The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has charged media houses to give an accurate representation of its activities, faulting a report titled, ‘N8.41tn oil theft drains economy, fuels investors’ doubts’ as published on the front page of a national newspaper, The PUNCH, on Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
The Nigerian regulatory body has, through its Head, Media and Strategic Communications Eniola Akinkuotu, described the report as unfounded and lacking accuracy, citing the failure of the publisher to accurately interpret the crude loss statistics between 2021 and July 2025, as released by the NUPRC in the spirit of transparency and in line with the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
“Recall that the commission had revealed on September 11, 2025, that daily crude oil losses had dropped to 9,600 barrels per day, the lowest since 2009, which was reported widely and accurately.
“The NUPRC was vindicated again when the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.23% largely on the back of an increased oil output and two other sectors, an acknowledgement of the steady progress made by the industry to combat the menace of crude oil theft,” NUPRC said.
NUPRC proffered highlights against the foregoing report by the media house, terming it not only specious but also lacking proper context in numerous areas, which include: “Firstly, crude oil losses have been on a downward trend due to collaborative efforts between the NUPRC, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the military, Operators, and other relevant stakeholders. This collaboration through both kinetic and non-kinetic means dropped oil theft from a staggering 102,900 in 2021 – when the Commission was established – to the current 9,600bopd, representing over 90% reduction in losses.
“Also, in the misleading report, an exchange rate of N1,500/$1 is used from 2021 to 2025 to increase the figures and sensationalize actual losses when, in fact, Nigeria’s exchange rate was less than N430 on the official market and barely N600/$1 on average between 2021 (when most of the crude theft occurred) and in mid-2023. The N8.41 trillion is therefore inaccurate. Attempting to situate it within the current 2025 federal budget is flawed.
“Furthermore, the methodology adopted by the Newspaper is significantly flawed because it lacks in-depth understanding of operations, crude oil price trends and exchange rate mechanisms.
“The story also fails the integrity test as no attempt was made by the reporter to get a clarification from the commission in the spirit of fairness and balanced reporting,” The Commission highlighted.
The commission stated that Nigeria has continued to meet its OPEC quota due to the Commission’s laudable initiatives like the project 1 million barrels, implementation of the metering audit, restoration of shut-in strings and increased rig counts, facility uptime, creation of an alternative crude evacuation mechanism, etc. and has been working collaboratively with necessary industry stakeholders to sustain and grow production.
On if Nigeria has the technical capacity to produce above two million barrels daily projected production output, the Commission said that all available workable modalities are being galvanized with the stakeholders – Operators, service providers (local and international), rig owners, off-takers, and financiers – in order to fully unlock the potential, riding on the improved operating environment and social inclusion in operating areas.
