Despite operational challenges, NNPC Ltd’s state of emergency on crude oil production yields 1.61mbpd in July 2024
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited declaration of a state of emergency on crude oil production has yielded a positive outcome with the increase recorded in daily production from 1.25 million barrels per day [mbpd] in June to 1.61mbpd as of July 23, 2024.
0it would be recalled that Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mr Mele Kyari had declared the state of emergency at the end of June in a speech at the 2024 Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week in Abuja.
Kyari said the move was directed towards increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production and growing its reserves.
According to him “We have decided to stop the debate. We have declared war on the challenges affecting our crude oil production. War means war. We have the right tools. We know what to fight. We know what we have to do at the level of assets. We have engaged our partners. And we will work together to improve the situation.”
He had explained that a detailed analysis of assets showed that Nigeria could conveniently produce two million barrels of crude oil per day without deploying new rigs, but the major impediment to achieving that remained the inability of players to act in a timely manner.
“War will help NNPC Ltd and its partners to speedily clear all identified obstacles to effective and efficient production such as delays in procurement processes, which have become a challenge in the industry,” he said.
And about a month after, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has just announced the increase in the daily crude oil production in the country from 1.25 million barrels per day (mbpd) in June to 1.61 mbpd as of July 23rd.
The increment in output, according to the Commission, was in spite of significant operational challenges especially affecting terminals at Bonny, Brass, and Forcados, prompting the Commission to employ end-to-end production monitoring and a mass balance methodology to accurately account for losses and differentiate them from operational losses.
The announcement by the NUPRC has generated positive sentiments in the oil sector of the national economy with its potential for more revenue accretion to the federal government’s coffers.
Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Engineer Gbenga Komolafe dropped the information at the House of Representatives’ Special Committee’s Two-Day Public/Investigative Hearing on Oil Theft/Losses in Abuja at the weekend.
