The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Monday set a production target of two million barrels per day of crude oil in 2024.
The Chairman of the NNPCL Board, Mr Pius Akinyelure, set the target after the official inauguration of the board and management team for the NNPCL by President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja.
To achieve the target, the company’s board chairman canvassed a comprehensive overhaul of the national security architecture to address huge losses usually associated with incidents of oil thefts and pipeline vandalism in the oil producing region.
He said: “We have assured Mr. President of our collective effort to ensure turn around in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
“To make it a company we will all be proud of, a company that will help sustain the economy and create some level of prosperity for Nigerians.
“It is not an easy task, but we know we have the challenge of oil stealing, the vandalisation of our pipelines. Our commitment is to produce at the rate of two million barrels per day anytime from next year.
“But to do this, we have to overhaul our security architecture so that the incidences of stealing vandalisation of pipelines can be reduced. And this will possibly help to build up our cash flow. And we will become a better nation”, the industry expert added
In her remarks, the only female member on the board, Dr. Eunice Thomas, said the board members were committed to increasing productivity, improve the economy and sustain the environment.
She said: “We will provide power for the people of Nigeria; we will industrialize the energy and transit from fossil fuel to more sustainable green energy.
“I am really challenged. But I would like to begin by thanking President Bola Tinubu for finding me worthy to sit on that board.
“I am aware of the challenges and his expectations of the board. I agree with the management of the NNPCL, they’ve done quite a lot so far and we will be working together with pleasure to increase productivity, improve the economy and sustain the environment”, Thomas added.
The board members inaugurated include Umar Ajiya as Chief Financial Officer, Ledum Mitee, Mr. Musa Tumsa and Mr. Ghali Muhammad as Non-Executive Directors while the Non-Executive Directors comprised Prof. Mustapha Aliyu, Mr. David Ogbodo and Dr. Eunice Thomas.
Latest data from the government indicated that over N4.3 trillion worth of crude oil was stolen in 7,143 pipeline vandalism cases within a period of five years just as the incidents of oil theft continued to hamper the country’s oil production with Nigeria losing between 5% and 30% of daily production.
According to the data, about 619 million barrels of crude valued at $46 billion were stolen from 2009-2020 while Nigeria has continually failed to meet her daily production quota approved by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Following the persistent shortfall in Nigeria’s crude oil output, the country’s OPEC quota was reduced from 1.742 million barrels per day to 1.38 million bpd even as Nigeria’s daily production output slowed to 1.184 million barrels per day and 1.249 million bpd in May and June 2023 respectively.
