By Onu Okorie

Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NUPRC has approved 120 oil and gas field development plans involving an estimated $47.6 billion in capital expenditure since 2024, as Nigeria’s crude oil production continues to rise.
The NUPRC Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at an event marking the fifth anniversary of the Commission’s establishment under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Eyesan said the approved development plans were expected to add 1.74 million barrels of oil and 13.9 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day to Nigeria’s production capacity.
She highlighted the $10.3 billion Zabazaba-Etan development in OPL 245 among the projects approved, noting that the project had been delayed by disputes for more than two decades.
According to the NUPRC boss, Nigeria accounted for 38 per cent of all upstream investment sanctioned in Africa in 2025, compared with an average of four per cent between 2015 and 2023.
She said the development had made Nigeria the leading destination for upstream investment in Africa for the second consecutive year.
Eyesan also said Nigeria’s oil and condensate production had increased from about 1.44 million barrels per day in 2022 to an average of 1.75 million barrels per day in the first seven months of 2026.
Production, she added, had subsequently risen to 1.82 million barrels per day based on the latest figures.
Gas production has also recorded growth, increasing from 6.83 billion standard cubic feet per day in 2022 to about 7.97 billion standard cubic feet per day in the first seven months of 2026.
The Commission, Eyesan said, had also significantly reduced the time required to approve the reactivation of shut-in wells, from between two and six weeks to between two and four hours.
She disclosed that 37 new crude evacuation routes had been approved as part of efforts to reduce production shut-ins and improve the reliability of crude oil evacuation.
The NUPRC chief executive said the regulator was now entering what she described as an “age of compliance”, under which the compliance records of licensees and lessees would be scored and published.
The compliance scores, she said, would cover work programme delivery, payment of royalties, rents and fees, domestic crude and gas supply obligations, measurement and data reporting, gas flaring, health, safety and environment, decommissioning and host community contributions.
Eyesan said the Commission was targeting oil production of three million barrels per day and gas production of 12 billion standard cubic feet per day by 2030.
Speaking at the anniversary event, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, said the Federal Government would deploy the country’s petroleum resources to support economic diversification.
The President said the government remained focused on using the oil and gas sector to strengthen the wider economy while creating the conditions for increased investment and sustainable production.