From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja 

Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikati Baru, on Tuesday,  briefed  President Muhammadu Buhari, on the nation’s current oil production as well as activities of the corporation and its subsidiaries.

Speaking to State House correspondents after a closed door meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Baru said he told the President that the volume of oil production in the country now stands at 2 million barrels per day (bpd).

According to him, the volume rose from 1.2 million bpd to 2 million, due to the relative peace and stability in the Niger Delta.

Baru also briefed the President on fuel supply situation across the country, crude oil and gas productions and the efforts by the corporation to supply gas to the power sector.

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

“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.

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

On whether there were plans to review the prices of petroleum products, the NNPC boss said it was not the mandate of the NNPC to do so.

According to him, NNPC sells products according to the prices officially stipulated by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

Recall that Nigeria’s oil production was cut last year by a series of attacks on the infrastructure in the Niger Delta region by militant groups leading to output cut to around 1.5 million bpd in April.

Forcados, a major export pipeline carrying nearly 250,000 bpd in the restive region, is closed. It has only been opened for three weeks in the past year, due to militant attacks, with no sign of the pipeline resuming operation.

There have not been militant attacks on pipelines in the last few months and the government has been holding talks with groups, that want a greater share of Nigeria’s oil wealth to go to the impoverished region, to broker a peace agreement.