The group managing director , Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, said the country now records 1.6 million barrels of crude oil production daily.
This is just as the Nigerian Navy has promised to promote ease of doing business in the sector by addressing challenges to the implementation of Petroleum Industry Act.
Kyari represented by the managing director, NNPCL, Mr Folorunsho Karim stated this during a meeting of Maritime Stakeholders with the Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla in Abuja.
He assured that with the support of the Nigerian Navy and other relevant stakeholders, crude production would reach the targeted 2mbpd by year-end.
"The target is to increase production to 2 million barrels by the end of the year, and we are fully committed in doing that. I appreciated the effort and the support of the Nigerian Navy for making this possible because without them, we wouldn't be able to achieve this. So they have been giving us a lot of support and we're having a reduction in oil theft. And the pipeline vandalism has also decreased significantly and a lot presently going on in the industry right now. And we hope that we will sustain this. We'll be able to achieve our target of 2 million barrels per day toward the end of the year," he said.
The Chief of the Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ogalla said the meeting was convened to bring together industry regulators, maritime law enforcement as well as industry players to discuss critical issues germane to maritime and energy security.
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He said the development of Nigeria's oil sectors over the last few decades has witnessed several complex security challenges, such as violent agitations, oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and piracy/sea robbery, amongst others.
Ogalla said the menace was driven by the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, communal clashes, poverty and unemployment.
He added that traditional means of addressing the security challenges, have not yielded the desired result hence, the meeting also aimed to address emerging security issues arising from implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.
He said the federal government's drive to develop the nation's Blue Economy requires the support of all stakeholders, adding that the president has expressed a desire to enhance the ease of doing business within the maritime environment as well as the oil and gas sector in order to eradicate poverty.
He said the NN has sustained its maritime security operations through surveillance, response capability and law enforcement in addition to collaboration with all maritime stakeholders.
He added that the Navy rejigged its operations and established OP DELTA SANITY in Jan 2024 which has led to the arrest of 35 ships involved in oil theft and handed them over to appropriate prosecuting agencies.
He assured Nigerian Navy's commitment to the fulfilment of its statutory roles in order to emplace a conducive maritime domain for economic prosperity of the nation.
He said the Navy was working to ensure that its operations do not constitute obstacles to the operators but rather contribute to them being able to perform their duties and produce optimally.
