The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has faulted a report titled, ‘N8.41tn oil theft drains economy, fuels investors’ doubts’ published on the front page of The PUNCH on Wednesday September 24, 2025.

The report in question was based on a misinterpretation of crude loss statistics between 2021 and July 2025 which had been 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.

Against the foregoing, the report by The PUNCH is not only specious but lacks proper context for the following reasons:

• Firstly, crude oil losses have been on the 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 actual 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

• Nigeria has continued to meet its OPEC quota due to the Commission’s initiatives and working collaboratively with industry stakeholders to sustain and grow productions. Such initiatives include: the project 1 million barrels, implementation of the metering audit, restoration of shut-in strings and increased rig counts, facility uptime, creation of alternative crude evacuation mechanism etc.

• Furthermore, Nigeria now has the technical capacity to produce above two million barrels daily. The Commission is galvanizing Industry 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

• 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.

We urge the media to seek clarifications whenever the need arises. Inquiries could be sent to corpcommunications@nuprc.gov.ng

Eniola Akinkuotu
Head, Media and Strategic Communications.