The group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has declared a state of emergency on crude oil production in Nigeria.
Kyari made this announcement on Tuesday during his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the 23rd edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG Energy Week) in Abuja.
Kyari stated that a war has been declared on the challenges affecting Nigeria’s crude oil production, emphasizing a decisive approach to resolving these issues.
“We have decided to stop the debate. We have declared war on the challenges affecting our crude oil production,” Kyari said.
“War means war. 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.”
A detailed asset analysis revealed that Nigeria could easily produce two million barrels of crude oil per day without deploying new rigs.
The primary obstacle, Kyari noted, is the inability of industry players to act promptly. The declared war aims to enable NNPC and its partners to swiftly remove all identified obstacles to efficient production, including delays in procurement processes.
Kyari outlined medium to long-term measures to boost and sustain production, including replacing all old crude oil pipelines built over four decades ago.
Additionally, NNPC plans to introduce a rig-sharing programme with its partners to ensure that production rigs remain in the country for four to five years, aligning with standard practices in other regions.
The NNPC GCEO called on all industry players to collaborate towards reducing the cost of production and achieving target production levels.
Kyari also expressed the company’s 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, industrial development, and the economic prosperity of the country.
Furthermore, Kyari highlighted NNPC’s involvement in the presidential compressed natural gas (CNG) drive.
In collaboration with partners like NIPCO Gas, NNPC has constructed several CNG stations, with 12 of these stations set to be inaugurated on Thursday in Lagos and Abuja.
