The Federal Government has set a new oil production target of 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), aiming to hit the mark before the end of 2025.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed the revised goal during an interview at the Oil Technology Conference (OTC) and Africa Energy Forum (AEF) in Houston, Texas.

According to Lokpobiri, President Bola Tinubu had initially mandated the new NNPC management to raise output to 2 million bpd this year, but the bar has now been raised.

“When the new NNPC management visited me, I increased their oil production target to 2.5 million bpd from the initial two million barrels given to them by the President,” he said.

The minister expressed optimism that the new target is achievable, citing past performance during the COVID-19 era as a benchmark.

“The 2.5 million bpd oil production is easily realisable because all the bottlenecks against our oil production are being addressed,” Lokpobiri stated.

He also noted that over a decade of stagnant investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector is now being reversed due to ongoing reforms.

“For over 10 years, there was no new investment in the oil and gas sector. The story has changed today as a result of the reforms of President Bola Tinubu,” he added.

The new target is part of broader efforts to revitalize Nigeria’s energy sector and attract renewed investor confidence.