By Udeme Akpan
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has clarified that there is no discrepancy between its crude oil production figures and those provided by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The clarification follows media reports suggesting a mismatch between NUPRC’s cited output of 1.54 million barrels per day (mbpd) for September 2024 and NNPCL’s report of 1.8 mbpd for October 2024.
In a statement, Olufemi Soneye, NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, explained that the perceived disparity stems from differences in the periods covered by the reports.
“The seeming disparity is a result of the difference in the period of coverage in the reports — whereas the NNPC Ltd.’s figure was the peak production for October 2024, the NUPRC’s figure was the average production for October 2024,” Soneye stated.
He further noted that the NUPRC’s Chief Executive Officer, Gbenga Komolafe, had corroborated this at the 42nd Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) Annual International Conference & Exhibition in Lagos. Represented by the Executive Commissioner for Development & Production, Mr. Enorense Amadasu, Komolafe confirmed that Nigeria’s crude oil output, including condensates, rose from 1.54 mbpd in September to 1.8 mbpd in October 2024, marking a 16.56% month-on-month increase.
Komolafe was quoted as saying: “This represents an increase of 253,710 bpd to reach 1.8 mbpd in October, up from 1.54 mbpd in September 2024.”
NNPCL emphasized that the October peak production figure of 1.8 mbpd surpassed Nigeria’s 1.5 mbpd production quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Soneye added, “There is, therefore, no disparity or discrepancy in the production figures by NNPC Ltd and the regulator. NNPC Ltd is working closely with relevant stakeholders to boost production to 2 mbpd and above by the end of 2024.”
The statement underscores NNPCL’s commitment to transparency and collaboration as Nigeria seeks to enhance its crude oil output.