According to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) report, Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production in January (based on direct communications) was 1.539 million bpd, an increase of 54,000 bpd (3.64%) from 1.485 million bpd recorded in December 2024. The report revealed that Nigeria exceeded its OPEC quota (of 1.5 million bpd) by 39,000 bpd. This commendable increase, however, falls short of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) production target, which is set at a minimum of 2.1 million bpd for 2025. A 26.71% increase in crude oil production from the current level is required to meet this NUPRC target. The report further revealed that crude oil prices increased to US$80.14 per barrel in January 2025, up from US$74.22 per barrel recorded in December 2024, representing a 7.98% month on-month increase. With crude oil prices largely determined externally, one way to improve oil revenue (a major source of revenue and FX for the country) is to boost upstream activities and expand the country’s crude oil production capacity. There is a need to sustain and exceed the production level, to demand a higher quota from OPEC. To boost production levels, several policies should be implemented to attract investment, including full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Also, there is a need to strengthen efforts to curb oil theft and pipeline vandalism by deploying technology such as the Advanced Cargo Declaration regime to track and prevent such activities.

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