The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), on Saturday, declared that production of 3 million barrels of crude oil per day was achievable from the 1.7 million currently produced.
Making the declaration at a stakeholders’ engagement session in Abuja, the NNPCL management team had with journalists covering the National Assembly, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer (CCCO) of the oil conglomerate, Mr Olufemi Soneye, said that the feat was attainable with support from all stakeholders.
He said that the enabling environment in that regard, was already provided by President Bola Tinubu with directives to relevant security agencies to stem the ugly tide of oil theft and pipeline vandalism which according to him, led to an increase in daily oil production from 1.4 million to 1.7milliion barrels per day now.
“3 million barrels of oil production per day is achievable in Nigeria if all the stakeholders work in synergy for that purpose from the security agencies both government and privately owned to oil companies and host communities.
“With expected synergy from all the relevant stakeholders on war against oil theft and pipeline vandalism, required enabling environment, would be in place for optimal oil production to the volume of 2.5 to 3 million barrels per day,” he said.
He earlier lamented that at a point, oil production went down to 900,000 barrels per day in the country before the involvement of private security agencies and renewed efforts of the military.
“At that time, we felt Nigeria was in trouble as far as oil theft was concerned but, the intensity of war against it, has allayed our fears,” he said.
However, in a PowerPoint presentation on the menace of crude oil theft and its impact on Nigeria’s economy Deputy Manager, of NNPC Command and Control Centre, Murtala Muhammad, said the crime of oil theft remains a serious concern.
According to him, over 8, 000 illegal refineries and 5, 800 illegal oil pipeline connections were detected and destroyed within the last six months, listing Bayelsa, Rivers, Imo, Abia etc, to be hot spots of the crime.
In his paper presentation on “Balancing Reporting and Nation Building: The Role of National Assembly Press Corps”, the resource person, Professor Taiye Obateru, emphasized fairness and national interest in all stories.
