The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says the nation’s oil production rig count increased from eight in 2021 to 46 as of July 2025.
According to NAN, Gbenga Komolafe, chief executive officer (CEO), NUPRC, spoke on Wednesday in Abuja, during a media workshop organised for journalists covering the oil and gas sector.
Rig count, a key indicator in the oilfield services industry, tracks the number of active drilling rigs.
Citing data from the commission, the NUPRC CEO said about 46 active rigs are currently supporting Nigeria’s oil production.
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Komolafe attributed the increase in rig count to the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021 and the commission’s sustained efforts to boost oil output.
He said the NUPRC, through its ‘Project One Million Barrels initiative,’ had increased production from one million barrels per day to around 1.7 million barrels.
The NUPRC boss said the initiative, launched in October 2024, aims to raise oil production by one million additional units annually, adding that 300,000 barrels per day have already been achieved since the programme’s inception.
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He commended President Bola Tinubu for executive orders 40, 41, and 42, which introduced tax incentives, tax remissions, and revised industry contracting timelines and thresholds.
Komolafe said the 2024 executive orders — 40 on fiscal incentives, 41 on local content, and 42 on cost efficiency and contract timelines — have spurred major investment inflows.
“These have yielded positive results in terms of the Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) that have attracted huge amounts of money, billions of dollars to the country,” he said.
Komolafe also urged media practitioners to report on the commission’s activities professionally to help Nigerians better appreciate and understand its operations.
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