• Nigeria fails to meet OPEC, budget oil production quotas 
Losses to oil production targets, yesterday, hits $5.7 billion (about N8.7 trillion) in the first five months of 2025, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) remitted  N4.7 trillion to the federation account in the first three months of the year. 
  
Data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and NNPCL showed that Nigeria has, for the fifth consecutive time this year, failed to meet crude oil production quotas set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as well as its own budget benchmark, leaving the 2025 budget with a $5.7 billion deficit over five months from the oil sector.
  
NUPRC revealed that the country’s oil production remained stagnant at 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd), falling short of OPEC’s 1.5 million bpd quota and the government’s budgeted benchmark of 2.06 million bpd.
  
Rather than improving, output actually declined slightly from April’s 1,485,700 bpd to 1,451,941 bpd in May. The daily average oil production in May was 1,657,453 bpd, comprising 1,452,741 bpd of crude oil and 152,547 bpd of condensates.
  
The production saw NNPCL rake in N5.8 trillion in May, but the profit after tax remained at N748 billion.  
  
NNPCL disclosed that the OB3 pipeline remained at 95 per cent, and the AKK 70 per cent completed. This is, however. not new. Going by previous promises, the projects would have been completed since last year. 
  
According to NNPCL, there were completed key interventions in oil blocks including Oil Mining Licence (OML) 18, 58, 118 and 133.
  
Admitting OB3 pipeline is constrained by Niger River crossing, the company noted that Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC), Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) refineries were under review.
  
In the fourth quarter of the year, NNPCL said Final Investment Decisions would be taken on Ntoko Development (OML 102), Crude Oil Production Expansion (OML 29), Gas Projects (OMLs 30, 42) and Brass Fertiliser Project (Financial Close).
  
Key terminals that contributed to May’s oil production are Bonny, which reported 7,091,291 barrels of crude oil and condensate, Brass recorded 1,031,739 barrels, Qua Iboe 4,974,996 barrels, and Forcados Terminal 8,076,641 barrels. Other streams, such as the Odudu blend, contributed 1,895,802 barrels, while Tulla/Okwibome reported 2,050,064 barrels of crude and 211,147 barrels of condensate.
  
In the first five months of the year alone, the country lost an estimated $5.7 billion due to production shortfalls.