Nigeria’s crude oil production recorded a major boost in July 2025, rising to 1.71 million barrels per day (bpd), according to fresh data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

This marks a 9.9% increase compared to the 1.56 million bpd produced in July 2024. The July figure consisted of 1.507 million bpd of crude oil and 204,864 bpd of condensates. On a month-to-month basis, output also ticked up slightly by 0.89%, compared to June’s 1.69 million bpd.

Breaking down performance by terminals, Forcados led the pack with 9.04 million barrels in July, while Bonny surged by 12.7% to 8.07 million barrels. Qua Iboe, however, saw a decline to 4.55 million barrels, down from 5.08 million the previous month. Other terminals like Escravos, Bonga, Odudu, Tulja-Okwuibome, and Brass posted increases, with Brass showing the sharpest rise of 27%.

Despite the improvement, Nigeria still falls short of the 2.06 million bpd production target set in the 2025 federal budget, benchmarked at $75 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) says progress is being made in the fight against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism. Group CEO Bayo Ojulari revealed that crude theft in the Niger Delta — once crippling production — has been drastically curtailed thanks to tighter security and intelligence efforts.

“Our pipelines and terminals’ crude receipts, which once dropped to as low as 20–30%, are now nearing 100% due to the support of security forces and intelligence agencies,” Ojulari stated.

He warned, however, that oil theft is still being driven by sophisticated international syndicates and called for stronger regional cooperation across Africa to safeguard energy assets.

With oil revenue forming the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, the July output increase is a positive sign, but hitting the government’s production target remains a critical challenge in the months ahead.