The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, on Tuesday, declared a state of emergency on crude oil production.
Olufemi Soneye, NNPC spokesman, in a Tuesday statement said the declaration is a move geared towards increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production and reserves’ growth
According to him, NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, disclosed this in a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 23rd edition of the Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG Energy Week) in Abuja.
“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,” Kyari declared.
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A detailed analysis of assets, he noted, revealed that Nigeria can conveniently produce two million barrels of crude oil per day without deploying new rigs, but the major impediment to achieving that remains the inability of players to act in a timely manner.
He said the “war” will help NNPC 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.”
On medium to long-term measures aimed at boosting and sustaining production, Kyari said NNPC would replace all the old crude oil pipelines built over four decades ago and also introduce a rig sharing programme with its partners to ensure that production rigs stay in the country for between four and five years which is the standard practice in most climes.
He called on all players in the industry to collaborate towards reducing the cost of production and boosting production to target levels.
