Nigeria’s crude oil production has received a lift as Neconde Energy Limited, a subsidiary of Nestoil, has raised output on Oil Mining Licence (OML) 42 to 50,000 barrels per day as of May 2025.
Industry figures indicate that production on the field has more than doubled over the past two years, following the implementation of a Financial and Technical Services Agreement (FTSA) aimed at improving operations and field recovery.
Production, which averaged around 15,000 barrels per day in 2023, rose to 25,000 barrels in 2024 and has now reached 50,000 barrels per day. The company’s projection for the year suggests output could reach 70,000 barrels per day before December.
Under the FTSA framework, Neconde has undertaken rehabilitation and upgrade work across several field facilities, including a drilling and workover campaign scheduled to begin in June 2025. The programme will be the first rig-based development operation on OML 42 since Neconde acquired the asset in 2011.
Sources familiar with the operation said the company also plans to reopen the Egwa 2 field, one of the dormant sites with significant oil and gas reserves that has not produced since the mid-2000s.
The renewed investment in OML 42 aligns with Nigeria’s broader plan to raise national oil output under the “Project 1 Million Barrels Per Day” initiative, which targets an eventual production level of three million barrels daily.
Nigeria has in recent years faced production challenges linked to underinvestment, facility degradation, and operational disruptions. Stakeholders believe that the efforts by independent producers such as Neconde could contribute to reversing the country’s output decline and help meet federal targets for crude and gas expansion.
Blames bureaucracy for oil sector struggles Last week, Neconde Energy Limited attributed the sluggish growth of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry to persistent bureaucratic bottlenecks and a burdensome regulatory environment.
The company’s Acting Managing Director and Gas Asset Manager, Chichi Emenike, said the country’s rigid stance on gas pricing and the multiplicity of fees imposed by regulatory agencies were stifling investment and hindering capital inflows.
Speaking at the Nigerian Oil and Gas 2025 Conference in Abuja, Emenike lamented that most of the financing sustaining the sector comes from private sources, while government delays and indecision continue to frustrate operators.
“Financing is not charity; investors must be sure they can make a profit,” she said, urging policymakers to remove bottlenecks that discourage foreign and local investors.
While welcoming recent policy pronouncements from the Tinubu administration, Emenike stressed that reforms must translate into measurable progress on the ground. She also called for full deregulation and liberalisation of gas pricing and infrastructure, likening the current situation to the early stages of Nigeria’s telecoms sector reform.
She further advised the Federal Government to adopt a cost-reflective tariff for gas supplied to the power sector to tackle illiquidity and attract more private investment.
According to her, sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) still allow excessive government interference in gas pricing, a practice she warned undermines investor confidence and constrains upstream development.
Emenike noted that Nigeria must be deliberate about its development goals and stop measuring progress solely by Western standards.
