The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory 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.

The Chief Executive of NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this while speaking at the recent Nigeria Oil Refining Summit 2026 in Lagos, where she was represented by a deputy director at the commission, Boma Atiyegoba.

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. Not only that, the Commission has also gone forward in a proactive manner to ensure that we map 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.

The NUPRC chief also disclosed that the commission is developing strategies to exploit Nigeria’s heavy oil deposits as part of efforts to sustain production.

“We also know that we have very serious deposits of heavy oil in Nigeria, and there’s an initiative to ensure that we come up with strategies to produce our heavy oil. In fact, there is even a workshop that is coming up. We have a team that is set up in the Commission to see how we can produce our heavy oil,” the CCE disclosed.

Eyesan 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.”

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.

About 4.7 million electricity customers in Nigeria remained without meters as of August 2026, despite distribution companies installing 141,746 meters during the month, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.

The regulator’s metering factsheet, issued on Wednesday, showed that the number of active electricity customers rose to 12.75 million in August from 12.67 million in July, while the number of metered customers increased from 7.90 million to 8.05 million.

The figures represent a national metering rate of 63.10 per cent in August, up from 62.37 per cent in July. However, the increase means that more than one-third of active customers were still without meters, leaving millions of households and businesses dependent on other billing arrangements.

The latest figures also showed that the pace of metering slowed in August. Distribution companies installed 141,746 meters during the month, 18,234 fewer than the 159,980 installed in July, representing an 11.4 per cent decline.

The development highlights the continuing challenge facing the electricity distribution companies as the regulator pursues efforts to close the metering gap, improve billing transparency and strengthen revenue collection in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.

A breakdown of the August figures showed that Eko Electricity Distribution Company recorded the highest metering rate at 89.64 per cent, followed by Ikeja with 87.74 per cent and Abuja with 82.62 per cent.

Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company recorded a metering rate of 71 per cent, becoming the fourth distribution company to reach the 70 per cent threshold in August.

Benin recorded 64.41 per cent, while Ibadan achieved 59.23 per cent and Enugu 52.40 per cent.

Four distribution companies remained below the 50 per cent threshold used by NERC to classify metering performance as poor. Kano recorded 42.84 per cent, Kaduna 42.32 per cent, Yola 39.15 per cent, and Jos 37.60 per cent.

Jos had the lowest metering rate among the 11 distribution companies, with only 312,253 of its 830,504 active customers metered. Yola had 201,303 metered customers out of 514,122, while Kaduna had 236,844 out of 559,658.

Ibadan had the largest customer base, with 2.57 million active customers, of whom 1.52 million had meters. Abuja had 1.43 million active customers and 1.18 million metered customers.

Although Eko maintained the highest metering rate, its customer base was much smaller, with 618,880 of its 690,408 active customers metered.

NERC classifies distribution companies with metering rates below 50 per cent as red, those between 50 and 69 per cent as amber, and those with rates of at least 70 per cent as green.

Beyond reporting the figures, the commission’s factsheet outlined customer protections covering meter installation, estimated billing, disconnection, repairs and dispute resolution.

Under the Meter Asset Provider scheme, customers who pay upfront for meters are entitled to installation within 10 days of full payment. The commission also stated that customers who pay for meters under the scheme must receive full reimbursement through energy credits, generated each month automatically and spread over 120 months.

The factsheet added that meters supplied under the Meter Acquisition Fund and the World Bank-backed Distribution Sector Recovery Programme are provided at no cost to customers.

On faulty meters, NERC said electricity distribution companies must repair or replace a meter within 48 hours of a customer reporting the fault.

Nigeria’s interbank borrowing costs declined on Monday as surplus liquidity in the financial system rose to N4.04tn, easing immediate funding pressures on banks ahead of a major Central Bank of Nigeria liquidity operation.

Banking system liquidity increased by 8.99 per cent from N3.71tn recorded previously, according to market data from AIICO Capital Limited.

The increase coincided with a decline in key overnight funding rates, although market participants remained focused on the CBN’s expected response to the excess cash in the financial system.

The overnight rate fell by 13 basis points to 20.72 per cent from 20.85 per cent, while the open repo rate declined by 40 basis points to 20 per cent from 20.40 per cent

The Nigerian Overnight Financing Rate, however, remained unchanged at 20 per cent.

The movements indicate a modest easing in short-term funding costs as banks operated with a larger pool of available liquidity.

Market attention has shifted to a N2.41tn Open Market Operations bill maturity scheduled for Tuesday, which is expected to inject additional funds into the banking system.

The repayment could increase the amount of cash available to banks unless the CBN withdraws some of the funds through a fresh OMO auction or another liquidity-management measure.

OMO instruments allow the apex bank to influence liquidity by selling short-term securities to financial institutions, thereby absorbing excess cash from the system.

Analysts expect the central bank to consider an OMO auction to contain the expansion in surplus liquidity and manage its implications for short-term interest rates.

Herwood Securities Limited said the direction of money market rates would depend partly on the outcome of the anticipated auction and its impact on system liquidity.

Despite the increase in surplus funds, money market rates remain around 20 per cent, indicating that short-term financing costs are still elevated.

The overnight rate measures the cost of borrowing funds for one day, while the open repo rate reflects the cost of obtaining short-term secured funding. The NOFR provides another benchmark for overnight naira funding conditions.

Changes in these rates influence banks’ short-term funding decisions and can feed into broader money market pricing.

Nigeria sustained crude oil production above its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries quota for the fifth consecutive month in September, with daily output of crude oil and condensate rising by 2.34 per cent to 1.717 million barrels.

Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission also showed that the country’s combined crude oil and condensate production peaked at 1.84 million barrels per day on its highest-producing day in September, while output on the lowest-producing day stood at 1.68 million barrels.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Head of Media and Corporate Communications at the NUPRC, Eniola Akinkuotu, said Nigeria produced an average of 1.53 million barrels of crude oil per day in September, excluding condensates.

The statement read, “Nigeria Meets OPEC Quota for 5th Consecutive Month as Daily Peak Hits1.84m Barrels in September.

“Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission also shows that single day production hit a peak of 1.84m barrels in the month as Nigeria consolidated its position as Africa’s largest crude oil producer.”

The figure represented 102 per cent of the 1.5 million barrels per day production quota assigned to Nigeria by OPEC, indicating that the country exceeded its target by 30,000 barrels per day.

The September performance extended Nigeria’s run of meeting its OPEC crude oil production quota to five consecutive months, following average daily output of 1.53 million barrels in May, 1.55 million barrels in June, 1.51 million barrels in July and 1.5 million barrels in August.

The latest figures indicate that Nigeria has maintained production at or above its OPEC allocation despite persistent challenges that have historically affected the country’s oil industry, including crude theft, pipeline vandalism, operational disruptions and difficulties evacuating crude from producing fields.

The commission attributed the improved performance largely to stable production operations across most producing assets and the absence of major pipeline outages during the period.

It said the operational stability helped improve production uptime and the efficiency of crude evacuation, supporting the increase recorded in September.

“The improved performance was primarily driven by stable production operations across most producing assets and the absence of any major pipeline outages during the period under review. This enhanced operational stability supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency,” the commission said.

The regulator added that the sustained improvement reflected the efforts of operators and other industry stakeholders to strengthen operational efficiency, maintain the integrity of oil-producing assets and improve production reliability across the upstream petroleum sector.

“The sustained growth recorded in September reflects the continued commitment of operators and industry stakeholders towards improving operational efficiency, maintaining asset integrity, and enhancing production reliability across the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector,” the statement added.

A breakdown of production by terminal and stream showed that Forcados Terminal accounted for an average of 320,320 barrels per day in September, making it the largest contributor among the listed terminals and streams.

Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc has acquired and deployed a high-capacity AmbuLift to improve assistance for passengers with reduced mobility, reinforcing its commitment to safe, dignified and inclusive passenger handling services.

In a statement made available to The PUNCH over the weekend, SAHCO’s Head of Corporate Communications, Vanessa Uansohia, said the acquisition made the company the only aviation ground handling firm in Nigeria operating the specialised equipment.

The AmbuLift is designed to facilitate the safe and comfortable embarkation and disembarkation of passengers with reduced mobility, including wheelchair users and those requiring stretcher support.

Recall that the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria recently bought an AmbuLift to aid the mobility of persons living with disabilities.

Uansohia said the investment builds on the company’s earlier acquisition of Evac-Chairs, which help passengers with reduced mobility navigate aircraft steps where specialised assistance is required.

She added that British Airways, one of SAHCO’s premium customers, provided valuable guidance throughout the process to ensure that the equipment’s deployment, operating procedures and standards aligned with international best practices and the expectations of global airlines.

Speaking on the development, SAHCO’s Chairman, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, said the acquisition would enable the company to provide more appropriate assistance to passengers who require additional support when boarding and leaving aircraft.

He said, “It gives our teams the right tool to do this sensitive work properly and gives passengers and their families confidence that they will be handled with care from the apron to the aircraft door.”

Also commenting, SAHCO’s Managing Director, Adenike Aboderin, described the investment as a reflection of the company’s people-first approach to service delivery and its commitment to international standards.

“The AmbuLift is a significant addition to our operations and demonstrates our commitment to providing safe, dignified and professional services to every passenger, particularly those requiring additional assistance.

“Our investment in both the AmbuLift and Evac-Chairs reflects our deliberate approach to strengthening our PRM handling capabilities,” she said.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited paid N686.94bn in interest on its forward sale agreements in 2025, representing a 171.4 per cent increase from the N253.14bn paid under the arrangements in 2024.

The sharp rise in interest payments came as the company significantly increased its use of forward sale agreements, with additional drawdowns almost doubling during the year, according to an analysis of the company’s 2025 audited financial statements on Monday.

The forward sale arrangements, which allow the company to receive funds or value against future crude oil supplies, had outstanding contract liabilities of N7.10tn as of December 31, 2025, up from N4.98tn a year earlier.

This means the liabilities increased by N2.13tn, or 42.7 per cent, in one year. The figures also showed that NNPC’s interest payments increased by N433.80bn in 2025, despite the company making substantially higher principal repayments during the year.

In 2025, NNPC made principal repayments of N2.76tn, compared with N942.08bn in 2024. This represents an increase of N1.82tn, or 192.7 per cent. In simple terms, the figures show that “NNPC borrowed more through forward-sale arrangements than it repaid during the year.” The company recorded N5.57tn in additional drawdowns, compared with N2.76tn in principal repayments.

However, the additional drawdowns made during the year were significantly higher than the repayments. NNPC recorded N5.57tn in additional drawdowns in 2025, compared with N2.81tn in 2024. The amount therefore rose by N2.76tn, or 98.4 per cent, year-on-year.

The combination of new drawdowns and other movements pushed the outstanding forward-sale obligations higher despite the increase in principal repayments.

The financial statements also showed that the premium attached to the contract liabilities increased sharply to N666.66bn in 2025, from N249.38bn in 2024. That represents an increase of N417.28bn, or 167.3 per cent.

The premium represents an additional amount recognised on the contract liabilities, while the interest payments represent the financing cost settled during the year. That means “the cost attached to the forward-sale liabilities rose far faster than the outstanding obligation themselves.”

A major change in the portfolio was the emergence of Project Leopard, which had no outstanding balance at the beginning of 2024 but ended 2024 with N1.26tn. In 2025, an additional N4.83tn was drawn under the project.

After a principal repayment of N420.81bn, a premium of N340.21bn, an interest payment of N305.49bn and a translation difference of N325.27bn, Project Leopard closed 2025 with a liability of N5.38tn.

The N5.38tn balance represented about 75.7 per cent of NNPC’s entire N7.10tn forward-sale contract liabilities at the end of 2025. Project Panther, another major arrangement, closed 2025 with N929.88bn, compared with N912.91bn in 2024, an increase of N16.97bn, or 1.9 per cent.

The NLNG SPDC arrangement fell from N637.88bn to N609.24bn, a decline of N28.64bn, or 4.5 per cent, while the NLNG TEPNG liability dropped from N435.43bn to N184.82bn, representing a reduction of N250.61bn, or 57.6 per cent.

Project Yield recorded one of the biggest changes. Its liability stood at N1.46tn at the end of 2024 but was fully extinguished by December 2025 after principal repayments of N1.52tn during the year.

The company also transferred N265.73bn from DSDP and other customer-related contract liabilities to trade customers in 2025. This was higher than the N211.46bn transfer recorded in 2024 by N54.28bn, or 25.7 per cent.

Another notable movement was the translation difference, which swung from a positive N1.18tn in 2024 to a negative N394.08bn in 2025. This represents a deterioration of about N1.57tn between the two years.

Overall, the closing contract liabilities increased from N4.98tn in 2024 to N7.10tn in 2025, despite the company making nearly three times as much in principal repayments and substantially increasing its interest payments.

The figures underline the growing financial weight of NNPC’s forward sale arrangements as the national oil company continues to use crude-backed transactions to raise funding and meet its financial obligations.

Unlike conventional short-term trade transactions, forward sale agreements can create significant future delivery obligations because funds or other consideration are received before the underlying crude oil is supplied. The resulting contract liabilities are therefore carried on the company’s books until the obligations are settled through crude deliveries, repayments, transfers or other recognised adjustments.

Recently, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Bashir Ojulari, said that the company had adopted a new payment model for refinery rehabilitation, decrying the previous model of paying with crude oil, which he said was causing financial leakages for the company.

Ojulari disclosed this during a media parley, explaining that paying for the refineries’ repair with crude oil did not yield any net positive outcome. According to Ojulari, the company funded every contractor and financial structure itself, yet none of the partners held any stake in the refinery’s actual performance.

He said, “What we have learned from the past rehabilitations of the refineries was multiple, but I’ll remind you again of the two of them that I’ve always talked about. One was that the model we have used before meant that we would incentivise people who work on the refinery, and there was no skin in the game.

“We paid for contractors, we paid for financing, we structured and paid for everything we pay for, right? And then none of those parties that were working with us had a stake in the performance of the refinery after their work. It’s very simple. How do we pay? We pay with our crude.

“Last year we stopped that. Part of the revenue you’ve seen in 2025 was part of the leakages that we stopped. It was money going in that was not bringing net positive outcomes. So by stopping that leakage last year, that revenue, both the crude and the extra money we’re spending has come into what that was pulling together to report.”

The World Bank Group has disclosed plans to mobilize up to $5.79bn in private financing for Nigeria in the 2026 fiscal year to support investments in telecommunications, agriculture, small businesses and other critical sectors of the economy.

The initiative is expected to expand broadband access, improve agricultural productivity, increase credit availability for businesses and support the creation of about 850,000 jobs.

The bank disclosed this in a report published on its website on Sunday, titled Unlocking $5.79bn in Private Financing: The World Bank Group Is Leading the Charge for Private Capital Mobilisation in Nigeria.

“In fiscal year 2026, the World Bank Group is helping mobilise up to $5.79bn in private financing to address these barriers,” the report stated.

It explained that the financing initiative would combine policy reforms, commercial investments and risk-sharing arrangements involving the World Bank, International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.

The institution linked the investment drive to economic reforms introduced in Nigeria since mid-2023, particularly changes in foreign exchange management, fuel subsidies and public finances.

It noted that the reforms, supported partly through its RESET and NAIJA development policy financing programmes, were improving conditions for private investment.

“Further reforms aim to deepen capital markets, expand digital trade, enable greater private participation in electricity, and improve competitiveness,” the report added.

A major component is the Building Resilient Digital Infrastructure for Growth project, which is expected to attract at least $156m in private equity during its first investor selection round.

Subsequent financing rounds could unlock up to $1.1bn by 2030 to develop a nationwide fibre-optic network. The project is expected to extend broadband access to an additional 58 million Nigerians, increasing coverage from 92 million people in 2025 to 150 million by 2030.

It will also target connectivity for 38,800 public schools, 16,900 health facilities and 3,400 local government offices. In agriculture, the bank plans to mobilise $242m through the Agricultural Value Chains for Growth project, targeting one million smallholder farmers.

The amount comprises $220m expected from agribusiness firms and $22m from certified seed producers. For small businesses, the Fostering Inclusive Finance for MSMEs in Nigeria programme is expected to attract nearly $1.89bn in private financing and support more than 250,000 enterprises.

Backed by a $500m financing package from the World Bank’s lending institutions, the programme could generate approximately 850,000 direct and indirect jobs, with 30 per cent of financing targeted at women-led businesses.

The report also disclosed that the IFC helped mobilise $1.02bn for Dangote Industries Limited and $282.5m for Indorama Fertiliser to expand domestic fertiliser production.

Together, the two projects have an annual production capacity of 6.8 million metric tonnes and are expected to improve access to agricultural inputs for over 10 million farmers.

Similarly, the IFC supported a $1.2bn bond issuance by IHS Towers, helping attract more than $1.1bn from private investors for telecommunications infrastructure.

The bank stressed that the financing arrangements were intended to attract greater private participation in Nigeria’s development. “Together, these reforms, platforms, guarantees, and investments are helping mobilise up to $5.79bn in private financing in fiscal year 2026,” it stated.

The institution added that the impact would ultimately depend on improvements in infrastructure, business financing, agricultural productivity and employment opportunities.

Equities trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited closed on a lower note on Monday, as the benchmark Monetary Policy Rate remained fixed at 23.00 per cent by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Market data from the trading session showed that total market capitalisation settled at 160,852,829,571,649.00 Naira, while the benchmark All Shares Index retreated to close at 247,736.24 points.

Throughout the preceding weekly trading period, market indicators fluctuated between a peak index point of 250,273.50 and a low of 247,736.24, bringing the period’s average index point to 248,902.51. Market-wide activity counters recorded a total of 52,891 deals, with investors exchanging a cumulative volume of 405,359,288 securities across all active boards.

Sector performance metrics mirrored the broader market downturn. The NGX Main-Board Index slipped to 10,751.25, the NGX 30 Index contracted to 9,114.65, and the NGX Banking Index dipped to 2,567.52.

Additional performance data indicated that the NGX Pension Index closed lower at 12,892.22, the NGX Insurance Index adjusted to 1,082.56, and the NGX Consumer Goods Index managed a marginal close at 4,035.46 points.

Meanwhile, industrial goods maintained relative resilience as the NGX Industrial Index closed at 10,442.78, while the NGX Oil and Gas Index closed the session at 5,993.51.

Individual equities recorded diverse transactional volumes and price movements across various high-cap segments. Premium board heavyweights saw MTN Nigeria Communications Plc trade at 844.00 Naira with a total volume of 1,769,623 shares, while Dangote Cement Plc exchanged hands at a price of 1,066.70 Naira.

Seplat Energy Plc maintained active trading at N16,000.10 with 52,474 shares traded. Financial services counters continued to attract high market liquidity, highlighted by Zenith Bank Plc trading at N129.00 with a heavy volume of 27,980,069 shares, and Access Holdings Plc recording a share price of N28.25 alongside 33,283,797 units changing hands.

Broader asset categories, encompassing fixed-income debt securities, exchange-traded products, and collective investment mutual funds, sustained their regular scheduled listings and pricing evaluations in line with official market summaries.