ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, yesterday, said Nigeria’s crude oil production is expected to rise to two million barrels per day from the current 1.6 million bpd by the end of 2024.
He attributed the increase to the Nigerian Navy, whose operations in the Niger Delta and the nation’s maritime domain, he said, has led to a drastic reduction in crude oil theft in the country.
Kyari, who commended the support of the Nigerian Navy to the NNPCL, expressed the hope that the target would be met, all things being equal.
He made this known during a meeting of key maritime stakeholders convened by the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Emmanuel Ogalla, at the Naval headquarters, Abuja.
Represented by the Managing Director, Pipeline NNPCL, Folorunsho Karim, Kyari, said: “We are moving from the current 1.6 million barrels of daily production to two million barrels by the end of the year, and we are fully committed to doing that. I appreciated the effort and the support of the Nigerian Navy for making this possible because without them we would not be able to achieve this.
“So, they have been giving us a lot of support and we are seeing a reduction in oil theft. And the pipeline vandalism has also decreased significantly and a lot is presently going on in the industry right now. And we hope we will sustain this. We will be able to achieve our target of two million barrels per day towards the end of the year.”
Earlier, Ogalla, while noting that the meeting was convened to bring together key industry regulators, including maritime law enforcement and industry players, to discuss critical issues that are germane to maritime and energy security, said the development of Nigeria’s sectors over the last few decades has witnessed several complex security challenges, such as violent agitations, oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and piracy and sea robbery, among others.
The CNS, who said the menace was driven by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, communal clashes, poverty, and unemployment, said traditional means of addressing the security challenges have not yielded the desired result; hence, the meeting also aimed to address emerging security issues arising from the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.
He said the Federal Government’s drive to develop the nation’s blue economy required the support of all stakeholders, adding that the president had expressed a desire to enhance the ease of doing business within the maritime environment as well as the oil and gas sector to eradicate poverty.
Ogala, who said the Nigerian Navy had sustained its maritime security operations through surveillance, response capability, and law enforcement, in addition to collaboration with all maritime stakeholders, added that the Navy rejigged its operations and established OP Delta Sanity in January that led to the arrest of 35 ships involved in oil theft and handed them over to appropriate prosecuting agencies.
The CNS, while assuring the stakeholders of the commitment of Nigerian Navy to fulfilling its statutory roles in order to create a conducive maritime domain for the economic prosperity of the nation, said the Navy was working to ensure its operations do not constitute obstacles to the operators but rather contribute to their being able to perform their duties and produce optimally.
He said: “The provision of security is part of ways of increasing and promoting ease of doing business because if there is no security, the operators cannot operate.
“Also ensuring that our arrests and detentions do not impede legitimate business operators, we ensure when we make arrests, we quickly carry out our preliminary investigation. And if it was based on wrong information, we quickly release those vessels so that we do not impede businesses. So, generally, that is our own contribution.
“The way we feel that we can promote ease of doing business is by ensuring our operations, our patrols, do not end up constituting problems for the operators. Rather, we should support them by giving them the assurance and the confidence that they are well protected from the criminal elements that are always keen on disrupting businesses in Nigeria.”
He expressed the hope that the outcome of the meeting will foster tangible outcomes that would facilitate a more secure maritime environment.
“I want to reassure everyone here of the commitment of the Nigerian Navy to the fulfilment of our statutory roles to emplace a conducive maritime domain for economic prosperity of our nation,” he said.
