The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has explained that unscheduled maintenance at a refinery facility made Nigeria’s crude oil production drop on a month-on-month basis in August.

This comes as Nigeria’s crude oil production dropped to 1.63 million barrels per day month-on-month in August, down from 1.71 million bopd in July.

NUPRC disclosed this in its Crude Oil and Condensate Production for August 2025, released on Saturday.

This means a 4.7 per cent drop in combined crude oil and condensate production from 1.71 million bopd in July.

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In the same vein, crude oil production itself declined by 4.8 per cent, down from 1.5 million bopd in July 2025.

“The month-on-month drop was driven by a single-day unscheduled maintenance at an oil facility.

“In the month of August, the lowest and peak combined crude and condensate production were 1.59 million bopd and 1.85 million bopd, respectively,” NUPRC said.

The data showed that while there was a decline month-on-month, the country’s crude oil production rose on a year-on-year basis by 5.5 per cent to 1.63 mbpd in August this year from 1.58 million bopd in the same period last year.

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Further analysis indicates that daily condensate production in August stood at 197,229 bpd, reflecting a decline.

Also, Nigeria’s crude oil output in August achieved 96 per cent of its OPEC quota, which is set at 1.5 million bopd.

Accordingly, in the period under review, Forcados Terminal topped the production charts, delivering a total of 8.99 million barrels, including 8.08 million barrels of crude oil and 915.2k barrels of condensates.

Marketers on Friday confirmed that Dangote Refinery’s compressed natural gas-powered trucks have started delivering fuel to their stations at no cost to them.

The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abubakar Shettima, confirmed this to our correspondent in an interview on Friday.

Recall that Dangote Refinery rolled out over 1,000 CNG trucks on Monday, saying the entire 4,000 would be in the country before October.

The direct fuel distribution scheme was initially scheduled to commence on August 15, but was delayed due to logistics challenges in China.

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A total of 4,000 CNG trucks were ordered from China for delivery in Lagos. However, the plan was stalled as there were insufficient vessels to transport the trucks.

Speaking with our correspondent, the IPMAN president said independent marketers in the South West have started receiving the trucks in their stations to offload petroleum products.

Shettima said only registered marketers can receive the free delivery from Dangote Refinery.

He said the stopping of fuel sales to unregistered marketers by the refinery is not a big deal, as marketers can register on the Dangote portal anytime they are ready.

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“If you don’t register, your name will not appear on the system unless you register through the portal, which the company has been announcing for a long time. But marketers can register at any time, even at night, because it’s not difficult. You will just input all your information and register. So, that one is not an issue at all,” Shettima said.

He told our correspondent that marketers in Lagos, Ogun and Ondo have confirmed the receipt of Dangote’s logistics-free fuel.

“Dangote has started the free delivery. Already, the trucks have started moving. In most parts of the Western Zone, they have already started discharging their products, since it is closer to Lagos. So the plan is moving seriously. And my marketers are very pleased with the development.

“I can confirm to you that my members have started receiving the trucks in Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Ibadan and others,” Shettima stated.

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Speaking on the price, the IPMAN boss explained that prices would drop from N865 to N841 the moment petrol gets to the stations under the new arrangement.

“The prices have started coming down; even here now, when you push it to Abuja, you will see the price reduction. Wherever he discharges, all the independent marketers, anywhere he discharges, you will see there will be a price change.

“The MRS filling stations have started reducing prices, they have with independent petroleum marketers. Any marketer who applies for the product and receives it will reduce the price,” he stressed.

Human rights activist Femi Falana, SAN, has lamented that fuel taken from Dangote is cheaper in Togo than in Nigeria.

Falana expressed his concerns on Sunday while responding to questions in an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television.

He urged the federal government to review the proposed 5 per cent fuel surcharge and ensure that further hardship is not imposed on Nigerians.

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“I guess the government wants to go back to the drawing table and ensure that it is not accused of multiple taxes or double taxation because consumers will pay VAT for buying fuel. They will now put an additional 5 per cent tax.

“I think this is what Nigerians are complaining about. And from what we just read today is that the Dangote fuel taken from Nigeria is now cheaper in Togo than in Nigeria I think about 65 naira.

“So, the government will have to review these developments (the proposed 5 per cent fuel surcharge) and ensure more hardship is not imposed on Nigerians,” he said.