NEPL Breaks 36-Year Record As Nigeria’s Oil Revival Gains Global Attention

Nigeria’s oil sector has roared back into international reckoning as NNPC Exploration & Production Limited (NEPL) delivered an extraordinary milestone on December 1, 2025 — hitting a record 355,000 barrels per day, the company’s highest output since 1989.

For an industry long weighed down by sabotage, aging infrastructure, and investment flight, this performance is more than a statistical win — it is a statement of revival.

Over the past two years, NEPL has undergone a quiet but profound transformation. Strategic discipline, strengthened governance systems, and a renewed operational culture have pushed its average production up by an impressive 52%. Insiders say this turnaround is shaping Nigeria’s new energy narrative and positioning the national oil company as a serious contender again in global markets.

Group CEO of NNPC Ltd., Engr. Bashir Bayo Ojulari (@BBOjulari), hailed the achievement as the product of “responsible operations, robust systems, and a dedicated workforce.” Executives familiar with the process added that NEPL’s reforms — from better asset management to tightened security and smarter field optimisation — are restoring investor confidence at a critical moment for the nation’s economy.

The implications are far-reaching: more revenue for government coffers, improved energy security, and renewed optimism around Nigeria’s target of hitting 2 million barrels per day by 2027. International observers, once skeptical, are beginning to take note.

With this breakthrough, NEPL has not only broken a 36-year production ceiling — it has reignited hope that Nigeria’s oil and gas sector can once again anchor national growth. For a country hungry for economic stability, the message is clear: the energy revival is no longer aspirational. It is happening.