Nigeria recorded 3.33 million barrels of crude oil theft in 2025, with about 66% of the reported quantity occurring in the fourth quarter, in accordance with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The fee disclosed this in its 2025 annual report launched on Thursday, which additionally detailed the nation’s crude oil manufacturing, home provide, exports and area improvement actions throughout the 12 months.
The figures present that reported theft was closely concentrated in direction of the tip of 2025, even because the fee outlined plans to broaden the nation’s oil and fuel manufacturing capability by means of new area developments.
Fourth quarter accounts for many oil theft
The quarterly breakdown confirmed vital variations in reported losses:
- Nigeria recorded 896,471 barrels of crude oil theft in the primary quarter.
- The second quarter recorded a unfavorable 200,400 barrels, which the fee described as an extra quantity in its reconciliation.
- Reported theft stood at 440,434 barrels in the third quarter.
- The fourth quarter recorded 2.19 million barrels, the very best quarterly quantity of the 12 months.
The annual report additionally confirmed that Nigeria produced 541.08 million barrels of crude oil and blended condensate in 2025, based mostly on the quarterly figures. Production was comparatively steady, rising from 132.70 million barrels in the primary quarter to 137.69 million barrels in the second quarter, earlier than easing to 137.45 million barrels in the third quarter and 133.23 million barrels in the fourth quarter.
Unblended condensate manufacturing added one other 48.52 million barrels throughout the 12 months.
NUPRC approves plans to broaden manufacturing
Beyond the manufacturing and theft figures, the fee reported progress in processing area improvement plans geared toward growing Nigeria’s upstream capability.
- NUPRC processed 75 area improvement plan purposes in 2025, comprising 58 acquired throughout the 12 months and 17 carried ahead from 2024. Of these, 48 had been authorized, 10 rejected and 17 remained underneath processing on the finish of the 12 months.
- The authorized tasks are anticipated to develop about 1.75 billion barrels of oil reserves, 104.48 million barrels of condensate reserves and eight.19 trillion cubic toes of fuel reserves.
- They are additionally projected so as to add roughly 743,830 barrels of oil per day, 23,707 barrels of condensate per day and three.09 billion customary cubic toes of fuel per day to manufacturing capability.
According to the fee, the authorized tasks are anticipated to realize first oil between 2026 and 2030. Seven of the 48 authorized plans are targeted solely on non-associated fuel improvement.
Oil theft and Nigeria’s manufacturing outlook
The newest figures come amid ongoing considerations about crude oil losses and Nigeria’s skill to satisfy its manufacturing targets.
For 2026, the Federal Government’s funds relies on crude oil manufacturing of 1.84 million barrels per day and an oil value benchmark of $64.85 per barrel.
However, Nigeria’s crude oil production averaged 1.505 million barrels per day since July 2026, in accordance with OPEC information.
