Nigeria’s active oil rigs have risen from fewer than 10 in 2023 to more than 70, reflecting increased drilling activity in the country’s upstream sector, the minister of state for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has said.
Lokpobiri disclosed this in Abuja at the fifth anniversary of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), which was themed, “NUPRC at 5: From Uncertainty to Stability: Unlocking the Next Phase of Investment.”
He said the increase in the number of active rigs was part of the unprecedented drilling campaign currently taking place across the oil and gas industry.
“One thing that you didn’t say in your own achievements is the level of campaign we have, the level of drilling campaign going on in the industry is unprecedented,” the minister said.
“When we came, we had less than 10 active rigs. So now we have over 70 active rigs.”
Lokpobiri also said Nigeria’s crude oil production had risen to 1.821 million barrels per day, including condensates. He said the figure represented an increase of more than 80 per cent from the less than one million barrels per day recorded before the President Bola Tinubu administration assumed office.
“Today we are doing, as of yesterday when you sent the report to me, we’re doing 1.821 million barrels a day. That is over 80 per cent of success,” he said.
The minister urged the NUPRC to sustain efforts to unlock Nigeria’s crude oil reserves and translate them into economic value through increased production, investment and commercialisation.
He said Nigeria had become one of the most attractive investment destinations in the global oil and gas industry, adding that the country’s relative insulation from the war in the Middle East should encourage investors to consider Nigeria.
Lokpobiri charged the commission to ensure that the country’s regulatory and fiscal frameworks remained globally competitive.
The development comes as President Bola Tinubu urged oil and gas operators to comply with their work programmes, local content obligations, environmental standards and commitments to host communities.
Tinubu, represented by Vice-President Kashim Shettima, also asked the NUPRC to remain transparent, fair and independent while publicly accounting for its performance.
The President said the government would continue to uphold the rule of law and the sanctity of contracts in the petroleum sector.
The NUPRC chief executives, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, said the commission’s recent reforms had helped improve investment flows into Nigeria’s upstream sector. She said Nigeria accounted for 38 per cent of upstream capital sanctioned in Africa in 2025, compared with four per cent in 2021.