Nigeria Cuts Oil Wells Approval Time From Weeks To Hours To Cash In On Middle-East Crisis

Nigeria has significantly reduced the time required to approve applications for reviving idle oil wells — from weeks to just hours — as Africa’s top crude producer moves to capitalise on elevated global energy prices.

According to Bloomberg, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is now approving permits within hours of submission, according to people familiar with the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorised to speak to the media.

With oil trading near $100 per barrel, leading African producers are positioning to benefit from increased demand, as buyers shift towards suppliers such as Nigeria and Angola amid tensions in the Middle East.

The West African nation has also fast-tracked approvals for evacuations and barges at production facilities and export terminals to boost output.

The move comes after the chief executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Bayo Ojulari, said the country is ready to increase oil production by about 100,000 barrels per day over the next few months to offset the crude supply shortfall caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

A spokesman for the regulator confirmed the development, stating that “speedy approvals” were being given “for all activities that could increase production.”

Oil prices have surged above $100 per barrel following the US-Israel war on Iran and its countermeasures, including the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has disrupted about 20 per cent of global crude and liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows.

Reaffirming the policy shift, a spokesman from the NUPRC said “speedy approvals” were being given “for all activities that could increase production.”

SaharaReporters recently reported that Nigeria recorded its lowest Crude oil production in Nineteen Months in February,2026.

SaharaReporters earlier review of Nigeria’s crude oil production data  showed that in February 2026, an average of 1.483 million barrels of crude oil (plus blended condensate and unblended condensate) was produced.

The breakdown shows that actual crude oil production stood at 1.313 million barrels daily, blended condensate stood at 48,740 barrels daily and unblended condensate 121,519 daily, totalling 1.483 million barrels daily.

This figure is, however, the lowest recorded within a period of nineteen months, highlighting a concerning downward trend in the country’s oil output in recent times.(SaharaReporters)