Nigeria's Oil Sector Sees Dramatic Growth Under Tinubu
Nigeria's upstream petroleum sector has shown significant improvement since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took office in May 2023, according to Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri. Crude oil production is now approaching 1.8 million barrels per day, up from about one million barrels per day before the administration's reforms.
The number of active drilling rigs has also increased dramatically, rising from approximately 14 in 2023 to more than 60, with over $8 billion in major Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) recorded since President Tinubu's assumption of office. This marks a significant reversal of the investment and production challenges that confronted Nigeria's oil industry before May 2023.
Lokpobiri attributed the improvement to improved security, greater regulatory certainty, resolution of long-standing industry challenges, and efforts to attract fresh capital into exploration and production. He emphasized that drilling activity provides an indication of capital deployment and field-development activity beyond headline production figures, with sustained drilling activity having implications for future production capacity.