Nigeria pumped 1.56 million barrels of crude oil every day in June 2026. That figure exceeds the OPEC quota by 4 percent. It is also the highest daily average since April 2020. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission confirmed the numbers on Sunday.
The total output, including condensates, reached 1.735 million barrels per day. Peak production touched 1.89 million barrels. The lowest daily output was 1.57 million barrels. These swings show Nigeria can still hit its 2 million barrel target if operational stability holds. Four straight months of growth underpin the trend. February started at 1.483 million barrels. March climbed to 1.546 million. April jumped to 1.663 million. May settled at 1.7 million. June closed at 1.735 million.
Pipeline outages were absent for the first time in years. That single factor explains most of the gains. Operators kept producing assets online without interruption. Scheduled maintenance was completed on time. Even short shutdowns at a few terminals did not dent national output. The NUPRC credited improved operational efficiency and asset integrity for the sustained uptick. Industry stakeholders echoed the claim. They pointed to better crude evacuation efficiency as a key driver.
Terminal-level data reveals uneven progress. Bonny Terminal led with 318 280 barrels per day. That is up from 293 880 barrels in May. Forcados Terminal followed with 306 360 barrels. Qua Iboe Terminal slipped to 164 730 barrels. Escravos Oil Terminal rose slightly to 138 030 barrels. Bonga Terminal delivered 103 660 barrels. The variance shows some assets still struggle with ageing infrastructure. Others benefit from recent upgrades.
OPEC set Nigeria’s quota at 1.5 million barrels per day. The country has now met that target for four consecutive months. The last time Nigeria exceeded its quota was in early 2020. Global oil prices were crashing then. Today the market is tighter. Brent crude trades above 85 dollars per barrel. Nigeria’s improved output arrives at an opportune moment. Higher volumes mean higher revenue. The federal government relies on oil for 60 percent of its income.
Yet the gains mask deeper structural problems. Nigeria still flares 10 percent of its associated gas. That is enough to power Lagos for a year. The Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 imposed strict penalties for flaring. Operators have ignored the rules. The NUPRC has not enforced them. Meanwhile, oil theft continues. The Nigerian Navy estimates 200 000 barrels are stolen daily. That is more than the entire output of some OPEC members. The stolen crude feeds illegal refineries in the Niger Delta. Those refineries pollute the environment and fund insurgency.
Another overlooked angle is the condensate loophole. Nigeria produces 180 000 barrels of condensates daily. Condensates are not counted in OPEC quotas. They are lighter than crude and fetch higher prices. Nigeria blends condensates with crude to meet export specifications. That practice inflates the actual crude volume. It also distorts the true state of production capacity. If condensates were excluded, Nigeria’s crude output would fall below the OPEC quota.
The NUPRC statement did not mention the role of marginal field operators. Those small producers contribute 10 percent of national output. Their fields are often older and more prone to shutdowns. Yet they receive little attention from regulators. The 2020 marginal field bid round awarded 57 fields. Only 16 are producing today. The rest are stuck in litigation or funding delays. If those fields were online, Nigeria’s output could rise by another 200 000 barrels per day.
