Nigeria’s crude oil sales hit N55.5trn in 2025

Nigeria generated an estimated N55.5 trillion from crude oil sales in 2025, driven by higher production and supportive oil prices, an analysis of data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown.

According to the NUPRC, the country produced 530.41 million barrels of crude oil between January and December 2025, up from 408.68 million barrels in 2024.

Using the average Bonny Light crude price of $72.08 per barrel and an exchange rate of N1,450/$, gross crude oil revenue for the year was estimated at $38.23 billion, or N55.5 trillion, compared to N50.88 trillion in 2024.

Crude output fluctuated throughout the year due to outages, security challenges and operational disruptions, with production falling below Nigeria’s OPEC quota in nine months of 2025.

Average daily output declined to 1.422 million barrels per day in December, about 95 per cent of the 1.5 mbpd OPEC allocation.

Despite stronger revenues, Nigeria missed its 2025 production target of 2.1 million barrels per day.

Total oil output for the year stood at 599.64 million barrels, including 69.23 million barrels of condensate, leaving a shortfall of about 166.9 million barrels.

Analysts noted that the N55.5 trillion represents gross revenue and does not reflect actual government earnings, as it excludes production costs, oil theft, joint venture obligations, domestic supply requirements and crude-for-loan repayments.

Experts attributed Nigeria’s underperformance to insecurity, pipeline vandalism, high production costs and policy uncertainties, urging the government to improve sector governance, security and fiscal incentives to attract investment and boost output ahead of the more conservative 2026 oil benchmarks.