Nigeria’s oil production is approaching 1.7 million barrels per day (mbpd), up from 1.28 million barrels per day in April, according to Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). Kyari announced this progress during a stakeholders’ engagement between the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists and the NNPCL held in Lagos on Saturday.
Kyari also highlighted ongoing critical gas infrastructure projects aimed at ensuring the transport of 8 billion cubic feet of gas daily through an extensive pipeline network within the next four years. These developments are part of Nigeria’s broader strategy to enhance its energy sector.
However, Kyari noted that the country’s crude oil production continues to face significant challenges due to oil theft and vandalism. He emphasized the urgent need to address security issues in the oil and gas sector to sustain and increase production levels.
“How do you increase oil production? Remove the security challenge we have in our onshore assets. As we all know, the security challenge is real. It is not just about theft; it is about the availability of the infrastructure to deliver the volume to the market,” Kyari explained.
He stressed that without resolving these security issues, attracting investment in oil production remains difficult. “No one is going to put money into oil production when he knows the production will not get to the market. Within the last two years, we removed over 5,800 illegal connections from our pipelines,” Kyari added.
