By Bassey Udo
Nigeria only realized only 93 percent of its Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crude oil quota of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in September, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) disclosed on Saturday.
The apex upstream petroleum industry regulator said the nation’s total crude oil and condensate production dipped slightly to an average of 1.581 million barrels per day during the month, about 3.09 percent drop from about 1.63 million bpd recorded in August 2025.
Production data released by the Commission showed that the total average production in September comprised 1.39 million bpd of crude oil and 191,373 bpd of condensate.
Details showed the industry recorded total crude oil and condensate production of 47.43 million barrels during the month, reflecting a modest 1.61 percent year-on-year increase in average daily crude oil and condensate production compared to about 1.55 million bpd recorded in the corresponding period in 2024, an indication of an incremental progress by the industry.
The NUPRC attributed the decline in the crude oil and condensate production levels to the recent three-day industrial action by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), which resulted in the shutdown of some production and export facilities.
In the wake of their face-off with the management of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited over a dispute following the sack of their members for union activities, the oil workers had ordered its members to disconnect all valves supplying crude oil and gas to the refinery.
Also, the protesting workers had suspended the loading of refined petroleum products at different terminals from the Dangote Refinery in a bid to compel the company to reverse its decision and reinstate their members.
Besides, the Commission said the reduction in overall production volumes for the month was as a result of two strategic oil production facilities which underwent scheduled turnaround maintenance.
Further review of the month’s data revealed peak combined crude oil and condensate production hitting 1.81 million bpd against the lowest production level of 1.35 million bpd.
A breakdown of production figures from the top eight production streams showed that Forcados crude oil blend accounted for 15.86 percent of total production, while Bonny Light accounted for 13.31 percent of the month’s production.
Similarly, Qua Iboe crude oil blend accounted for about 9.88 percent of the output against the contribution from Escravos Light blend of 8.96 percent, and Bonga crude blend of 6.83 percent delivery of production in the review month.
The contribution from the Agbami condensate accounted for about 4.94 percent; Erha crude blend accounted for 4.55 percent, and Amenam crude blend accounted for 4.2 percent of the production volume.
