1.8mbpd oil benchmark for 2026 achievable — Ojulari

….as company eyes $30bn investment by 2030

…says competition will favour Nigerians, as market adjusts

….oil output hits 1.7mbpd in 2025, gas rises above 7bcf/day

Bashir Bayo Ojulari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), on Sunday expressed strong optimism that the targeted 1.8 million barrels-per-day oil production benchmark in 2026 would be achieved to help stabilise projected revenue in the budget currently before the National Assembly.

The NNPC boss disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents in Lagos after meeting with President Bola Tinubu on Sunday.

He also assured that consumers would benefit from growing competition among downstream petroleum players as the sector undergoes a period of inevitable adjustment.

Ojulari urged Nigerians to understand that the structural changes introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) separated regulation from the business of oil production and marketing.

“The PIA did something fundamental. It separated regulation from business,” he said.

According to him, under the post-PIA framework, NNPC Ltd is no longer a regulator.

Read also: NNPC to engage private partners to rebuild refineries – Ojulari

“We are a CAMA company that must compete profitably,” he said, adding that NNPC no longer receives federation allocations.

He explained that regulatory responsibilities now rest with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), while NNPC operates strictly as a commercial entity.

However, he assured that NNPC Ltd would continue to play its role as a “supplier of last resort” and is working with key downstream players, including the Dangote Refinery, to ensure the availability of petroleum products.

Speaking on the current tension in the market, Ojulari described it as temporary. “Competitiveness is not easy. We are in the early stages of a willing-buyer, willing-seller market.

“By the time you have a refinery like Dangote in-country, which we did not have before, the market will be impacted.

“It is a great thing to have a major refinery in Nigeria supplying West Africa and other parts of the world. What we need to do is walk through this reality together so that market forces can stabilise and everyone can be okay,” he said.

Ojulari expressed confidence that with sustained reforms and stakeholder cooperation, the benefits of competition would become clearer to ordinary Nigerians in the months ahead.

He acknowledged that NNPC Ltd is currently undergoing a difficult but necessary reform process, adding that with the President’s backing, the company has begun making significant improvements to its structure.

Ojulari explained that he was in Lagos to brief the President on the company’s end-of-year performance and outline strategic priorities for 2026.

He revealed that President Tinubu charged the company to focus on attracting over $30 billion in additional investment by 2030 and raising oil production to two million barrels per day by 2026.

Ojulari noted that the transition to a fully competitive, willing-buyer, willing-seller regime would initially create tensions before stabilising in the long run.

“At the end of the day, Nigerians on the streets are going to be the beneficiaries. Where there is healthy competition, buyers are the ultimate beneficiaries,” he said.

“I came to update Mr President on the end-of-2025 performance of NNPC and to discuss our strategic priorities for 2026. It was also an opportunity to thank him for the inspiration he has given the new NNPC management and board during this challenging period of transformation.”

Speaking further on oil production in 2025 and future projections, Ojulari noted that the company recorded measurable gains in 2025 compared to previous years.

“Last year, we were producing about 1.5 million barrels per day. This year, we are reaching over 1.7 million barrels per day in oil production,” he said.

He attributed the gains to improved security across the Niger Delta and reduced crude oil theft.

Ojulari disclosed that gas production increased from about 6.5 billion standard cubic feet per day to over seven billion standard cubic feet per day, noting that the improvements were underpinned by structural changes within the organisation.

“We successfully completed the welding of the main line of the AKK pipeline. We were also able to cross the River Niger, which had been a struggle for many years,” he said.

“By completing the main line, we can now begin to make all the connections in the early part of next year. This will bring gas in its full form to the northern part of Nigeria.”

He listed Kaduna, Kano, Ajaokuta and Abuja as key beneficiaries, saying increased gas availability would drive industrialisation.

“We will begin to see industrial parks, gas-based industries, fertiliser plants and power generation,” he said.

Ojulari added that NNPC Ltd is targeting at least 1.8 million barrels per day in 2026 while pushing gas production even higher.

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