The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), on Saturday said that crude oil production output of three million barrels per day is achievable up from the present 1.7million.
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer (CCCO) of NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye disclosed this in his address at a Stakeholders Engagement Session for journalists covering the National Assembly in Abuja.
Soneye said the feat is attainable with support from all critical stakeholders.
He said the political will towards the target is already provided by President Bola Tinubu with directives to relevant security agencies to stem the ugly tide of oil theft and pipeline vandalism which according to him, led to increase in daily oil production from 1.4 million to 1.7milliion barrels per day.
Soneye said: “Three million barrels oil production per day is achievable in Nigeria if all the stakeholders work in synergy for that purpose from the security agencies both government and private owned, to oil companies and host communities.
“With expected synergy from all the relevant stakeholders on war against oil theft and pipeline vandalism, required enabling environment would be in place for optimal oil production to the volume of 2.5 to 3million barrels per day.”
He lamented that at a point, oil production dropped to 900,000 barrels per day in the country before the engagement of private security agencies and renewed efforts of the military.
“At that time, we felt Nigeria was in trouble as far as oil theft was concerned but, the intensity of war against it, has allayed our fears,” he said.
However, in a powerpoint presentation on the menace of crude oil theft and its impact on Nigeria’s economy, the Deputy Manager, NNPC Command and Control Centre, Murtala Muhammad, said the crime of oil theft remains of serious concern.
According to him, over 8,000 illegal refineries and 5,800 illegal oil pipeline connections were detected and destroyed within the last six months.
He listed Bayelsa, Rivers, Imo, Abia etc, as the hot spots of the crime.
In his paper presentation on “Balancing Reporting and Nation Building: The Role of National Assembly Press Corps,” the resource person, Professor Taiye Obateru, emphasised on the need for fairness and national interest in all reportage of stories by the media.
