From Adewale Sanyaolu, Houston, Texas
The federal government has set an ambitious target of 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) oil production for the new management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by year-end.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri, stated this yesterday in an interview held on the sidelines of the Oil Technology Conference (OTC) Africa Energy Forum (AEF), themed; “Africa’s Energy Investment Drive Amid Global Transition to Green Minerals and Clean Energy,” in Houston, Texas.
The Minister said while President Bola Tinubu gave the new NNPC management a mandate to grow oil production to two million barrels by this year, he has increased the target to 2.5 million bpd.
“When the new NNPC management visited me, I increased their oil production target to 2.5 million bpd from the initial two million barrels given to them by the President,” Lokpobiri said.
He believed the target set by the President could be met and even surpassed because, during COVID-19, when there were no new investments, oil production grew to 2.5 million bpd.
“The 2.5 million bpd oil production is easily realisable because all the bottlenecks against our oil production are being addressed.”
For over 10 years, he said there was no new investment in the oil and gas sector, noting that the story has changed today as a result of the reforms of President Bola Tinubu.
He explained that challenges around vandalism and oil theft, which have long prevented the growth of oil production, are being tackled through various government policies.
He added that when he became Minister, the country was producing one million bpd, but today production has increased to 1.8 million bpd—hence his confidence that the current task of oil production growth would be met by the NNPC management.
Again, he disclosed that the ‘Drill or Drop’ policy, as contained in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), is now being implemented to the letter.
The Minister stressed that for any quantum of oil taken now, the PIA provision stipulates that the entity must drill to replace it as part of seismic activity.
On the politics of fossil fuel production, the Minister said the World Bank has stopped funding in that regard.
He said Nigeria, including the state oil company—NNPC—has not received any form of funding from the World Bank.
Rather, he said, the NNPC goes into partnership with some IOCs to raise funding for its exploration and production activities or, at best, seeks funding from other sources.
He said all the talks around a halt in fossil fuel production are misplaced and all about geopolitics.
“What the COP agreement is pushing is reduction of emissions and not a total stoppage of oil production. But on the contrary, the message of the West is to stop fossil fuel production.
Lokbobiri said all the plants where electric cars, lithium batteries and other forms of renewable energy products are being produced still use coal and fossil fuel to achieve its production.
He charged the global community to come invest in Nigeria and take advantage of its robust regulatory framework, fiscal regime are all globally competitive.
He insisted that Nigeria remains the investment destination of choice.
The AEF part of the OTC Around the World Series, serves as a pivotal platform for discussing the current landscape of oil and gas exploration across Africa.
The forum aims to explore funding opportunities and investment prospects in both existing and new energy sources, while addressing current and emerging challenges in exploration.
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