The Joint Task Force South-South, Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and international oil companies to increase production to meet the federal government’s target of 2.2 million barrels per day.
Major Kayode Owolabi, Coordinator of the OPDS Joint Media Campaign Centre, made this call on Sunday while reporting on crude oil production and security in the Niger Delta.
Owolabi stated that this development followed a directive from the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, on July 17, 2024, to end crude oil theft.
According to Owolabi, the OPDS Commander, Rear Admiral John Okeke, has implemented several key measures, resulting in full operational capacity of major pipelines—Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), Trans Escravos Pipeline (TEP), and Trans Ramos Pipeline (TRP)—with daily crude oil output reaching approximately 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd).
Owolabi noted that while international oil companies (IOCs) are currently operating at full capacity, there have been some incidents of vandalism.
Based on this progress, Okeke urged both local and international oil companies to ramp up production and fully utilise pipeline capacity.
“If pipelines are already at full capacity, the NNPCL must evaluate the nation’s capability to produce 2.2 million bpd, with long-term efforts focusing on enhancing production capacity.
It would be recalled that at a security meeting with Zonal and Divisional military commanders and heads of other security agencies on July 17th, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, gave a two-week deadline for improvement on the security situation in the Niger Delta Region, to boost crude oil production.
The development comes following a live nationwide broadcast by President Bola Tinubu in a live broadcast on Sunday, where he said the country’s once-declining oil and gas industry is experiencing a resurgence on the back of the economic reforms he announced in May 2024.
Tinubu said, “Last month, we increased our oil production to 1.61 million barrels per day, and our gas assets are receiving the attention they deserve.”
Nigeria’s crude oil production has been on a decline as a result of crude oil theft in oil-producing states, especially in the Niger Delta.