Oil firms will return to full production – FG

On Tuesday, the Federal Government declared that it was working to ensure that all national and foreign oil companies resumed producing crude oil in Nigeria at full capacity.

Due to significant pipeline vandalism and illegal oil theft in the Niger Delta region, major crude oil producers in Nigeria have drastically reduced their output.

The decisions made by the oil firms have reduced the amount of daily crude oil output, which has resulted in a massive loss of revenue for the nation.

However, senior government oil officials, claim that during the past several months, increased security surveillance along the main crude oil corridors has contributed to an increase in oil production from around 900,000 barrels per day in September to between 1.4 and 1.6 million barrels per day in December.

However, Chief Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, stated on Monday in Abuja during a meeting with the team from Eni SpA that the Federal Government would keep enhancing security along the routes of the main crude oil pipelines and stop any leaks.

I am pleased to hear from you (Eni) that you have raised your crude oil output to 15,000 barrels per day as a result of the government’s efforts in securing the pipelines in the area, Sylva was quoted as saying in a statement released by his media assistant, Horatius Egua. I can tell you that this pattern will persist.

In order to increase revenue for the government and to help the nation fulfill its obligations to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, Sylva continued, the Federal Government wanted to “see all the oil majors around the country return to their full production capability.”

He said, “We will continue to work to bring stability and build confidence for everyone to return to the field to produce their maximum capacity.”

He claimed that the Federal Government was making attempts to reach its maximum daily crude oil production capability of up to three million barrels.

The Federal Government’s efforts to restore sanity along the main crude oil pipelines in the Niger Delta have gained renewed support, according to Mario Bello, Head, of Sub-Saharan Africa Region, Eni SpA. This has allowed the company to increase its crude oil production from almost zero to about 15,000 barrels per day in the past month.

“We are happy that the security situation is improving and we will be willing to be back fully,” Bello stated.

He said that as of today, the situation had significantly improved from when the company complained to the minister last month about the theft and damage of their items.

He said, “At a point, we were producing almost nothing, but today, with the improved security situation along the pipelines, we are able to produce and export about 15,000 barrels of crude oil and if this trend continues, we will be able to reach our 30,000 barrels crude oil production.”

Bello said that Eni was willing to resume its planned investment in the gas and electricity industry because of the company’s restored faith in the security of the crude oil pipelines.

READ MORE: Nigeria’s crude oil production to rise to 1.6 million BPD by Q1 2023 – Zainab Ahmed