The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has stated that increasing crude oil production from the current 1.7 million barrels per day to three million barrels is achievable.
Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, announced this during a stakeholders’ engagement session with journalists covering the National Assembly on Saturday.
He attributed the potential for increased production to the political will demonstrated by President Bola Tinubu, who has issued directives to relevant security agencies to combat oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
According to Soneye, these efforts have contributed to a rise in daily oil production from 1.4 million to 1.7 million barrels.
“Three million barrels of oil production per day is achievable in Nigeria if all stakeholders work in synergy—from government and private security agencies to oil companies and host communities”, Soneye stated.
He added that with a collaborative effort against oil theft and pipeline vandalism, an enabling environment could be created to support optimal oil production levels of 2.5 million to 3 million barrels per day.
Soneye also noted that at one point, oil production had plummeted to 900,000 barrels per day, highlighting the critical role of private security agencies and renewed military efforts in addressing the issue.
“At that time, we felt Nigeria was in trouble regarding oil theft, but the intensified fight against it has alleviated our concerns”, he said.
During the session, the Deputy Manager at the NNPCL Command and Control Centre, Murtala Muhammad, presented a PowerPoint on the ongoing issue of crude oil theft and its economic impact on Nigeria.
He reported that over 8,000 illegal refineries and 5,800 illegal oil pipeline connections had been detected and destroyed in the last six months, with Bayelsa, Rivers, Imo, and Abia identified as hotspots for this criminal activity.
In a separate presentation on “Balancing Reporting and Nation Building: The Role of the National Assembly Press Corps”, Professor Taiye Obateru emphasised the importance of fairness and national interest in all journalistic endeavours.
