Nigeria’s crude losses from theft and metering points dropped to their lowest in practically 16 years at 9,600 barrels per day (bpd), the West African nation’s upstream regulator has reported.
Representing the one 12 months to July, the determine is the bottom each day common since 2009, based on the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Fee (NUPRC).
“Up to now in 2025, solely 2.04 million barrels have been misplaced, which is a discount of 35.56 million barrels in comparison with the 37.6 million barrels misplaced in 2021, underscoring the dimensions of progress made in simply 4 years”, the NUPRC stated in a press release on its web site.
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“Crude oil losses in 2021 had been the best recorded in practically 23 years, making it the height 12 months between 2002 and July 2025”.
In 2022 yearly losses dropped to twenty.9 million barrels or 57,200 bpd. The each day common fell to 11,900 bpd in 2023 and 11,300 bpd in 2024, the NUPRC stated.
“Remarkably, in simply the primary seven months of 2025, losses had been reduce by 50.2 p.c, with solely 2.04 million barrels misplaced over the interval”, it stated.
“Because the implementation of the Petroleum Trade Act (PIA) in 2021, Nigeria has recorded regular progress in decreasing crude oil losses”, the NUPRC stated.
“The fee has adopted a balanced mixture of kinetic and non-kinetic methods in tackling oil losses”, it added. “On the kinetic entrance, the fee has continued to collaborate intently with safety companies, operators and communities.
“On the non-kinetic entrance, NUPRC has applied strategic regulatory measures to shut systemic loopholes. One key initiative is the metering audit throughout upstream services to make sure correct measurement of manufacturing and exports”.
It stated it has additionally permitted 37 new crude evacuation routes to counter oil theft.
Month-to-month Manufacturing Development
In the meantime July 2025 liquids manufacturing grew 9.9 p.c in comparison with July 2024, the NUPRC reported earlier. July 2025 output averaged 1.71 million bpd (MMbpd), consisting of about 1.51 MMbpd of oil and round 205,000 bpd of condensate. Month-on-month, July 2025 manufacturing rose 0.89 p.c.
“On the month-to-month efficiency of Nigeria’s crude oil terminals, Forcados recorded the best output in July 2025 with 9.04 million barrels, representing a 2.1 p.c enhance from 8.85 million barrels in June”, the NUPRC stated August 25.
Decommissioning Liabilities
In different achievements, the NUPRC stated Nigeria secured over $400 million in decommissioning liabilities in 2024, in addition to utilized stricter guidelines in current asset transfers.
Nigeria just lately noticed a spate of divestments by worldwide vitality majors, together with Shell PLC.
Shell stated March 13 it had accomplished the sale of its subsidiary within the Niger Delta, the place it had incessantly reported oil theft and sabotage. The NUPRC had held again the $1.3 billion divestment of Shell Petroleum Growth Firm of Nigeria Ltd to evaluate environmental liabilities, based on a press release by the fee April 29, 2024.
Throughout the Nigerian upstream sector final 12 months, greater than $400 million in “pre-sale decommissioning and abandonment liabilities have been secured by means of Letters of Credit score and escrow accounts”, NUPRC chief government Gbenga Komolafe was quoted as saying in an NUPRC press launch September 9, 2025.
“Since April 2023, we now have permitted 94 decommissioning and abandonment plans, in strict alignment with the PIA”, Komolafe stated. “These approvals symbolize whole liabilities of $4.424 billion, arising from all subject improvement plans submitted inside this era, and can be remitted progressively over the manufacturing lifetime of the respective fields into designated escrow accounts”.
Komolafe added, “Along with divestments, the Fee has been working along with operators, notably members of OPTS [Oil Producers Trade Section], on life extension tasks, starting from facility integrity audits to subsea upgrades and enhanced reservoir administration measures that maintain protected manufacturing, delay decommissioning, cut back environmental dangers and safe resilience throughout our mature fields”.
To contact the creator, e-mail jov.onsat@rigzone.com
