barrels per day in May and reached about 1.74 million in June, before declining to 1.67 million in July. It stood at 1.68 million in August, increased to 1.72 million in September and eased to 1.69 million barrels per day in October.

The figures show that output recovered from the February low, with production reaching its highest monthly average in June before recording a modest decline in the following months.

In a statement issued by the Head of Media and Corporate Communications of the commission, Eniola Akinkuotu, the regulator attributed the relatively stable production performance to improved operational conditions in the upstream sector.

It said enhanced operational stability had supported production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency in recent months.

The commission added that the October performance reflected the efforts of operators and other industry stakeholders to improve operational efficiency, maintain asset integrity and strengthen production reliability across the upstream petroleum sector.

A breakdown of output by terminals and streams showed that Forcados recorded the highest average production of 318,490 barrels per day in October.

Bonny Terminal followed with 311,020 barrels per day, while Qua Iboe recorded 173,970 barrels per day.

Escravos posted an average of 134,670 barrels per day, while Bonga ranked fifth with 106,650 barrels per day.

Nigeria’s ability to sustain crude production above its OPEC allocation is important to its foreign exchange earnings and government revenue, given the country’s dependence on oil exports.

The Federal Government has repeatedly identified increased crude production as a key requirement for improving oil revenue, strengthening external reserves and meeting budgetary targets.

However, meeting the OPEC quota does not automatically translate into higher export earnings, as actual revenue also depends on crude prices, domestic crude requirements, production costs and the volume of oil available for export.