The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari, has expressed confidence that Nigeria’s crude oil production is on track to reach the 1.8 million barrels per day (BPD) benchmark before the close of the year.
Ojulari made this assertion yesterday, following a visit to brief President Bola Tinubu in Lagos on the national oil company’s activities since his appointment on April 2.
“With some of the turnaround maintenance that we have done in August and September, all of those are meant to come back this month,” Ojulari stated.
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“We are hoping that before the end of the year, we should be clocking at least 1.8 million barrels per day.”
Commenting on the recent industrial action involving the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and Dangote Refinery, the NNPCL boss lamented the significant loss incurred during the short-lived strike.
PENGASSAN had initiated a nationwide strike on September 26 to protest the alleged sacking of over 800 Nigerian workers by the Dangote Refinery and their replacement with foreign staff.
The union suspended the action five days later after the Dangote Group agreed to redeploy the affected workers following intervention by the Federal Government (FG).
Weighing in on the faceoff, Ojulari noted that the nation’s economy suffered as a result of the industrial action.
“It was quite unfortunate that the Dangote and PENGASSAN issue led to the strike,” he said.
“In this particular case, we actually lost over 200,000 barrels per day of production that was deferred.”
Beyond crude oil, he added that the strike also impacted gas production and power generation, with approximately 1.2 megawatts of power affected.
The NNPCL GCEO commended the FG’s intervention, spearheaded by the Office of the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, which brought both parties to the table on September 30.
“I am very pleased that the Federal Government, through the leadership of the Minister of Labour and full support of the National Security Adviser, was able to put everyone into a dialogue and bring everybody to the table,” Ojulari stated.
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He added that efforts are underway to restore the deferred production.
The news update is dated October 6, 2025.
