NUPRC: Nigeria’s oil output dropped to 1.58mbpd in September due to PENGASSAN’s strike

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production fell to an average of 1.58 million barrels per day (mbpd) in September.

In a statement on Saturday, the NUPRC said the reduction was due to the three-day strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and scheduled maintenance at two key facilities.

Eniola Akinkoutu, head of media and strategic communication at NUPRC, released the report showing Nigeria’s September oil production comprised 1.39 million bpd of crude oil and 191,373 bpd of condensates, totalling 1.58 million bpd.

“In September, the industry recorded total crude oil and condensate production of 47.43 million barrels, reflecting a 1.61 percent year-on-year increase in average daily production,” the commission said.

“This shows a slight improvement from the 1.55 million bpd recorded in September 2024, indicating gradual progress.

“However, on a month-on-month basis, September’s output marked a 3.09 percent drop compared to 1.63 million bpd recorded in August 2025.”

Further analysis of Nigeria’s oil production in September showed that despite the setbacks, the country achieved 93 percent of its OPEC crude oil production quota of 1.5 million bpd.

The report said that peak combined production (crude and condensate) reached 1.81 million bpd, while the lowest was 1.35 million bpd.

Also, the NUPRC said an examination of production by the top eight streams in September showed Forcados Blend accounted for 15.86 percent of total output.

The report further showed that Bonny Light followed at 13.31 percent, and Qua Iboe at 9.88 percent.

According to the NUPRC, Escravos Light contributed 8.96 percent, Bonga Crude delivered 6.83 percent, and Agbami Condensate made up 4.94 percent.

The commission added that Erha Crude accounted for 4.55 percent, while Amenam Blend contributed 4.2 percent of total production.

PENGASSAN, on September 28, instructed its members to embark on a nationwide strike over the dismissal of workers by Dangote refinery, despite a court verdict halting the industrial action.

The association said the refinery laid off over 800 workers, noting that it was working to “resolve” the issue.

Following widespread speculation on the matter, the Dangote refinery later confirmed sacking some workers, saying that “only a small number were affected”.

The refinery described the job cuts as a reorganisation exercise.

After the federal government’s intervention, the Dangote Group agreed to redeploy the workers sacked by its subsidiary, Dangote refinery.

On October 1, PENGASSAN suspended its nationwide strike after three days.