Uche Cecil Izuora
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) says it is developing strategies to explore Nigeria’s heavy oil deposits as part of efforts to sustain production.
The Chief Executive of NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this while speaking at the recent Nigeria Oil Refining Summit 2026 in Lagos.
She said there is deposits of heavy oil in Nigeria, and there’s an initiative and strategies to produce the heavy oil.
The Commission has raised a team that will ensure this is effectively implemented, the CCE disclosed.
Eyesan, who was represented at the event a deputy director at the Commission, Boma Atiyegoba, stressed that increasing crude production is particularly important as Nigeria’s refining capacity expands, adding that refineries cannot operate without adequate crude feedstock.
She said, “As you all know, the commission has been working to ensure that we have an increase in our production. And by virtue of that, if there is no crude oil, there is no refinery. So, definitely, we understand the onerous task upon us to make sure we continue to increase production.”
The NUPRC had announced in July that 31 companies emerged winners of 37 oil and gas blocks in the 2025 licensing round. The commission said the assets had the potential to add about 500 million barrels to Nigeria’s reserves and contribute a minimum of 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil and condensate production within three years.
A total of 143 companies had submitted 200 bids for 37 out of the 50 oil and gas blocks originally put on offer.
These blocks were drawn from diverse terrains including the Niger Delta Onshore (16), Niger Delta Shallow Water (18), Niger Delta Deep Offshore (one), Benin Basin Onshore (three), Anambra Basin Onshore (four), Chad Basin Onshore (four) and Benue Trough (four).
Of the 50 blocks on offer, 37 received bids while no bids were submitted for the remaining 13. The 37 blocks that attracted bids were drawn from all the terrains including the frontier basins like the Benue Trough, Chad Basin, Anambra Basin and the Benin Basin, according to the commission.
According to her, the Commission has mapped fields awarded in the 2025 oil and gas bid round to existing production facilities as part of efforts to accelerate development of the assets and ensure that the successful operators achieve first oil.
The Commission, also disclosed that oil production occasionally peaks at 1.9 million barrels per day, although the current average output stands at 1.7 million barrels per day.
Eyesan said the commission had taken the step proactively so that infrastructure would already be identified for the new operators when they commence operations.
She said, “You can also see that of recent, we had the 2025 bid round concluded. The Commission will further ensure that it maps all the awarded fields to different existing facilities so that once they come up to start their operations, there’s a facility already mapped for them.”
According to her, the operators would, however, have to negotiate crude-handling agreements with the owners of the facilities to enable them to evacuate their crude.
“However, they need to go and discuss with the owners of these facilities for crude handling agreements, just to ensure that we hold them to their first oil,” he explained.
The move forms part of the commission’s broader efforts to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production, which Eyesan said currently averaged about 1.7 million barrels per day.
She said production had reached 1.9 million barrels per day on some days, noting that the commission was working to push output beyond the current average.
“When we were having discussions, everybody was mentioning the fact that our crude oil production is 1.7mbpd. But again, what I want to let everybody know is that, yes, it is 1.7mbpd on an average, but there are some days where we have peaked up to 1.9mbpd on a peak level of production.
“But again, you know how this production system is a bit dynamic, so we average out to about 1.7mbpd. But we can do more than that, and we are working assiduously to ensure that we get to that level,” she noted.
Eyesan mentioned that the commission is also working with operators to reopen shut-in wells, which she identified as another avenue for increasing production, describing it as a way of having enough oil for local refiners.
“For instance, we’re talking about the opening up of shut-in wells. We have a lot of shut-in wells in Nigeria, and efforts are geared towards opening them. In fact, we’ve been having constant engagement with operators to ensure that we help them by enabling them, regulatory-wise, because we cannot give money to operators, but we can only enable them in a regulatory manner, to ensure that those wells are up,” she stated.