Chevron Nigeria won the second-best exhibitor award at the just-concluded 2026 Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) conference and exhibition at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Biztellers reports that Olajumoke Cecilia Ajayi, FNAPE, NAPE President (2025–2026) and Managing Director/CEO of Ingentia Energies Limited, presented the award to Chevron, during the awards dinner on November 12, 2026.

The award is in recognition of Chevron’s outstanding exhibition, where visitors to its booth, particularly students, took part in Geology/Geophysics presentations and quizzes, word games, and Human Resources/Nigerian Content presentations and quizzes, with gifts for winners and participants.

Commenting on the award, the leader of the Chevron’s exhibition team, Dr. Victor Anyaegbudike, Manager Communications, Chevron companies in Nigeria and the Mid Africa Region, commended NAPE for its commitment to hosting the annual conference and exhibition. He noted that Chevron has operated in Nigeria for over 60 years, contributing to the country’s growth and development and making human investments that yield long-term, transformative returns.

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“At Chevron Nigeria, we drive innovation and investment to open up opportunities for growth, jobs, productivity and lasting value. Forums like the NAPE conference and exhibition matter because they bring government, academia, students and industry together around shared goals and a better understanding of one another,” he remarked.

Victor noted that Chevron is committed to building productive, collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships, grounded in trust, with governments, partners, customers, communities and employees. “We believe that affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy is vital to a more prosperous and sustainable world,” he said.

Attendees at the NAPE conference and exhibition included representatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria, industry regulators, industry leaders, academics, and students from tertiary institutions across the country.

Nigeria produced a daily average of 1.687 barrels of crude oil and condensate in October 2026, and met its OPEC quota for the sixth consecutive month.

Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that in strict crude oil terms (excluding condensate), the country produced an average of 1.51mbpd in October.

This is 101 percent of the 1.5mbpd quota set by OPEC.

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The data, released on Wednesday, also shows that single-day production hit a peak of 1.79 million barrels, while the lowest for the month under review stood at 1.60 million bpd.

The crude oil data (excluding condensate) shows that Nigeria has met its assigned OPEC quota for six straight months, producing 1.53mobpd in May; 1.55mobpd in June; 1.51mobpd in July; 1.5mobpd in August, 1.53mobpd in September and 1.51mobpd in October.

On a month of month basis, however, production dipped by 1.7 percent.

The NUPRC attributed the stable performance in recent months to an enhanced operational stability, supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.

The sustained growth recorded in October reflects the continued commitment of operators and industry stakeholders towards improving operational efficiency, maintaining asset integrity, and enhancing production reliability across the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector.

A breakdown of the daily average crude oil and condensate production by terminals/streams during the review month shows that Forcados Terminal accounted for 318.49kbpd while Bonny comes second with 311.02kbpd.

Qua Iboe Terminal recorded an average production of 173.97kbpd of crude oil and condensates while Escravos Oil Terminal posted a daily average of 134.67kbpd.

Bonga ranked as the fifth highest producing terminal, recording an average of 106.65kbpd of crude oil and condensate.

A total of 595 well re-entries and 145 new well-drilling operations, alongside 39 Field Development Plans (FDPs) have been approved in the first 10 months of 2026, as Nigeria intensifies efforts to ramp up crude oil production and attract fresh investments.

In addition, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has sanctioned 740 drilling-related operations in the same period, as Nigeria’s total rig count rose to 100, with 46 currently active in drilling operations.

These details were made public during the management session of the 44th Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos on Tuesday, by the Chief Executive (CE), NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan.

The conference is held under the theme, “Energy Security in an Era of Global Disruption: Positioning Nigeria for Resilience, Competitiveness, and Prosperity.”

The approvals, which underscore increased regulatory activity in the upstream petroleum sector. Eyesan, who was represented by the Deputy Director, Basinal Administration, NUPRC, Ahmad Abdullahi, said the increased approvals reflected improvements in the Commission’s regulatory processes, particularly the time required to grant operational clearances.

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According to her, faster approval processes have reduced delays and the additional costs incurred by operators while waiting for regulatory authorisation to execute projects.

“Year to date, about 39 FDPs have been approved. About 145 new well-drilling approvals granted. Year to date, about 595 well re-entry approvals were granted.

That goes to tell that as a commission, we have improved our approval time level, which again reduces costs that are being wasted or for projects to continue to wait for approval,” she said.

She explained that the Commission’s priority was to ensure that regulatory approvals translated into increased production and adequate energy supply.

“From the regulator’s perspective, to ensure that our energy security is not threatened, we must ensure that we approve Field Development Plans and new well-drilling applications to meet our production targets and guarantee energy availability,” Eyesan stated.

On drilling activities, the NUPRC boss said Nigeria’s rig count had increased by more than 300 per cent compared with the level recorded in 2021, reflecting renewed activities in the upstream industry.

“We have more than 100 rigs in country. About 46 rigs are actively involved in drilling year to date. If you compare this with maybe what we had in 2021, you will see that you have more than about 300 per cent increase,” she said.

Eyesan attributed the growth in investment activities to improved regulatory certainty, noting that investors were more willing to commit capital when they had confidence in the policy and operating environment.

She also identified the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as a major factor in rebuilding investor confidence, particularly in the acquisition of seismic data required for oil and gas exploration.

The NUPRC chief disclosed that multi-client seismic companies had invested more than $100 million in seismic data acquisition in Nigeria within three years of the enactment of the PIA.

“Based on our record, in the last three years, from the enactment of PIA, multi-client companies have invested more than $100 million in acquiring seismic data in Nigeria,” she said.

The investments are expected to deepen geological understanding of the country’s sedimentary basins, improve exploration decisions and support the discovery of additional hydrocarbon reserves.

On efforts to tackle crude oil theft and improve security across the industry, Eyesan said the Commission had introduced initiatives, including the Advanced Cargo Declaration programme and coordinated surveillance operations involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), private security operators such as Tantita Security Services and the Nigerian Navy.

She said the Commission’s responsibility went beyond punishing errant operators and perpetrators of oil theft.

According to her, the broader objective was to establish an operating environment in which legitimate crude oil production would be more profitable than crude oil theft.