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Nigeria’s Oil Reserves Stand at 37.01bn Barrels, Gas at 215.19TCF – NUPRC
Sopuruchi Onwuka
Nigeria’s total oil and condensate reserves stood at 37.01 billion barrels as of January 1, 2026, while total natural gas reserves reached 215.19 trillion cubic feet (TCF), the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has declared.
The Commission Chief Executive, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, announced the official National Petroleum Reserves Position in a statement made available to Oracle Intelligence on Wednesday. She reiterated the Commission’s commitment to improving upstream sector performance, growing oil and gas reserves, and ensuring stable production.
According to Eyesan, these targets are being pursued through the operationalization of the Petroleum Industry Act and the implementation of the Commission’s strategic pillars.
Providing a detailed breakdown of the reserves, she stated that Nigeria’s proven and probable (2P) crude oil reserves stood at 31.09 billion barrels, while condensate reserves were estimated at 5.92 billion barrels. This brings the country’s total oil and condensate reserves to 37.01 billion barrels.
On the gas side, she disclosed that associated gas (AG) reserves were put at 100.21 TCF, while non-associated gas (NAG) reserves stood at 114.98 TCF, bringing total gas reserves to 215.19 TCF within the same period.
At current and projected production levels, Eyesan estimated the reserves life index at 59 years for oil and 85 years for gas, indicating the long-term sustainability of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon base under prevailing production conditions.
She explained that the marginal 0.74 per cent change in oil and condensate reserves compared to previous figures was largely due to 2025 production activities and routine reserves updates driven by field performance and technical evaluations from subsurface studies.
In contrast, gas reserves recorded a 2.21 per cent increase, which she attributed to volume additions from new discoveries as well as more robust reservoir evaluations.
Industry data show that despite Nigeria’s long-standing target to grow reserves to 40 billion barrels in 2010, total oil and condensate volumes have remained relatively stable at about 37 billion barrels over the years.
The upstream regulator, which also serves as the administrator of exploration acreages, has consistently identified reserves re-evaluation, improved subsurface studies, and appraisal drilling as the primary sources of incremental volumes, rather than significant new discoveries.
