In Nigeria’s oil and gas business, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Ltd. has imposed a state of emergency on output. Additionally, NNPC Ltd. has urged all industry participants to work together to lower the cost of oil production and increase output to predetermined levels.
NNPC Ltd.’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Malam Mele Kyari, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the 23rd Nigeria Oil & Gas (NOG) Conference and Exhibition, which is taking place from June 30 to July 4.
“We have chosen to end the discussion. We have declared war on the issues impacting our output of crude oil and cannot afford to engage in further negotiations. Despite oil prices, Our biggest interest is to produce more oil and gas in spite of oil theft and other challenges.
“We have the right tools. We know what to fight. We know what we have to do at the level of assets. We have engaged our partners and we will work together to improve the situation,” he said.
Kyari said a detailed analysis of assets revealed that Nigeria could conveniently produce two million barrels of crude oil daily without deploying new rigs, but decried the inability of players to act in a timely manner as major impediment.
He said obstacles to effective and efficient production, such as delays in procurement processes and old pipeline network were affecting the industry. He said NNPC Ltd. would replace all the old crude oil pipelines built over four decades ago and introduce a rig sharing programme with its partners to ensure that production rigs stayed in the country.
This, he said, would be a medium- to long-term measures aimed at boosting and sustaining production. He expressed commitment to investing in critical midstream gas infrastructure such as the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) and the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipelines to boost domestic gas production and supply for power generation.
On Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Kyari said that NNPC Ltd. had keyed into the Presidential CNG Initiative drive. He said, in conjunction with partners such as NIPCO Gas, NNPC Ltd. had built a number of CNG stations, 12 of which would be commissioned on Thursday in Lagos and Abuja.
In an address, the Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Mr. Mohamed Hamel, also advocated for natural gas infrastructure and penetration for energy stability and security.
