FG to Set Sights on Absolute Increase in Oil Production

The Federal Government has set a mandate to focus on a 100% increase in the nation’s production of crude oil.

This commitment was made by the Federal Government in response to the country’s declining oil production rate. The plan includes a revamp of the upstream sector to raise the crude oil output from a daily average of 1.5 million barrels per day to three million barrels per day, a 100% increase in production.

This news was announced by the Chief Executive of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe at the International Conference and Exhibition hosted by the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos.

Komolafe stated that plans were also in place to increase the oil reserves to 40 billion barrels, as the upstream technical and commercial regulator. The head of the NUPRC also stated that the government would also be working to solve some oil-related problems, which include oil theft, ageing & deteriorating facilities and overall insecurity.

He also pointed out that joint efforts between operators and communities, as well as utilization of the latest technology to properly keep an eye on oil pipelines in remote areas had kicked off.

According to Komolafe, the NUPRC has started to enter conversations with important stakeholders with regard to the achievement of the set objectives. He also confirmed that the Commission will take a more aggressive approach towards the usual Asset Integrity Management. Komolafe stated that this course of action is to curb leakages of crude oil and spills which have been caused by old, deteriorating oil production or storage facilities.

The Commission is also making eye-catching encouragement in order to motivate companies that deal with multiple clients and speculative data to purchase state of the art data in open volume to enable activities that go along the lines of oil exploration.