Nigeria’s Oil Output Rises 170,000 bpd as Sector Growth Accelerates to 7.31%

Nigeria’s average crude oil production increased by 170,000 barrels per day in the second quarter (Q2) of 2026, lifting output to 1.72 million barrels per day as the oil sector recorded stronger economic growth during the period.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that average production rose from 1.55 million barrels per day in Q1 2026 to 1.72 million barrels per day in Q2, representing an increase of about 11 percent within three months.

Production was also 40,000 barrels per day higher than the 1.68 million barrels per day recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.

The improvement in production coincided with a stronger performance by the oil sector, which expanded by 7.31 percent year-on-year in real terms during the quarter.

This represented a sharp acceleration from the 2.57 percent growth recorded in Q1 2026, although it remained below the 20.46 percent expansion reported in Q2 2025.

At constant 2019 prices, crude petroleum and natural gas output increased to N2.23 trillion in Q2 2026 from N2.07 trillion in the corresponding quarter of 2025.

The increase translates to approximately N151.7 billion in additional real oil and gas output over the one-year period.

The sector also increased its weight in the Nigerian economy.

Oil accounted for 4.16 percent of real GDP during the quarter, compared with 4.05 percent in Q2 2025 and 3.92 percent in the first three months of 2026.

The increase means the oil sector expanded faster than the overall economy during the period.

Nigeria’s real GDP grew 4.43 percent in Q2 2026, compared with the oil sector’s 7.31 percent expansion. The non-oil economy grew 4.31 percent.

Despite the stronger production performance, the Nigerian economy remained overwhelmingly dependent on non-oil activities for domestic output.

The non-oil sector accounted for 95.84 percent of real GDP, leaving oil with a 4.16 percent contribution during the quarter.

In nominal terms, however, the value of crude petroleum and natural gas activity increased considerably faster.

The NBS recorded 69.10 percent year-on-year nominal growth in crude petroleum and natural gas during Q2 2026, compared with 3.32 percent in the corresponding period of 2025.

The increase was also considerably higher than the 16.37 percent nominal growth recorded in Q1 2026.

The difference between the 69.10 percent nominal expansion and 7.31 percent real growth indicates that higher prices contributed substantially to the increase in the current-price value of oil-sector activity.

The implicit price deflator for crude petroleum and natural gas stood at 214.27 in Q2 2026, compared with 135.97 in Q2 2025.

The improvement in upstream production also occurred alongside strong growth in domestic oil refining.

Oil refining expanded by 43.94 percent in real terms in Q2 2026, accelerating from 37.46 percent in Q1 and 15.78 percent in Q2 2025.

Real refining output increased from N2.25 billion in Q2 2025 to N3.23 billion in Q2 2026, although refining continued to account for only a very small proportion of total GDP in the NBS national accounts.

The latest GDP data therefore point to simultaneous improvements in both upstream crude production and downstream refining activity during the second quarter.

For the upstream industry, the increase from 1.55 million barrels per day to 1.72 million barrels per day is particularly significant because it reverses the production decline recorded in the first quarter and places average output above the level achieved in the corresponding period of 2025.

At 1.72 million barrels per day, Nigeria produced an average 170,000 additional barrels each day compared with Q1, equivalent to roughly 15.5 million additional barrels over a 91-day quarter if the difference in average daily production is applied across the period.

The NBS report, however, does not attribute the production increase to particular fields, operators or government interventions, meaning any assessment of the companies or projects responsible for the additional barrels would require separate upstream production data.

What the GDP figures establish is that higher crude production translated into stronger real oil-sector activity, helping the sector grow faster than the broader Nigerian economy in the second quarter of 2026.