We ll’ increase production by 400,000 BPD In December 2021-NNPC GMD

… advises  NAPE on homegrown  Technology

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited,(NNPC) has reassured the international community that it is ready to up its production level by over 400,000 barrels per day by year-end. This is despite the hues and cries about lack of investment in the upstream of the oil and gas sector which has stagnated oil production

It means that it would increase production to 1.8 million barrels per day from the current 1.4 million barrels per day it recorded in September this year.

Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NNPC who disclosed this at the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (ADPEC) 2021, said Nigeria will ramp up oil production to 1.8 Million Barrels Per Day (BPD) oil production by the end of 2021 as against the 1.4/5 BPD in September 2021.

According to him, Nigeria can easily attain its maximum crude oil production capacity of 2.5 BPD for the combine production of crude and condensate

He said it is obvious that by the close of the year we would get back to the 1.7 to 1.8 barrels per day of crude oil only. As you may be aware when we mentioned these figures, I am talking about crude oil only.”

Nigeria, he said, shut down some of its wells at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and the national oil company is yet to get to its full production capacity.  But we are working very hard to bringing the facilities to optimal production before the end of the year.

As far as the NNPC boss was concerned, two things have led to the draw back in investment in the sector. These he said are Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of clarity in the sector which led to draught in investment in the Nigerian oil sector.

This situation he said has been corrected but the newly enacted Petroleum Industry Act (20-21) will provide ample investment opportunities in the Nigeria oil and gas industry.

He stated: “We are at the threshold of history, our country has changed, and our industry has changed because we have a new legislation that has brought clarity on how we do our business and a much more competitive fiscal environment and much more modern regulatory environment. We are seeing the outcome of all these coming up.”

“Our partners are coming in to invest particularly in the deepwater very clearly that is happening now. There are also efforts going on to bring back production that we have lost and we are very excited for our country.”

Kyari also spoke on the challenges of energy transition, that the key challenges  around it is finance. “Financing the production and consumption of gas in the best possible manner. You cannot produce hydrogen without actually properly produce energy itself and the key challenge is finance and realization that countries have different circumstances, jurisdiction are different and we can’t move at the same pace. We have different exposures and handling it must be in different manner.”

Technology is a big drive in the oil industry and clients expect this aspect to be implemented.

According to the NNPC boss, Artificial Intelligence is the way to go in the future and the industry saw it coming. “NNPC is at the basic level ensuring that its systems and processes are automated. It will make use of all the technology available to boost the industry. Good enough for our country we are standing on ground zero in most sub-Saharan African countries and therefore carbon production systems will now be based on the technology that is available and clearly the emission will be quite low current circumstances.

In a similar development, NNPC boss call on the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) and other stakeholders to focus on home grown technology to reduce carbon footprint in oil and gas operations.

Kyari gave the charge in virtual good will message at the 39th NAPE conference and exhibition under the theme ‘Petroleum Exploration and Production in a New World: What Next After the Global Crisis?’ that it has become imperative for the industry and Nigeria to embrace the new realities of the post Covid-19 operating environment. The industry should improve on technology beyond the traditional seismic way of exploration in a manner that will support the Federal Government in its climate change mitigating measures.

He stated that one of the key challenges of the campaign to reduce greenhouse emission was the issue of energy poverty which was the key basis of President Muhammadu Buhari advocacy for energy justice at the concluded COP 26 climate change conference in Glasgow.

The GMD was of the view that while he agrees that the country should transit to net zero by 2060, it was necessary to create a balance by providing the right technology and finances to enable less developed countries to break the gap and make their own transition at a convenient pace.