FG targets crude oil production of 2m bpd by December

The federal government says it aims to increase crude oil production to at least two million barrels per day (bpd) by December.  

Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), spoke on Friday at a meeting with energy correspondents in Abuja. 

He said the government is working tirelessly to ramp up crude oil production. 

“The reason why we are underperforming is because of insecurity and we are gradually tackling those problems,” NAN quoted Lokpobiri as saying. 

“My sole agenda is to increase production, once we increase production we will get more revenue for the country. You know Nigeria is still more dependent on oil.

“Though the non-oil sector is also supporting the economy, a substantial part of our forex comes from oil.

“So, my ambition is to see how I can lead the sector to increase production so that we can get more revenue to deal with the fund and strategic rationale projects in the country.” 

The minister said oil production is increasing steadily, adding that it was 1.1 million bpd last month and is now between 1.3 and 1.4 million bpd. 

“I get the reports from relevant authorities. Today, we are doing about 1.4 million barrels of crude. So, we are steadily increasing but our target is to see how we can get to two million barrels,” he said.

Lokpobiri urged relevant stakeholders to work together to address the sector’s issues, saying he had started interacting with some of them, including international oil companies and local producers.

The minister said the engagement was already yielding results.

“We have identified where the problem is, and where we are getting the shortfall and we are already engaging them within the next few weeks, we will be able to give you how far we have gone in that direction,” he said. 

Lokpobiri said some of the solutions might not be immediate but once identified,  a good framework will be provided to address the issues.

He said the current administration is determined to restore investor confidence and rekindle the industry’s competitiveness