…say Crude oil drops to 1.25mbpd
The monthly report of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has contradicted the claims by the federal government that the nation’s crude oil production is growing.
According to the latest organization’s report, Nigeria’s oil production dropped to 1.25mbpd.
OPEC data showed that Nigeria lost 30,000bpd as crude production dropped from 1.28mbpd in April to 1.25mpd in April.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPC)’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, not too long ago stated that crude production was nearing 1.7mbpd at the time.
He stated this when he had an engagement with the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists in Lagos.
He said: “As of today’s data, we’re inching to 1.7mbpd. We won’t celebrate this. On 17th of April 2020, our production, without doing anything, without drilling new wells, shot to 2.2mbpd. The difference was COVID-19. The thieves, the vandals, everybody went to sleep.”
The Monthly Oil Market Oil Report for May 2024, an OPEC production claimed materials gathered from direct communication with the OPEC member country that Nigeria’s oil production had further gone down, though the figure stood at 1.42mbpd from data gathered from secondary sources.
OPEC said Nigeria’s oil production added 50,000 barrels daily in April after it fell in recent times.
The nation’s crude production fell from 1.32 million barrels per day in February to 1.23 million barrels per day in March.
Production dropped from 1.427mbpd in January to 1.322mbpd, according to direct sources.
The continuous drop in production came amid stakeholders’ concerns over the loss of revenue due to the failure of the government to ramp up production.
But the Federal Government said the drop in Nigeria’s crude oil production was due to issues encountered on the Trans Niger Pipeline, coupled with maintenance activities carried out by some oil companies operating across the country.
It, however, stated that efforts were on to fix the pipeline, adding that this would enable the country to produce up to 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensates.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, claimed that the drop in production was due to issues encountered on the Trans Niger Pipeline.
“In response to recent concerns regarding a shortfall in oil production in Nigeria during the first quarter of 2024, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, assures (Nigerians) that measures are being taken to address the situation to, not only restore production to previous levels but to also increase it.
“The minister clarifies that the reported production shortfall was primarily due to issues encountered on the Trans Niger Pipeline, coupled with maintenance activities carried out by some oil companies operating in Nigeria.
“The minister is also pleased to announce that the issues have been adequately addressed, and production is expected to return to its previous levels in the coming days,” a statement by Lokpobiri’s spokesman, Nneamaka Okafor, said in April.
At a meeting with stakeholders in Lagos recently, Lokpobiri emphasised that idle oil wells and licences would be revoked and handed over to individuals with proven capacity to produce.
The NNPC GCEO has on different occasions blamed energy theft and vandalism for the falling oil output, saying this was no one was investing in the sector.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government said it is ready to attract investors to the oil and gas sector by reducing front entry barriers, one of which is the reduction of signature bonus from around $200m to $10m.
