The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has announced significant improvements in Nigeria’s crude oil production, attributing this progress to ongoing military efforts against oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
Group chief executive officer of NNPC, Mele Kyari made this known when he received in audience the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Christopher Musa who led senior military officers on a courtesy visit to the NNPC Towers in Abuja, on Tuesday.
Kyari, also called on the military to sustain the war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism saying the current onslaught against the menace has yielded improved growth in the nation’s crude oil production.
Recall that data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) showed that Nigeria’s crude output rose by 930,000 barrels in July which boosted the country’s daily average oil production to 1.386 million bpd during the month.
“I personally call for enhanced and sustained security engagement. This is because we have reached a new peak in production that we haven’t seen in the last three years. This is clearly related to the sustained efforts by the armed forces and other security agencies to protect our critical assets, particularly the pipeline infrastructure in specified areas where we are working closely with these agencies. We are already seeing the results transforming into increased production,” Kyari said in a statement by the company’s spokesman, Olufemi Soneye.
The GCEO, who commended General Musa and his team for their unwavering commitment to securing the nation’s critical hydrocarbon assets especially in the Niger Delta region in recent months, emphasised that these achievements are not only crucial to Nigeria but also to the global energy community.
He expressed confidence that the CDS and his team will deliver on the Presidential mandate to mitigate security-related challenges affecting the nation’s crude oil production.
“Components of this effort that depend on security are being effectively managed by you. Your coordinated and focused response is paving the way for improved security engagement, particularly in the Niger Delta,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, Gen Musa said the visit was intended to introduce the Monitoring Team to the NNPC Ltd, which will be responsible for interfacing with the Company and other stakeholders in the oil-producing regions to secure the nation’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure.
While pledging commitment towards improving security and the performance of his troops, the CDS said the military will sustain the onslaught and analyse the troops’ capabilities to enhance their performance and bolster productivity.
He stressed the need to ramp up production for a prosperous economy and reassured collaboration with intelligence agencies, private security, state governments and host communities for enhanced performance.
“Working in silos won’t give us the best results. I want to assure you that we will collaborate with the necessary stakeholders to achieve our set targets as mandated by Mr. President.”
