Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Nigeria has exceeded its OPEC crude oil production quota for the first time in 2026, with improved operational stability along the Trans Niger Pipeline, TNP, emerging as a key driver of the country’s oil output recovery.
Latest figures released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, showed that Nigeria’s total oil production rose by 2.2 per cent in May to about 1.70 million barrels per day, from 1.66 million barrels per day recorded in April.
The data indicated that crude oil production averaged 1.53 million barrels per day during the month, surpassing Nigeria’s Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, quota of 1.5 million barrels per day for the first time this year.
The milestone dominated discussions at a stakeholders’ meeting convened by indigenous pipeline surveillance and protection firm, Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, PINL, in Port Harcourt, where community leaders from Rivers, Imo and Abia states attributed the improved production performance to enhanced pipeline security and stronger collaboration among stakeholders.
Speaking at the meeting, PINL’s General Manager, Community and Stakeholder Relations, Dr. Akpos Mezeh, said the Trans Niger Pipeline had recorded significant operational stability due to coordinated efforts involving host communities, government agencies and security operatives.
According to him, “The Trans Niger Pipeline continues to record remarkable operational stability,” noting that improved pipeline uptime was contributing directly to increased crude oil production, government revenue generation and investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Mezeh added that deeper community participation and a shared commitment to rejecting crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism had helped sustain uninterrupted operations along the strategic export pipeline corridor.
He stressed that the stability achieved on the TNP was demonstrating the importance of community ownership and stakeholder engagement in safeguarding critical oil and gas infrastructure.
Chairman of the South South Monarchs Forum and Nye Nweli Emohua, Eze Sergeant Awuse, called on the Federal Government and security agencies to provide stronger institutional backing for PINL’s operations, warning that any disruption to oil production would have serious consequences for national revenues.
“Some people who are not patriotic enough will want to spoil your good works,” Awuse said. “This is the time the National Security Adviser and the relevant agencies should give you more support, because if our oil production goes down, it will affect every act of governance.”
Also speaking, the King of Eleme Kingdom, His Majesty Dr. Philip Obele Osaro, said PINL’s community engagement programmes had helped reduce youth restiveness in host communities and created opportunities for economic empowerment.
He noted that additional support for the company’s activities would enable wider youth and women empowerment programmes across oil-producing communities, thereby strengthening local participation in efforts to protect national assets.
On his part, Head of Field Operations, Eastern Corridor, NNPCL Project Monitoring Office, Engr. Akponime Omojewvhe, urged host communities to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious activities around pipeline corridors.
According to him, timely intelligence remains one of the most effective tools for preventing crude theft, illegal bunkering and acts of vandalism that threaten Nigeria’s oil production targets.
The latest production figures represent a significant boost for Africa’s largest oil producer, which has struggled in recent years with pipeline sabotage, crude theft and operational disruptions that constrained output and limited the country’s ability to meet its OPEC quota.
