Nigeria has increased its active oil rig count to 46 as of July 2025, following a $8 billion investment in drilling infrastructure by crude oil producers between 2022 and 2025.

According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the funds supported the drilling of 236 wellbores to total depth over the three-year period. The rig count, which stood at eight in 2021, rose to 31 by January 2025 and continued climbing to its current level by mid-year.

NUPRC Chief Executive Gbenga Komolafe said the rise in rig activity is part of a broader effort to grow Nigeria’s crude oil output by one million barrels per day from October 2024 to October 2026. Daily production has reached 1.7 million barrels, up from one million when the Commission began operations.

The increase in rig deployment follows the 2021 Petroleum Industry Act and recent executive orders aimed at boosting activity in the upstream oil sector. The rigs are active across land, swamp, offshore, and deepwater terrains.

The Commission noted that while not all drilling leads directly to output, rigs involved in development drilling contribute directly to national production volumes. Current operations in Kolmani and Nasarawa remain in the appraisal stage, with potential for full development if technical data supports it.

The NUPRC said that 120 approved field development plans are currently being executed, with estimated reserves of 4.7 billion barrels of oil and 29.26 trillion cubic feet of gas. The Project 1 Million Barrels initiative, launched in October 2024, has already added 300,000 barrels per day to national output.

Efforts are also underway to reduce the unit cost of crude oil production in line with national targets.