The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has said the nation’s oil production rig has risen from eight in 2021 to 46 in July, 2025.
Data from the Commission has shown that the 46 active rigs were the ones driving the current oil production in the country.
NUPRC’s Commission Chief Executive (CCE) NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe made the disclosure on Wednesday while declaring open a Two-Day Media Workshop organised for journalists covering the oil and gas sector in Abuja.
According to him, the steady growth in rig count was occasioned by the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021, and the Commission’s unwavering commitment to increasing oil production in the country.
Komolafe further noted that the NUPRC through the Project One Million Barrels initiative has scaled up Nigeria’s oil production from one million barrels per day, oscillating around 1.7 million barrels.
Launched in October 2024, the initiative is expected to increase oil production by one million additional units per year. Engr. Komolafe revealed that about 300,000 barrels of oil per day has been achieved since the launch of the programme.
The NUPRC boss who commended President Bola Tinubu for the Executive Orders 40, 41, and 42, which has encouraged tax incentives, tax remission, and has redefined the contracting circle and the threshold in the industry,.noted that they have yielded positive results in terms of the final investment decisions that have attracted huge amounts of money, billions of dollars to the country.
He urged the media to report the activities of the Commission in objectively and in a professional manner saying, “As a regulator, we are wrongly perceived, oftentimes people don’t even understand the difference between a regulator and an operator. Did you not understand that as a regulator, our activities put us in a quasi-judicial position, in position to mediate, it’s an omnibus job.”
The rig count is a key metric for measuring vibrancy and performance in the oil and gas industry. It is a key equipment on which the oil is drilled. The rig count reveals the level of vibrancy, and the activities in the industry.
