Nigeria Now Has 70 Active Oil Rigs—Lokpobiri

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria now has more than 70 active oil drilling rigs, up from fewer than 10 in 2023, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, has said.

Mr Lokpobiri disclosed this on Tuesday at the fifth anniversary commemoration of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), where he highlighted the increase in drilling activities as a major development in the country’s upstream petroleum sector.

He said the growth in the number of active rigs was critical to expanding Nigeria’s future oil production capacity, stressing that sustained drilling activities would determine the country’s ability to increase output in the coming years.

“The drilling campaigns of today will account for the production capacity in years to come,” he said on Wednesday.

According to the minister, Nigeria’s oil production stood at approximately one million barrels per day when the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration assumed office in 2023, while the number of active drilling rigs was fewer than 10.

He attributed the subsequent increase in drilling activities to ongoing reforms in the petroleum sector aimed at creating a more competitive, transparent and predictable business environment.

Mr Lokpobiri said the NUPRC, which was only two years old when the administration came into office, had faced several regulatory and operational bottlenecks but had recorded progress in addressing them.

He urged the commission to sustain the reforms and focus on attracting more investments, unlocking additional barrels and facilitating new businesses in the upstream sector.

The minister said Nigeria had 37.01 billion barrels of official oil and condensate reserves as of January 1, 2026, but stressed that reserves would only translate into economic value if they were effectively explored, developed and produced.

He also urged the NUPRC to accelerate regulatory processes, warning that delays could discourage investors who have other jurisdictions to consider.

According to him, Nigeria must remain competitive by providing an environment where investors can make decisions quickly and deploy capital efficiently.

Mr Lokpobiri further said the commission should be judged not merely by the number of regulations it implements but by the businesses and investments its policies enable.

“NUPRC will not be judged by the number of regulations implemented, but by the number of businesses enabled,” he said.