Baru: Oil production still 200,000 barrels short of budget target

Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), says the country now produces two million barrels of crude oil per day.

This is 200,000 barrels short of the 2017 budget expectations, which put the production benchmark at 2.2 million barrels per day.

Baru disclosed this at the state house while speaking with journalists after having a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The NNPC GMD explained that the increase in the volume of oil from 1.2 million to 2 million was due to the relative peace and stability currently enjoyed in the Niger Delta region.

He said that Buhari expressed happiness with the corporation and asked him not to hesitate to call the attention of the presidency in areas that they may be needed.

Baru added the NNPC is selling petroleum products according to the prices officially stipulated by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

“I briefed Mr President on the state of the NNPC and its subsidiaries and also nationally to get him briefed on the situation of fuel supply, crude oil productions, gas production and by extension ability to supply gas to the power sector,” Baru said.

“We had an extensive briefing as you could see. I passed here over two hours. I spent quite some time with him to discuss these national issues.

“He was happy with the state of the corporation and told us to continue with the efforts that we are doing and if we need any executive attention we should not hesitate to come back to him.”